astronauts

NASA had been refusing to allow its astronauts to carry iPhones for decades. For Artemis II you have made a historic decision

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Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator, has announced an important change for astronauts: the crew will be allowed to carry their personal smartphones. The objective is simple, to allow both photographs and videos recorded during space missions to be shared. what has happened. The publication has been informal and outside the official NASA press page. Via X, Isaacman has revealed that the crew of Crew-12 and Artemis II you will be able to fly with “modern smartphones”. “NASA astronauts will soon fly with the latest smartphones, starting with Crew-12 and Artemis II. We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and videos with the world. Equally important, we are challenging legacy processes and enabling modern hardware for spaceflight on an accelerated timeline. This operational urgency will serve NASA well as we strive to achieve the highest value science and research in orbit and on the lunar surface. This is a small step in the right direction.” Without detailing models or limitations, it makes it quite clear that soon we will see more than one iPhone flying over a ship far from our planet. What was happening until now. Historically, NASA has only allowed Nikon cameras (a Japanese company with which it has had an agreement for more than a decade) to be brought on board. Initially with some of their DSLRs, and recently with the Nikon Z9, the latest generation mirrorless authorized for Artemis. Because. For decades, NASA has operated under an extremely strict security framework for any object boarding a manned spacecraft. The devices must not interfere with critical systems, their batteries have to meet very specific requirements to minimize the risk of fire, they cannot contain materials that can fragment in microgravity and they must pass certification processes associated with an exact hardware model. For the first time, the agency will allow the use of mobile phones on a manned mission certified by its own procedures, marking a significant shift in how NASA evaluates and accepts commercial technology on board. When. The departure of Artemis II, after some delayis scheduled for the month of March. After several dress rehearsals, NASA is not prepared to return to the Moon, because of old ghosts like the complexity of liquid hydrogen. It will not be the first time that a modern mobile phone travels to space, but it will be the first time that its use is authorized within a manned mission managed directly by NASA. Until now, mobile phones and tablets had flown on SpaceX missions under more flexible operating frameworks, serving as a background to evaluate their behavior during the mission. In Xataka | When the United States decided to go to the Moon, it did so no matter what the cost. And that included 60% of all its chips

Four astronauts are going to undertake an unprecedented journey to the Moon. They have no intention of stepping on it

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After years of delays and rumors, NASA confirmed it finally: Artemis 2 will take off towards the moon imminently: it will be on February 6 when the team of astronauts formed by Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen returns to lunar orbit after almost 60 years. More specifically, it was in ’72 with Apollo 17. There is nothing left in the countdown for a 10-day mission full of doubts and some controversy. The previous steps. On January 17, NASA began the deployment of the enormous SLS rocket (Space Launch System) and the Orion capsule from the vehicle assembly building to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in a 6.4 kilometer journey carried out on a gigantic Crawler-Transporter 2 tractor in enormous logistics. Now that you are on the platform, the next step is the “Wet Dress Rehearsal” (something like the general rehearsal) where the cryogenic propellants are loaded to check that there are no leaks and a complete countdown is executed that stops just before ignition to validate the flight software and the synchronization of the ground systems. If all goes well, the launch window opens on the aforementioned February 6. The crew. POT The mission. Artemis II will not land on the Moon, but will instead perform a lunar flyby with the aim of testing the life support systems and manual maneuvering capabilities of the Orion capsule in the deep space radiation environment. In addition, the spacecraft will use lunar gravity to “propel” its return to Earth without major engine ignitions. The parallels with Apollo 8. Analogies with the veteran ’68 mission are inevitable since Artemis II will not land on the moon, but will instead perform a lunar flyby. On that mission, the astronauts were able to see and photograph the far side of the moon and now, the team will travel beyond its far side. Apollo 8 was launched at a time when the program’s lunar module was not yet ready for manned flight and with Artemis II more of the same. Thus, the first planned lunar flight of Artemis is called Starship HLS (Human Landing System), it is being developed by Space However, given the doubts regarding its development schedule, NASA has a plan B: hire another company. Why don’t you go to step on the moon?. In short, because it is not a lunar module and therefore, because it is not prepared for such a purpose. NASA Deputy Director of Mission Analysis and Evaluations Patty Casas Horn deepen: “Throughout NASA’s history, everything we do carries some risk, so we want to make sure that risk is sensible and only accept as much risk as is necessary, within reason. So we develop a capability, then we test it, then we develop a capability, then we test it. And we’ll land on the Moon, but Artemis II is really focused on the crew.” The program’s debut was Artemis I, which on a 25-day uncrewed mission orbited the moon in 2022. Now we are in the next phase: the first time there will be people aboard the Artemis spacecraft. The crew will transfer to the Orion capsule to move around the moon just before the SLS rocket launches Orion into Earth orbit. Horn explains that in this mission “we will test many new capabilities that we did not have available in Artemis I”, for example the comfort of people or collateral effects such as the humidity they add to the air, their needs for food, bathrooms or water. Wet Dress Rehearsal. POT What makes it unique. The crew intends to travel beyond the far side of the Moon, which could open the doors to a new record for the distance that humanity has traveled from Earth, a title that to this day boasts Apollo 13 with 401,000 kilometers. On the other hand, the SLS is the most powerful rocket in operational configuration, surpassing the mythical rocket in thrust. Saturn V of the 60s. Logically, it will also do so with cutting-edge technology, such as autonomous optical navigation systems or the Orion heat shield, redesigned after data from Artemis I, to protect the crew during re-entry at 40,000 km/h. Furthermore, in this mission NASA has remembered diversity to mark a milestone in the form of a trip beyond low Earth orbit for a woman, a Canadian and an African American because yes, there is life beyond the white American male cishetero In Xataka | It is now possible to book a hotel stay on the Moon for $250,000. Building it is still the complicated part In Xataka | We have been deceived by the distances of the Solar System: the closest neighbor to Neptune is Mercury Cover | POT

How China has managed to rescue its astronauts in record time when it took the US months

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Last year, Boeing starred in a space drama that kept the world in suspense: the Starliner crisis. After discovering leaks and failures in its propellers, NASA took months between deliberations, tests and safety meetings to finally decide that the astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams They would not return in their ship, but would wait for SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission to return. Now, China has faced a similar scenario that it has resolved in a few days. The haste has its explanation. A cracked window. The news broke on November 5. The Shenzhou-20 mission, crewed by Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, was preparing to return to Earth after six months at the Chinese Tiangong space station. However, during inspections prior to undocking, the astronauts detected an anomaly that so it was not made publicbut that we now know: “small cracks” in the external glass of one of the capsule windows. After analyzing photographs and running simulations in wind tunnels, CMSA (China Manned Space Agency) engineers determined that the damage had possibly been caused by the impact of micrometeoroids or small fragments of space junkcompromising the structural integrity of the ship. The conclusion put Chinese astronauts in a bind: the capsule “did not meet the conditions for a safe manned return.” The game of chairs in orbit. Unlike the International Space Station, the Tiangong space station cannot accommodate six astronauts for a long time, so the Shenzhou-20 crew had to be brought in as soon as possible. China always maintains a Shenzhou ship and a CZ-2F rocket ready to take off in case of emergency. However, on this occasion, the CMSA ruled out launching the new Shenzhou-22 spacecraft to bring back the three stranded astronauts because it “included instrument upgrades for which the outgoing crew had not been trained.” The solution chosen to bring the crew back was, therefore, to do so aboard the Shenzhou-21 ship that had arrived with three other astronauts two weeks earlier. A literal change of chairs (they had to move the adapted seats from one ship to another) and with a single sacrifice: leaving the three crew members of the Shenzhou-21 at the mercy of a compromised ship (the Shenzhou-20) in the event of an emergency. In summary. The three outgoing astronauts They landed safely on November 14 aboard the ship of his three incoming companions. The reason why this exchange of ships was faster than in the case of the Starliner or, a year earlier, the Russian Soyuz MS-22, was, on the one hand, that the Tiangong station is not yet large enough for six people to live in, and on the other, that the replacement ship was already there. What cost NASA months of risk analysis and public relations management with Boeing, China solved in a matter of days thanks to the availability of spacecraft. The logistical sacrifice is that the crew of the Shenzhou-21 (which will stay in space for six months) has had to give up their “lifeboat” until the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft is launched without a crew as a new return vehicle. The Shenzhou-20 will return empty to analyze its damage on the ground, if it ultimately survives re-entry. Image | CGTN In Xataka | The only photo you need to understand the scale of what Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, has just done

Insects have been traveling to space for decades. Now the ESA is studying putting them on the astronauts’ plates

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For years, many of us have thought of insects as something foreign to our table, but they have been part of space history for much longer than we imagine. Even before the first astronauts reached orbit, these small species they had already shown that could withstand the conditions of flight. Today, with long-duration missions on the horizon, the conversation has changed. Europe wonders if these animals, so nutritious and easy to maintain, could become a real option to feed those who live far from Earth. Why insects. Although they are still a culinary rarity in Spain, insects are part of the regular diet of billions of people. The FAO estimates more than 2,000 species consumed on different continents, valued for their contribution of protein, iron, zinc and beneficial fats. Their ability to develop with few resources and transform waste into useful biomass makes them an attractive candidate for controlled food systems. That is why several European teams are analyzing its nutritional potential and its viability in environments where every gram counts. What we know about microgravity. Research with insects in space has accumulated decades of datafrom early suborbital flights to tests at orbital stations. During this journey, different species have been tested, with very different results: some managed to complete essential phases of the life cycle in microgravity and others showed sensitivity to factors such as movement or radiation. This contrast has been useful to understand what biological mechanisms remain stable outside of Earth and what processes are altered even in very resistant organisms. What the ESA is looking for. The European team work with a specific idea: to know in detail how these organisms behave in key phases of their development when they spend prolonged time in orbit. The agency has brought together diverse profiles to study their ability to recycle nutrients and produce protein under controlled conditions, a line that already has candidate species such as the common cricket and the mealworm. This research aims to clarify what biological requirements should be met before considering its production in long-duration missions. Fruit fly habitat used for scientific research in space Although there is an extensive history of testing with insects, much of the results are scattered and come from short missions. The majority of experiments did not reach times that allow the complete life cycle of a species to be followed, an essential requirement to evaluate its use in long missions. Furthermore, many of these investigations are old and used different methodologies, making it difficult to compare them. That is why ESA is preparing new studies specifically aimed at measuring changes in reproduction, development and behavior in orbit. Drosophila model. NASA’s experience with Drosophila melanogaster has demonstrated its usefulness as a model organism to understand physiological changes in space. The agency highlights that it shares a good part of the genes related to human diseases and that its accelerated reproduction facilitates the analysis of several generations. He Fruit Fly Lab, installed on the International Space Station, it allows us to follow their behavior and freeze samples for study on the ground. It also incorporates a centrifuge that helps distinguish which effects depend on gravity and which are linked to space radiation. Astronaut James D. “Ox” Van Hoften examines a bee experiment From the laboratory to the menu. For now, the food use of insects in space missions continues to be a line of study and not an immediate application. Researchers need to check how they behave in prolonged phases and what it would mean to stably grow them in inhabited modules. Added to this is the challenge of transforming this biomass into safe, manageable and acceptable products from a nutritional and sensory point of view. Everything is moving in the direction of exploring options, not automatically incorporating them into the astronauts’ menu. Images | ESA | POT In Xataka | Astronauts’ food is not appetizing at first, especially in China

Three Chinese astronauts have delayed their return to Earth due to an impact on the ship. The suspect: space junk

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The crew of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, which was scheduled to land this Wednesday in Inner Mongolia, has been forced to postpone its return to Earth. The cause is not bad weather, as is usual in manned flights, but the most feared enemy of modern space exploration: a probable impact of space debris. Evaluating risks. China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) broke the news this morning: The return of the three astronauts aboard Shenzhou-20 has been delayed indefinitely following suspicions that the ship may have been hit by a small piece of space debris. The ship is still docked at the Chinese Tiangong space station, where the crew are safe. The crew and engineers on the ground are analyzing the impact on the ship to try to determine the extent of the damage and assess the risks of the return journey. The problem is reentry. Three people traveled to the Chinese space station in April aboard the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft: Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie. The problem is not his immediate survival, but the viability of his ship surviving the atmospheric re-entry maneuver after the impact. In low orbit, objects travel at hypersonic speeds of up to 28,000 km/h. At that speed, even a tiny fragment of metal or paint can release devastating kinetic energy, especially if it hits critical components like the ship’s heat shield or its parachutes. What do we know for now? The CMSA has not specified where it believes the impact occurred or what data alerted them to the event. Now, engineers on the ground and the crew in orbit will perform telemetry checks, check for possible leaks, and analyze the guidance and propulsion systems. They will most likely use the Tiangong station’s 10-meter robotic arm to conduct a detailed visual inspection of Shenzhou-20. If necessary, an extravehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk is not ruled out to assess the damage closely. A problem that China was trying to avoid. The irony of this incident is that the Shenzhou-20 crew itself is fully aware of the danger. In fact, part of its six-month mission in orbit focused on mitigating this risk. Two of the astronauts six hours passed in September by installing additional protective shields against orbital fragments outside the Tiangong station. Although they reinforced the station, the impact seems to have occurred in the way that would bring them back. Image | CMSA In Xataka | Three large pieces of space debris reenter every day: “one day our luck will run out and they will fall on someone”

Chinese astronauts have spent six hours reinforcing tiangong against an increasingly dangerous enemy: space garbage

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The night in orbit just leaves truce. In low orbit, the Tiangong Space Station It becomes the scene of a constant activity that requires millimeter precision. In the last extravehicular exitChinese astronauts had to face a challenge that does not come from technical failures or scientific experiments, but from a silent enemy that multiplies the risks of each mission: the Space garbage which accumulates in the low terrestrial orbit and threatens to hit the structure of the complex. The schedule of China’s manned flight agency places the start of extravehicular activity on September 25 at 19:45 (Beijing time), with Wang Jie as the first astronaut to leave the Wentian module. It was followed shortly after Chen Zhongrui, in charge of attending the installation of the equipment. Chen Dong, from inside Tiangong, managed communications with the control center and supported his teammates throughout the maneuver. The walk concluded at dawn, at 1:35 of September 26, when the two crew closed the hatch after completing the planned agenda. The maneuver was carried out with support from the robotic arm of the station and the team on land. Sludes against fragments: Tiangong’s strategy to resist in space During the walk, the main objective was to install a protection device against Orbital fragmentsdesigned to reinforce the most exposed areas of the station. The operation also included the review of the state of external equipment and structures, with special attention to the systems that suffer greater wear due to continuous exposure to the spatial environment. According to those responsible for the programthis combination of installation and maintenance seeks to ensure that Tiangong maintains its operational capacity in the middle of an increasingly saturated environment of remains. The increase in spatial garbage in the low orbit is one of the factors that most worries agencies in recent years. Each launch adds fragments that, although small, reach speeds that multiply their damage. For China, reinforcing Tiangong does not respond to a specific incident, but to the need to get ahead of an increasingly complex scenario. China is not the only one that has had to reinforce its station in the face of the threat of orbital fragments. The International Space Station Specific armor systems for years have beenknown as anti-mmod shields, which protect their habitable modules from impacts from Micrometeoritos and space garbage. The difference is in the context: it is an infrastructure with more than two decades of service, which has needed to adapt continuously to an increasingly congested environment. In the ISS, this philosophy materializes in shields in Whipple and Stupfed Whipple layers, with several hundred shields distributed in critical areas. The comparison between Tiangong and the International Space Station helps to understand the scope of its protection systems. The Chinese station completed its construction in 2022 with a T configuration formed by the Tianhe, Wentian and Mengtian modules. The ISS, on the other hand, began to assemble in 1998 and ended its main segment in 2011, with a much broader and more complex structure. This difference in dimensions and seniority explains why its shields follow different logics: ISS combines protections included from its design with reinforcements added over the years, while Tiangong integrates solutions designed from the beginning for a more congested environment. The closure of this extravehicular activity does not imply a break, but the beginning of a new stage for the Shenzhou-20 mission. The three astronauts They will continue with numerous scientific experiments and technological tests, in addition to participating in on -board celebrations linked to the Chinese calendar. The installation of additional shields has a clear objective: to hold over time the crew safety and the integrity of Tiangong, which aspires to consolidate as a stable basis for space research in the midst of a more demanding orbital environment. Images | Xinhua In Xataka | 24 years ago, the earth was symmetrical. Now the northern hemisphere is “unequivocally” darker than the southern hemisphere

Space station astronauts have made sushi. In Japan they would open a war advice, but it is fantastic

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Sushi and ramen are to Japan what the potato tortilla –With onion– Or Paella to Spain: a sign of cultural identity. They have more complex origins than we think: while ramen derives from Chinese cuisine, Sushi was born as a conservation technique before transforming into a gastronomic icon. To such an extent that to International Space Station Astronauts He has given them to prepare Sushi with what they had at their disposal. It has come out regular, but at the same time it is fantastic. Space food It is not a secret that space food You must have very specific characteristics. It is mostly lyophilized And it is thermosellated. Before consumption, the one that is not ready to consume, must be rehydrated and any food and ingredient that enters the season You must meet a series of both security and cleaning requirements. Conservation is also very important for obvious reasons And, although we can think that it is not good, The problem is usually astronauts. When cooking (among many quotes that cook), an ingredient as important as the food and condiments of the station is the double -sided tape. In numerous videos We have seen how ingredient boats such as honey or simple scissors are glued with that tape to the station surfaces. Sushi at the space station. Occasionally, one of the US members decides to surprise his companions cooking something out of the menuand Jonny Kim’s attempt has been one of the last examples. NASA American and Astronaut, hung A few weeks ago a photo in which a tray could be seen with an attempt at Sushi. To do this, they used precooked rice, fish, spam (A canned meat mark) and a touch of GOCHUJANG (A spicy paste based on rice and chili) and Wasabi. The humidity kept the ingredients glued, but for the tray and the rest of the elements, they used the aforementioned tape. Nostalgia. It is not the most appetizing sushi in the universe and, surely, Japan would have some questions for the architects of this culinary crime, but there is a great “but”: as on earth, this space sushi served for one thing: unite the members of the station. Up, despite fellowship, loneliness must be quite present and one of the astronauts commented that he missed the sushi. That gave them an idea: see what they had in their personal provisions to see if they could elaborate something similar. The result is obvious (rice with things on top), but the important thing is that “the result was a great meal,” as Kim points out, and served to foster that feeling of companionship and reduce, a little even if it is, that nostalgia. Nori algae. In X, someone He pointed out What would have been great to use Nori algae To wrap the sushi, but that he understood that it should be difficult to need a dehydrated version of it and that it would not be nice to have algae scales floating around. Kim replied that, in fact, they have Nori, but it is an ingredient that is part of the space orders that, with a limit, can do. And that he had run out of the ingredient. On the problem of the scales, everything is designed: “The crumbs accumulate in the air entry filters, which are aspired every week.” It is not the first time. It is a beautiful gesture, but it is not the first time that sushi is made at the station. It was not a photo, but a complete video that the Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi put on the chef’s hat for prepare A somewhat more “traditional” sushi with tuna, Nori and frozen scallops that had risen on board that intention. The reason for that elaboration was the same as that of this summer: surprise his teammates, take care of those ties and make the stay to thousands of kilometers of his homes is somewhat more cheerful. Also One way that missions are more bearable. In Xataka | Until the 90s nobody in Japan ate sushi with raw salmon. Until a marketing campaign changed everything

Four astronauts were chosen in 2023 to see parts never seen from the moon. The wait is coming to an end

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After A long delayNASA’s Orion ship is practically ready for the first human flight to lunar orbit in more than half a century. American astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen are the four chosen to see the moon from an unprecedented perspective. What they don’t have yet: a definitive date. The Artemis II mission flight plan The first Crewing Mission of the Artemis program It is the equivalent of Apollo 8 in the new lunar race. Artemis II is not a mission of alunage, but an overflow of the moon with the crew as a novelty of the system. His main objective It is validating that the Orion ship and its rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), are safe to transport astronauts to deep space. The flight plan of about 10 days begins with a takeoff from Florida and two laps to the earth. The first orbit will last just 90 minutes. The second, much more elliptical, will be extended for almost 24 hours, leading to the crew at an altitude of more than 74,000 km to test the life support systems before flying to the moon. With all verified systems, the Orion Ship Service Module, a Contribution of the European Space Agencywill turn on its engine for a translunar injection that will drive the crew on a four -day trajectory to the moon. The four astronauts will pass about 7,400 km from the hidden face of the moon, traveling farther from the earth than any human being before them. From that point, they will see the moon in the foreground and our planet as a small blue marble to almost 400,000 km away. Thanks to a “free return” trajectory, the severity of the earth and the moon will be responsible for attracting the Orion ship back home without the need for large motor lit, a trip of another four days that will culminate with a meritorious with parachute in the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, They will beat the highest speed that has ever reached The human being. Four astronauts waiting since 2023 In April 2023, NASA He presented the world The four astronauts selected for the Artemis II mission. On the part of NASA, a veteran trio will travel that includes Commander Reid Wiseman and the pilot Victor Glover (both with experience at the International Space Station), as well as the Mission Specialist Christina Koch (the woman who holds the longest space flight record). On the part of the Canadian space agency, which is NASA’s first partner to participate in a manned mission of the Artemis program, the Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen will go, for whom Artemis II supposes his first trip to space. When these four astronauts were selected, Artemis II was scheduled by the end of 2024. The objective date is not before April 2026. The main reason for the delay is the Thermal shield of the Orion shipthat he did not behave in the expected way in his debut mission. While Artemis I was declared a success, the inspection of the Orion capsule after his return in 2022 revealed something disturbing: the thermal shield had lost great pieces of its protective material. After months of research, NASA identified the cause in December 2024: During the reentry, the gases generated within the ablative material of the shield could not escape correctly, accumulating pressure and causing some parts to detach. Artemis I was a mission without crew, but the phenomenon was not foreseen in the models of their engineers. This problem, together with other technical challenges in the battery and circuits of the life support, led NASA to Read the calendar a couple of timesdelaying Artemis II as of September 2025 and, subsequently, to the current date of April 2026. Everything is already perfectly rehearsed Far from being bored at home, the last days have been a frenzy of trials for the four astronauts. In early August, their costumes entered and entered together in its Orion capsule. Within the ship, already loaded with fuel, they connected to the life support systems and communications, simulating the conditions of the launch day. A few days later, the Orion capsule was transferred to the assembly building Where on August 27 they finished installing the launch abortion system, an escape tower designed to move away the rocket crew in case of emergency. That type of emergencies is also rehearsed. In June 2025, NASA and the United States Department of Defense They made large -scale rescue drills On the Florida coast. Helicopters, rescue paratroopers and recovery equipment practiced how to extract the crew of the capsule in the sea in the worst stage. In Houston, the mission control center has also released facilities. On August 15, the New Orion Mission Evaluation Rooma space where dozens of NASA engineers and its international partners will monitor each data of the ship during the flight. A few days later, they were already doing complete simulations from the new room. Although the main objective is technical, Artemis II will also be a scientific mission. The crew can see the moon from a unique perspective that no one has seen before with their own eyes. And for that reason he has received Intensive geological formation To make the most of the overflow. Although they will not step on the moon, they could be the first humans to see with their own eyes certain regions of the hidden face, such as the Eastern basin. And they have the important task of photographing impact craters and old lava flows, describing textures and colors to help scientists on land to plan the Artemis III mission, the first one that will step on the moon since 1972. If China He doesn’t get it before. Images | POT In Xataka | When the first human being stepped on the moon we all believed that he had abandoned the “earth.” We were wrong

We believed that astronauts from the Apollo missions left the earth. Actually, they did not completely abandon the atmosphere

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The idea that space begins where heaven ceases to be blue is a story for children. Decades of scientific research show that the Earth’s atmosphere It is much bigger than it was believed. Not even the 12 people who stepped on the moon abandoned at all their influence. Where the earth ends. As Explain the expert in heliophysics From NASA, Doug Rowland, there is no clear border. “The atmosphere does not stop at Everest, or where the planes fly. It continues and continues, becoming less and less dense as you go up.” The International Space Station, which orbits our planet about 400 kilometers high, experiences sufficient air resistance to need a periodic impulse. Otherwise, it would fall back to earth. But the real surprise came after Decades of Observations of Soho (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), a joint mission of ESA and NASA. To the moon and beyond. A study Based on data from the Soho Observatory, he revealed that the outermost layer of our atmosphere, a faint cloud of hydrogen atoms called Geocorona, extends up to 630,000 kilometers, almost twice the distance from the earth to the moon. When astronauts from the Apollo 16 mission installed the first telescope on the moon in 1972, they captured an image of the geocorone shining in ultraviolet light. What they didn’t know was that they were still inside her. In words of Igor Baliukinmain author of the study: “The moon flies through the atmosphere of the earth.” Oxygen on the moon. The presence of the earth on the moon is not limited to hydrogen. Earth oxygen also arrives at our satellite. It occurs for about five days a month, when the moon passes through the Magnetocola of the Earth, the magnetic tail of our planet. Every time it happens, Oxygen ions are accelerated to the satellite and are embedded in the lunar soil. Researchers believe that this process has occurring 2.4 billion years, which means that lunar regolite could keep a record of the evolution of our own atmosphere. The “official” border of space. The Atmosphere is divided into layers: Trophosphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, termosfera and exosphere. The latter, the exosphere, starts about 700 kilometers high and merges with the solar wind about 10,000 kilometers. But their particles are so scarce and so scattered that they can escape towards space. The “official” border of the space is, by convention, the line of karm, located 100 kilometers from altitude. It is considered the point at which traditional aeronautics is no longer possible due to lack of air. However, the geocorone, the luminous part of the exosphere, is the proof that the atmospheric influence of our planet comes much, much further. Image | POT In Xataka | The most prolific astronomer in the world is a complete stranger. Has discovered half of the moons of the solar system

Persees fall so fast to the earth that only three astronauts have managed to photograph them “from above”

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How do you see a fleeting star from the International Space Station? If it is already difficult to capture the persistent here, Although there are guides for itdo it from space, moving to 27,600 km/h, when the persistes pass that speed to eight times and burn in a second, demands patience. But at least three astronauts have achieved it: two Americans and one Russian, each with a very particular style. Image | Ron Garan, Nasa Ron Garan. The former NASA astronaut, flight engineer of expedition 28, took this photo on August 13, 2011, during The meteor rain of the Perseids. The International Space Station was flying over China, about 400 kilometers northwest of Beijing, when Garan managed to immortalize the flash of a persistent burning in the earth’s atmosphere. The photo was no accident. The astronaut had placed himself in the ISS dome with his fair camera during the Perseidas Activity Peak. The green and yellow glow that is perceived between the earth and the emptiness of space is the luminescence of the atmosphere: atoms and molecules that are excited with sunlight during the day and release this energy at night. As for the intense blue brightness under the solar panels of the station, it is dawn. Image | Scott Kelly, Nasa Scott Kelly. Known for spending a year in space to compare with his twin brother Mark, former American astronaut also took advantage of expedition 44 to take pictures. On August 12, 2015, Kelly achieved an image of the stelae left by the Perseids in the long exhibition photos. In the absence of Luna, the starry sky stands out almost more than our planet. From the perspective of the International Space Station, which orbits the Earth to about 400 kilometers of altitude, meteors such as Perseids go underneath, heating up to incandescence. The bright grains of dust travel about 60 kilometers per second, disintegrating about 100 kilometers on the earth’s surface. Image | Oleg Kokonnko, Roscosmos Oleg Kononenko. The Russian cosmonaut, which has traveled five times to space and is the person who has spent the most days out of the earth (1,111), He also has his photo of a Perseida. He took it on August 9, 2024 from the International Space Station. And although the city of the background is a bit climbing, the detail with which he managed to capture the fleeting star makes it an iconic image. It is believed that it is perseiled for the date. These meteors are particles expelled by the Swift-Tuttle comet throughout their orbit, which is close enough to the earth on these dates to be dragged by the gravitational field of our planet. The Pico de Activity occurs in mid -Augustbut you can see the persistes from the end of July to the beginning of August, full summer in the northern hemisphere, which makes them the most popular meteor rain to this side of the world. Image | Scott Kelly, Nasa In Xataka | Emptied Spain is an ideal place to see the Perseids: we have some ways to find the ideal place

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