May 02, 2025

• Increased commitment to human space exploration, introducing $1 billion in new investments for #Mars -focused programs.
• The #SLS rocket and #Orion capsule will be retired after #Artemis III. The budget also ends the #Gateway Program
• #ISS replacement in 2030

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/president-trumps-fy26-budget-revitalizes-human-space-exploration

It makes sense to use the Martian #atmosphere to help with deceleration and save on propellant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5seefpjMQJI This method has been tested and validated on Earth, using #SpaceX #Falcon9 first stages in the high atmosphere to simulate #Martian conditions https://marspedia.org/Landing_on_Mars#Powered_landing

The time of travel to #Mars can be reduced from nine months to about four months. This would reduce #radiation doses by over 60% compared to the Hohmann transfer. This trajectory uses 4.62 km/s of deltaV. #SpaceX #Starship is designed for about 6 km/s of deltaV. The return velocity of #Apollo was about 11 km/s https://marspedia.org/Aerobraking

Each #technological breakthrough brings us closer to realizing the goal of living on #Mars . Mars colonization is within our potential reach. This paper has outlined a feasible timeline
2020s: Continued #robotic exploration
2030s: Test missions for human life-support systems and #ISRU on the Martian surface
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10884476

January 28, 1986 : #Challenger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster
February 1, 2003 : #Columbia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster

#OurWorldInData : https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-space-visits

#LifeSupport on #Mars https://marspedia.org/Life_support

Some rocket hardware for the uncrewed #Gaganyaan test flight has arrived at the #SatishDhawan* Space Centre. The upcoming demonstration flight will test all systems for a full crewed flight https://www.space.com/india-gaganyaan-astronaut-capsule-test-flight-december-2024

* https://graphhopper.com/maps/?point=Satish+Dhawan+Space+Centre&layer=Esri+Satellite

The #spacecraft is designed to repressurize with a breathable atmosphere . If anything goes wrong with repressurization, the #EVA suits would be the quartets’ lifeboats on the trip back home. “When we’re in the vacuum with 100% oxygen into the #SpaceSuits, we want to eliminate as many flammability risks as possible. We discovered there can be static electric discharge, and that could potentially lead to a flammability concern." https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/how-dangerous-is-polaris-dawn-space-walk-from-spacex-crew-dragon

"No #astronauts have ever viewed Earth from the vantage point of a polar orbit. Such orbits are favored by commercial photo-reconnaissance satellites because they fly over the entire planet as it rotates beneath them." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-to-launch-bitcoin-entrepreneur-and-three-crewmates-on-flight-around-earths-poles/

Maybe they see more than the #HiRes cams with their