Day: May 18, 2021

The Discovery Channel is launching a new reality show competition series, “Who Wants To Be An Astronaut,” that aims to send ordinary people into space, the network announced Today (May 18).

Axiom Space says it will rocket the lucky winner of the competition to the International Space Station for an eight-day mission. They aim for this mission to follow the launch of the world’s first all-private mission to the orbiting complex, which the company hopes to launch in 2022.

That said, NASA has not yet stated if they will allow the winner of this reality series onto the space station. A few weeks ago, a spaceflight reality show competition called “Space Hero” announced that it had signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA, but the agency clarified that so far, the agreement doesn’t say that the winner can fly to the space station as the series advertises.

Related: ‘Space Hero’ reality show competition signs space act agreement with NASA 

The casting call on Discovery’s website says that eligibility is limited to U.S. residents or citizens, with additional requirements to be disclosed. For now, there are few other details about eligibility for hopeful astronauts applying to the Discovery show, the expected challenges entrants will face and who will serve as judges for the competition, as the series isn’t expected to start filming until next year. 

It is so far unclear whether or not eligibility may include people with physical disabilities, but the casting call does include questions about your degree of impairment with physical activities. (The European Space Agency’s current astronaut process is open to candidates with physical disabilities, and the forthcoming Inspiration4 mission includes Hayley Arceneaux, who has a prosthetic limb after childhood bone cancer.) 

Discovery said the series will be in eight parts and will chronicle a “grueling” process. “The series will follow each of the contestants competing for the opportunity in a variety of extreme challenges designed to test them on the attributes real astronauts need most, and as they undergo the training necessary to qualify for space flight and life on board the space station,” the channel said in a statement.

“In the end, one lucky candidate, deemed to have the right stuff by a panel of expert judges, will punch their ticket for an adventure few have ever taken. The series will chronicle each pivotal moment along the way – from lift off to re-entry and the return home.”

The show will be available on the main Discovery Channel as well as its affiliate website and apps, the company noted. 

Perhaps the most interesting comparison to Discovery’s efforts is the flights of Toyohiro Akiyama and Helen Sharman, Japanese and British private citizens, respectively, who visited the then-Soviet Union’s Mir space station in 1990 and 1991. Akiyama, a TV journalist, was selected from 163 Tokyo Broadcasting System employees who applied for the flight. Sharman, a British chemist, won a ride in a contest (which attracted 13,000 applicants) sponsored by several British companies that aimed to send a British citizen to Mir.

Prior to upcoming commercial launches and the all-private Inspiration4 mission, NASA flew a few private flyers, teachers and politicians as “spaceflight participants” on the space shuttle in the 1980s (including teacher Christa McAuliffe who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle accident and newly named administrator Bill Nelson, then a member of the House of Representatives). Also, a handful of rich tourists have also made it to space after paying for their seat.  

That said, other astronaut competitions open to the public haven’t yet resulted in a promised spaceflight. In 2017, for example, Suzanne Imber won the BBC Two television program “Astronauts, Do You Have What It Takes?” in which judge and former astronaut Chris Hadfield recommended her for the European Space Agency after a competitive process. Imber has not yet gone on to fly. 

In 2012, an effort called Mars One announced its plans to send people on a one-way trip to the Red Planet, with a possible TV series to help generate funding and interest. It winnowed down the competition to a few dozen entrants before going bankrupt in 2019.  

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

The Sakuu Corporation, a California-based company backed by Musashi Seimitsu, has announced a new 3D printing system that can print large electric vehicle batteries on demand. The system uses new techniques to create solid-state batteries that are lighter and smaller than traditional lithium-ion batteries.

The system uses two types of printing to get the job done. It has a powder bed system for sintering material into solid form and another head for jet deposition which essentially squirts material out to exacting specifications. It prints both ceramic and metal as well as PoraLyte—a support and storage medium.

“This is the exact opposite of lower energy density SSBs, which typically have thick, brittle ceramic layers and poor interface, making them ill-suited for high-volume production purposes,” wrote Sarah Saunders at industry newsletter 3DPrint.

“Sakuu will initially focus on the two-, three- and smaller four-wheel electric vehicle market for whom the company’s SSB proposition delivers an obvious and desirable combination of small form factor, low weight, and improved capacity benefits,” wrote founder Robert Bagheri in a release. “The agility of Sakuu’s AM process also means that customers can easily switch production to different battery types and sizes, as necessary, for example, to achieve double the energy in the same space or the same energy in half the space.”

Because the entire system is easily modifiable you could be printing batteries for a car and a scooter on the same day. The company claims its printers are 50% lighter and 20% smaller than traditional LiOn batteries.

Most important, however, is the fact that it can use recycled ceramic and metal instead of fresh materials, thereby reducing the battery’s overall environmental footprint. The 3D-printed batteries are rolling out in limited products including scooters and other electric vehicles.

Amazon’s climate investments now included electric air transportation, not just electric vans. The online shopping giant (along with Fidelity, Redbird Capital and other backers) has invested in Beta Technologies, an electric aircraft maker whose Alia eVTOL aircraft could be key to meeting Amazon’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Fidelity led the $368 million round. Amazon didn’t say how much it contributed to Beta, although it has already invested in hydrogen-powered aircraft (ZeroAvia) and net-zero fuel (Infinium).

Alia can carry 1,500 pounds of cargo (about three cargo pallets, Amazon adds) or six people with a range of 250 nautical miles. While Amazon hasn’t said exactly how it would use the aircraft, its focus on cargo suggests Alia would be used for short-hop deliveries that would otherwise require a small conventional aircraft or truck. Beta already has orders from UPS for small and mid-sized cargo trips, while United Therapeutics and Blade Urban Air Mobility plan to respectively use Alia for organ transport and small-scale passenger flights.

 Amazon’s investment won’t realistically pan out until at least 2024, when Beta expects to deliver its first aircraft. However, the company’s investments in EVs have so far borne fruit — Amazon’s Rivian funding from 2019 led to electric vans that are already making deliveries. The Beta investment may well lead to practical solutions, even if they take a few years to arrive.

German aviation outfit Volocopter has shown off another concept craft, this time aimed at capturing the commuter market. The VoloConnect is intended to transport up to four passengers over distances of up to 64 miles, taking people “from the city to […] suburban areas.” In the release, the company says that the craft uses a hybrid lift and push design to electrically move bougie one percenters at speeds of up to 111 miles per hour.

The VoloConnect is designed with six electrical motors and rotors, with a pair of propulsive fans jutting out behind. The use of the VTOL concept certainly, if this thing ever reaches the real world, would help it navigate inside cities while covering longer distances in open ground. Florian Reuter, CEO Volocopter, says that the concept “embodies the next dimension of our mission to offer affordable, efficient and sustainable flight mobility for cities around the globe.”

Closer to reality, Volocopter late last year decided to open up reservations for its first commercial flights, wherever that may be. For €300, with a 10 percent deposit up-front, would-be passengers can book a 15 minute ride in whatever territory the company begins operating in. At present, that appears to be Singapore, with Volocopter pledging to start running a commercial service at some point in the next three years.