6th ‘Moon Man’ Edgar Mitchell died

6^th ‘Moon Man’ Edgar Mitchell died

West Palm Beach, Florida: Edgar Mitchell, one of just 12 human beings who walked on the moon, has died at West Palam Beach, Florida on Thursday, 4^th February 2016. He was 85. Edgar’s ex-wife, Anita Mitchell informed about the death of the Moon Man, NASA said.

His death occurred on the eve of the 45th anniversary of his lunar landing, which took place on February 5, 1971. Mitchell, Alan Shepard and Stuart Roosa were the crew of Apollo 14, which launched on January 31, 1971. Mitchell became the sixth man to walk on the lunar surface.

He and Shepard set foot on the moon two separate times during their mission, spending more than nine hours collecting rocks, taking measurements and (in Shepard's case) hitting a pair of golf balls. Mitchell also took a famous photograph of Shepard standing next to an American flag. All told, the two spent 33 hours on the moon.

Mitchell, who was the lunar module pilot, found the trip to be a profound experience.

"Looking at Earth from space and seeing it was a planet in isolation ... that was an experience of ecstasy, realizing that every molecule in our bodies is a system of matter created from a star hanging in space," Mitchell told the UK Telegraph in 2014. "The experience I had was called Samadhi in the ancient Sanskrit, a feeling of overwhelming joy at seeing the Earth from that perspective."

Fascinated and frustrated by the relationship between religion and science, he was very public about seeking links between the known and unknown.

He said he had conducted ESP experiments on the mission. He was also a believer in extraterrestrial activity, and was convinced UFOs had visited Earth.

"On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

"He believed in exploration, having been drawn to NASA by President Kennedy's call to send humans to the moon. He is one of the pioneers in space exploration on whose shoulders we now stand." Statement said.

NASA favours Women Astronauts now!

NASA favours  Women Astronauts now!

Washington DC: In 1962 National Aeronautics and Space Administration ‘NASA’  said that, it has no programme of recruiting women as Astonauts. But recently when the space agency announced its latest astronaut class, people were really excited because half of them were women.

Two and a half years on, Jessica Meir, 38, Anne McClain, 36, Christina Hammock Koch, 37, and Nicole Aunapu Mann, 38 are well into their training. Already Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams of Indian origin attained world-fame.
 

In 1962, one lady Miss Kelly submitted the application aspiring to become the astronaut.

Do you know what was reply from NASA? 

‘This is to advise that we have no existing program concerning women astronauts nor do we contemplate any such plan. ‘We appreciate your interest.’- This is the reply from NASA.

The newly recruited women expressed their joy  as under:

Anne McClain:   ‘No one cares about race or religion or nationality in space travel. We’re all just part of Team Human.’

Nicole Aunapu Mann:  ‘I’m probably one of the few astronauts who didn’t know that’s what I wanted to do as a kid. “Astronaut” seemed like a far-fetched dream.

‘It wasn’t until my first tour in Iraq flying fighter jets with the Marine Corps that I realized one day I might actually be a good candidate. Going into space will be the absolute coolest thing in the world.’

NASA appoints a new class of prospective astronauts around every five years, and competition is extreme with thousands of highly qualified astronauts applying.

The space agency said no quota was in place; they just chose the best candidates.

Six Astronauts created History

Six Astronauts created History 

By becoming First People to Eat Food Grown in Space

Washington:  Astronauts living at the International Space Station created history by taking their first bites of space-grown lettuce on Monday, 10th August 2015 in what scientists described as another step toward enabling human missions to Mars.

"That's awesome," exclaimed NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, after he ate a piece of red romaine lettuce that was grown in a special box aboard the orbiting outpost.

"Tastes good," agreed astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending one year at the research outpost.
"Kind of like arugula," Kelly added, then used a small bottle to spread olive oil and balsamic vinegar on his leaf, much as one might spread ketchup on a hot dog.

If space explorers can grow their own food while they are away from the Earth, NASA says they are more likely to survive the rigors of deep space exploration lasting months or even years.

With no way to resupply a spacecraft making a long journey to and from Mars, the ability to cultivate food during the trip will be key to survival, said Kelly.

"Having the ability to grow our own food is a big step in that direction," he said.

Ray Wheeler, NASA's lead scientist for advanced life support activities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, also said fresh foods that contain antioxidants, such as tomatoes, blueberries and red lettuce, "could have a positive impact on people's moods and also could provide some protection against radiation in space."

- Veggie experiment -

The red romaine lettuce was grown in a special plant-growing box called Veg-01 that was built by Orbital Sciences and was flown to space aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.

The seeds are contained in rooting pillows, complete with soil and fertilizer.

Since water cannot be poured in space, a special irrigation system delivers moisture to the plant pillows from below.

The seeds were "activated" by Kelly on July 8, and grew for 33 days.

Wearing blue gloves, Lindgren harvested the lettuce with tongs and then placed the leaves on a tray. He cleaned them with citric acid-based, food safe sanitizing wipes before handing them, in a Ziploc bag, to Kelly and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui.

They saved a couple of leaves for Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka, who were outside the station doing a spacewalk.

"They will eat half of the space bounty, setting aside the other half to be packaged and frozen on the station until it can be returned to Earth for scientific analysis," NASA said on its website.

A previous crop of lettuce was grown in space last year but was not eaten by astronauts. Instead, it underwent -- and passed -- food safety tests back on Earth.

View the video by clicking the photo above.