1 . Rising Legacy High School senior Brianna Ortiz is one of five students in the US and the only Texan to be selected to attend the International Science School (ISS) this summer in Australia.

This famous programme, designed to inspire young minds and awaken a passion for space exploration, provides students with an immersive and educational experience that promises to shape their future in the field of space science.

Brianna’s space journey started when she tooke part in MISD’s Orbitz program in the fall of 2021. That experience gave her the opportunity to apply for ISS through an extensive application process that included letters of recommendation, writing essays and an interview. ISS selected Brianna from a highly competitive pool of international applicants who share an enthusiasm for space exploration.

During the program, Brianna will have the privilege of engaging with outstanding scientists, engineers and educators who will guide her through a series of hands-on activities, simulations (模拟), and lectures. This comprehensive training will provide her with invaluable knowledge about space travel, rocketry, robotics, and other essential aspects of the aerospace industry.

“This is a dream come true for me, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in the world of space exploration,” Brianna said. “When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut, but now I’m interested in becoming an aerospace engineer and building rockets that impact the way we live here on Earth.”

Brianna said one of the things she’s most looking forward to is the opportunity to cooperate with fellow like-minded students from around the world. They will participate in team-building exercises, problem-solving challenges, and space mission simulations, developing essential skills such as leadership, critical thinking, and effective communication.

The experience gained at ISS will broaden Brianna’s horizons and inspire her to pursue a career in the exciting field of space exploration.

3 . Space X has launched the third test flight of its Starship spacecraft, the largest and most powerful rocket, ever built, which aims to carry astronauts to the moon and, eventually, to Mars. The 120-metre system, which weights about 5,000 tonnes when fully fuelled, took off from Space X’s spaceport, named Starbase, on the Gulf of Mexico in Boca Chica, Texas. It entered space several minutes later and the six Raptor engines powered it to its expected orbit.

Two previous attempts ended in the explosion of both the spacecraft’s 33-engine booster, nicknamed Super Heavy, and the cruise vessel, which is designed to eventually carry up to 100 astronauts. Stacked together, they stand at 10 metres taller than the Saturn V rocket that sent humans to the moon in 1969.

Space X is much more tolerant of risk than Nasa and has a flight-testing strategy that aims to frequently push its spacecraft prototypes to the limit, and, beyond. Its first Starship launch attempt lasted four minutes and, the second lasted eight, with the latter reaching space. The company says frequent flight testing will provide valuable data that will help it design and, develop a more robust rocket.

“Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test,” Space X said in a statement before the third launch attempt, in an apparent attempt to manage expectations in case the system exploded. “They aren’t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning.”

The third flight aimed to conduct the first ever re-light of Space X’s signature Raptor engine while in space, open a payload door, and make a controlled re-entry of Starship in the Indian Ocean. Both the upper and lower segments of Starship are designed to eventually power themselves safely back to Earth for a soft landing so that they can be reused, which will be significantly cheaper than building entirely new parts for each mission.

Elon Musk, Space X’s billionaire founder, hopes Starship will be the first step on a human journey further into space that ever before. To do this, Musk intends to begin the colonization of Mars so that humanity can survive a planet-destroying event on Earth. Several other Starship systems are already in production for future tests. The company has announced longer term plans to use the spacecraft as a shuttle for commercial travel on Earth, promising trips from London to Tokyo in less than an hour.

7 . US Army veteran (退伍老兵) Mazyck remembers when doctors told her she would never walk again. She’d been paralyzed from the waist down after a serious accident while parachuting in 2003.The doctors never said anything about floating, though. In 2021,she got to do just that.

Mazyck was one of 12 participants in a Zero G flight, organized by the group AstroAccess. This type of flight recreates the weightlessness that astronauts experience without going all the way to space. Flying over the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, the modified 747 jet airplane made 15 steep dives and climbs, allowing the flyers multiple periods of weightlessness.

The experience left Mazyck feeling joyful. “The flight was something that I would have never in my wildest dreams thought I would’ve experienced,” she says, “especially the floating, the weightlessness.”

Traditionally, strict physical requirements have prevented disabled people from becoming astronauts. AstroAccess is working to make space accessible to all. “Space removes the barriers between people; now is the time to remove the barriers to space itself,” says Mazyck, “It is sending a message to people who have historically been excluded from STEM that not only is there room for you in space, there is a need for you.”

During the flight, she says, the participants did experiments and made observations. They took note of things that people without certain disabilities might not realize are issues. For example, people who couldn’t grip with their legs needed another way to hold themselves still while weightless. The group also experimented with signaling lights for the deaf and with ways of using braille (盲文) for the blind.

These types of issues are easy enough to address. Now is the time to make space accessible — before space tourism or space settlements become commonplace. “I am so proud and elated about what’s happening here,” Mazyck adds. “We are paving the way for the future.”

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “tiantuan (天团)”? Is it a wildly popular group formed by icons? Well, in reality, there’s probably no group     1     fits the name better than the band made up of astronauts, some of     2     were sent into space.

A few days ago, Wu Jie, one of the first Chinese astronauts and a trainer in the People’s Liberation Army(PLA) Astronaut Corps (大队),     3    (visit) CCTV 7 for a program. During the show, he talked about lesser-known stories about the lives of Chinese astronauts.

Astronaut training is really     4    (tire).     5    (bring) some life and color into their work, astronauts established their own band, guided by a conductor (乐队指挥) from the PLA Military Band (军乐团).

In the band, each astronaut chose     6     instrument they were interested in — Yang Liwei played the clarinet (黑管), Fei Junlong chose the drums, Jing Haipeng used the trombone (长号), and so forth. Typically, in the evenings, whenever someone played their instrument, astronauts in the same building would grab their own instruments     7     join in. In the beginning, many astronauts didn’t even understand the staff (五线谱).     8    , as they spent more time training, their skills improved.

Wu recalled a memorable performance by the astronaut band when they had a blackout (停电) suddenly: “Someone next to us held up a lighter, and the conductor signaled (示意) to keep playing. In the dark, no one could see the sheet music     9    (clear); all we could see was the movement of the conductor. So, we kept going. In the end, the astronauts completed the entire performance from memory,     10    (earn) warm applause (掌声) from the audience.”