Certainly!

Here is a concise, factual summary of the International Space Station (ISS) Air Leak for your drama troupe, distilled into about 2000 characters.

This summary focuses on the real incident for your performance background:

---

**ISS Air Leak Report – Fact Summary**

An air leak on the International Space Station (ISS) refers to an incident where atmosphere inside the station slowly began to escape into space, raising concerns among space agencies and astronauts.

The most widely publicized ISS air leak occurred in late August 2018.

**When and How the Leak Was Detected:**
On August 29, 2018, ground controllers at NASA’s Mission Control and their counterparts in Russia noticed a gradual decrease in air pressure inside the ISS.

While small pressure changes are normal, continual dropping pointed to a possible leak.

The loss was minor (about 0.8 mm Hg per hour) but still significant enough to prompt an immediate response.

**What Led to the Leak:**
After careful investigation, the crew traced the leak to the Russian Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, which was docked at the ISS.

They found a 2-millimeter hole in the orbital module of the Soyuz vehicle.

Initially, there was speculation on whether the hole was due to a manufacturing defect, accidental damage from space debris, or even intentional sabotage.

The most credible reports suggest it was a drilling accident that occurred on Earth but was never properly fixed before launch.

**How it was Fixed:**
The astronauts temporarily patched the hole with tape and gauze, which slowed the leak.

Later, they used epoxy resin and fabric patches to provide a more durable repair.

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev, along with crewmates, performed a spacewalk in December 2018 to inspect the patched area from outside.

Their repairs successfully stopped the leak, and none of the crew were in danger at any point.

**Aftermath:**
The patched Soyuz capsule safely returned its crew to Earth in December 2018.

- Safe outcome for crew; no harm done.

Certainly!

Title:

Content: Skip to main content

Sending art to space: An interview with artist Micah Johnson

Micah Johnson made spaceflight history last month.

On July 28, the companies Nanoracks LLC and Artemis Music Entertainment beamed two pieces of art to the International Space Station: a recording of Claude Debussy's piano classic "Clair de Lune" and "Why Not Me," a visual work by Johnson featuring his character Aku, a Black boy who dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Both digital files circled Earth once, came back down and were minted as non-fungible tokens — the first-ever space-flown music and visual-art NFTs, respectively.

Photos: Building the International Space Station

"Why Not Me," a piece that shows Aku journeying to the moon, will be auctioned via the NFT marketplace Notables on Tuesday (Aug. 10), with the net proceeds going to the nonprofit organization Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). (The "Clair de Lune" NFT will go on auction at some point as well, with the winning bid also going to charity.)

Space.com caught up recently with Johnson, a former Major League Baseball player, to discuss his journey from athlete to artist, how Aku came to be and how the character, and space exploration, can inspire kids around the world.

The following conversation has been edited for length.

Space.com: You have a very interesting story — there aren't a lot of folks who go from being a major leaguer to a professional artist. How did that happen for you? Did you always have these kind of dual dreams growing up, and you just transitioned from one to the other?

Micah Johnson: Growing up, I never had dual dreams; I was so hyper-focused on playing baseball. Since I was very, very young — four years old — I had a one-track mind on baseball. But it's kind of funny, because my mom and dad didn't know anything about baseball, so we were always doing other things. My mom played piano, so I played piano and guitar and things like that.

Art came about in 2016 by just, I think, divine intervention. When I got traded to the Dodgers from the White Sox, Dave Roberts was the new [Dodgers] manager. And he had this routine where he'd call the new guys and the young guys up in front of the team, and they would have to introduce themselves and then say something that they enjoyed doing, like a hobby.

It came to be my turn, and I didn't want to say piano. Knowing Dave, he would probably roll a piano in — and I believe he actually did roll a piano in for somebody to play. Right before spring training, I did a paint-and-sip class, and that's the first thing that came out of my mouth — "l like to paint." They made me do a painting of [Dodgers legend] Maury Wills and present it to the team at the end of spring training.

So I went to Walmart or Walgreens or whatever it was, I got some cheap paint, and I worked on this portrait of Maury Wills. And I presented it to the team. The Dodgers at that time, like they usually do, had a bunch of superstars that I looked up to growing up, a lot of veterans. And so I was pretty nervous, but a lot of these guys came up to me afterward and told me how good it was or how talented I was, and how impressed they were.

That vote of confidence sparked something in me, and the rest of the year, I just painted. I was taking canvases on the road, drawing on the bus. That's really how it began.

Space.com: That part of your story is pretty inspirational in itself — you found this passion as an adult, almost by accident. That sort of thing can happen at any time, as long as you get a little encouragement, an experience like that.

Johnson: Yeah, exactly, and that's kind of what I've been preaching. That kind of encouragement, whether it's true or not — and that painting was awful; it wasn't a good painting at all — that kind of encouragement can go a long way for somebody. And how powerful those words are; words can be equally as hurtful. I don't see any point of saying hurtful things to somebody or discouraging somebody if you really see that they've put in the effort. It goes a long way, to show support. It can change someone's life.

Space.com; Yeah, it changed yours. And you're kind of paying that forward with Aku. Could you talk a little bit about where the character came from and what he represents to you?

Johnson: Really what Aku is becoming, a lot of it is like a diary of my life. I'm not the type of person that's going to go on the news or tweet about how great or how inspiring my story is. That's not my style. But Aku came from a question from my nephew — if astronauts could be Black. And I wanted to use Aku as a palatable character, animation that kids can resonate with and see themselves in.

I can kind of infuse a lot of the stuff I've gone through in the storytelling of Aku. I have achieved my dreams. I had a dream of playing Major League Baseball from a young age, and I did it. So I want to show that that's possible — anybody can do it, if you set your mind to it and work. And that's kind of what I'm trying to infuse in Aku.

Space.com: Aku recently went to the space station and back. How does that feel? You're the creator of the first NFT artwork that's been to space.

Johnson: It's crazy. It's absolutely mind-blowing. The people behind it — [angel investor] Andy Haas and [Artemis Music and SEDS co-founder] Bob Richards — they thought enough of my character to put the effort in to get Aku to the space station. And that's no easy task. I didn't know what was involved in sending a file to the space station — who does that? And when I realized what really went into it, I was like, "This is absolutely incredible."

Space.com: What do you hope this new Aku piece gets across to people?

Johnson: I wanted to get across that this isn't a billionaires' space race. I hope to demystify what it takes to become an astronaut, what it takes to work within the state space program.

I interviewed [NASA astronaut] Jeanette Epps a couple months ago — one of the coolest human beings I've ever met. I went in there super nervous, like, "Oh, man, I don't know anything about becoming an astronaut." And the way she broke it down was super palatable. I thought, "If only more kids could see that this is possible."

I hope that NASA looks at Aku as a character that can make space exploration and science more accessible. I hope they really do take that seriously, and not just because it's my character. He has a lot of potential to inspire a lot of kids. His going to the space station is truly remarkable, and hopefully many kids will see that, and it will be impactful.

Related: International Space Station: Facts, history and tracking

Space.com: NASA seems to be making it a real priority to diversify its astronaut corps. There have been more women and people of color coming into the corps lately. And with the upcoming moon landing, NASA has stressed repeatedly that one of those astronauts is going to be a woman. So it seems like there are some good things happening on that front, and maybe Aku can accelerate them.

Johnson: Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. And even if it's not being an astronaut, I hope the document can be a conduit to showcase what other professions exist inside NASA. Jeanette really opened my eyes to that. Astronauts have to lift weights, they have to train. And that's a job you can have within NASA and play a direct role in sending somebody to space.

I would love for Aku eventually to be that conduit, whether it's through educational programs with NASA or not. Because Aku is animated and faceless, he could be any kid.

My daughter watches "CoComelon" — it's her favorite show. And I think, "That could be Aku, showing the kids inside NASA, inside this sector of NASA." I really see that for Aku, and I hope that's the case.

Space.com: With the space exploration side of it — do you see space mostly as a backdrop to get that message across? Or do you have a passion for spaceflight, and that's how it got worked in?

Johnson: I never really had a direct passion for space exploration. It started off with trying to light the candle for my nephew, one individual person, to show them what's possible.

And then, as it grows, I believe that space has been seen as this thing that's unattainable. Like, you have to be a multibillionaire to go to space, or you have to be an astronaut from a very select, chosen group of people. So, for me, it started as, Space is a perfect example of something that seems unattainable but people do it. It's not any different than me playing Major League Baseball. A very, very small percentage of people play Major League Baseball, like a couple thousand people total in the history of the league, and it's a sport that's played all over the world. But I did that.

I'm using space as the candle lighter. It could be any dream.

Space.com: Have you talked to NASA at all about using Aku in their educational programs?

Johnson: Nothing formally yet, but I would love that. There are teachers using Aku in school right now organically, creating kind of lesson plans with Aku, and I've been engaging with them on a regular basis. It's truly remarkable the impact it's had on kids. A teacher texted me the other day and said he thought that the kids would forget about Aku over the summer. But they came back for school and were like, "Are we going to learn about Aku?" So I think that we can use this as a springboard to do a lot more innovative things.

Space.com: Do you know what's next for Aku as far as his story goes, or the next artwork? Do you already have that lined up?

Johnson: There are obviously a lot of moving parts — not just the creative storyline but also the other verticals that ground him in the real world, so I'm trying to juggle all that. I think it's just, keep putting out artworks while in the background working on the education and supporting educators who are using Aku right now organically with the resources they need or want. Doing that, and then working on a larger, more educational vertical.

Space.com: The net proceeds from the upcoming auction are going to go to SEDS. Why did you choose to do that?

Johnson: Bob Richards and Andy Haas approached me and told me about SEDS, and I was like, "This is perfect." They're trying to put an emphasis on expanding the SEDS programming to HBCUs [historically Black colleges and universities], and I said, "That's a no-brainer." I really hope this is just the starting point for a relationship with SEDS, and to be able to provide the resources.

Space.com: You mentioned that one of the messages you want to get across is that space is not just for billionaires. We've seen a lot of billionaire-space-race stuff over the past few months, with Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos going to space and Elon Musk building his giant Mars rocket. So people might think that this new era of spaceflight is going to be off limits to most folks. But that's not necessarily true, or at least it doesn't have to be. And that seems like a good message to get across now.

Johnson: Exactly right. A lot of it is going to come down to educating kids on what's possible, showing them that there are people out there that have done it before. There are a good number of black astronauts that have done it before. We need to educate the next generation so that they're not playing catch up again.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

SPACE.COM SENIOR SPACE WRITER — Michael has been writing for Space.com since 2010. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Here is a concise, factual summary of the International Space Station (ISS) Air Leak for your drama troupe, distilled into about 2000 characters.

Title:

Content: Art Destined for Space Has an Earthly Impact

Text size

Whether a painting or sculpture is made in orbit or forged on terra firma and launched to the stars, the minds creating the new genre of space-centric art are using this rare creative category to raise funds and awareness for important earthly causes.

With space quickly becoming both a tourism destination and an industrial commerce target, awareness of extraterrestrial art continues to grow among creators, buyers, and curators. Against the starry backdrop, Richelle Gribble co-founded Beyond Earth, an all-female artist collective to advocate for the planet’s biodiversity.

The group recently saw its first creation designed for space launched into the stratosphere—a sculpture built on Mars (or as close as Earthlings can come). Gribble served as an analog astronaut in a recent, all-female Mars mission simulation at HI-SEAS (the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation complex). While sealed within the habitat near Mauna Loa, Hawaii, as the mission’s science communicator and podcast host, Gribble tested and prototyped Living Light, a 16-foot sculpture designed by Beyond Earth to become the largest art installation to reach space.

“We teamed up with the spaceflight company Space Perspective to send the artwork up over 100,000 feet above Earth,” Gribble says. “Living Light combines biology, artificial intelligence, and aerospace technology to explore the connections between our planet and the boundlessness of space.”

According to Gribble, the Beyond Earth collective was founded in June 2019 with her partners, Elena Soterakis, director of creative productions, and Yoko Shimizu, director of technology and design.

“When I first met Elena in Brooklyn, she was running science art exhibitions and a biotech incubator,” Gribble explains. “I told her I wanted to train to become an astronaut and go to space so I could make art there. She was excited about that introduction and was inspired by it.”

A few months later, Soterakis contacted Shimizu, an artist and educator also working in New York. The Tokyo-born illustrator was exploring how gravity changes botanical growth.

“Elana realized she knew two artists that were really interested in space,” Gribble adds. “She thought this could make for a special platform to explore, and we decided to do collaborations based on the intersection of art, biology, and space.”

Gribble describes the three women of Beyond Earth coming together because of a need for more projects in space representing a feminine perspective. Their work is aimed at exploring the biodiversity of the planet to aid life on Earth.

After its launch, Living Light spent six hours in flight before descending back to Earth and landing in the ocean for recovery. Gribble’s HI-SEAS testing helped make sure the sculpture was resilient for space flight and tough enough to leave no debris in the environment upon its return.

“We’re now doing repairs on the piece to make sure it’s available for public view,” Gribble says. “We also want to share the story of how the work was created to amplify the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. The inner organs of the design represent the summation of more than 1,000 species of ocean life.”

Gribble and her partners hope the Living Light project captivates viewers’ imaginations—inspiring more exploration of both deep space and deep oceans.

“We have some interest from prominent museums to display the sculpture,” Gribble says. “We’re planning the logistics of all that now. We plan to house the space artwork at a museum with other pieces inspired by the project displayed worldwide.”

While the women of Beyond Earth built a sculpture bound for zero gravity, Nicole Stott used a tiny painting kit in 2009 to create The Wave, a compact masterpiece made aboard the International Space Station and delivered to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum as the first watercolor rendered in orbit. Stott, 58, spent more than 103 days high above the Earth during her five missions as a NASA engineer. Her view of Isla Los Roques, Venezuela, from the ISS inspired her historic brushstrokes.

Now a working artist, philanthropist, and public speaker, Stott works to build on her notable space creation to promote such causes as pediatric cancer and art education for children.

“When I was considering retiring from NASA and taking myself out of that line waiting to fly to space again, I wanted to find a way to share the spaceflight experience,” Stott says. “I just kept coming back to that painting. Art seemed like the best way to connect with people who didn’t know much about the space station or how an international community came about to use space exploration to make life better on Earth.”

Stott now uses paintings of what she experienced on her missions to engage communities in the world of space exploration. That endeavor brought her in contact with the Space for Art Foundation and the Spacesuit Art Program. Founded by artist Ian Cion, the latter began with children participating in the Arts in Medicine program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and grew internationally through the cooperation of the ILC Dover space-suit company.

According to Stott, the Spacesuit Art Project brings together artists, astronauts, cosmonauts, space exploration professionals, medical staff, and children in hospitals, refugee centers, and schools to paint decorated spacesuits—including four that traveled to and from the ISS.

“The start of my involvement with the Spacesuit Art program became the start of my next mission,” Stott says. “It allows me to combine the space exploration that I love, the art I want to do, and this aspect of healing with the kids.”

The program’s most recent suit, Beyond, includes artwork from at least one child in every country on Earth. Once completed, Beyond will participate in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow to represent “our place in the universe and the connection between personal and planetary health.”

This summary focuses on the real incident for your performance background:

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**ISS Air Leak Report – Fact Summary**

An air leak on the International Space Station (ISS) refers to an incident where atmosphere inside the station slowly began to escape into space, raising concerns among space agencies and astronauts.

Title:

Content: Brought to you by Newscorp Australia

Russia provokes uproar as strike skirts International Space Station

Andrew Backhouse, November 21, 2021 2:30PM

Print Article

The International Space Station currently has seven astronauts on board who were forced to take evasive action after the Russian missile strike destroyed one of its own satellites. The debris cloud has created an international political storm here on Earth. Picture: NASA/AFP

space

Reading level: red

Russia has admitted blowing up one of its satellites during a missile test, causing a space junk storm that had the International Space Station (ISS) on high alert. But it denied endangering astronauts on board the station.

The international space community has criticised Russia for conducting what the US called the “dangerous and irresponsible” weapons test, but Russia maintains the targeted strike posed no threat to the station.

However, NASA rejects this assessment and repeated Thursday that there remained increased risk to the facility and astronauts from the orbiting debris.

Russian spacecraft Tselina-Dsince had orbited Earth since 1982. After the Russian defence ministry first announced that the satellite had been destroyed, Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying: “The fragments that formed do not pose any threat to space activity”.

But the explosion created a debris* cloud that forced the International Space Station’s crew to take evasive* action.

The crew aboard the space station — currently four Americans, a German and two Russians — had to take shelter in their return ships, the standard “safe haven” alarm procedure in the event of an emergency that might force evacuation*.

This 2011 artist’s impression released by the European Space Agency shows the debris field in low Earth orbit, which extends to 2000km above the Earth’s surface. The destroyed Russian satellite has added at least 1500 new pieces of space junk. Picture: AFP

As a result of the explosion, there are at least 1500 new pieces of space junk orbiting the planet at high speed. Hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces of orbital debris could be created in the future.

“Over the next few weeks we will be able to establish high fidelity* tracking on this debris, which will help provide vital space surveillance* for secure and safe operations in space,” said LeoLabs Australia Managing Director and former Air Commodore Terry van Haren.

“If a deliberate act, this would be a very irresponsible action by the Russian Federation. At an altitude of 480km … (the) debris field will pose a significant risk to all operators for decades to come, including the International Space Station, which sits at 420km and Starling at 540km.

“It is probably at the worst altitude you could imagine, above the ISS at 420 km and just under where the mega-constellations* are setting up. What were they thinking?”

LeoLabs is closely monitoring the debris field via this Costa Rica Space Radar array. Picture: LeoLabs

In other words, the debris is dangerously close to the altitude of the famous space station. The ISS could be threatened every 93 minutes, according to Seradata, and it is likely the debris will be orbiting Earth for at least 10 years.

The Russian weapon was only the fourth ever missile to hit a spacecraft from the ground.

In a Pentagon briefing, spokesman John Kirby told reporters the US didn’t receive advance notice of the strike and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave Russia a verbal blast in response.

“We condemn Russia’s reckless test of a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile against its own satellite, creating space debris that risks astronauts’ lives, the integrity of the International Space Station, and the interests of all nations,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pictured in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 17, has roundly criticised the Russian weapons test in space. Picture: AFP

Flinders University “space lawyer” Professor Melissa de Zwart called it “particularly irresponsible” and its effect on the ISS “significant”.

The move reignites concerns about the growing space arms race, from the development of satellites capable of booting others out of orbit to laser weapons. In his strongly-worded remarks, Secretary Blinken said the danger was far from over.

“The long-lived debris created by this dangerous and irresponsible test will now threaten satellites and other space objects that are vital to all nations’ security, economic, and scientific interests for decades to come,” he said.

“Russia, despite its claims of opposing the weaponisation of outer space, is willing to jeopardise* the long-term sustainability of outer space and imperil* the exploration and use of outer space.”

The United States was discussing its response with partners, Secretary Blinken added.

Harvard astrophysicist* Dr Jonathan McDowell told AFP such tests amounted to “sabre rattling*”.

“The feeling among people in the space industry is that we have way too much debris up there already — to deliberately generate more is just inexcusable,” he said.

There are currently more than 4500 satellites whizzing around the planet, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, with companies like SpaceX planning to launch up to tens of thousands more, as the private space industry experiences rapid growth.

Russia is increasingly flexing its muscles in space as it seeks to reassert global influence under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

Under the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Soviet Union is increasingly flexing its muscles in space. Picture: AFP

“China and Russia are increasingly building space into their military capabilities,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said at a space seminar in Washington last week.

Despite these tensions, the United States and Russia have maintained strong space ties since the end of the Cold War, co-operating closely on the ISS, which they built together.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said he was “outraged” by the missile test.

“With its long and storied history in human spaceflight, it is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partner astronauts on the ISS, but also their own cosmonauts” as well as taikonauts aboard the Chinese space station, Mr Nelson said in a statement.

– with AFP

GLOSSARY

  • debris: remaining pieces of something that has been destroyed
  • evasive action: doing something to avoid potential danger
  • evacuation: urgent, immediate removal and departure of people to avoid an imminent threat
  • high fidelity: accurate reproduction of an effect
  • surveillance: observation, monitoring, scrutiny
  • mega-constellations: low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks in the hundreds and thousands
  • jeopardise: risk, endanger, threaten
  • imperil: see jeopardise above
  • astrophysicist: expert in study of stars and other objects in space using physical laws
  • sabre rattling: exaggerated show of power, a deliberate display of force or intent

EXTRA READING

Aussie rocket blasts off

Billionaire’s plan to build new space station

Australia’s historic first moon mission

QUICK QUIZ

  1. How long had the destroyed satellite orbited Earth?
  2. How many pieces of debris are now orbiting at high speed?
  3. How many astronauts are currently on board the ISS?
  4. What is the altitude of the debris field?
  5. How many satellites are currently whizzing around the planet?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Point of view
The US and Russia have very differing points of view about this event. Using information from this news story, write and then record yourself presenting two different 30 second TV news stories about the event. Version 1 should show how the event might be reported in the US and version 2 should show how the event might be reported in Russia.

Time: allow 40 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
Do you think that countries have the right to do whatever they want in space? Why or why not? What should the rules be? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Ethical Understanding

VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this story becomes part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this article is only Part 1. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Visual Arts; Visual Communication Design; Critical and Creative Thinking

Extra Reading in space

The most widely publicized ISS air leak occurred in late August 2018.

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Newington Middle School students chosen to help with experiment bound for space

Newington Middle School students chosen to help with experiment bound for space
INTRODUCE YOU TO THE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS WHO ARE HELPING THEM... THEY ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT SCIENCE. THE GRAVITY OF THEIR WORK IS NOT LOST ON THESE YOUNG STUDENTS. <SOIL ZOOM, 13:11-13:18 ARIANA METZGER / 6TH GRAR DE OUR SOIL FROM THIS TINY TOWN IS GOING UP INTO SPACE, TH AT VAST EXPANSE OF NOTHINGNESS.> MEET ARIANA AND JAKE... 6TH GRADERS AT NEWINGTON PUBLIC SCHOO L. THEY AND THE IR CLASSMATES WON A STATEDE WI COMPETITION... TO áHELP UNH MANCHESTER STUDES NT WITH áTHEIR EXPERIMENT... THAT'S BOUND FOR SPACE. THE COLLEGE STUDENTS... WHO GO BY 'TEAM COOKE'... WERE CHOSEN BY NASA TO SEND SOIL FROM THE GRANITE STATE TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. EVENTUALLY... THEYL 'L STUDY IT TO SEE IF BACTERIA IN THE SOIL MUTATES DIFFERENTLY IN SPACE... POTENTIALLY CRTIEANG NEW ANTIBIOTICS. THEY TURNED TO MIDDLE SCHOOLS TO FIGURE OUT WHE ER THE SOIL SHOULD BE COLLECTED. THAT'S WHERE THESE JUNIOR SCIENTISTS COME IN. <SOIL ZOOM, 11:09-11:17 JAKE POULIN / 6TH GRADER I JUST KIND EOFNJOY SCIENCE SOMETIMES. IT'S INTERESTING THAT WE HAD GOT A CHANCE TO SEND DIRT INTO SPACE.> THAT DIRT WILL BE COMING FROM NEWINGTON TN OW FOREST... THE OLDEST TOWN FOREST IN THE COUNTRY. <SOIL ZOOM, 6:39-6:43 NELS TOOKER / 5TH AND H 6T GRADE TEACHER, NEWINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL THE CONTROL WILL BE HEREN I OUR ASCLSROOM. THE EXPERIMENTAL SOIL WILL BE UP AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.> TEACHER NELS TOOKER SAYS THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE H AS BEEN A SPARKOR F HIS SCIENCE LESSONS. HIS KIDS MEET REGULARILY WITH TEAM OKCOE TO DO EXPERIMENT S. <SOIL ZOOM, 8:06-8:11 NELS TOOKER / 5TH AND 6TH GRADE TEACHER, THE LAUNCH IS SET FOR THIS FAL L. IT'S REALLY A FASCINATING STORY THERE'S MUCH MORE TO LEARN ABOUT EXPERIMENT BEING DONE BY UNH MANCHEST. ER LAST YEAR WE PROFILED THEM ON NH CHRONICLE...
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Newington Middle School students chosen to help with experiment bound for space
Some New Hampshire college students are working with middle school students to send soil from New Hampshire to the International Space Station.Students from the University of New Hampshire Manchester will study the soil bacteria.The gravity of their work is not lost on the young middle school students. Ariana Metzger and Jake Poulin are sixth-grade students at Newington Public School. They and their classmates won a statewide competition to help UNH Manchester students with their experiment that's bound for space.“Our soil from this tiny town is going up into space, that vast expanse of nothingness,” Metzger said. The college students who go by 'Team Cooke' were chosen by NASA to send soil from the Granite State to the International Space Station.Eventually, they'll study it to see if bacteria in the soil mutate differently in space, potentially creating new antibiotics.They turned to middle schools to figure out where the soil should be collected.That's where these junior scientists come in to help. “I just kind of enjoy science sometimes. It's interesting that we got a chance to send dirt into space,” Poulin said. The dirt will be coming from Newington town forest — the oldest town forest in the country.Fifth- and sixth-grade teacher Nels Tooker said the whole experience has been a spark for his science lessons. “The control will be here in our classroom. The experimental soil will be up at the International Space Station,” Tooker said. His students meet regularly with Team Cooke to do experiments. “They're driven, they're curious, they're creative,” Tooker said. “They're just amazing. Both Team Cooke and my own students.”Together, they could make an impact on science. The launch is set for this fall.The New Hampshire Chronicle profiled the project last year.

Some New Hampshire college students are working with middle school students to send soil from New Hampshire to the International Space Station.

Students from the University of New Hampshire Manchester will study the soil bacteria.

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The gravity of their work is not lost on the young middle school students.

Ariana Metzger and Jake Poulin are sixth-grade students at Newington Public School. They and their classmates won a statewide competition to help UNH Manchester students with their experiment that's bound for space.

“Our soil from this tiny town is going up into space, that vast expanse of nothingness,” Metzger said.

The college students who go by 'Team Cooke' were chosen by NASA to send soil from the Granite State to the International Space Station.

Eventually, they'll study it to see if bacteria in the soil mutate differently in space, potentially creating new antibiotics.

They turned to middle schools to figure out where the soil should be collected.

That's where these junior scientists come in to help.

“I just kind of enjoy science sometimes. It's interesting that we got a chance to send dirt into space,” Poulin said.

The dirt will be coming from Newington town forest — the oldest town forest in the country.

Fifth- and sixth-grade teacher Nels Tooker said the whole experience has been a spark for his science lessons.

“The control will be here in our classroom. The experimental soil will be up at the International Space Station,” Tooker said.

His students meet regularly with Team Cooke to do experiments.

“They're driven, they're curious, they're creative,” Tooker said. “They're just amazing. Both Team Cooke and my own students.”

Together, they could make an impact on science.

The launch is set for this fall.

The New Hampshire Chronicle profiled the project last year.

**When and How the Leak Was Detected:**
On August 29, 2018, ground controllers at NASA’s Mission Control and their counterparts in Russia noticed a gradual decrease in air pressure inside the ISS.

While small pressure changes are normal, continual dropping pointed to a possible leak.

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Content: Constellation Episode 2 Recap: Joanna's Escape Explained

By Klein Felt Posted:

Episode 2 of Constellation on Apple TV+ offered fans their first hints at the series' mind-bending premise.

Starring Noomi Rapace and Breaking Bad alum Jonathan Banks, Constellation is a head-spinning thriller following an astronaut who - after an accident aboard the International Space Station (ISS) - seemingly finds herself straddling two different realities.

The sci-fi thriller has dropped three episodes so far, offering fans just a glimpse at what is to come, as Noomi Rapace's Joanna is left alone on the ISS to fend for herself.

What Happens in Constellation Episode 2?

Constellation Episode 2 set up more reality-splitting subplots in the cold Swedish wilderness while also following Joanna as she completed her mission aboard the International Space Station.

On the Frozen Tundra

Episode 2 (titled "Live and Let Die") starts and ends in the same place as Episode 1 before it, following Noomi Rapace's central astronaut on a separate plane of action in a snow-painted Swedish landscape.

The episode starts with Joanna carrying her daughter Alice (played by Davina Coleman) through the snow with no recollection of how the young girl got there.

The pair enter the warm cabin from Episode 1, with Joanna drawing a bath for her hypothermic daughter.

This is when the series' signature shifts in reality start to happen yet again, with Joanna seeing two versions of Alice during this sequence. One is sitting calmly in the bath, which Jo can see in the mirror, and the other wakes up and walks into the living room from her bed-chamber.

This, of course, startles Joanna, as she races to see if the version of her daughter she placed in the bath moments earlier is still there. With the other pajama-clad Alice in tow, the former astronaut discovers that the bath is, in fact, empty and that version of Alice is gone.

Stranded in Space

The series then cuts back to the space station, where audiences left Joanna in Episode 1. Following an accident and the successful use of the mysterious matter-creating CAL device aboard the ISS, Jo is left on the in-orbit laboratory alone.

With only 6 hours and 45 minutes left of oxygen on the station, Rapace's Swedish astronaut is racing against the clock to finish her work on the ISS, replace the batteries on the Soyuz 1 evacuation capsule, and hopefully make it off the station without descending into madness.

This is when Joanna loses all contact with mission control on the ground, making her Earth-bound collaborators wonder if she is even alive up there.

On Earth, audiences learn more about the priorities of Jonathan Bank's Henry Caldera. The astronaut-turned-quantum physicist makes it known that he needs the CAL experiment device back on Earth as soon as possible.

The CAL device is Caldera's life's work, and - if it was successful in its mission of creating a new state of matter - he needs it now, even if that means sending up another team of astronauts just to retrieve it.

Back in orbit, Joanna is struggling. She has realized that for her to transfer batteries from the ISS to the Soyuz capsule, there simply is not enough time. This causes her to improvise a bit, tying together multiple battery cells to get the job done in as few trips as possible.

On her trip from one end of the space station to the other, Joanna hears a mysterious clanging. She goes to look and finds the severed arm of her now-deceased crew member Paul, who tragically died during the ISS accident seen in Episode 1.

She goes to grab the arm, and it inexplicably grabs back. For a split second, Joanna comes eye to eye with her fallen comrade before jumping back to the reality of the space station.

Welcome to the Party, Bud

Cut back to the ground, and audiences are introduced to Henry Caldera's brother Bud. After being referenced previously by the leader of the Russian Space Program Irene Lysenko (played by Barbara Sukowa), this is the first real look the series gives the viewer of Bud.

Just like some of the occurrences that have been happening to Joanna up in space, the connection between Bud and Henry seems a bit off. Bud (who is also played by Jonathan Banks) is a former astronaut who was a member of the Apollo missions of the 1970s.

Audiences catch up with him as he is aboard a space-themed cruise, of which he is a guest of honor. Bud is here to take part in a panel debate about whether astronauts ever actually went into space, and is visibly shaken hearing the news of Joanna and the accident on the ISS.

Having lost the rest of his crew during his mission to the moon, forcing him to navigate his way back to Earth on his own, Joanna's plight resonates with the retired astronaut.

The Journey Back to Earth

Following the short introduction to Bud, the series then jumps back into space. Joanna's minutes are numbered, and she knows it.

After hours of work, a few hallucinations, and completely losing contact with mission control, Jo finally gets power restored to the Soyuz 1 evacuation capsule.

With a fully charged shuttle, dwindling oxygen supplies, and the CAL experiment in hand (thanks to a recorded message from Earth instructing her to grab it), Joanna finally begins the undocking process of the evac capsule.

She flicks a few switches, does some calculations  - as her reentry will be unaided by mission control - and hits undock.

However, not everything goes to plan. As the capsule begins to undock from the ISS, one of the six bolts locking the vessel in fails to release.

This causes Joanna to panic. Looking at the manual, she discovers the only way to release the sixth and final docking bolt is within the space station, requiring two people to do so.

With the reality of the situation starting to set in, something mysterious and bizarre happens. Cutting to the interior of the ISS itself, audiences see a shadowing figure lumbering towards the bolt-release control panel.

Then, without explanation, the sixth bolt finally releases, sending Joanna on her path back toward Earth's atmosphere. As she looks back at the space station behind her, Joanna sees a corporeal shadow looking out the observation window back at her.

With no time to think about what just happened, Joanna sets off towards Earth, entering the atmosphere, and causing a full-blown search party to be deployed to find where her capsule has landed.

"You Forget How the Earth Smells"

Back on Earth, the mission control search party finds the downed astronaut and extracts her - along with the CAL device and the body of the now-dead Paul - from her mechanical confines.

Joanna is reunited with her husband Magnus and daughter Alice and is ready to start their lives again.

Before they can fly off to begin their recuperation, audiences see Joanna experience one more reality-blurring hallucination. Sitting aboard a military-style helicopter the exhausted astronaut reaches for her daughter and holds her for a moment only for her to quickly disappear and show back up again.

As the family flies away, Jonathan Banks' Henry Caldera is seen ogling over the CAL device. He takes a look at the results the ISS experiment yielded, and likes what he sees, observing what he calls some sort of interference effect, with the device possibly containing matter from two different realities.

To close the episode, the series cuts back to the snowy Swedish cabin seen at the start of Episode 2. Joanna continues to question the Alices that seemingly popped up out of nowhere, replacing the one she had set in a bath.

Not getting anywhere, Rapace's series protagonist, grabs the girl by the arm, declaring they need to find "other [Alice]" as they head out into the snowstorm on their mission.

Who Helped Joanna In Constellation Episode 2?

While Constellation Episode 2 offered up plenty of questions worthy of head-scratching, no detail will produce more theories than Joanna's escape from the ISS.

She should not have made it off the station after the Soyuz 1 capsule locked up during its undocking sequence.

Yet, something helped the thought-to-be-doomed Swedish astronaut.

The series clearly showed something aboard the space station despite Joanna very clearly being the last human on board.

There is no way of knowing, at this point, who it was that helped her out in her ISS launch, but there are a couple of theories for who it could have been.

The number one culprit is Paul. Yes, Paul died during the ISS accident seen early in Episode 1, but there is a possibility that a version of him is still present on the space station in some form.

As Joanna experienced when she grabbed Paul's severed hand during Episode 2, Paul could be stuck in the kind of reality-shifting limbo that Joanna seems to find herself in.

He was the only other astronaut present during the CAL experiment which looks to be the cause of Joanna's bizarre predicament. So who is to say that Paul also is not experiencing the same sort of strife and helped a friend out?

The other option for who it could have been is Joanna herself. If what is happening to Joanna (with her hallucinations and seeing doubles of various people/events) is her being stuck between two realities, then the person to hit that release button could have very well been another version of her that breached the interdimensional void as well.

Only time will tell, though, as Constellation looks like it is going to slow-play its biggest mysteries. One can only hope the answers are satisfactory when they do eventually come.

[ Constellation Apple Series Explained: The Meaning of the Show's Cryptic Plot ]

Constellation is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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- In This Article: Constellation
Release Date
February 21, 2024
Platform
Actors
James D'Arcy
Jonathan Banks
Noomi Rapace
Genres
- About The Author: Klein Felt
Klein Felt is a Senior Editor at The Direct. Joining the website back in 2020, he helped jumpstart video game content on The Direct. Klein plays a vital role as a part of the site's content team, demonstrating expertise in all things PlayStation, Marvel, and the greater entertainment industry.

The loss was minor (about 0.8 mm Hg per hour) but still significant enough to prompt an immediate response.

**What Led to the Leak:**
After careful investigation, the crew traced the leak to the Russian Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, which was docked at the ISS.

They found a 2-millimeter hole in the orbital module of the Soyuz vehicle.

Initially, there was speculation on whether the hole was due to a manufacturing defect, accidental damage from space debris, or even intentional sabotage.

The most credible reports suggest it was a drilling accident that occurred on Earth but was never properly fixed before launch.

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Content: Press "Enter" to skip to content

NASA celebrates winners of second MarsXR virtual reality astronaut training competition

NASA has revealed the winners of the second MarsXR Challenge, a crowd-sourced competition designed to create realistic training simulations and scenarios that could one day be used by astronauts preparing for human-lead missions to Mars and the moon. Three teams shared the $70,000 top prize this year, which focused on playable scenarios involving extravehicular activity on the surface of Mars.

This was the second year of the competition, which is a collaborative effort between NASA, HeroX, Buendea and Epic Games. Game developer Buendea is involved because of NASA’s extensive gamification work, and also because many of the winning scenarios this year almost seem like video games in that they involve exciting and unexpected scenarios taking place on Mars. Most of the winning scenarios also enable players to be scored like in a video game based on their crew’s effectiveness in completing each challenge. Epic Games contributed its Unreal Engine 5 graphical engine, which allowed for the creation of an incredibly realistic environment that mimics over 400 square kilometers of Mars almost perfectly. This includes full Martin days with bright orange hues of sunlight and cold nights filled with deep blues seeping across the landscape as the sun sets. The testbed also has realistic weather conditions happening across hundreds of square miles of virtual Martian terrain.

While the original challenge last year was more of a proof of concept, this year was more about creating realistic scenarios that future astronauts could actually one day use for training. For example, at a press conference last week with the winning teams, NASA officials suggested that the new scenarios might eventually be integrated with the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog — or CHAPEA — taking place at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The CHAPEA exercise has a crew living and working in a 3D printed environment that mimics a Mars habitat. NASA officials suggested that scenarios like the ones created in the recent MarsXR challenge could be used with VR headsets to allow CHAPEA volunteers to journey outside their habitat to perform various simulated missions on Mars.

The MarsXR challenge this year was divided up into two parts. The first challenged participants to create virtual reality scenarios by describing them using storyboards. The winning scenarios of part one were then submitted for use by teams in the second part to be made into actual, playable VR scenarios. All told, there were 3,700 participants this year divided up into 272 teams.

“We are thrilled by the growing success of NASA’s second challenge to support extravehicular activity research for the surface of Mars. The dedication and creativity of our innovator community have exceeded all expectations in this challenge,” said HeroX Vice President of Customer Success Kyla Jeffrey. “Our ongoing collaboration with NASA boasts a series of remarkable competitions that will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.”

The three winning teams this year included Team Overheat, which also won the challenge last year. They were joined by Team SpaceLux and Nataliia Savchenko’s Team. At the press conference last week, all three teams shared YouTube movies of their VR scenarios in action.

The winning scenario from Team Overheat this year centered around an understandable problem here on Earth: a broken down vehicle. However, if a rover breaks down on Mars, it can quickly become a life-threatening situation depending on how far away it is from a safe habitat. In the Team Overheat mission, crews must quickly load up repair tools and mount another vehicle for a quick rescue. Crews are rated on how efficiently they are able to get the broken down vehicle back up and running.

The winning entry from Nataliia Savchenko’s Team is much more peaceful. It involves having astronauts use some of the realistic tools they will be equipped with on a real Mars mission in order to look for interesting rock samples that have been previously spotted by drones or other surveillance tools. And because the Unreal Engine 5 is so realistic, it even involves having the rock collecting crews compare photographs of the area where the targeted samples reside on their tablets with the actual terrain to confirm their location. That is only possible because of the realistic nature of the VR landscape. Crews in the rock collection scenario are rated on their accuracy and the speed of their collection process.

The final winning entry from Team SpaceLux is more of a mini-scenario that is designed to be inserted into any larger mission to give astronauts a bit of a dangerous surprise. It involves a crew member whose spacesuit springs multiple leaks. With precious oxygen quickly draining out of their suit, it’s up to the rest of the crew to find and repair the leak before their partner passes out or dies from a lack of oxygen. At the press conference, members of Team SpaceLux said that their scenario presented a realistic situation that can happen at any time, and which future astronauts need to be prepared to face.

For example, imagine going out on a rock-collecting mission like the one presented by Nataliia Savchenko’s Team, and then experiencing a life threating emergency, something that is a constant danger on a planet like Mars. According to Team SpaceLux, being able to experience something like that in a VR scenario will make future astronauts more prepared for unexpected situations.

Both NASA and HeroX representatives said that the Mars challenges would likely continue in the future, although details about next year’s challenge were not yet available. NASA officials did say that they liked how this year’s Mars challenge was configured into two tightly integrated parts mutually supporting each other, and that future challenges would likely be similarly designed.

NASA has other non-Martian challenges ongoing right now as part of their NASA Tournament Lab. For example, one with a $345,000 top prize asks the public for suggestions about how to better manage vegetation growth clogging irrigation canals, while another with a $30,000 top prize is looking for ways to make commercial airplanes run more efficiently with less pollution.

John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of experience covering technology. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group that creates technological thought leadership content for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys

source: NextGov

**How it was Fixed:**
The astronauts temporarily patched the hole with tape and gauze, which slowed the leak.

Later, they used epoxy resin and fabric patches to provide a more durable repair.

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev, along with crewmates, performed a spacewalk in December 2018 to inspect the patched area from outside.

Their repairs successfully stopped the leak, and none of the crew were in danger at any point.

**Aftermath:**
The patched Soyuz capsule safely returned its crew to Earth in December 2018.

- Safe outcome for crew; no harm done.