To date, all Mars landings have been done without crews, but NASA is planning to send humans to Mars by the late 2030s. And it’s not just government agencies that are planning missions to Mars—a number of private companies are getting involved, too. Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has a long-term plan to build an entire city on Mars. Two other aerospace startups, Impulse and Relativity, also announced an unmanned joint mission to Mars in July 2022, with hopes it could be ready as soon as 2024. As more players are added to the mix, the pressure is on to be the first company or agency to truly make it to Mars. If (or when) we reach that point, what’s next is anyone’s guess. More https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/every-mission-to-mars/

HOUSTON – History will be made when four all-private astronauts make their way on the first all-private mission to the International Space Station as part of Axiom Mission 1. Behind that historic mission is a Greater Houston-based company, working on big plans to develop commercial activity in space. Axiom Space moved into its Clear Lake headquarters last year and is steadfast in its goal to build the world’s first commercial space station to attach to the International Space Station (ISS). Their Axiom Space teams from engineering to administration said they are proud to be in Space City. Axiom Space is a leading aerospace company with strong Houston connections. Located off Hercules, in Clear Lake, the company is behind the historic mission that will send Axiom’s Michael López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut with more than 40 years of aviation and space experience along with entrepreneur Larry Connor, Mark Pathy a Canadian investment CEO and Israeli investor Eytan Stibbe. López-Alegría has had a long history of experience with the U.S. Navy and NASA in a variety of roles including Naval Aviator, engineering test pilot and program manager, NASA astronaut, and International Space Station commander and holds NASA records for most extravehicular activities (EVAs) or “spacewalks” (10) and cumulative EVA time (67 hours, 40 minutes). More https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2022/04/05/axiom-prepares-for-private-space-mission/

The global space economy grew last year at the fastest annual rate since 2014, according to a report by the Space Foundation. Total output by the world's governments and corporations in the realm of rockets, satellites and more expanded by 9% year-over-year, the report found. Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor told CNBC that the space economy is expected to weather market volatility and macroeconomic pressures, and continue growing this year. More https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/07/27/space-economy-grew-at-fastest-rate-in-years-in-2021-report.html

We may also see sports move into the space environment simply because of pure curiosity, and the human drive to discover. Perhaps the entire realm of sports will change as we evolve into space, and new unimaginable games will take advantage of the zero-G environment better than trying to adapt any of our Earth-based sports to it. (Brandon Weigel, 2017) More : Monthly Newsletter of Sports Economics : Ekospor - Issue #16 Space & Sport https://www.getrevue.co/profile/ekospor/issues/monthly-newsletter-of-sports-economics-ekospor-issue-16-space-sport-1204572

The Tokyo Olympics have ended, but the astronauts aboard the International Space Station have decided to have their own special Olympic Games - space style! Two crews - or should that be two teams - competed in zero gravity. Competitors included American astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Katherine McArthur, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. The teams were called Dragon and Soyuz - which are also the names of the spacecraft that carried astronauts to the ISS. The four-person Dragon crew travelled to the station aboard SpaceX's Capsule back in March. Meanwhile team Soyuz included Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy as well as American astronaut, Mark T. Vande Hei who travelled to the station aboard the Russian craft in April. More https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58148950

Usain Bolt sprinted through thin air as he enjoyed near zero-gravity conditions in an aircraft performing stomach-turning dives. The eight-time Olympic gold medallist floated around in a special plane called the Airbus Zero-G, which is normally used for scientific research. He called it a "mindblowing" experience. Bolt, taking a break from trying to be a professional footballer, won the race so perhaps he can claim to be the fastest man on the earth and in the air too. More https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/45508693

Monthly Newsletter of Sports Economics : Ekospor - Issue #16 Space & Sport By Prof.Dr.Sebahattin Devecioğlu • Issue #16 • View online We may also see sports move into the space environment simply because of pure curiosity, and the human drive to discover. Perhaps the entire realm of sports will change as we evolve into space, and new unimaginable games will take advantage of the zero-G environment better than trying to adapt any of our Earth-based sports to it. (Brandon Weigel, 2017) https://www.getrevue.co/profile/ekospor/issues/monthly-newsletter-of-sports-economics-ekospor-issue-16-space-sport-1204572

Extreme trampoline, a mountain on Mars, underwater training: A race to bring new sports to the next (zero-gravity) frontier gets creative.             Now that space tourism has arrived, the next frontier is in view: space sports.  Pursuits from space soccer to Martian mountaineering are already in early planning stages. “People going into space are competitive thrill-seekers,” says Allison Dollar, co-founder of the Space Tourism Conference, an annual event organized for the aerospace, design and entertainment industries by the nonprofit Space Tourism Society. “The novelty of pondering Earth from the stars will at some point wear off—it’s only natural that we evolve to have sports in space.”                        The space travel and tourism market—including suborbital and orbital rides at six figures per seat, stratosphere balloon flights, simulated zero-gravity flights, and long-haul journeys—will be worth $23 billion by 2030, financial-services company UBS estimated in a 2019 report. John Spencer, founder of the Space Tourism Society, foresees outer-space yacht races with mini spaceships and lunar-buggy derbies in the decades to come. “The people investing in space right now are looking for the newest, coolest things to do,” he says. “Sports are going to be a big part of space evolution. When you look at the sponsorship money that goes into the NFL or NBA, this is a no-brainer.”                          With space sports in development, real live-streamed games will follow, he predicts. Space stations could become larger and include stadiums. Or the venues may look completely different. Ken Harvey, a former linebacker for the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) experienced weightlessness in 2008 aboard a flight with Zero Gravity Corporation, an Exploration Park, Fla.-based company that operates flights from airports in the U.S. He says his initial reaction was: “This is cool, but what do you do when you get bored?” This inspired him to devise a game that could be played in space. Called “Float Ball,” his vision combines elements of football, dodgeball and basketball and involves teams moving balls of various colors to a total of four goals at either end of the playing venue–be it a spaceship cabin or custom space arena. He’s working with Linda Rheinstein, founder of the privately funded Space Games Federation, to develop the game. The idea of zero-gravity athletics has a long history. Astronauts strap themselves to treadmills for two-plus hours a day while in orbit to avoid bone loss due to the lack of gravity. Sports as recreation have also been attempted in less-than-serious forms. In 1971, Apollo 14 Commander Alan Shepard teed off on the surface of the Moon. In his pressurized space suit, he could only swing the golf club with one hand. Yet the slow half-swing sent the golf ball flying around 600 feet. In 2014 and 2018, astronauts and cosmonauts celebrated the FIFA World Cup by testing their soccer skills aboard the International Space Station. Those early stunts made clear that some of the world’s most popular sports don’t translate when you remove or reduce gravity. Ms. Rheinstein. whose career in television sports graphics earned her a place in the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, says she founded the Space Games Federation in 2014 with the aim of developing new competitive sports designed to be played in zero- or micro-gravity. “Right now, space is a billionaire boys club,” she says. “I hope one day sports can democratize space, providing access for both ‘astroletes’ and spectators.” In 2019, the group launched a crowd-sourced competition to develop original games designed to be played in space. A global vote on the organization’s web site narrowed submissions, and the federation on Friday announced five winners, including “Inno”—a game that involves trampolines and Velcro-padded walls with the aim of bouncing balls through the opposing team’s goal—and “Space Ball,” a riff on basketball with the objective of getting a magnetic ball through a hoop of the same polarity. The winners will split a $5,000 cash prize and have their ideas fine-tuned on gravity-free parabolic flights affiliated with the Space Games Federation in hopes of ultimately becoming the basis of space sports leagues, Ms. Rheinstein says. She is also working to develop Earth-based spatial-awareness training programs for what she calls astroletes. One of the first is a collaboration with Greg Roe, a Canadian expert in extreme trampoline, which involves seemingly gravity-defying jumps and maneuvers. The Underwater Torpedo League, a group of clubs in the U.S. that play what is essentially underwater football, using a hydrodynamic ball resembling a mini torpedo with fins, have also been training aerospace professionals. “The pool is a low-gravity environment similar to space,” says Underwater Torpedo League performance coach Jamie Tyler. “We teach coping strategies to perform optimally in underwater environments where sensory and proprioceptive cues are somewhat distorted, similar to space environments.” The group’s founder, Prime Hall, says he can envision eventually training space athletes. Virtual reality has become an accessible way for Earthlings to test their space-athletics skills. MarsVR, a collaboration between the Mars Society, a Lakewood, Colo.-based non-profit dedicated to human exploration on Mars, and MXTreality, a Seattle-based technology company specializing in virtual and augmented reality experiences, simulates what it would be like to experience sports on the surface of the Red Planet. Camilo Tobacia, an engineer at Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin space company and founder of Space United, a network of traditional soccer clubs for space engineers, worked with the MXTreality developers to design a feature in their soon-to-launch MarsVR experience that allows users to attempt to kick a soccer ball on Mars, as well as learn about how throwing and hitting sports in Martian gravity may have to be adjusted. Playing an actual soccer game in low gravity on Mars may not be far off, Mr. Tobacia says. “Maybe it won’t exactly be how we play on earth, but we’re talking to engineers about creating a dome where you could bounce a ball off walls and jump off walls,” he says. “It would be a superhuman indoor soccer game.” Jeff Raynor, founder of MXTreality, says he is working to develop climbing experiences based on features of different planets—for instance a 70,000-foot-high peak on Mars. “We’re using NASA data to rebuild the terrain and explore what climbing could look like,” he says. “You won’t be able to use your bare fingers to grip a rock since you’re in an awkward suit wearing gloves, but you can jump three times higher.” Mr. Raynor, who has a degree in astrophysics, says he wants to leverage the superpowers we appear to have on other planets and explore creating the next evolutionary sports for space, like basketball-quidditch, high-jump hurdles, and sideways gymnastics. Write to The Future of Everything at future@wsj.com More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sports-in-space-will-be-out-of-this-world-11656696647?st=1eusbbg7

Asgardia'da 1 yıllık ücretsiz ikamet hakkınızı talep edin! Cumartesi günü açıkladığımızdan beri, şu ana kadar 5000 konutun yarısı talep edildi.  Kaçırmayın ve başvurunuzu bugün yapın! Bu harika fırsat hakkında daha fazla bilgi edinin:  https://bit.ly/39Jo48i  #AsgardiaUzayUlus

Türkiye’yi 2023 hedeflerine taşımak üzere var gücüyle çalışan Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu (TÜBİTAK), uzay alanındaki misyonunu yerine getirmek için de faaliyetlerine hız verdi. Uzay araştırmaları alanında İMECE ve TÜRKSAT 6A’nın ardından bir diğer önemli gelişmeyi Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan açıkladı, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin 100’üncü yılında bir Türk vatandaşının, Uluslararası Uzay İstasyonuna (UUİ) gönderilmesi için başvurular başladı. Uzay misyonunda bir sonraki adım ise Ay’a araç göndermek. İlk defa bir Türk vatandaşı astronot unvanı alacak İlan edilen şartları taşıyanlar arasında seçilecek kişi Türkiye’nin insanlı ilk uzay görevini gerçekleştirecek ve bilim misyonunu yerine getirerek UUİ şartlarında deney yapma imkânı sağlayacak. İlk defa bir Türk vatandaşı astronot unvanı alacak. Başvurular 23 Haziran 2022, saat 20:23'e kadar uzaya.gov.tr üzerinden yapılacak. Proje kapsamında Türk vatandaşları tarafından yapılan başvurular arasından iki uzay yolcusu adayı belirlenecek. Astronot eğitimlerini başarıyla tamamlayan adaylardan biri yaklaşık 10 gün sürecek bu ilk milli insanlı uzay görevini gerçekleştirmek üzere uluslararası iş birliği ile UUİ’ye gönderilecek. Aranan şartlar arasında; 23 Mayıs 1977’den sonra doğmuş olmak, yükseköğretim kurumlarının en az 4 yıllık lisans eğitimi veren mühendislik, fen bilimleri/temel bilimler, fen bilimleri alanındaki eğitim ve tıp fakültelerinden birini bitirmiş olmak, çok iyi derecede İngilizce bilgisine sahip olmak- anlamak, konuşmak ve yazmak öne çıkıyor. Ayrıca başvuru yapacak kişinin boyunun 149,5 ila 190,5 santimetre arasında, kilosunun da 43 ila 110 kg arasında olması gerekiyor. İlk aşamayı geçen başvuru sahiplerinin, sonraki değerlendirme aşamalarına geçebilmeleri için ek bilgi, belge, doğrulama, test, tetkik ve muayeneler talep edilecek. Mülakata çağrılacak adaylar, detaylı değerlendirme süreci sonrasında belirlenecek. Seçilen adaylar TUA veya TÜBİTAK bünyesinde istihdam edilecek ve on yıl mecburi hizmet yükümlülüğü olacak. Türk Astronot ve Bilim Misyonu (TABM) Projesi, Milli Uzay Programı kapsamında koyulan hedeflerden sadece biri. 2023’te iki uydu fırlatılacak TÜBİTAK UZAY öncülüğünde yerli olarak geliştirilen Türkiye'nin ilk yerli ve milli haberleşme uydusu TÜRKSAT 6A ve TÜBİTAK UZAY bünyesinde geliştirilen ilk yerli ve milli metre altı çözünürlüklü kameraya sahip İMECE için geri sayım başladı. 2023 yılı içerisinde her iki uydu da fırlatmaya hazır hale gelecek ve fırlatması için geri sayıma başlanan İMECE, 15 Ocak 2023 tarihinde yörüngedeki yerini alacak. TÜRKSAT 6A projesi tamamlandığında ise, Türkiye GEO uydu geliştirme yeteneğine ve kapasitesine sahip 11. ülke olacak.  Ay’a uzay aracı gönderilecek Milli Uzay Programı kapsamında başlatılan “Ay Araştırma Projesi” ile de Ay’a uzay aracı gönderilecek.  Ay Araştırma Programı ile Türkiye Ay’a ulaşan sayılı ülkeler arasında yerini alacak. Tasarım, üretim, entegrasyon, test ve operasyonları TÜBİTAK UZAY’da milli olarak geliştirilecek olan uzay aracı ve sistemlerimiz derin uzay tarihçesine sahip olacak. Böylece Türk uzay endüstrisi küresel rekabette güç kazanacak. Uzay tarihçesi kazanılmış ilk ve tek kurum TÜBİTAK UZAY TÜBİTAK UZAY tarafından 2003’te fırlatılan BİLSAT Uydusu ile başlayan uzay yolculuğu başarıyla sürüyor. Türkiye’nin ilk yerli ve milli yer gözlem uydusu olan RASAT 17 Ağustos 2011’de ve TSK ve kamu kurum/kuruluşlarının yer gözlem ihtiyacını karşılamak amacıyla tasarlanıp üretilen GÖKTÜRK-2 Uydusu 18 Aralık 2012’de uzaya fırlatıldı ve uzaydaki görevini başarıyla sürdürüyor. RASAT ile çekilen görüntüler Türkiye’nin ilk milli uydu görüntü portalı GEZGİN üzerinden (www.gezgin.gov.tr) ücretsiz olarak paylaşılıyor. Uzay tarihçesi kazanılmış ve dolayısıyla ülkemizde sistem, altsistem ve ekipman için en yüksek Teknoloji Hazırlık Seviyesi’ne ulaşan ilk ve tek kurum olan TÜBİTAK UZAY’ın çalışmaları ve başarıları sayesinde, gözlem uydularını tümüyle yerli ve milli olarak tasarlayıp üretme yeteneğine kavuşan Türkiye, haberleşme uydularını da milli imkânlarla yurt içinde üretme hedefini gerçekleştirebilecek altyapıya, bilgi birikimine ve yetişmiş insan kaynağına sahip oldu. https://tubitak.gov.tr/tr/haber/basvurular-basladi-uzay-yolcusu-bilim-misyonunu-yerine-getirecek

Taking Sports to Space: The Space Games Federation : Sports are universal. No matter what is going on in the world, it seems that sports can unite us. Now, the Space Games Federation is taking sports to space … and that’s the subject of this installment of The Ex Terra Podcast. Host Tom Patton talks with Linda Rheinstein, founder of The Space Games Federation, the first governing and sanctioning body for competitive sports played in zero or micro-gravity. The Space Games Federation offers the human race the unprecedented opportunity to engage in a unique fusion of Space and Athletics. By providing structure and regulation, resources to test and explore, and access to world-class experts, SGF seeks to bridge the gap between earth and space in the spirit of competition, fun, and community. SGF is composed of experts in the space, sports and entertainment industry, featuring influential leaders and thinkers that are driving the growing mainstream popularity of space. The team collectively envisions the past, present, and future of the space industry as invaluable to the human experience, and aims to marry entertainment and education — e.g, edutainment — to make this experience accessible to the world. But taking sports to space is not as easy as playing football or basketball in a low or microgravity environment. To come up with new concepts for sports in space, The Space Games Federation created the Equal Space Challenge, inviting the global public to design and develop original games exclusively for zero or micro-gravity playing fields. The challenge was open to competitors of all ages, genders, levels of ability or disability, and nationalities. The new sports ideas were evaluated based on four key factors, each weighted at 25%: Concept & Feasibility, Game Strategy, Community Engagement and Submission Execution. In 2018, the initial submissions were reviewed, and a “Sweet 16” of new sports ideas were chosen, and that field has been narrowed down to five finalists. How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public. More: https://exterrajsc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/exterrajsc.com/taking-sports-to-space-the-space-games-federation/2022/04/07/?amp

The IAF Ministers and Members of Parliaments Forum at GLEC 2022 We are pleased to invite you to attend the IAF Ministers and Members of Parliaments Forum, to be held on Tuesday 17 May 2022 at 16:50 in the frame of the IAF Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries (GLEC 2022) in Quito, Ecuador. As you know the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is a global non-governmental organization whose main objective is to disseminate knowledge about space technology and to foster international cooperation. In pursuit of this objective, the IAF organizes the IAF Ministers and Members of Parliaments Forum to bring together experts, political decision makers, business managers, academics and international organizations who are called to share their experience and invited to network to establish cooperation, investments and business opportunities for the space sector at international level. Ministers and Members of Parliaments from Latin America, a region that is quickly and successfully developing space programmes, and from the whole world will present their countries’ experiences and plans for the future, while discussing with their pears about the challenges and opportunities that space can present to the region. Register today and see you in Quito! https://glec-2022.iaf-registration.org/

GLEC 2022 || PLENARY 1 A/B - HIGH LEVEL PANEL: THE ROLE OF SPACE AGENCIES IN A SPACE ECOSYSTEM The Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries - GLEC 2022 is designed to unite the international community, including representatives of the major space agencies, industries, governments, entrepreneurs, policymakers, academia and non-governmental organizations. The conference theme will tackle the topic “Space Ecosystems that bring Government, Industry and Society Together” and will give attendees the opportunity to hear from a great line up of high-profile speakers and share ideas and solutions. All will converge in Quito, Ecuador from 16 to 20 May 2022 to present results, exchange ideas, debate roadmaps and discuss the future opportunities provided by space activities to emerging nations. The GLEC 2022 aims to act as a powerful global catalyst to ignite positive change in emerging space nations and for society. GLEC 2022 will open its plenary programme on Tuesday 17 May 2022 from 11:00 with two roundtables on “The Role of Space Agencies in a Space Ecosystem”. The first Plenary 1 A from 11:00 to 12:00 moderated by Pascale EHRENFREUND, President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) will involve the following speakers: Luis M. ALFARO, President and CEO, El Salvador Aerospace Institute Fuad ASLANOV, Vice-Chairman, Azercosmos Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Christian HAUGLIE-HANSSEN, Director General, Norwegian Space Agency Salvador LANDEROS, Director General, Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM) Anthony TSOUGRANIS, Europe Team Lead, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Grzegorz WROCHNA, President, Polish Space Agency (POLSA) Pilar ZAMORA ACEVEDO, Executive Director, Colombian Space Agency (AEC) Followed by Plenary 1 B from 12:00 to 13:00 moderated by Steve EISENHART, Senior Vice President of the Space Foundation, with the inclusion of the following speakers: Michal BRICHTA, Head, Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) - Slovak Space Office Mary PREVILLE, Vice President Space Program Policy, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Giorgio SACCOCCIA, President, Italian Space Agency (ASI) Guillermo SALVATIERRA, Member of the Board of Directors, Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE) Carlos Augusto TEIXEIRA DE MOURA, President, Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) Serdar Hüseyin YILDIRIM, President, Turkish Space Agency (TUA) https://glec-2022.iaf-registration.org/

OSS4SDG Hackathon SDG#4 - Quality Education From 16 to 29 of May! This hackathon is a joint collaboration between the European Commission  Directorate-General for Informatics and United Nations Office of Information, Communications and Technology. It will be the first of a series of hackathons under the initiative of  OSS4SDGs - Open Source Soſtware for Sustainable Development Goals. The goal of the first hackathon will be to tackle SDG 4 Quality Education.  The selected open-source community will be Moodle since the UNICEF platform developed for India is based on this software. With Covid-19, learners all over the world have been forced to abandon their studies due to lack of access to #DigitalEducation. Take the #OSS4SD Challenge to help improve Moodle solutions & bring students #BacktoSchool! Register 👉 https://t.co/gZ31EroeG4

The International Space-Tech Conference is coming to Israel! 12.05.2022 in Tel Aviv. Join the Space-Tech revolution and be the first to hear from the space mission team of Ethan Steve and the Axiom1 mission of SpaceX! The summit will deal with the fundamentals of the space economy: Quantum computing, Metaverse, blockchain, flying transportation, and NASA’s Artemis programs, which Israel and dozens of other countries have signed to establish a permanent settlement on the moon. Click the link below to grab your discounted ticket using the code spacetech22 provided for the Starburst community. https://lnkd.in/eJM25Nad

🚀Space Generation Congress is back!🚀 SPACE LOVERS from all over the world, join us for the very special 20th edition of SGC, happening September 14-16, 2022 in Paris! Save the dates now! We can't wait to see you all in person in France. PS: Delegates application opening soon! Stay tuned for more updates🤩 #SpaceGeneration #SGAC #SGC #SGC2022