This week was jam packed with activity, as NASA has found an answer to its "Number 2" problem and SpaceX has gotten back into launching rockets into space!
Fixing the Number 2 Problem
In October 2015, NASA opened up a new challenge that got people raving. Eloquently named the "Space Poop Challenge", it encouraged people to help NASA figure out a way to help astronauts when they just gotta go. The winner of the competition, Air Force Col. Thatcher Cardon, won the competition with his idea of a “perineal access port”, something similar to a heart valve. For more information on the winning design and idea, check out this NPR article about the solution.
Breaking World Records
Dude Perfect isn't the only one breaking world records. Earlier this week, India broke Russia's record of launching the most satellites into orbit on one rocket. India launched 104 rockets this Wednesday; Russia's previous record was 39 in June 2014! If your mind hasn't been blown to bits yet, you may wanna get that checked, cause you may be a zombie. Of course, if you don't believe me because a certain orange fellow has made you lose trust in the media, here's the video of the launch. If you think Stanley Kubrick faked this, you should continue wearing that tin hat of yours. India is proving to the world that it too can launch rockets into space, a field once and still controlled by America. India also launches rockets for much cheaper than most rocket companies. Al Jazeera reported that in 2013, India sent an unmanned rocket to orbit Mars at a cost of just $73m, compared to NASA's Maven Mars mission, which had a $671m price tag. This competition of finding low-cost ways to go to space is great, because we get to see a lot more rockets go up.
SpaceX again?!?
Yep. The private space organization has stolen the weekend, and delayed the submission of this piece, yet again. After delaying its proposed launch on Saturday because of an issue with its upper-stage thrust vector control system, which allows the Falcon 9 rocket to maintain its velocity, it rescheduled its launch to Sunday, and boy the wait was worth it. Launching on the historic NASA's Launch Complex 39A, which has launched multiple Apollo missions, Saturn V rockets and the Space Shuttle, SpaceX sent a Dragon cargo ship with a robotic arm toward the International Space Station (ISS). And then 8 minutes later, rocket fanatics got what they were waiting for – the first stage landing successfully in Landing Zone 1. If you want to get caught up on the launch, check out the livestream that happened on Sunday morning.
