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The Cygnus spacecraft is about to hitch a ride atop Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket
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to deliver roughly 2,000 kilograms of experiments and hardware to test on the International Space Station.
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These payloads are designed to push human space exploration,
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especially as we prepare for NASA's Artemis mission and one day, sending a crew to Mars.
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Scientists want to make a livable environment among the stars,
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but some of our biggest challenges are communication delays,
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sustainability, and radiation exposure.
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To combat these issues, some of the most thrilling investigations consist of utilizing a 'space internet'
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to remotely control an advanced rover from ESA,
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Made in Space's Plastic Recycler,
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and a brand new, never been space-tested before, radiation-protection vest
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from Lockheed Martin and StemRad.
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Now, scouting new planets, like the exotic surface of Mars, with robots,
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is the safest and most efficient way to investigate areas of interest for human exploration.
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However, right now, we're incapable of remotely controlling these seamlessly.
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The delay time for a radio signal from mission control to a planetary rover is wildly inefficient
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and this antiquated technology can create massive latency issues resulting in missed opportunities.
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But ESA's METERON project is developing new communications,
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robot interfaces, and hardware for astronauts to control robots from thousands of kilometers away.
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More specifically, from onboard a spacecraft orbiting whatever planetary body they're investigating.
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The robot should be on the surface, and the astronaut controls the robot from onboard the spacecraft.
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So what makes these robots different from what we already have
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is that they operate through a “space internet” and they're equipped with their own haptic systems,
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meaning astronauts onboard an orbiting spacecraft
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can feel the sensitivity the robot feels when picking something up, like a rock.
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And this technology helps massively to do certain maintenance tasks
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that would not be possible without the feedback.
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ESA has been testing this technology for the last few years with various iterations of robots.
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Cyngus will be delivering the key piece of this haptic technology,
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the Sigma 7 joystick, for their new experiment, ANALOG-1.
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This investigation will be a combination of everything the team has learned so far on the Meteron project
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and also will be the most advanced version of their haptic technology being controlled in orbit.
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This is the first experiment that we control a complete robot with a complete
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sixth degree of freedom haptic device onboard the space station.
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So Haptics-1 and Haptics-2 was just the simple one degree of freedom choice.
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Now we'll be going one step further to the 60 degree haptic device
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that controls the robotic arm in all three translations and all three rotations.
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And these innovative systems can do more outside of the space mission as well.
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And also the prospect of it you think of this technologies what what it could mean for for us
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that we have similar problems in deep sea robotics and so on.
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That would be quite handy to use similar technologies to control robots.
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Or think of nuclear power plants.
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To send in a robot with remote operation, and safe distance.
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And this is just one of the many robotic instruments onboard the ISS,
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but this next device could be key in helping astronauts achieve more sustainable stays in space.
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Right now, the ISS takes extreme measures to make sure it's efficient in preserving resources,
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recycling air and water, reducing waste, and repurposing materials.
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But even then, trash accumulates and it can weigh up to two metric tons.
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So the only way astronauts can receive or get rid of these materials
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is utilizing a commercial resupply vehicle.
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To help address the waste, innovative 3D printing devices,
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like Made in Space's Additive Manufacturing Facility,
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was introduced to the station to have astronauts print their own tools and supplies,
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but there's one problem: the 3D printer still receives its restock of filaments from Earth.
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And this is where the Plastic Recycler comes in.
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We're launching the Recycler to the International Space Station
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to add the capability of being able to use the materials on orbit,
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primarily the waste materials for something beneficial.
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The machine isn't too far off from what you'd find here on Earth except it will primarily use a green polyethylene,
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which is a renewable polymer made from sugarcane by a team at Braskem's Innovation & Technology.
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The polymer and other plastic like it will be broken down using the Recycler.
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The Recycler starts by taking plastic bags, bubble wrap, 3D printed polyethylene parts, into a chamber.
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From that point, the material flows through a grinding system that turns it into a fluffy, ground-up powder
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that is stored in a hopper.
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That then injects that material into an extrusion system.
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The extrusion system melts the material and turns it into a 1.75 millimeter filament.
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It's cooled and then wrapped on a spool,
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then we can take that spool as a feedstock cartridge, and put that into our manufacturing device 3D printer.
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We can now use material, print with it, reprocess it, turn it back into feedstock,
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and create this closed loop system.
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This is exactly what astronauts are going to need in missions that travel further into our solar system
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and away from our home planet.
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Future space explorations are gonna rely on humans utilizing available resources
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and having a very sustainable ecosystem.
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And part of that entails local manufacturing:
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building what you need on demand, on sight, where you're at, with what you have available.
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This brings a whole new level of sustainability and re-usability to the International Space Station.
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But space is full of uncompromising conditions like high levels of radiation exposure,
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so our aspirations to live on the moon and Mars remain close to impossible… for now.
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After mission delivery, astronauts will be partaking
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in the “Comfort and Human Factors: AstroRad Radiation Garment Evaluation,”
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otherwise known as “CHARGE” or the AstroRad Vest investigation.
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This garment is made with hydrogen-rich materials that will provide protection against space radiation.
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Female crew members have been chosen for this experiment because they have the greatest sensitivity
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to this harsh environment due to radiation-induced cancer risk to ovaries and breast tissue.
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They will be wearing the vests for over 3-4 weeks, doing their daily duties onboard the ISS
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and will provide feedback about its flexibility and comfort.
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When it's all over, the data will be analyzed by researchers back on Earth,
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where they'll make improvements to the design to be ready for future missions.
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So it's safe to say that all these payloads are going to make drastic changes
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in the future of space mission technology.
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When the Antares rocket launches from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia,
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we'll be one step closer to improving our ability to stay and explore our solar system to the fullest capacity.
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Going to the ISS is cool, but there's a future mission that's headed to an all-metal asteroid named Psyche.
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This will be the first time humans will see a world like this
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and we cover everything about it in this episode here.
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Are there are any other launches that you'd like to see us cover?
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Let us know down in the comments below, and make sure to subscribe to Seeker
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for all your rocket launch news.
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Thanks for watching.