Published 11:45 IST, January 3rd 2020
NASA astronauts celebrated New Year 16 times in Space, here's how
As earth orbits into a new decade, even NASA astronauts in International Space Station celebrated the New Year in space but it was a bit different than earth.
As earth orbits into a new decade, even NASA astronauts in International Space Station celebrated the New Year's Eve but it was a bit different than earth. The ISS cruises around the planet at a speed of nearly five miles per second and therefore the astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets. The crew members not only circle the planet every hour and a half but also function on different time zones which helps them to be in a set schedule. ISS operates on Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT so the crew does not have to keep a track of the Sun flying by the window, which means they celebrated the start of 2020 at approximately 7pm ET. Six astronauts from three countries rang the new year after researching critical space science to benefit humans on and off Earth.
NASA launches 'robot hotel'
NASA recently added yet another feather to its cap after it announced that it will attach a 'robot hotel' outside of the International Space Station. The 'robot hotel' that was launched in early December aboard the 19th SpaceX commercial resupply mission will help in identifying leaks from the station. The robots will also provide heat and physical protection from radiation to the International Space Station.
The 'robot hotel' known as Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) was launched with two robots onboard known as Robotic External Leak Locators (RELL). Two RELL units are already onboard the International Space Station. The first RELL unit was launched in 2015, and after the success of the project, a second RELL unit was launched earlier this year.
Updated 11:45 IST, January 3rd 2020