The six astronauts aboard the International Space Station can't come home for the holidays, but they're doing their best to make the season bright hundreds of miles above Earth's surface.
The spaceflyers have decked the halls of the $100 billion orbiting lab, and — like many of us Earthbound folks — they plan to celebrate Christmas with a party and a feast.
"We've already put up decorations, and we've gathered together all the cards and gifts that our friends and families have sent to us, and we're planning a couple of big meals," NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, commander of the space station's current Expedition 30, said last week. "That'll be great."

Skeleton crew no more
Burbank and two cosmonaut colleagues, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, had been holding down the orbital fort by themselves until Friday (Dec. 23).
On that date, they were joined by three new crewmates, who arrived aboard a Soyuz spacecraft two days after launching from Kazakhstan's snowy Baikonur Cosmodrome.
                       The addition of American Don Pettit, Russian Oleg Kononenko, and Dutchman Andre Kuipers brought the space station back up to its full strength pf six crewmembers.The three newcomers will contribute some Christmas cheer to the festivities, but little in the way of actual presents.
"In terms of gifts, when you're off in the frontier, you're not going to waste upmass on something like that," Pettit told SPACE.com in a preflight interview.
Despite those mass constraints, a fair bit of holiday flair has made it up to the orbiting lab since NASA and its international partners began building the 431-ton structure in 1998. There's even a two-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree beneath which a present or two can be wedged.
Christmas in space
The holidays can be tough for people separated from their friends and family — and zipping around the planet 240 miles (386 kilometers) above your seven billion fellow Earthlings imposes a special kind of separation.
But Burbank said he and his other crewmembers don't feel too lonely or isolated.
"In a very real sense, we're not far from those who care about us," he said. "For one thing, we have hundreds of people worldwide in control centers watching over us and our space station 24/7. And we also know that our families and friends are thinking about us and supporting us every step of the way."
Besides, if the crewmates ever start feeling down, there's always that amazing view out the window.
"Our planet is so beautiful, peaceful and serene when you look at it from space — the most beautiful holiday card you could imagine," Burbank wrote Dec. 17 .

Earth Has Two 'Moons' Right Now, Theorists Say

Earth has two moons, a group of scientists . One is that waxing and waning nightlight we all know and love. The other is a tiny asteroid, no bigger than a Smart Car, making huge doughnuts around Earth for a while before it zips off into the distance and is replaced by another.

That's the scenario posited by the scientists in a paper published Dec. 20 in the planetary science journal ICARUS. The researchers argue that there is a space rock at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) wide orbiting Earth at any given time, though it's not always the same rock.
In the scientists' theoretical model, our planet's gravity captures these asteroids as they pass near us on their way around the sun. When one is drawn in, it typically makes three irregularly shaped swings around Earth — sticking with us for about nine months — before hurtling on its way.
According to the researchers, surprisingly little attention has been paid to Earth's natural satellites other than the moon, despite the fact that they're sure to exist. "There arelots of asteroids  in the solar system, so chances for the Earth to capture one at any time is, in a sense, not surprising," said co-author Jeremie Vauballion, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory in France.

Soyuz operation started

A diverse crew of veteran spacemen blasted off toward the International Space Station  on Wednesday, Dec. 21, to double the population of the orbital outpost

Complete details of Soyuz

Soyuz Launch Preparation

Throughout history, more than 1,500 launches have been made with Soyuz launchers to orbit satellites for telecommunications, Earth observation, weather and scientific missions, as well as for human flights. 

Image to right: Expedition Four Flight Engineer Dan Bursch has a window seat in a Soyuz, which is docked to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The basic Soyuz vehicle is considered a three-stage launcher in Russian terms and is composed of:

• A lower portion consisting of four boosters in the first stage and a central core in the second stage.
• An upper portion, consisting of the third stage, payload adapter and payload fairing.
• Liquid oxygen and kerosene are used as propellants in all three Soyuz stages.

First Stage Boosters

The four boosters of the first stage are assembled laterally around the second stage central core. The boosters are identical and cylindrical-conic in shape with the oxygen tank located in the cone-shaped portion and the kerosene tank in the cylindrical portion. 

An NPO Energomash RD 107 engine with four main chambers and two gimbaled vernier thrusters is used in each booster. The vernier thrusters provide three-axis flight control. 

Ignition of the first stage boosters and the second stage central core occur simultaneously on the ground. When the boosters have completed their powered flight during ascent, they are separated, and the core second stage continues to function. 

First stage booster separation occurs when the predefined velocity is reached, which is about 118 seconds after liftoff. 

Image to left: This diagram shows the three elements of the Soyuz spacecraft. Credit: NASA
+ Larger image 

Second Stage

An NPO Energomash RD 108 engine powers the Soyuz second stage. This engine differs from those of the boosters by the presence of four vernier thrusters, which are necessary for three-axis flight control of the launcher after the first stage boosters have separated. 

An equipment bay located atop the second stage operates during the entire flight of the first and second stages. 

Third Stage

The third stage is linked to the Soyuz second stage by a latticework structure. When the second stage's powered flight is complete, the third stage engine is ignited. Separation of the two stages occurs by the direct ignition forces of the third stage engine. A single-turbopump RD 0110 engine from KB KhA powers the Soyuz third stage. 

The third stage engine is fired for about 240 seconds, and cutoff occurs when the calculated velocity increment is reached. After cutoff and separation, the third stage performs an avoidance maneuver by opening an outgassing valve in the liquid oxygen tank. 

Launcher Telemetry Tracking and Flight Safety Systems

Soyuz launcher tracking and telemetry is provided through systems in the second and third stages. These two stages have their own radar transponders for ground tracking. Individual telemetry transmitters are in each stage. Launcher health status is downlinked to ground stations along the flight path. Telemetry and tracking data are transmitted to the Russian Mission Control Center, where the incoming data flow is recorded. Partial realtime data processing and plotting are performed for flight following an initial performance assessment. All flight data is analyzed and documented within a few hours after launch. 

Image to left: A Soyuz rocket makes its way to the launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome by rail. Credit: NASA

Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch Operations

Soyuz missions use the Baikonur Cosmodrome's proven infrastructure, and launches are performed by trained personnel with extensive operational experience. 

Baikonur Cosmodrome is located in the Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, between 45 degrees and 46 degrees North latitude and 63 degrees East longitude. Two launch pads are dedicated to Soyuz missions. 

Final Launch Preparations

The assembled launch vehicle is moved to the launch pad on a horizontal railcar. Transfer to the launch zone occurs two days before launch, during which the vehicle is erected and a launch rehearsal is performed that includes activation of all electrical and mechanical equipment. 

On launch day, the vehicle is loaded with propellant and the final countdown sequence is started at three hours before the liftoff time. 

Cryogenic testing completed for James Webb telescope mirrors

The James Webb Space Telescope mirrors have completed deep-freeze tests and are removed from the X-ray and Cryogenic test Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center.

'Space ball' drops on Namibia

The hollow ball with a circumference of 1.1 metres (43 inches) was found near a village in the north of the country some 750 kilometres (480 miles) from the capital Windhoek, according to police forensics director Paul Ludik.
Locals had heard several small explosions a few days beforehand, he said.
With a diameter of 35 centimetres (14 inches), the ball has a rough surface and appears to consist of "two halves welded together".
It was made of a "metal alloy known to man" and weighed six kilogrammes (13 pounds), said Ludik.
It was found 18 metres from its landing spot, a hole 33 centimetres deep and 3.8 meters wide.
Several such balls have dropped in South America , Australia and Latin America in the past twenty years, authorities found in an Internet search.
The sphere was discovered mid-November, but authorities first did tests before announcing the find.
Police deputy inspector general Vilho Hifindaka concluded the sphere did not pose any danger.

Space industry in Germany

                                     Space technologies are a key to the modern information and industrial society. Communication and TV reporting around the world, the satellite navigation system in cars or precise climate and weather analyses through to emergency mapping all depend on space technologies.
                                               
(Pic:The European spacecraft Automated Transfer Vehicle ATV-2, docked to the International Space Station)
                  According to the new space strategy of the German Federal Government, lead by the BMWi (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology), the overriding aim for space projects must, at all times, be to continue improving human living conditions. State-funded space activities must therefore be channelled towards “space for the benefit of the Earth”.
                 Space projects will be judged according to the contribution they make to solving the challenges facing global society and whether the long-term application of high levels of funding can be expected to bring adequate benefits.
           The Federal Government focuses its space policy strictly on benefits and needs while, at the same time, targeting visionary goals. To that end, space must, in competition with other instruments and with terrestrial processes and infrastructures, demonstrate that it offers the better solution from a cost-benefit standpoint. As tools of research, space projects must be guided by the “benchmarking” (scientific excellence) principle. In large-scale projects they must show that they can prevail in competition with other methods and scientific discipline
                      The German aerospace industry spends an average of 20 percent of its turnover on research and development and is therefore one of the most research-intensive and innovative industries. As a result of their innovative strength, German companies are sought-after partners in international cooperation.