Space Station Sunday: 3 New Crew, 3D Printing, And Thanksgiving

Good evening, space fans!  This week brought a flurry of activity to the ISS.  Most importantly, the launch, voyage, and subsequent docking of the Expedition 42/43's Soyuz TMA-15M transport vehicle went perfectly, delivering the three new crew to the space station just a few hours after liftoff last Sunday.  The new crew - cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronaut Terry Virts - will remain in orbit until May 2015.

Six humans and a space station...what will we learn this time around?
(Image courtesy NASA.org.)

Video of the launch and docking was, as usual, breathtaking.   Fortunately the snow at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazahkstan did not impede the launch.

The mission is a somewhat unique one, marking only the second time in ISS history that two women have been aboard the ISS at the same time.  The Expedition 42/43 crew will witness numerous transport vehicle arrivals, conduct up to three spacewalks, and continue the biological and technological science projects already underway aboard the station.

The Soyuz transport craft, rocking the dock at the ISS.
(Image courtesy NASA.org.)

Regarding those experiments, the new crew got involved right away, with Flight Engineer Terry Virts assisting commander Butch Wilmore on the Cyclops experiment, which will deploy nanosatellites for scrutiny of small things in space.  Virts also worked on a botany experiment and measured air velocity in the Japanese Kibo module.

Astronaut Cristoforetti jumped right in as well, setting up equipment for the Blind And Imagined experiment, which measures sensory and visual changes in astronauts who undergo long-duration spaceflight.  Other experiments currently underway include tests on plasma and the cardiovascular system in regard to microgravity, as well as tests of radiation exposure in the ISS. 

A major development in onboard adaptability became apparent this week, as commander Butch Wilmore printed out the first-ever 3D-printed part in space.  The "Made In Space" 3D printer successfully created a new part for itself, which bodes well for sustainability not just of the device but for quick and effective replacements for parts of the rest of the ISS.  While the plate was slightly stickier than anticipated, this may just be due to its first attempt.  Further comparisons will lend more insight.

When every pound of cargo and each second of delay counts, it's nice to know that some problems can be solved even without help from Earth.
(Image courtesy iflscience.com.)

Niki Werkheiser, the 3D-printer's project manager on the ground at the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said, “This is the first time we’ve ever used a 3-D printer in space, and we are learning, even from these initial operations...As we print more parts we’ll be able to learn whether some of the effects we are seeing are caused by microgravity or just part of the normal fine-tuning process for printing. When we get the parts back on Earth, we’ll be able to do a more detailed analysis to find out how they compare to parts printed on Earth.”

Wilmore also tested out some football flight patterns...you know, for science.
(Image courtesy NASA.org.)

And finally, the crew (despite nationality) all enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal together on Thursday. According to Fox News, the dinner included smoked turkey, candied yams, mushrooms, greenbeans, cornbread stuffing, and cherry-blueberry cobbler. The food, which is all freeze dried or thermostabilized (preserved in a manner similar to canning, but in pouches) is reheated via hot water jets due to the absence of other cooking opportunities.

While this makes for some interesting efforts at recreating dishes, NASA scientists would like to have space-grown sweet potatoes feature in future Thanksgiving celebrations (and space meals in general.)  The nutrient-rich tuber contains good supplies of beta carotene and carbohydrates for maximum energy, and can be grown under artificial light (making them ideal for deep-space mission crops.)  In the meantime, the fare was factory-fresh.

None of mom's apple pie, but hey, M&Ms!
(Image courtesy Colonel Chris Hadfield.)

That's all the orbital awesomeness for this week.  See you next Sunday, where we'll learn how the new crew are adapting to their digs, see what pops up on the social media feeds of these adventurers, and wonder who's going to win all the photography admiration for this expedition.  Watch this space!

Commander Wilmore has the artistic award, so far.  He captured this image of Saudi Arabia, among others.
(Image courtesy Butch Wilmore.)

New "Cicret" Bracelet Projects Your Phone-Screen Onto Your Flesh

The market for wearable technology has been steadily increasing, and whether you're rocking a FitBit or waiting for a full-scale neurosensory device, there's no denying that tech-to-go is now a glowing facet of modern life.  Now, a new invention may allow you to interface like never before: tapping a touchscreen that's projected onto your flesh.

That crashing sound is your productivity flying out the window.
(Image courtesy technabob.com.)

The Cicret bracelet, as reported by Gadgetify.com, uses long-range proximity sensors and a pico projector to illuminate your smartphone screen directly onto your forearm.  The "touchscreen" operates by the sensors determining when one has been intervened on by a finger, and data is sent accordingly.

While Cicret is still in the developmental phase, it has attracted a fair amount of attention.  An anonymizing, secure messenger app is also in production by the same company.  Visit their website to learn more about the bracelet or app, and donate if you feel this is something you'd like to rock on your wrist.  Apologies to those whose cool forearm tattoos precluded the development of this technology.

"Is there a glitch in the program or is my ink just awesome?"
(Image courtesy tattoomenideas.com.)

Shock And Awe: Robot Electric Eels To Protect Our Shores?

Oceans are notoriously hard to keep secure from invading threats, particularly those that lurk in the deep.  Now, a new development in robotics may help keep our coasts safe thanks to some electric-eel-style swimming 'bots.

According to Science Daily, the Anguilliform robotic fish is a droid that dives deep and reports back if it spots any enemies.  Designed specifically to venture to more intense depths than a human is capable of, the eel-bots are unobtrusive and agile.  They could be trained to find and detonate undersea mines, and maybe even launch counteroffensives against enemy divers.

It doesn't look like your typical badass robot, but that is part of its camouflage.
(Image courtesy ej.iop.org.)

The current methodology of keeping our coasts safe to this degree involves attack dolphins (seriously.)  To avoid bringing possibly-unethical harm to the animals, the eel-bots make warfare a little more moral.  

The fish contains an artificial neural network which enables it to autonomously run via its oscillators and an amplitude modulator.  Prof. Jianxin Xu, one of the lead researchers and co-authors of the project, was pleased with the results, explaining, "We performed simulations and experiments on the robotic fish, equipped with a motion library to cope with different scenarios, and the results validate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers was able to swim forward and backward as predicted."

If you catch one of these while fishing, it's in everyone's best interests for you to throw it back.
(Image courtesy ej.iop.org.)

Could this robotic sushi really help protect us? It's no crazier than some of other ideas, and doesn't harm our humans or dolphins. Let's just hope the other members of the oceanic ecosystem don't think the undulating undersea eels look tasty.

The eel-bots better not get into a turf war with the attack dolphins.
(Image couresy en.wikipedia.org.)

This Message Will Self-Destruct: CIA and Homeland Security Seek To Officially Destroy Thousands Of Emails

When you delete your emails, it's likely just to remove clutter, liberating your inbox from constant coupons, ads, e-pleas, etc.  But when the CIA and Homeland Security want to delete emails, considerably more eyebrows are raised.

According to engadget.com, two of our most totally-not-shady Big Brother organizations want to delete all of their emails that are seven years or older, as well as the emails of all CIA employees who have been retired for 3 years.  A plan of action was shown to the National Records and Archives Administration (NARA) that indicated this intent, with only 22 top officials' correspondence to survive the digital culling.

History now seems to be written by the digital winners.
(Image courtesy news.yahoo.com.)

For two organizations who thrive on intelligence (one where it's in the very title of the company), this seems like a bad idea.  Numerous senators, including Dianne Fenstien (D-CA), are actively opposing this plan, fearing the expunging of evidence.

The motion was made by the CIA as part of an effort to help streamline its email collection for better management, a mission that NARA had asked of all government agencies to figure out a plan for.  Homeland Security's excuse was that it would free up valuable server space ($50 a terabyte per month) and that deletion could also possibly thwart the intended intelligence-gathering of Einstein, their government-website traffic-tracker.

They can stash endless info on regular citizens, but heaven forbid their own emails get retained.
(Artwork by Will Varner / Image courtesy twistedsifter.com.)

While this would be a win for private privacy, the overarching scope of government intel is something that people don't want to be able to simply vanish like so many extraordinary renditions before it.

Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation told Gizmodo, "It's kind of sad. I want to applaud the government for choosing to discard unnecessary data about people. But we have good reason to question the government's reasons because of what we've learned about what we've NOT been told."

If you think the government shouldn't be doing the modern equivalent of shredding countless files and burning the confetti, you can tell NARA right here.

Uh...thanks but no thanks.
(Image courtesy reanimatedresidue.wordpress.com.)

Next Glass: This Scientifically-Accurate Alcohol-Selection App Knows You Like Your Bartender

Sure, you have a spectacular and discerning palate for craft beers and wine, but how can you tell if a beverage is good BEFORE you've even tried it?  Now, thanks to a new app that uses science to decide, you can get reviews of your booze before you even crack the bottle.

Next Glass is good news; use to choose your booze.
(Image courtesy businessinsider.com.)

According to the NY Daily News, the Next Glass app operates like a Pandora of libations, guessing which drinks you'd like after you upload photos of your preferences (both for and against.)  Using a "Genome Cellar" that has been developed by running tens of thousands of beverages through a mass spectrometer to determine their exact chemical composition, the app is able to project its findings by cross-referencing your prefs with their flavor profiles.

Trace Smith, Next Glass's COO, told the Huffington Post, "Each bottle that we run through the mass-spec, we get over 20,000 individual chemical attributes. We're looking at each of these bottles at a molecular level...We see the data of what they do and don't like, and based on that info, we see what other bottles they'll like."

One simply has to upload an image of a pondered-on drink's label, and a scored "review" from Next Glass will pop up, determining your compatibility.  You can also check out what your friends have been sipping on (and cheer or make fun of them for it appropriately) as well as post your own whiskey-steeped thoughts, or read reviews from other revelers.

Next Glass is free on iOS and Android platforms.  Cheers!

They put 30,000 bottles of booze through this, just so you can tell if it tastes good.  Give Next Glass a shot.
(Image courtesy science.howstuffworks.com.)

New "Smart Lock" Lets You Phone Into Your Home

Sometimes it's the little developments that make all the difference.  In the course of your daily routine, how many times have your keys factored into making things difficult or, if you forgot them, downright unaccessible?  Now, a new type of lock enables you (and others that you choose) to have easier access without worrying about your keyring.

According to theverge.com, the August is a new "smart lock" that uses computer code as its key.  The code can be changed as often as you like for security, or shared for sociability.  If you're away on business and still need to let the dog walker in, you can text them the unlock-code, and then have it auto-destruct after a desired time.

All prospective thieves see is a shiny silver stop sign.
(Image courtesy core77.com.)

August co-founder and CEO Jason Johnson feels he is filling an important niche.  He explained, "The past two years I've been working on this, if there is a phrase I've heard more than anything, it's 'I hate keys.'"

Despite the lack of launch date, the August Smart Lock will retail for $199, and the compatible software will be free for consumers (although the company does plan to charge for business use of its program.)  It is compatible with iOS (and soon Android) devices via Bluetooth, and the development team has claimed it will eventually also be operable via your other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

It may take some time for the concept of a hackable (rather than pickable) lock to catch on, but as homes go further into everyday technological territory, it could become an attractive option.  Just remember to keep your phone charged, or you're sleeping on the porch.

Seriously, charge your phone.  Bowser doesn't like to snuggle.
(Image courtesy smith-wessonforum.com.)

Sky-High Five: New App Lets You Say Hi To An Astronaut

If you're a fan of the astro-adventurers who make their living by working on the International Space Station, a.k.a. possibly humanity's greatest collaborative scientific achievement, you've probably at some point wondered how they were doing up there.  Maybe it's because you feel a connection to their self-imposed earthly exile, maybe it's because you think they might be looking down over your city at the moment, maybe you just read a lot of our Space Station Sunday articles and feel a faraway friendship with these folks.  Whatever your motivation, the new Friends In Space app lets you chat with one of the human stars of space.

According to wired.com, the app was developed by Italian company Accurat and provides a host of spacewatching options.  You can track past, present, and future orbits of the ISS, chat with other stargazers, check out audio and video from the ISS, and see the astronauts' daily schedules.  But the coolest part is the connectivity:  when the ISS passes over your region, the app will alert you, and you can send a hello up to Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

"Like"!
(Image courtesy diregiovani.it.)

The idea was created when Accurat co-founder Giorgia Lupi was interacting on Twitter with Cristoforetti, who is currently serving as Italy's first female space station astronaut.  Cristoforetti, who has nearly 84,000 Twitter followers, agreed a social network for space might be a fun idea.  Lupi said, “She liked the idea of doing something that wasn’t scientific...something that reminded people on Earth that there is a human up there talking to them.”

Even though the astronauts can technically see all of us, it's nice for them to be reminded that we're still here supporting them.  And who knows what sort of fascinating posts may show up on this new space-based social media?  With lots of data available for fans and the whole world at the astronauts' hands, it will be interesting to see the daily grind from someone who is outside your normal social orbit.

They totally should have called it "Spacebook" though.
(Image courtesy Accurat.)