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The inspiration that human spaceflight brings cannot erase the anger and pain felt by communities around the United States who are reeling from violence and racial injustice.

This weekend, Americans celebrated the launch of SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission, a historic crewed mission that returned astronaut flights from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011. The mission launched NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

But at that same moment, people across the country were protesting the death of George Floyd, who was killed Monday (May 25) when the now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck while other officers looked on. Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday (May 29), but the incident, captured on video and stemming from a history of police brutality against people of color, has sparked outrage across the nation.

Read the full article here.

Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA

Sue Finley began work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the US prepared to launch its first satellite into orbit in 1958, racing to match the Soviet Union, which had accomplished the feat months earlier.

Finley had dropped out of college and joined a group of mathematically gifted individuals, overwhelmingly women, whose job it was to solve the complex equations thrown at them by rocket scientists before electronic computing became affordable and reliable.

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Image Credit: Phys.org

What started out as a project led by a group of students at Wando High School could one day be used as part of a NASA deep space mission.

After designing a space helmet to protect astronauts from harmful solar radiation, Wando’s student-led team was selected as one of 18 finalists in the NASA Wear competition, a nationwide event that challenges middle and high school students to design and create wearable space technology.

The best part? Components of the best designs might one day be used in NASA’s Moon to Mars mission.

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Image Credit: Louanne Murphy

Image Credit: Steve Nesius/Reuters

Want to #BeAnAstronaut, but don’t know where to start? Here are some ways you can kick-start your journey! Since the first Artemis class of astronauts graduated on Jan. 10, NASA announced that it will accept applications for a new astronaut class from March 2 to 31. Even if you don’t qualify to #BeAnAstronaut — yet — within NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, or OSTEM, there are ways to get involved with NASA’s missions. Check out the top 10 ways to #BeAnAstronaut:

See all 10 tips here.

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📸: #Astronaut Mae Jemison, Space.com

Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian astronaut with the European Space Agency, is someone who understands how it feels to be confined to a small space for long periods, more than most. She spent six and a half months in space (199 days to be precise), and up until June 2017, held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman. Here, she shares her tips on self-isolation and making the most of these testing times, exclusively with GLAMOUR. So how can we pace ourselves and adjust to a more confined way of living?

1. Reframe The Experience

Firstly, I must say that being in space wasn’t a struggle for me. Astronauts take it as a huge opportunity being in space. It’s something to enjoy. We knew in advance that we were going to be there. So I would say psychologically reframe this experience and try to make the most of the time. Ask yourself if there are things you can enjoy about it? I am getting to spend a lot more time with my three-year-old daughter, for example.

Read the other tips here.

📸: Universal-Sci

A technology that could help humans live on Mars is being used to address an immediate need here on Earth and produce hand sanitizer for a community impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Air Co., a company based in Brooklyn, New York, and competing in NASA’s CO₂ Conversion Challenge, is making hand sanitizer with a technology that coverts carbon dioxide into ethanol. The company donates the supplies to local hospitals, doctors’ offices, and police stations.

They’re using the same unique technology to convert carbon dioxide into simple sugar molecules known as D-sugars for the NASA competition. The ability to make D-sugars, such as glucose, in space could be used to create mission-critical products such as plastic, food and medicine.

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📸: #AirCo

Do you love adorable, tiny things? Have you ever dreamed of having something you designed land on the moon? If you answered yes to both these questions, you should probably enter NASA’s new competition: “Honey, I Shrunk the NASA Payload.”

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has issued a public challenge for people to design instruments that could support a long-term human presence on the moon. The contest’s name references the hit movie “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” which debuted in 1989.

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📸: #NASA

In Bethel’s fluids lab, Jake Stein ’20 adjusts the speed of liquid moving in a Taylor-Couette flow apparatus. He built the apparatus, which features a motor on top of a small, clear cylinder that rotates an inner black cylinder, causing the liquid solution inside to flow. For Stein, the work carries important implications for his future. Along with gaining practical experience, he found his efforts never felt like work. “I love to do it,” he says. “It’s good to know, going into mechanical engineering, I really love to work on a project, design stuff, actually build it, and spend time trying to create something.”

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📸: Jason Schoonover #BethelUniversity