NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts aboard the Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down Friday off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, completing the agency's fourth commercial crew mission to the International Space Station. The international crew of four spent 170 days in orbit.

NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown at 4:55 p.m. EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and astronauts. After returning to shore, all astronauts will fly to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Cristoforetti then will board a plane to Europe.

"Welcome home Crew-4! This international crew has spent nearly six months on the International Space Station conducting science for the benefit of all. Their work aboard the orbiting laboratory will help prepare future explorers for future space missions," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Working and living on the space station is the opportunity of a lifetime, but it also requires these explorers to make sacrifices, especially time away from loved ones. Kjell, Bob, Jessica and Samantha, thank you for your contributions over the past six months to science, innovation, and discovery!"

The Crew-4 mission launched at 3:52 a.m. EDT April 27 on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Less than 16 hours later, Dragon docked to the Harmony module's space-facing port. The astronauts undocked from the same port at 12:05 p.m. Friday, to begin the trip home.

Hines, Lindgren, Watkins, and Cristoforetti traveled 72,168,935 miles during their mission, spent 170 days aboard the space station, and completed 2,720 orbits around Earth. Lindgren has logged 311 days in space over his two flights, and with the completion of their flight today, Cristoforetti has logged 369 days in space on her two flights, making her second on the all-time list for most days in space by a woman. The Crew-4 mission was the first spaceflight for Hines and Watkins.

Throughout their mission, the Crew-4 astronauts contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Cristoforetti completed two spacewalks with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev to perform station maintenance and upgrades.

Crew-4 continued work on investigations documenting how improvements to the space diet affect immune function and the gut microbiome, determining the effect of fuel temperature on the flammability of a material, exploring possible adverse effects on astronaut hearing from equipment noise and microgravity, and studying whether additives increase or decrease the stability of emulsions. The astronauts also investigated microgravity-induced changes in the human immune system similar to aging, tested a novel water-reclamation membrane, and examined a concrete alternative made with a material found in lunar and Martian dust.

The spacecraft, named Freedom by Crew-4, will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX's Dragon Lair, where teams will examine the spacecraft's data and performance throughout the flight.

The Crew-4 flight is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program and its return to Earth follows on the heels of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 launch, which docked to the station Oct. 6, beginning another science expedition.

The goal of NASA's Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. This already has provided additional research time and has increased the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity's microgravity testbed for exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Interestingly, a confluence of trends is fast reshaping the modern space enterprise. With the authorities pushing for a new space force, new threats to US space assets have recently prompted the Pentagon to act faster and develop more resilient architectures. Meantime, the commercial space industry is growing at an accelerated rate, creating new opportunities for partnerships. Undoubtedly, to be successful, the US must continue to invest in modern technologies. It must continue to lead in space technology, ensuring its continued growth and development.

Further, pundits argue that the edge of humanity's space activity is rapidly moving to the lunar space. Broadly speaking, lunar space refers to the sphere that the earth and moon form. It's quickly opening up new opportunities for space exploration and exploitation. As the United States plans a crewed lunar landing in the 2020s, commercial companies are fast racing to develop the technology and infrastructure necessary to support such a daring endeavor. One good example is the moon's orbital stability. As such, many nation-states are increasingly deploying satellites to conduct high-level military reconnaissance and research.

The new paradigm generally requires the United States to take firm leadership in shaping the rules and frameworks that govern space matters. The authors of this report broadly recommend that the United States should lead the way in developing favorable frameworks. So, the time to act is now. With the prevailing trends, commercial firms will be critical to developing space technologies and profit-making activities. Most likely, this will become a reality by the year 2050. However, for this to happen, the United States must swiftly develop an aggressive strategy to ensure its role as a global leader in space technology matters.

Happily, the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) has already established a digital transformation community. The community aims to foster innovation whilst promoting a culture of collaboration. During this period, the agency plans to create a team of early adopters; these will explore new digital technologies and attack barriers. The team will include the agency's internal users- of course, these are the ultimate digital transformation effort customers. It's expected that the committee members will be open to new ways of working and seeking opportunities that drive the digital age.

Analysts note that- at least in the short term- commercial interests will greatly dominate space technology. Moreover, in about 30 years, these concerns will likely expand to the spherical space- the space that defines the earth and moon's orbit. Thus, the United States must create a framework that protects space interests as well as the primary stakeholders. It must also lead to space security issues and push the boundaries of human economic activity to its rightful place. Such a framework is necessary to ensure the space program's long-term security and prosperity.

But other issues significantly impact the overall equation here. Consider this, for instance: The cost of a single space rocket that can carry humans to Mars is estimated to be a whopping $10 billion. Ultimately, it would take thousands of flights, traveling over a period of 40 years, to reach man's ultimate goal. Space exploration also faces a long list of other challenges- these include the introduction of low-cost launches. Thus, for decades, some leading companies have had a strong working relationship with NASA, pushing together as the primary contractors for what's called the Space Launch System. Evidently, as long as the companies remain committed, NASA will always achieve its goal.

Ultimately, the future of space tourism will likely be dominated by a handful of private companies working in cahoots with government agencies. Among these is Blue Origin, a company that has successfully landed its suborbital New Shepherd rocket several times since late 2015. Another major commercial space company, Space-X, generally focuses on re-usable rocketry. As for NASA, it must rid itself of some unreliable commercial space travel players; the primary culprit is Boeing. SLS is another controversial player in the space exploration game. Indeed, some argue that SLS is the most controversial of the four main contractors currently associated with NASA.

So, exactly how is NASA, an iconic US organization, embracing the modern digital transformation? True, NASA was formerly dominated by the government's strategic initiative. However, the modern space agency has been going through rapid and fundamental change. Lately, NASA has fully embraced the modern digital transformation, thus attaining remarkable progress.

Pall Corporation, a leader in filtration, separation and purification technology, announced the construction of a new manufacturing facility focused on solutions that will serve advanced nodes for semiconductor manufacturers. Pall is investing more than $100M USD for the first phase of expansion, with subsequent investments over the course of construction. The facility will be located in western Singapore.

The new facility will primarily produce lithography and wet-etch filtration, purification and separation solutions that will help meet the high demand for advanced node solutions. The facility will be located on a seven-acre campus that will include more than 18,000 square meters of manufacturing and office space.

"The world is undergoing exponential growth in data generation, processing and storage due to increasing demands from wireless communications, the Internet of Things, automotive technology (autonomy, electrification and connectivity), cloud computing and artificial intelligence/deep learning. This facility will help support the rapid pace of innovation necessary for our customers to meet growing end market demand," said Naresh Narasimhan, President of Pall Corporation.

Construction of the first phase will begin in summer of 2022 and high-volume manufacturing (HVM) capability will be completed between late 2023 and early 2024. Additional capacity will be added in subsequent years as the site undergoes a phased ramp to its full potential. When completed, the site will more than double Pall's current installed capacity for manufacturing microelectronics filtration and purification solutions.

"With the construction of this new facility, we will bring a greater percentage of our manufacturing capacity closer to the manufacturing base of the majority of our customers, which will help reduce supply chain complexity and risk," said Shangaza Dasent, Vice President/General Manager of Pall's Microelectronics business unit.

To support the new site, the company plans to hire more than 300 employees with science, engineering and manufacturing experience.

Mr. Tan Kong Hwee, Executive Vice President of the Singapore Economic Development Board commented: "Pall's new manufacturing facility in Singapore that supplies filtration solutions for advanced semiconductor manufacturing will strengthen Singapore's semiconductor ecosystem and deepen our role in the global supply chain for semiconductors. It is also a testament to the growing business and job opportunities for Singaporeans in this exciting high-tech industry. We are delighted to be working with Pall on their growth plans."

Pall Corporation is a filtration, separation and purification leader providing solutions to meet the critical fluid management needs of customers across the broad spectrum of industries. Pall works with customers to advance health, safety, and environmentally responsible technologies. The Company's engineered products enable process and product innovation and minimize emissions and waste. Pall Corporation serves customers worldwide.

Adolf Lorenz, known as "the bloodless surgeon of Vienna," created bloodless surgery as a non-invasive surgical technique. His medical profession arose from his extreme sensitivity to carbolic acid, which was often utilized in operating rooms at the time. Because of his condition, he was obliged to work as a "dry surgeon." The phrase is now used to refer to both invasive and noninvasive medical treatments and processes. The phrase does not refer to surgery that does not include the use of blood or blood transfusions. Rather, it refers to surgery that is carried out without the use of allogeneic blood. Bloodless surgery advocates, on the other hand, transfuse goods derived from allogeneic blood (blood from other individuals) as well as pre-donated blood for autologous transfusion.

Some patients will refuse a blood or blood product transfusion due to personal choice or religious convictions. In other cases, preserving blood and limiting blood loss during surgery has resulted in safer treatments and quicker recoveries. Denton Cooley, an American cardiac surgeon, successfully conducted multiple bloodless open-heart surgeries on Jehovah's Witness patients in the early 1960s. Fifteen years later, he and his colleague demonstrated that heart surgery could be conducted successfully without the need of blood transfusions. To provide safe, effective, and clinically sound blood product alternatives, the different BMS programs have implemented innovative methodologies, built robust policies, and utilized technology.

Of course, transfusion will always play a vital role in healthcare, particularly in emergencies and for people suffering from blood diseases. However, extensive data now show that certain transfusions are not only preventable, but may also have a negative impact on patient outcomes. The concept that major surgery might be conducted without providing blood or blood products to the patient would have been regarded with widespread disbelief decades ago. Stored blood was used in a variety of settings, frequently without concern. It was just normal, and as such, it received little scientific examination. But, owing to certain dedicated, daring medical pioneers and religious leaders, we can now make a powerful message.

Almost no surgery, regardless of the location of the body being treated, necessitates the use of blood products, even organ transplants. It merely takes careful preparation.

Bloodless medicine and surgery is an established, safe, and successful technique of treating patients that does not include the use of blood or blood products such as red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma. Best patient blood management is gradually becoming acknowledged as the gold standard of treatment in medicine and surgery across the country for optimal use of blood products. Blood conservation strategies not only enhance the management of a patient's blood, but they also minimize dependency on regional and national blood supplies, as well as the accompanying expenses.

Patients who choose bloodless treatment frequently have excellent outcomes as a result of: Healing periods are shorter, recovery times are shorter, fewer responses from blood that has been preserved for an extended amount of time, infections are less likely to occur, there are no hazards associated with obtaining the incorrect blood by mistake.

Implementing the finest patient blood management program benefits hospitals and health care companies by: Lowering the hospital's blood inventory maintenance expenses, reducing needless blood draws, lowering the likelihood of blood transfusion mistakes, lowering the risk of infection, reducing problems associated with blood storage, lowering the demand for blood and blood products.

Controlling bleeding in surgery is accomplished by the use of laser or sonic scalpels, minimally invasive surgical procedures, electrosurgery and electrocautery, low central venous pressure anesthesia (in certain circumstances), or vascular suture ligation. Other options include the use of blood substitutes, which do not now contain oxygen but increase the volume of the blood to avoid shock. PolyHeme, a blood replacement that does deliver oxygen, is also being developed. Many clinicians regard acute normovolemic hemodilution, a kind of blood storage, as a pillar of "bloodless surgery," although the procedure is not an option for patients who refuse autologous blood transfusions.

Intraoperative blood salvage is a procedure that recycles and cleans blood from a patient during surgery and reroutes it back into the patient's body. Postoperatively, surgeons attempt to reduce future blood loss by continuing to provide drugs to increase blood cell mass and reducing the number of blood draws and the amount of blood obtained for testing, such as by using pediatric blood tubes for adult patients. HBOCs like Polyheme and Hemepure have been withdrawn due to serious adverse responses, including death. They were only legally permitted as routine therapy in South Africa, but they are no longer available.