International Space Station (Updates)

6,181 · November 29, 2015

ISS launch schedule for Roscosmos released...

State Commission under the leadership of Acting Head of the Federal Space Agency ("Roscosmos") Alexander Ivanov confirmed the launch date of the modernized transport and cargo ship (TGK) "PROGRESS-MS."

Starting TGC "PROGRESS-MS" will be held December 21, 2015 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Also, the state commission approved the timetable for the planned launch of the ISS program in 2016:

March 19, 2016 - TPK "Soyuz TMA-20M";

March 31, 2016 - TGC "PROGRESS-MS-02";

June 21, 2016 - TPK "Soyuz-MS";

July 4, 2016 - TGC "PROGRESS-MS-03";

September 23, 2016 - TPK "Soyuz-MS-02";

October 20, 2016 - TGC "PROGRESS-MS-04";

November 16, 2016 - TPK "Soyuz-MS-03."

http://www.federalspace.ru/21835/

for this year.......

Dec. 15Soyuz • ISS 45S

Launch time: 1105 GMT (6:05 a.m. EST)
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the manned Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station with members of the next Expedition crew. The capsule will remain at the station for about six months, providing an escape pod for the crew. Delayed from Nov. 20. [Oct. 19]

Dec. 21Soyuz • Progress 62P

Launch time: 0848 GMT (3:48 a.m. EST)
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the 62nd Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. Moved forward from Feb. 12. Delayed from Nov. 19 and Nov. 21. [Oct. 27]

http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

and Orbital.....

Dec. 3Atlas 5 • OA-4

Launch window: 2255-2325 GMT (5:55-6:25 p.m. EST)
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-061, will launch the fifth Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo freighter on its fourth operational cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station. The mission is known as OA-4. The rocket will fly in the 401 vehicle configuration with a four-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. Delayed from Nov. 19. [Nov. 7]

http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

SpaceX in January...

Jan. 3Falcon 9 • SpaceX CRS 8

Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the 10th Dragon spacecraft on the eighth operational cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station. The flight is being conducted under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from Aug. 13, Sept. 2 and December. [Sept. 29]

http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

The new Progress MS series features updated avionics and control systems....extra data here....
http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/progress-ms.htm

AmericaSpace is carrying a multipart article on the early ISSconstruction with the shuttle, long but very informative...

'The First Shuttle Ever to Bounce': 15 Years Since STS-97 Powered-Up the Space Station (Part 1)

Fifteen years ago, next week, STS-97 installed the first set of U.S.-built solar arrays, radiators and batteries onto the International Space Station (ISS), transforming it into the brightest artificial object in Earth’s skies. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Fifteen years ago, next week, power—in the form of two immense, electricity-generating solar arrays, together with associated batteries and radiators—arrived in spectacular fashion at the International Space Station (ISS). Launched on 30 November 2000, shuttle Endeavour and her STS-97 crew of Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Joe Tanner, Carlos Noriega and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Marc Garneau became the first humans to visit the infant station’s incumbent Expedition 1 crew and, during the course of three EVAs, delivered, installed and activated one of the largest, longest and most massive structures ever carried into space. In fact, as will be outlined in this weekend’s history articles, the $600 million P-6 Integrated Truss Structure (ITS) would go on to play a key role in powering the station during its early development and has taken center-stage in a number of recent operations, including this month’s U.S. EVA-33.

Its story extends back to the dawn of the ISS era, when Boeing was selected in January 1995 to lead the design and development of the new station, under the language of an initial $5.63 billion contract from NASA. Over the following years, its various components took shape, with agreements reached in August 1995 for the United States to purchase the $190 million Russian-built Functional Cargo Block (FGB)—later renamed “Zarya” (“Dawn”)—which would become the first ISS element to be launched into orbit. By the end of 1996, the first of (originally) two U.S.-provided nodes had sailed through its final pressure test and the FGB had attained structural completion. Plans called for the FGB to launch atop a Russian Proton-K rocket in November 1997, after which the STS-88 shuttle crew would deliver Node-1 in early December. This would followed by the Russian-built Service Module (SM), later named “Zvezda” (“Star”), thereby establishing essential life-support and crew quarters, and the STS-92 shuttle assembly mission, ahead of Expedition 1.

more at the link....

http://www.americaspace.com/?p=88720#more-88720

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ISS CREW GEAR UP FOR VISITING VEHICLE TRAFFIC

Kelly tweets a picture of the US Orbital Segment. He took the image from the Cupola window in the Tranquility module. Kelly is now less than 100 days away from returning home on his year-long mission. Photo Credit: Scott Kelly / NASA

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After a few weeks of no visiting vehicle traffic, allowing more time to be spent on science, the crew of the International Space Station are gearing up for a period of comings and goings on board the orbiting laboratory.

The next three-and-a-half weeks will see the slew of visiting vehicles visit and depart the station including the launch of a Cygnus cargo ship, the swapping of an old Progress cargo ship with a new one, and the transfer of crews from Expedition 45 to Expedition 46.

On Dec. 3, Orbital ATK’s Deke Slayton II Cygnus will launch to the station and berth to the Unity module a few days later on Dec. 6. After that, on Dec. 11, Soyuz TMA-17M will undock and land with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and U.S. astronaut Kjell Lindgren. Upon undocking, Expedition 46 will officially begin.

Four days later on Dec. 15, Soyuz TMA-19M will launch and dock with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, British astronaut Timothy Peake, and US astronaut Timothy Kopra. Peake will be the first British citizen to be selected as an astronaut by the European Space Agency (ESA) to fly in space. Finally, Progress M-28M will undock from the Pirs docking module, on Dec. 19, to make room for the upgraded Progress MS-1, which will launch on Dec 21. MS-1 will dock with Pirs two days later on Dec. 23.

more at the link....

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/iss/iss-crew-gear-visiting-vehicle-traffic/

6,181 · December 1, 2015

Station Gearing Up for Science Delivery and Crew Swap

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, the Expedition 46-47 crew poses for pictures following a news conference Nov. 23. (From left) European Space Agency astronaut Timothy Peake, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra.Credit: NASA/Seth Marcantel

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The International Space Station residents are gearing up to host the Orbital ATK Cygnus space freighter when it arrives Dec. 6. On the ground, a new trio of Expedition 46-47 crew members headed to their launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan before their mid-December mission.

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren trained for the rendezvous and robotic capture of Cygnus after its Dec. 3 launch from the Kennedy Space Center. The Cygnus will deliver supplies for the crew and new science experiments Dec. 6 when it is captured and berthed to the Harmony module.

Three new station crew members are in the final stage of their mission training before beginning a six-month mission to the orbital laboratory. First-time British astronaut Timothy Peake will join veteran station residents Yuri Malenchenko and Timothy Kopra inside the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft for a six-hour ride to the space station set for Dec. 15.

Meanwhile, advanced space science continued today as the crew explored radiation, blood circulation and microbes living on crew members. Scientists hope to use the results from the many experiments on the station to benefit people on Earth and future crews.

Finally, the crew is packing the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft before its undocking Dec. 11. The Soyuz will bring home Expedition 45-46 crew members Lindgren, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/11/30/station-gearing-up-for-science-delivery-and-crew-swap/

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NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 27 November 2015

Moscow (in the middle of the picture) and St. Petersburg (top left) shining in the night against the background of Aurora. Credit: ROSCOSMOS/Oleg Kononenko.

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Today: EXPRESS (EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station) Rack 8 Laptop Software Load: Kelly supported the ongoing software updates to ISS EXPRESS Rack laptops by copying a software load to the EXPRESS Rack 8 laptop. These software updates include enhanced security with the Windows 7 operating system, new features and support for new capabilities.

Large Format Motion Picture Camera (IMAX) Video Downlink: Yui connected the IMAX Codex to a Station Support Computer (SSC) for the final planned downlink of recorded video files. IMAX filmmakers plan to produce a three dimensional movie called A Perfect Planet using ISS-based video and images to show how natural and human forces shape planet Earth. The film will also showcase NASA's exploration efforts and highlight the ISS as a platform for scientific research and a stepping stone to deep space exploration.

Crew Departure Preparation: Lindgren and Yui packed their personal items in preparation for their return to earth scheduled for December 11th.

Cygnus Robotics Onboard Training (ROBoT): Lindgren utilized the Robotic Trainer as part of a self-study session to practice nominal and off nominal Cygnus rendezvous and capture scenarios. Orbital ATK (OA)-4 is scheduled to launch on December 3rd with rendezvous and berthing on December 6th.

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Ground Activities
All activities are on schedule unless otherwise noted.

Starboard CQ Safing
PROX System Checkout in preparation for OA-4

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 11/28: Weekly Cleaning, Crew Off Duty
Sunday, 11/29: Crew Off Duty
Monday, 11/30: Cygnus Offset Grapple Training, Deck CQ Clean, Journals, Microbiome, Crew Departure Prep, 43S PrePack

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status
Elektron - On
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-27-november-2015.html

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Video: NASA Monthly ISS Research Update for December 2015

NASA Monthly ISS Research Update for December 2015. NASA

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See the highlights of recent research conducted on the International Space Station.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/video-nasa-monthly-iss-research-update-for-december-2015.html

Monthly ISS Research Video Update for December 2015

video is 5:00 min

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RSC "Energia" to create a system of wireless power transmission

(translated)

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11/30/2015 11:02

RSC "Energia", the leading enterprise of the space industry of Russia in the field of manned space flight, ground tests begins transmission technologies from one object to another by means of infrared laser radiation. Ground tests will start in 2016.

In space, energy will be transferred to the International Space Station on TGK "Progress", which will be allotted to this station for one or two kilometers. According to experts, "Energy", the efficiency of the entire tract could reach 10-20 percent, and the use of the latest advances in laser technology and optoelectronics have the possibility of increasing to 30 percent.

Such development in addition to the use of space, and can be applied wherever there is a need for autonomous robotic systems. First of all - the Interior Ministry and the Emergencies Ministry, which regularly employ robots in the aftermath of natural disasters, scanning objects for explosives and carrying out other, very dangerous to attract the person operations. Technology laser power can significantly increase the autonomy of remotely controlled devices and thus at times to increase their effectiveness.

"Joined the project leading laboratories in the country and today we already have receivers photovoltaic converters with an efficiency of about 60 percent. To resolve the beam guidance system based on the company prepared track, where the distance between the transmitter and receiver is 1.5 km away. The system is successfully operating in test mode, "- said the head of department for energy systems of space vehicles of the new generation of RSC" Energia "Vyacheslav TUGAENKO.

Creating effective laser systems will eventually transfer power from the spacecraft powerful enough power plants to other satellites equipped with special receivers-transmitters. This opens up exciting new possibilities for space exploration.

http://www.federalspace.ru/21859/

6,181 · December 1, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 30 November 2015

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The International Space Station residents are gearing up to host the Orbital ATK Cygnus space freighter when it arrives Dec. 6. On the ground, a new trio of Expedition 46-47 crew members headed to their launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan before their mid-December mission.

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren trained for the rendezvous and robotic capture of Cygnus after its Dec. 3 launch from the Kennedy Space Center. The Cygnus will deliver supplies for the crew and new science experiments Dec. 6 when it is captured and berthed to the Harmony module.

Three new station crew members are in the final stage of their mission training before beginning a six-month mission to the orbital laboratory. First-time British astronaut Timothy Peake will join veteran station residents Yuri Malenchenko and Timothy Kopra inside the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft for a six-hour ride to the space station set for Dec. 15.

Meanwhile, advanced space science continued today as the crew explored radiation, blood circulation and microbes living on crew members. Scientists hope to use the results from the many experiments on the station to benefit people on Earth and future crews.

Finally, the crew is packing the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft before its undocking Dec. 11. The Soyuz will bring home Expedition 45-46 crew members Lindgren, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui.

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Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
MSS Powerup
SSRMS ACBM survey
MSS powerdown

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 12:01 Ocular Health, SM Water Sample Collection, Cygnus Attached Phase OBT, 43S Pre-Pack, JAXA ELF Video
Wednesday, 12/02: Ocular Health, CBCS Install, Cygnus Cargo Ops Conf, Crew Departure Prep, Fundoscope
Thursday, 12/03: Orbital ATK 4 Launch , Ocular Health, CARDOX, Soyuz Descent OBT

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status
Elektron - On
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - On
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Normal
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-30-november-2015.html

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"Cyg"-nificant Science Launching to Space Station

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NASA's commercial partner Orbital ATK plans to launch its Cygnus spacecraft into orbit Dec. 3, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for its fourth contracted resupply mission. The flight, known as CRS-4, will deliver samples and equipment to the International Space Station for research investigations that will occur during current and future expeditions in the many science disciplines aboard the orbiting multi-disciplinary laboratory.

This delivery will support significant research being conducted off the Earth to benefit the Earth, including investigations in advanced and automated data collection and in the behavior of gases, liquids and burning textiles in microgravity.

Research equipment includes the Space Automated Bioproduct Lab (SABL), a single locker-sized facility that will enable a wide variety of fundamental, applied and commercial life sciences research, as well as K-16 education-based investigations aboard the space station.

SABL consists of a temperature-controlled chamber that can house a variety of passive or active experiments that can be automated or remotely operated by the crew members or by personnel in a remote operations center on the ground. SABL supports automated collection of experiment data from various sensors and from high-definition video. It can display data on a touchscreen interface on the front of the payload or downlink data files and HD video streams to the ground for analysis by scientists anywhere in the world.

CRS-4 will also carry the Packed Bed Reactor Experiment (PBRE). This investigation studies the behavior of gases and liquids when they flow simultaneously through a column filled with fixed porous media.

The porous media or "packing" can be made of different shapes and materials that are used widely in chemical engineering as a means to enhance the contact between two unmixable fluid phases (e.g., liquid-gas, water-oil, etc.). Packed columns can serve as reactors, scrubbers, strippers, etc. in systems where efficient interphase contact is desired, both on Earth and in space.

Water recovery systems, fuel cells and other equipment on the space station use packed bed reactors, but currently none are designed to handle both liquid and gas at the same time. With improved understanding of how packed bed flow works in microgravity, scientists are able to design more efficient, lightweight thermal management and life support systems that use less energy, benefiting the space station and future long-duration missions.

The investigation is also of interest in many chemical and biological processing systems as well as many geophysical applications on Earth.

Another hot investigation launching on CRS-4 includes the Burning and Suppression of Solids - Milliken (BASS-M) investigation, which examines the extinction characteristics of a variety of flame retardant textiles in microgravity when exposed to a controlled flame.

The flame retardant behavior of treated cotton fabrics is very different than traditional flame retardant materials, but little has been documented about its behavior in microgravity. This investigation tests the hypothesis that with adequate ventilation, materials in microgravity, burn as well, if not better, than the same material in normal gravity with other conditions being identical.

BASS-M will test ten different treated textiles at various air flow rates found in forced convection (heat transfer through external means versus natural means) in microgravity environments or in a free fall environment. Scientists will evaluate and compare against normal terrestrial behavior each textile's ability to self-extinguish. The BASS-M experiment will provide data on treated cotton fabrics in microgravity and could be used to screen materials for safe use in clothing and textiles in future missions.

Additionally, the launch cargo will include two Nodes satellites that will be deployed from the space station to demonstrate new network capabilities critical to the operation of swarms of spacecraft. They will demonstrate the ability of multi-spacecraft swarms to receive and distribute ground commands, exchange information periodically and autonomously configure a network by determining which spacecraft should communicate with the ground each day of a mission.

These and additional samples and equipment launched to the space station aboard CRS-4 enable science on the orbiting laboratory that continues to create "cyg"-nificant benefits off the Earth for the Earth and beyond.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Cyg_nificant_Science_Launching_to_Space_Station_999.html

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Commercial Crew Showcased on Tour

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Commercial Crew team members with NASA and our aerospace industry partners showed what a season of advances has meant for the launch sites where NASA astronauts will lift off on missions to the International Space Station in the near future.

At Launch Pad 39A, Carol Scott, who works technical integration for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, showed news media and NASA Social participants the new look SpaceX is applying to the launch complex to make it suit the company’s needs for Crew Dragon missions.

Boeing and United Launch Alliance spent the last couple months building a new Crew Access Tower at Space Launch Complex 41, the place where Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will fly from on missions with astronauts. NASA’s Steve Payne, who works in Launch Integration, and ULA’s Howard Biegler, Launch Operations lead of Human Launch Service, detailed the work that went into constructing the tower that will contain all the systems needed to safely support human crews and ground support staff for a Starliner launch.

The progress is important for NASA because it will restore American capabilities to launch astronauts to low-Earth orbit. For the orbiting laboratory of the space station, the flights will increase the crew by one and double the amount of time astronauts can devote to cutting-edge research to answer the vexing issues of a journey to Mars and to conduct science off the Earth for all those on the Earth.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2015/12/01/commercial-crew-showcased-on-tour/

6,181 · December 2, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 1 December 2015

In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 46-47 crewmember Tim Peake of the European Space Agency suits up during a fit check dress rehearsal 1 December. Peake, Tim Kopra of NASA and Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will launch 15 December from Baikonur in the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft for a six-month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Victor Zelentsov.

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A trio of International Space Station residents is getting ready to return to Earth while a new crew in Kazakhstan is preparing to replace them. Meanwhile, a pair of space freighters, the Orbital ATK Cygnus and Russia's Progress 62 (62P), is being readied for liftoff as another docked cargo craft is being packed before it's undocking.

The Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft will launch Thursday at 5:55 p.m. EST to the station. The 61P is scheduled for a Dec. 21 liftoff. While mission managers are preparing three different spacecraft for launch this month, the Expedition 45 crew is performing research to help scientists benefit life on Earth and crews in space.

The next home-bound astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui checked their vision and blood pressure today for the Ocular Health study. The duo will return home with Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko Dec. 11 officially ending the Expedition 45 mission. Kononenko participated in a pair of blood circulation experiments, Cosmocard and Cardiovector, and prepared the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft for its departure in less than two weeks.

Commander Scott Kelly, who is staying in space until March with Flight Engineer Sergey Volkov and fellow One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko, sampled and tested the station's water quality. Volkov and Kornienko explored veins in the lower body to understand blood flow during a long-term space mission.

The next crew to live on the space station, Expedition 46, is at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site counting down to its Dec. 15 liftoff inside the Soyuz TMA-19M rocket. First-time British astronaut Timothy Peake is joining veteran station crew members Timothy Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko for the six-month mission aboard the orbital laboratory.

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Service Module (SM) Water Sample Collection: Kelly obtained samples from Service Module potable water dispensers today. Some of the samples will undergo microbial analysis onboard ISS and others will be prepared for return to the ground for post-flight analysis.

Soyuz 43 (43S) Prepack Transfer Operations: Lindgren prepared and transferred US cargo that will be returning to the ground via 43S on December 11th.

Cygnus Attached Phase Training: Kelly and Lindgren conducted onboard training in order to familiarize themselves with Cygnus hardware, stowage, and attached phase vehicle configuration.

Crew Departure Preparation: Yui continued to pack his personal items in preparation for his crews return to earth onboard 43S.

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Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Nominal System Commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 12/02: Ocular Health, CBCS Install, Cygnus Cargo Ops Conf, Crew Departure Prep, Fundoscope
Thursday, 12/03: Orbital ATK 4 Launch , Ocular Health, CARDOX, Soyuz Descent OBT
Friday, 12/04: 1/2 Duty Day, Cygnus Robotics OBT, Crew Departure Prep, RAM Retrieval, Biome

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status
Elektron - On
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - On
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Normal
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-1-december-2015.html

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MDA Continues Support of the Canadian Robotics on the International Space Station

Press Release From: MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.
Posted: Tuesday, December 1, 2015

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (“MDA” or the “Company”) (TSX:MDA), a global communications and information company, today announced that it has signed a contract amendment with the Canadian Space Agency for CA$5 million to provide additional support for the Mobile Servicing System on the International Space Station (ISS). This amendment relates to MDA’s August 2015 announcement.

The Mobile Servicing System comprises Canadarm2, the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator known as “Dextre,” and the Mobile Base System. These three robotic systems perform a variety of operations ranging from resupply, maintenance, and servicing tasks on the space station that are critical to the on-going operations of the ISS.

About MDA

MDA is a global communications and information company providing operational solutions to commercial and government organizations worldwide.

MDA’s business is focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, primarily in the Communications sector and the Surveillance and Intelligence sector. In addition, the Company conducts a significant amount of advanced technology development.

MDA’s established global customer base is served by more than 4,800 employees operating from 11 locations in the United States, Canada, and internationally.

The Company’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “MDA.”

Related Websites
www.mdacorporation.com

// end //

http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=47446

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Getting Into the Flow on the ISS

One of the two PBRE test beds. One column will use randomly packed glass beads (shown), while the other will use randomly packed Teflon beads. Image courtesy NASA.

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Think about underground water and gas as they filter through porous materials like soil and rock beds. On Earth, gravity forces water and gas to separate as they flow through the ground, cleaning the water and storing it in underground pools. Gravity's role is significant in the process, both in nature with ground water and in chemical processes such as water reclamation reactors.

How this filtering works on Earth is well understood, even when the flow consists of different fluids. The process is still a mystery in microgravity.

"There are a lot of different types of reactors," said Dr. Brian Motil, principal investigator, PBRE, NASA's Glenn Research Center. "When you have a single phase, just a liquid or a gas, it behaves pretty much the same on Earth as it does in microgravity. However, when you get two different phases, like gas-liquid where the densities are very different, you end up with some very different behavior when you go from the ground to space."

The Packed Bed Reactor Experiment (PBRE) is a basic science investigation designed to fill in the missing information as to how two-phase mixtures flow through porous media in microgravity. PBRE, which is scheduled to launch on the next Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station Dec. 3, could provide answers that would help design more efficient reactors for space, particularly for those long-duration missions like trips to Mars.

Reactors used on the space station and in space missions are critical. Without them, life in space would not be possible. They reclaim water, clean air, and provide many of the life-sustaining processes we take for granted. Because of the gap in our knowledge about how two-phase systems work in microgravity, designers don't have the necessary tools to create more efficient systems.

"In general, what we've done at NASA is try to avoid two-phase reactors," said Dr. Enrique Rame, project scientist, NASA Glenn. "It's a complex problem, but we can't always avoid two-phases. Sometimes gas bubbles come out of a solution and you end up with two phases even though you don't want them in the reactor. That causes problems for people who are designing water reclamation, air revitalization and those types of systems."

PBRE will be conducted over eight weeks on the space station in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), a self-contained, suit-case sized lab. At 324 pounds (147 kilograms), PBRE is the heaviest and largest experiment in the MSG to date.

While PBRE will look at hydrodynamics, it will not include any chemical reactions.

"The PBRE has the capability to provide a wide range of water and air flows through two randomly packed test beds. The packing is 3 mm spherical beads," said Cathy Frey, PBRE operations lead, NASA Glenn.

Using two types of beads will allow researchers to measure flow through materials that have different levels of "wetting", a liquid's ability to maintain contact with a surface. One test bed will be packed with a glass beads, wetting, while the other will have non-wetting Teflon beads.

The experiment will measure pressure and flow rates. Two high-speed, high-resolution cameras will capture images of the flow conditions.

"After the initial testing is complete, PBRE will be available for additional research," said Motil. "The test section and diagnostics are replaceable to allow for any type of air-water experiment, allowing for NASA or industry to test any type of component or subsystem."

PBRE will develop and validate scaling and design tools for future two-phase reactors in microgravity. It will also identify strategies to recover single-phase packed beds from undesired gas bubbles. Results from this experiment may lead to the ability to operate reactors in space at greater efficiency than we can on Earth, thus benefiting future deep space missions.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Getting_Into_the_Flow_on_the_ISS_999.html

6,181 · December 3, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 2 December 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 2 December 2015. NASA

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Orbital ATK rolled out its Cygnus resupply ship to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch pad in Florida today. Cygnus will launch atop an Atlas V rocket at 5:55 p.m. EST Thursday. The private U.S. space freighter will deliver new science experiments and crew supplies to the International Space Station crew early Sunday.

Amid Cygnus rendezvous and capture preparations, Commander Scott Kelly with Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui also worked on biomedical science activities today. The trio collected blood and urine samples and participated in a vision test to help doctors understand the effects of living in space on astronauts.

Cosmonauts Sergey Volkov and Mikhail Kornienko continued studying how blood circulates in space. Volkov then moved on to an experiment observing how the vacuum of space and space radiation may influence organisms off Earth. Kornienko explored new Earth photography techniques.

Lindgren and Yui are returning home Dec. 11 with Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko after 141 days in space. The three Expedition 45 home-bound crew members checked the spacesuits they will wear on the way home for leaks.

Quote

Centerline Berthing Camera System (CBCS) Installation and Checkout: In preparation for Cygnus berthing on Sunday December 6th, Yui installed the CBCS System onto the Node 1 Nadir Hatch. Following the installation Yui worked with ground teams in order to successfully checkout the system. The checkout involved routing the video from the camera to the Cupola Robotics Work Station (RWS) monitors and the ground. Video from the CBCS is used to aid the crew during Visiting Vehicle mating operations.

Crew Departure Preparation: Yui continued to pack his personal items in preparation for his crews return to earth onboard Soyuz 43 (43S) on December 11th. The items will be returning by way of 43S, SpaceX-8, and SpaceX-9.

Sokol Suit Leak Check: This morning the 43S crew performed a nominal Sokol suit leak check. Prior to the leak check, they reported a light "burning" odor in the 43 Soyuz, later classified as a "plastic" odor coming from one of the panels. Compound Specific Analyzer - Combustion Products (CSA-CP) readings were zero. Russian specialists are investigating.

Kurs Loopback Test: Today MCC-M performed a test of the FGB KURS-P with the 43S Kurs-A. FGB Kurs semi-set 1 passed the test, but semi-set 2 was not successful. Further testing has been deferred pending investigation by Russian specialists.

Quote

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 12/03: Orbital ATK 4 Launch , Ocular Health, CARDOX, Soyuz Descent OBT
Friday, 12/04: 1/2 Duty Day, Cygnus Robotics OBT, Crew Departure Prep, RAM Retrieval, Biome
Saturday, 12/05: Cygnus Capture Review, Crew Off Duty, Weekly Cleaning

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status
Elektron - On
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - On
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab- Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-2-december-2015.html

Space Station Live: Packed Bed Reactor, video is 3:50 min

------------------------------------

Video: NASA StationLIFE: Robotics for December 2015

Video: NASA StationLIFE: Robotics for December 2015 NASA

Quote

Every month on StationLIFE, we'll focus on a scientific area where the International Space Station is conducting groundbreaking research. This month, astronaut Tracy Dyson talks about the ways robotics are used on the International Space Station.

The International Space Station is home to some of the most advanced robotic systems ever developed. These machines are used in tasks ranging from simple house cleaning to capturing visiting spacecraft!

Right now on the station, robotic systems are demonstrating the ability to repair and refuel satellites, testing 3D mapping and navigation technologies, analyzing robotic synthetic muscles that contract and relax like real muscle, and even saving lives back here on Earth!

Be sure to check back every month to see more of how we're working "Off the Earth, For the Earth."

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/video-nasa-stationlife-robotics-for-december-2015.html

StationLIFE: Robotics – December

video is 24:23 min....long, but informative.....

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These are the robots you're looking for

CSA's Canadarm and Candarm2 also lead to the development of neuroArm, a surgical robot that can improve precision and accuracy during brain surgery.

Quote

It seems that every science fiction story has a robot tightly woven into its narrative. Where there are space travelers, there are robotic sidekicks - often of the clunky metal figure variety - moving mechanically and speaking with a modified, monotone voice or series of beeps and bleeps. Robotics aboard the International Space Station (ISS), though, are helping us advance medical procedures on Earth and preparing us future deep space exploration.

Throughout December, the ISS Research and Technology team will focus on the wide range of robotic advancements in which the orbiting laboratory has played a crucial role. From work that has been in progress for years and has already yielded extraordinary results here on Earth, to new technology that is set to launch this week, robotics has been and continues to be a critical part of the science taking place aboard the space station.

Quote

While distant exploration is benefiting from robotics aboard the space station, so are people back on Earth. The Image-Guided Autonomous Robot (IGAR) was created using technologies from both the space shuttle and space station, including the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre. IGAR works in tandem with an MRI scanner to aid in more precise targeting of tumors, and in needle-based biopsies or lesion removal.

CSA's Canadarm and Candarm2 also lead to the development of neuroArm, a surgical robot that can improve precision and accuracy during brain surgery. Watch this touching video that shows how neuroArm helped a young mother get a new lease on life after being diagnosed with multiple brain tumors.

Of course, no discussion of robotics on the space station would be complete without a mention of Robonaut2. The dexterous humanoid robot has called the space station home since 2011, and is designed to be able to complete simple, repetitive or even dangerous tasks.

New robotic technologies are continuously developed for the orbiting laboratory. The ISS Robotic External Ammonia Leak Locator (ISS External Leak Locator) is set to launch Dec. 3 aboard the Cygnus spacecraft. The tool will be tested on its ability to detect ammonia leaks on the space station's exterior, a task that usually requires a risky spacewalk by astronauts.

Humans can do great things while in space, but having the assistance of a robot can not only advance future exploration, it can also lead to great things back on Earth. The robotic sidekicks may not look like the science fiction droids of fiction, but it's clear their role is important. Join us as we explore these robotic stories this month.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/These_are_the_robots_youre_looking_for_999.html

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Caviar, chocolate, fruit bound for International Space Station ahead of New Year

Quote

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russian cosmonauts at the International Space Station (ISS) will be delivered black caviar, chocolate and fruit ahead of New Year holidays, the Special Food Technology Institute said on Monday.

They will also receive savouries with onion and cheese, sausages, sweets, apples, grapefruit and tangerines, elements of a traditional Russian New Year dinner, the institute said.

The food will be brought by piloted Soyuz TMS-19M spacecraft on December 15 and the Progress MS space freighter set for launch on December 21.

http://tass.ru/en/science/840306

6,181 · December 4, 2015

NASA ISS Space to Ground Weekly Report - 4 December 2015

NASA ISS Space to Ground Weekly Report - 4 December 2015. NASA

Quote

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-iss-space-to-ground-weekly-report---4-december-2015.html

Video is 2:10 min.....

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NASA to Televise Return of Three Space Station Crew Members

Quote

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Television will provide complete coverage Friday, Dec. 11 of the departure of three crew members from the International Space Station and their return to Earth beginning at 1 a.m. EST.

Expedition 45 Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will undock their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft from the space station at 4:49 a.m.The crew members will land in Kazakhstan at 8:12 a.m. (7:10 p.m. Kazakhstan time). Their return will wrap up 141 days in space since their launch in late July.

Activities and NASA TV coverage are as follows:

1 a.m. - Farewell and hatch closure coverage (hatch closure scheduled at

1:25 a.m.)

4:30 a.m. - Undocking coverage (undocking scheduled at 4:49 a.m.)

7 a.m. - Deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn scheduled at 7:19 a.m., with landing at 8:12 a.m.)

10 a.m. - Video file of hatch closure, undocking and landing activities

9 p.m. - Video file of landing and post-landing activities and post-landing interviews with Lindgren and Yui in Kazakhstan

At the time of undocking, Expedition 46 will begin aboard the station under the continued command of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. Along with his crewmates Mikhail Kornienkoand Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, the three-person crew will operate the station for four days until the arrival of three new crew members. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Kelly and Kornienko are spending one year in space, twice the typical mission duration, to provide researchers the opportunity to advance their knowledge of the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges faced by astronauts during long-duration spaceflight.

For the NASA TV streaming video and schedule, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/prnewswire-space-news.html?rkey=20151204DC74089&filter=1639

6,181 · December 5, 2015

Boston Area Students to Talk with Space Station Astronaut

Quote

Students from seven high schools in Boston will have the opportunity to speak with a NASA astronaut currently aboard the International Space Station at 9:45 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 8. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Space station Commander Scott Kelly will answer questions from students in grades 9 through 12 at Bristol Plymouth Regional High School, Campus Academy, Duxbury High School, Fenway High School, Innovation Academy Charter School, St. Marks School and the Winsor School.

Media interested in covering the event, hosted by the Museum of Science, Boston, should contact Erin Shannon at eshannon@mos.org. The Museum of Science is located at One Science Park in Boston.

Kelly launched to the station on March 27 as half of the first crew to spend a full year on the space station.

This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of the NASA Education Office’s efforts to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning in the United States. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station through NASA Education’s STEM on Station activity provides them with an authentic, live experience of space exploration, space study and the scientific components of space travel, while introducing them to the possibilities of life in space.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/boston-area-students-to-talk-with-space-station-astronaut

--------------------------------

British astronaut Tim Peake to run marathon from space

Quote

On Friday, British astronaut Tim Peake announced his intention to compete in the London Marathon -- from space.

Peake is scheduled to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, as part of Expedition 46. He will be joined on his trip to the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos.

On April 24, toward the end of his six-month stay, Peake will use the ISS treadmill to log more than 26 miles as a participant in the London Marathon.

"The thing I'm most looking forward to is that I can still interact with everybody down on Earth," Peake said in a European Space Agency news release. "I'll be running it with the iPad and watching myself running through the streets of London whilst orbiting the Earth at 400 kilometers."

Peake has previously run the London Marathon -- on Earth. In 1999, he logged a time of 3 hours, 18 minutes and 50 seconds.

Though Peake has been been training in preparation, he likely won't push himself to beat that time, as ESA's medical team will be closely monitoring him to ensure he's physically fit and healthy for his return to Earth scheduled a few weeks later.

"One of the biggest challenges I'll be facing is the harness system," Peake told The Guardian. "It has a waistbelt and shoulder straps. That has to provide quite a bit of downforce to get my body on to the treadmill, so after about 40 minutes, that gets very uncomfortable. I don't think I'll be setting any personal bests. I've set myself a goal of anywhere between 3:30 to 4 hours."

If successful, Peake would be the first man to run a marathon in space. But he wouldn't be the first person. Female NASA astronaut Sunita Williams completed the Boston Marathon from the space station in 2007.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/British_astronaut_Tim_Peake_to_run_marathon_from_space_999.html

-------------------------------------

ELaNa IX mission launches first cubesat built by elementary school students

Quote

NASA will enable the deployment of three small research satellites, or CubeSats, selected through the CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) for two universities and one primary school as part of the ninth installment of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNa) missions. More than 400 students have been involved in the design, development and construction of the CubeSats that will be deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) via the commercially operated NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) system.

ELaNa IX will launch on the fourth Orbital-ATK Cygnus Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission atop an Atlas V rocket that is scheduled to lift off December 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 5:55 p.m. EST. CubeSat deployments from the ISS via the CubeSat deployer are made possible through a Space Act Agreement between NASA and NanoRacks LLC.

CubeSats are playing an increasingly larger role in exploration, technology demonstrations, scientific research and educational investigations at NASA. These miniature satellites provide a low-cost platform for NASA missions, including planetary space exploration; Earth observation; fundamental Earth and space science; and technology demonstrations such as cutting-edge laser communications, energy storage, in-space propulsion and autonomous movement capabilities.

They also allow educators an inexpensive means to engage students in all phases of satellite development, operation and exploitation through real-world, hands-on research and development experience on NASA-funded ride-share launch opportunities.

The CubeSat Launch Initiative enables the launch of CubeSat projects designed, built and operated by students, teachers and faculty. CSLI provides access to space for CubeSats developed by the NASA centers and programs, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, enabling all these CubeSat developers access to a low-cost pathway to conduct research in the areas of science, exploration, technology development, education or operations.

ELaNa Missions, managed by the Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, provide a deployment opportunity or ride-share launch to space for the CubeSats selected through CSLI.

more at the link....

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ELaNa_IX_mission_launches_first_cubesat_built_by_elementary_school_students_999.html

6,181 · December 7, 2015

Cygnus Launch Seen From Orbit

@StationCDRKelly Day 254. We got our candle lit. #HappyHanukkah NASA

Quote

New hardware that will support dozens of NASA investigations and other science experiments from around the world is among the more than 7,000 pounds of cargo on the way to the International Space Station aboard Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft

It launched at 4:44:57 p.m. EST Sunday on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

"NASA is delighted at the continued progress made possible by our investment in commercial space," said NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman. "As we celebrate Orbital ATK's success with its fourth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, we look forward to the next milestones of our other commercial partners, including commercial crew launches from American soil in the near future. All these missions are critical to our journey to Mars a journey we have already begun."

The mission is Orbital ATK's fourth cargo delivery flight to the station through NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. This is the first flight of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft to the station. The cargo freighter now features a greater payload capacity, new UltraFlex solar arrays and new fuel tanks. Cygnus' pressurized cargo module has been extended and increases the spacecraft's interior volume capacity by 25 percent, allowing more cargo to be delivered with each mission. It's also the first Cygnus mission using the Atlas V launch system.

Science payloads will support science and research investigations that will occur during the space station's Expeditions 45 and 46, including experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science -- research that impacts life on Earth. Investigations will offer a new life science facility that will support studies on cell cultures, bacteria and other microorganisms, a microsatellite deployer and the first microsatellite that will be deployed from the space station, and experiments that will study the behavior of gases and liquids and clarify the thermo-physical properties of molten steel and evaluations of flame-resistant textiles.

The Space Automated Bioproduct Lab is a new space life science facility that is designed to support a wide variety of fundamental, applied and commercial space life sciences research, as well as education-based investigations for students from kindergarten through university. The facility will support research on microorganisms, such as bacteria, yeast, algae, fungi, and viruses, as well as animal cells and tissues and small plant and animal organisms.

NanoRacks-MicroSat-SIMPL is a modular, hyper integrated satellite designed to provide complete satellite functionality in a nanosatellite scale. It will be the first NanoRacks microsatellite deployed from the space station and the first propulsion-capable satellite deployed from the NanoRacks-MicroSat-Deployer known as Kaber. The commercial deployer system aims to address the growing market of customers wanting to deploy microsatellites in orbit.

The Packed Bed Reactor Experiment studies the behavior of gases and liquids when they flow simultaneously through a column filled with fixed porous media, which is of interest in many chemical and biological processing systems, as well as numerous geophysical applications.

BASS-M (Burning and Suppression of Solids Milliken) will evaluate flame retardant and resistant textiles as a mode of personal protection from fire-related hazards. Studying flame retardant and resistant behavior of different materials in microgravity will aid in better designs for future textiles and benefit those who wear protective clothing, such as military personnel and civilian workers in the electrical and energy industries.

The Nodes satellites, sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and developed by the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, consist of two CubeSats weighing 4.5 pounds each and measuring 4 inches by 4 inches by 6.5 inches. They are an example of how technology drives innovation, as they will test new network capabilities for operating swarms of spacecraft in the future.

In addition, Cygnus will deliver replacement cargo items including a set of Microsoft HoloLens devices for use in NASA's Sidekick project, a safety jet pack astronauts wear during spacewalks known as SAFER, and high pressure nitrogen and oxygen tanks to plug into the station's air supply network.

Cygnus will be grappled at approximately 6:10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9, by NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, using the space station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to take hold of the spacecraft. Scott Kelly of NASA will support Lindgren in a backup position. The spacecraft will spend more than a month attached to the space station before its destructive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, disposing of about 3,000 pounds of trash.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

http://spaceref.com/onorbit/cygnus-launch-seen-from-orbit.html

-------------------------------------

Normally, I have posted about space debris and solutions there of, in this thread, and just had to post this "item" here....

Like in days past, the future of tomorrow, here we have a fun "research paper", done in light of the original Star Trek series, the episode of the "planet eater", in "Doomsday Machine". Only now, it will be a robotic space trash eater....and hopefully, will be able to leave space stations alone......

Could a Doomsday Machine-like Satellite Clean Up Space Debris?

In the classic Star Trek episode titled, “The Doomsday Machine,” Capt. James Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise did battle with a monstrous, self-sustaining spacecraft that refueled itself by chopping up planets and anything else in its way.

Quote

A new scientific paper proposed the deployment of a much smaller spacecraft that would refuel itself by consuming debris in Earth orbit. The paper was written by Lei Lan, Jingyang Li and Hexi Baoyin of Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Abstract: We present a design concept for a space engine that can continuously remove the orbit debris by using the debris as a propellant. Space robotic cleaner is adopted to capture the targeting debris and to transfer them into the engine. Debris with larger size is first disintegrated into small pieces by using a mechanical method. The planetary ball mill is then adopted to grind the pieces into micrometer or smaller powder.

Quote

The energy needed in this process is get from the nuclear and solar power. By the effect of gamma-ray photoelectric or the behavior of tangently rub of tungsten needles, the debris powered is charged. This behavior can be used to speed up the movement of powder in a tandem electrostatic particle accelerator. By ejecting the high-temperature and high-pressure charged powered from the nozzle of the engine, the continuously thrust is obtained. This thrust can be used to perform orbital maneuver and debris rendezvous for the spacecraft and robotic cleaner. The ejected charged particle will be blown away from the circumterrestrial orbit by the solar wind. By digesting the space debris, we obtain not only the previous thrust but also the clean space. In the near future, start trek will not just a dream, human exploration will extend to deep universe. The analysis shown, the magnitude of the specific impulse for debris engine is determined by the accelerating electrostatic potential and the charge-to-mass ratio of the powder.

It’s an interesting idea. But, it reminds me of that old saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/12/07/doomsday-machine/#more-56988

Have to love it, for the nostalgia.......and this "image from a scene" where a planet is about to be eaten.....

A look of.....

1) Planet eating

2) Neowin went down....

3) Printer ran out of toner...

4) No whitener for my coffee......

:woot:

4,806 · December 7, 2015

5) Kerbal Space Program (Windows 64-bit build) crashing in the middle of a design spree in the VAB when I haven't saved the .craft yet ...

[EDIT] I've got a bunch of these ...

6) People's faces when Rousey got KO'd by Holly Holm

7) Tory Bruno's expression when their bought-and-paid-for Colorado Politician proved ineffective while trying to force exceptions to the Government's RD-180 ban

I can keep going ...!

6,181 · December 9, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 7 December 2015

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren takes images of the Earth on board the International Space Station on Dec. 1, 2015 from the Cupola, the 360 degree viewing and robotic Canadarm 2 control area. Later this area will be used by Lindgren and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly to use the station's Canadarm 2 robotic arm to reach out and grapple the Orbital ATK CRS-4 "Cygnus" spaceship full of equipment and supplies. Credit: NASA

Quote

Today: Orbital ATK (OA)-4 Launch: The Enhanced Cygnus spacecraft was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket on Sunday at 3:44pm CST. Sunday's launch sets the stage for ISS rendezvous and capture on Wednesday, December 9th. Cygnus will be delivering approximately 3,500 kg of pressurized cargo to the ISS.

Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Troubleshooting: Kelly and Yui performed troubleshooting to restore the MSG slide mechanism to proper alignment today. The slide mechanism initially malfunctioned on November 17th, preventing the work volume from being extended for crew access.

Crew Departure Preparation: Yui and Lindgren continued packing their personal items in preparation for crew return to Earth on Soyuz 43 (43S) on December 11th. The items will return by way of 43S, SpX-8, and SpX-9 vehicles.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
PROX GPS Activation

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 12/08: Cygnus Capture Review, Crew Departure Prep, Soyuz Descent Drill, Microbiome, Twin Studies
Wednesday, 12/09: Cygnus Rendezvous, Capture and Berth, Crew Departure Prep, Twin Studies
Thursday, 12/10: PILOT-T, SPRINT, Crew Departure Prep

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status
Elektron - On
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-7-december-2015.html

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First Christmas Delivery Set to Arrive Wednesday

The Cygnus spacecraft approaches the International Space Station in January of 2014.

Quote

The first of two Christmas space deliveries is set to arrive early Wednesday morning. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo craft is on its way to the International Space Station where it will be captured and berthed to the Unity module around 6:10 a.m. EST/11:10 a.m. UTC. The next holiday shipment will be delivered Dec. 23 aboard Russia’s Progress 62 resupply ship.

Meanwhile, three Expedition 45 crew members are packing their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft and getting ready for the ride back to Earth Dec. 11. Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko will pilot astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui to the landing site in Kazakhstan after 141 days in space.

Four days later, three new Expedition 46 crew members will launch to the orbital laboratory to join One-Year crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko with cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. First-time British astronaut Tim Peake will lift off Dec. 15 aboard the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft with Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra for a six-month mission in space.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/12/08/first-christmas-delivery-set-to-arrive-wednesday/

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Soyuz TMA-18M Prepared For Launch

Soyuz TMA-18M RSC Energia

Quote

The Designers inspection of the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft and Payload shroud roll on has been completed.

More photos

http://www.energia.ru/en/iss/iss46/photo_12-08.html

http://spaceref.com/soyuz/soyuz-tma-18m-prepared-for-launch.html

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Japan is with Keeping ISS Up Through 2024

Quote

Abe, speaking at a ministerial meeting on space development, said that extension was based on the condition that other Asian nations would be given access to Japan’s Kibo lab module on the station, but he did not state how that access would be arranged.

Japan becomes the fourth ISS partner, after the U.S., Russia and Canada, to agree to an extension of the ISS through 2024. Only the European Space Agency has yet to formally agree to an extension. [Kyodo]

http://spacenews.com/japan-is-down-with-keeping-iss-up-through-2024/

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Orbital ATK’s “S.S. Deke Slayton II” Cygnus set for Station rendezvous

Quote

Orbital ATK’s “S.S. Deke Slayton II” Cygnus spacecraft is set for rendezvous and proximity operations with the International Space Station (ISS) following a two day orbital chase with the laboratory. Astronauts aboard the Station are set to grapple Cygnus with the Station’s robotic arm at 06:10 EST Wednesday, December 9.

Rendezvous and capture:

Following her successful launch atop of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket on Sunday, December 6, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Cygnus has performed without issue during her multi-day orbital chase of the International Space Station (ISS), designed to slowly and carefully close the distance and orbital heights between herself and the orbiting laboratory.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/12/slayton-cygnus-station-rendezvous/

6,181 · December 9, 2015

Cygnus Attached to Station Ready for Business

Dec. 9, 2015: International Space Station Configuration. (Clockwise from top) The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft is docked to the Poisk mini-research module. The ISS Progress 61 spacecraft is docked to the Zvezda service module. The ISS Progress 60 spacecraft is docked to the Pirs docking compartment. The Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft is docked to the Rassvet mini-research module. The Cygnus-4 cargo craft is berthed to the Unity module.

Quote

The Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship was bolted into place on the International Space Station’s Earth-facing port of the Unity module at 9:26 a.m. EST. Cygnus will be the first cargo ship to be berthed to the Earth-facing port on the Unity module.

The spacecraft’s arrival will support the crew members’ research off the Earth to benefit the Earth. The Cygnus is delivering more than 7,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory to support dozens of approximately 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 45 and 46. Science payloads aboard Cygnus will offer a new life science facility that will support studies on cell cultures, bacteria and other microorganisms; a microsatellite deployer and the first microsatellite that will be deployed from the space station; and experiments that will study the behavior of gases and liquids, clarify the thermo-physical properties of molten steel, and evaluate flame-resistant textiles.

Cygnus also will deliver replacement cargo items including a set of Microsoft HoloLens devices for use in NASA’s Sidekick project, a safety jet pack astronauts wear during spacewalks known as SAFER, and high pressure nitrogen and oxygen tanks to plug into the station’s air supply network.

The spacecraft will spend more than a month attached to the space station before its destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere in January 2016, disposing of about 3,000 pounds of trash.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/12/09/cygnus-attached-to-station-ready-for-business/

An unmanned Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft is seen at the International Space Station on Dec. 9, 2015 just before it is captured by the station's robotic arm. The spacecraft is carrying nearly 4 tons of supplies for the station's crew.
Credit: NASA TV

http://www.space.com/31316-private-cygnus-spaceship-space-station-arrival.html

Indepth article of the process....

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/12/slayton-cygnus-station-rendezvous/

The Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft on a previous ISS resupply flight for NASA. Photo Credit: NASA

http://www.americaspace.com/?p=89379#more-89379

U.S. resupply of space station successfully resumes

Quote

This Cygnus is loaded with 7,383 pounds of provisions, not counting packing materials, for the station and its resident crews. The total mass with packing is 7,745 pounds.

Crew supplies: 2,604 pounds
* Clothing for Scott Kelly, Tim Kopra, Tim Peake and Jeff Williams
* 144 Bulk Overwrap Bags of food

Vehicle hardware: 2,220 pounds
* Cycle ergometer, control panel and seat cushion
* Air, water, surface sampling kits
* Acoustic dosimeter
* Carbon dioxide monitor
* C2V2 communications gear

Science utilization: 1,867 pounds
* Canadian Space Agency: Vascular echo exercise band
* European Space Agency: Biolab
* Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency: Cassette, valve, disk drive and cables
* NASA: Gases and liquids behavior experiment, a flame suppression test, a new space life science facility and the first NanoRacks microsatellite to be deployed from the station

EVA gear: 500 pounds
* New SAFER spacewalk jetpack
* Legs and gloves for spacesuit
* Tethers, filters, batteries, velcro and tool bags
* Airlock Cooling Loop Recovery Kit

Computer resources: 192 pounds
* New T61P laptop, hard drives and USB cables
* Canon XH G1 and XF305, Nikon D4 cameras

The cargo container is a smaller diameter version of the Italian-made Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules that flew up and down on space shuttles to outfit the station.

“Sort of like the iPad and the iPad mini. They are pretty indistinguishable,” said Tani.

This Cygnus, the OA-4, will remain attached to the station through the end of January, getting completely unloaded and then filled with at least 3,000 pounds of trash and disposables that the ship will take away.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/12/09/u-s-resupply-of-space-station-successfully-resumes/

ISS: Unmanned Cygnus CRS-4 cargo spacecraft successfully docks with ISS

video is 0:47 min....very cheesey...they can do better than this....

6,181 · December 9, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 8 December 2015

The Canadarm2 moves toward the Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus commercial cargo craft as it approaches the International Space Station on Jan. 12, 2014. A blue and white part of Earth provides the backdrop for the scene. Credit: NASA.

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The first of two Christmas space deliveries is set to arrive early Wednesday morning. Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo craft is on its way to the International Space Station where it will be captured and berthed to the Unity module around 6:10 a.m. EST/11:10 a.m. UTC. The next holiday shipment will be delivered Dec. 23 aboard Russia's Progress 62 resupply ship.

Meanwhile, three Expedition 45 crew members are packing their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft and getting ready for the ride back to Earth Dec. 11. Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko will pilot astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui to the landing site in Kazakhstan after 141 days in space.

Four days later, three new Expedition 46 crew members will launch to the orbital laboratory to join One-Year crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko with cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. First-time British astronaut Tim Peake will lift off Dec. 15 aboard the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft with Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra for a six-month mission in space.

Quote

43S Crew Departure Preparation: Yui and Lindgren prepared and transfered US cargo that will be returning to the ground via 43S. They also continued to pack their personal items. The personal items will return by way of 43S, SpaceX-8, and SpaceX-9 vehicles. Finally, Yui worked with Kononenko to perform a Motion Control Test on 43S. The 43S Crew is scheduled to return to earth on December 11th.

43S Nominal Descent Drill #2: Yui, Lindgren and Kononenko all participated in a nominal Soyuz Decent Drill. As part of this training they reviewed preliminary undocking and descent data, then worked through the descent timeline (from Soyuz activation through post-landing activities).

Portable Computer System (PCS) Hardware Audit: Kelly performed a periodic audit of PCS hardware today. During the activity he took note of serial numbers for all deployed PCS shells, batteries, 1553 cards and cables. The information was then downlinked for ground teams to track.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
JEMAL depressurization in preparation for RRM TB4 Ops
USOS 43S MCS Test

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 12/09: Cygnus Rendezvous, Capture and Berth, Crew Departure Prep, Twin Studies
Thursday, 12/10: Cygnus ingress, SPRINT, Crew Departure Prep
Friday, 12/11: 43S Undock and Landing, Twin Study, Cygnus Cargo Ops

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status
Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Norm
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-8-december-2015.html

6,181 · December 10, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 9 December 2015

Dec. 9, 2015: International Space Station Configuration. (Clockwise from top) The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft is docked to the Poisk mini-research module. The ISS Progress 61 spacecraft is docked to the Zvezda service module. The ISS Progress 60 spacecraft is docked to the Pirs docking compartment. The Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft is docked to the Rassvet mini-research module. The Cygnus-4 cargo craft is berthed to the Unity module. Credit: NASA.

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The Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship was bolted into place on the International Space Station's Earth-facing port of the Unity module at 9:26 a.m. EST. Cygnus will be the first cargo ship to be berthed to the Earth-facing port on the Unity module.

The spacecraft's arrival will support the crew members' research off the Earth to benefit the Earth. The Cygnus is delivering more than 7,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory to support dozens of approximately 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 45 and 46. Science payloads aboard Cygnus will offer a new life science facility that will support studies on cell cultures, bacteria and other microorganisms; a microsatellite deployer and the first microsatellite that will be deployed from the space station; and experiments that will study the behavior of gases and liquids, clarify the thermo-physical properties of molten steel, and evaluate flame-resistant textiles.

Cygnus also will deliver replacement cargo items including a set of Microsoft HoloLens devices for use in NASA's Sidekick project, a safety jet pack astronauts wear during spacewalks known as SAFER, and high pressure nitrogen and oxygen tanks to plug into the station's air supply network.

The spacecraft will spend more than a month attached to the space station before its destructive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere in January 2016, disposing of about 3,000 pounds of trash.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
ISS Commanding in support of Cygnus berthing

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 12/10: Cygnus Ingress, SPRINT, Crew Departure Prep
Friday, 12/11: 43S Undock and Landing, Twin Study, Cygnus Cargo Ops,
Saturday, 12/12: Crew Off Duty

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status
Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-9-december-2015.html

Space Station Live: NASA-TV Going UHD, video is 6:38 min

-----------------------------------

Soyuz TMA-17M to return home

Quote

After 141 days aboard the International Space Station, ISS, the crew of the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft, is preparing for landing on Friday, to conclude the 45th expedition on the outpost. According to the Russian space agency, during their the final week in orbit, Oleg Kononenko, Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren conducted two landing simulations to refresh their knowledge of necessary procedures.

By December 8, in preparation for landing, aircraft and other assets of the Central Military District were deployed at airfields in Kazakhstan, Interfax reported. A total of 180 members of the military personnel, 12 Mi-8 helicopters, four An-12 and An-26 aircraft and 18 ground vehicles were to be involved into search and rescue operation.

On December 9, Deputy Chief of Gagarin Training Center Maksim Kharlamov announced that the crew had been fully ready for landing.

The return to Earth operations will start with the hatch closure between Soyuz TMA-17M and the ISS at 09:25 Moscow Time (1:25 a.m. EST) on December 11.

The undocking of the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft from the MIM1 module, on the Russian segment of the ISS is scheduled at 12:49:30 Moscow Time (4:49 a.m. EST), a minute and a half after the undocking command. Four minutes later, the spacecraft will conduct a separation maneuver with its attitude control thrusters to increase its distance from the ISS.

The braking engine firing is scheduled to begin at 15:19:18 Moscow Time (7:19 a.m. EST) at an altitude of 416.7 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Around 23 minutes after the completion of the braking maneuver, the descent module, SA, with three crew members inside, is scheduled to separate from the habitation module, BO, and the instrument module, PAO.

Following the controlled aerodynamic reentry into the atmosphere, the descent module should release its three-tier parachute system at 15:57:58 Moscow Time (7:57 a.m. EST) at an altitude of 10.5 kilometers.

The landing in Kazakhstan should follow at 16:12 Moscow Time (8:12 a.m. EST, 7:12 p.m. Kazakhstan time). The touchdown planned around 121 kilometers northeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan will take place just seven minutes after local sunrise to give rescue services maximum daylight time for recovery operations.

Back in orbit, the departure of Soyuz TMA-17M will officially mark the beginning of Expedition 46 aboard the station under the continued command of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who is on a nearly year-long mission. Along with his crewmates Mikhail Kornienko, (also spending a year in space) and Sergey Volkov of Roskosmos, the three-person crew will operate the station for four days until the arrival of three new crew members. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and British astronaut Tim Peake, representing the European Space Agency, are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, on Dec. 15, 2015, onboard the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft.

Quote

Milestone
Moscow Time

Altitude, km

Latitude, deg. min

Longitude. deg, min.

Velocity, km/s

G-force

Braking engine firing starts
15:19:18

416.7

-48.00

313.29

7.357

0.00

Braking engine firing ends
15:23:58

408.0

-38.54

333.47

7.242

0.05

Spacecraft sections separation
15:46:33

139.9

+27.58

032.08

7.568

0.00

Atmospheric entry
15:49:27

100.3

+36.12

041.52

7.616

0.00

Aerodynamic control starts
15:51:02

080.2

+40.18

048.10

7.618

0.09

Maximum G-loads
15:56:02

033.8

+47.57

067.49

2.276

4.21

Parachute release command
15:57:58

010.5

+48.26

068.51

0.212

1.20

Landing
16:12:10

000.0

+48.28

069.00

0.000

1.00

Main parachute opening in case of emergency ballistic descent
15:55:01

010.7

+46.53

062.46

0.207

1.30

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_soyuz_tma17m.html#landing

-----------------------------------------

Soyuz Trio set for rare Nighttime Landing on Friday

Photo: NASA/Kjell Lindgren

Quote

A trio of International Space Station crew members are on the eve of their return to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-17M after a mission of four and a half months living and working on the orbiting laboratory. Soyuz CommanderOleg Kononenko and Flight Engineers Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren are set for a rare nighttime landing well after sunset in typical winter conditions in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

The three returning crew members will climb into their Soyuz in the early hours on Friday with hatch closure scheduled for 6:25 UTC to be followed by the craft’s undocking at 9:48 UTC to mark the start of a free flight of two and a half hours to set up for a retrograde deorbit burn. Hitting the brakes, Soyuz will fire its engines to slow down and place itself on a precisely planned re-entry trajectory. Going through a blazing re-entry, the returning crew members will have to endure forces of up to five Gs before their flight gets much calmer when the large orange-and-white main chute of the Soyuz inflates. The big finale of their return, touching down cushioned by the soft landing of the Soyuz, is expected at 13:12 UTC, two hours after sunset.

Typically, Soyuz landing are set up for the early morning or noon, local time, to provide sufficient time to recovery forces with plenty of daylight to a) locate the Soyuz, b) complete all crew-related operations in daylight and c) pack the Soyuz up and depart the site prior to nightfall. However, for a day landing, the orbital geometry has to be set up to allow the Soyuz to come in early in the morning which is not possible in December.

Initially, the landing of the Soyuz was planned for the second half of December, closer to the local sunset, but this would have required a relocation of Soyuz TMA-17M because the inbound Soyuz TMA-19M can only make a six-hour launch-to-docking in the first half of December. To avoid a relocation of the spacecraft, Russian Mission Managers approved this rare nighttime landing of the Soyuz, also owed to the accuracy seen in recent Soyuz landings which should enable recovery teams to quickly locate the spacecraft, even after nightfall.

The most recent nighttime landing of the Soyuz was conducted in November 2012 when Yuri Malenchenko, Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide returned to Earth one hour prior to sunrise. Even though Soyuz TMA-05M slightly overshot its bullseye landing target, the recovery of the crew proceeded swiftly and all three crew members were out of the Soyuz ahead of sunrise under illumination by a large emergency light tower that will again come to use on Friday. Soyuz TMA-17M will mark the fifth nighttime landing of a Soyuz returning from the International Space Station.

more at the link....

http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-trio-set-for-rare-nighttime-landing-on-friday/

6,181 · December 11, 2015

Soyuz lands in Kazakhstan, bringing three station crewmen back to Earth

Kimiya Yui, Oleg Kononenko and Kjell Lindgren bid goodbye to their space station crewmates Friday before departing the complex and heading for landing. Credit: NASA/Scott Kelly

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Three space station fliers floated into their Soyuz ferry craft, undocked from the lab complex and plunged back to Earth Friday, making a rare nighttime landing in snowy Kazakhstan to close out a 141-day stay in orbit.

With Soyuz TMA-17M commander Oleg Kononenko at the controls in the descent module’s center seat, flanked on the left by flight engineer/co-pilot Kimiya Yui and on the right by NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, the descent module settled to a jarring parachute-and-rocket-assisted touchdown around 8:12 a.m. EST (GMT-5; 7:12 p.m. local time).

Coming down in darkness an hour and a half after sunset, dropping through high winds, low clouds and light snow under a large parachute, the Soyuz descent module was not seen before touchdown. Recovery crews reported the spacecraft ended up on its side, not unusual in windy conditions.

Braving drifting snow and a wind chill around 10 degrees Fahrenheit, the recovery team quickly reached the spacecraft to help the crew members out of the cramped module as they began their re-adjustment to the unfamiliar tug of Earth’s gravity.

Kononenko, with two previous station visits to his credit, has now logged more than 533 days in space while Lindgren and Yui, both making their first flight, logged 141 days and 16 hours. The mission spanned 2,256 orbits and 59.6 million miles.

“They arrived in space like baby birds barely able to fly & now they soar home as eagles,” station commander Scott Kelly tweeted from orbit, referring to Yui and Lindgren. “Great job Kjell and Kimiya!

Following standard procedure, Kononenko, Yui and Lindgren were carried to nearby recliners and covered in heavy blankets for quick medical checks and satellite phone calls to friends and family.

By the time a live video feed was established, Kononenko had already been carried to a waiting all terrain vehicle. Yui and Lindgren quickly followed suit, smiling and waving at the camera as they were carried away.

Because of the dismal weather, the Russians opted to forego setting up a medical tent at the landing site to expedite the crew’s departure to nearby Dzhezkazgan. From there, Kononenko will be flown back to Star City near Moscow while Lindgren and Yui will board a NASA jet for the long flight back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Quote

With the Soyuz TMA-17M crew safely back on the Earth, Russian space engineers will quickly shift gears, setting their sights on launching three fresh station crew members on Tuesday to boost the lab’s crew back to six.

Soyuz TMA-19M commander Yuri Malenchenko, flight engineer/co-pilot Timothy Kopra and European Space Agency astronaut Timothy Peake, the first British citizen tapped for a long-duration stay in space, are scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:03 a.m. Tuesday, kicking off a six-hour four-orbit rendezvous.

more at the link....

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/12/11/soyuz-lands-in-kazakhstan-bringing-three-station-crewmen-back-to-earth/

similar article...

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/space-station-crew-returns-to-earth.html

6,181 · December 12, 2015

TMA-17M Landing Details

Kjell Lindgren, Oleg Kononenko and Kimiya Yui onboard Soyuz shortly before departure from ISS.

Quote

The undocking of the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft from the MIM1 module, on the Russian segment of the ISS took place at 12:49:44 Moscow Time (4:49 a.m. EST), as the station was flying over Russia near Chinese border.

Minutes later, the spacecraft conducted an eight-second separation maneuver with four of its attitude control thrusters to increase its distance from the ISS to 12 kilometers for a braking maneuver some three hours later.

According to NASA, a weather forecast at the landing site expected overcast skies, breezy, light snow and temperature of about 27F. However by the time of the deorbiting maneuver, the weather had worsened at the landing site, bringing more heavy clouds and lowering cloud ceiling to 700 feet.

The deteriorating weather prompted mission officials to expedite all recovery operations. Only four most essential helicopters out of 10 available were sent to the landing site to extract the crew as soon as possible and transport its members to a nearby airfield in Dzhezkazgan instead of Karaganda, NASA said.

The four-minute 40-second braking engine firing began at 15:19:18 Moscow Time (7:19 a.m. EST) at an altitude of 416.7 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The maneuver slowed down the spacecraft by 128 meters per second pushing it off its orbit.

Around 23 minutes after the completion of the braking maneuver, the descent module, SA, with three crew members inside, separated from the habitation module, BO, and the instrument module, PAO.

Following the controlled aerodynamic reentry into the atmosphere, the descent module released its three-tier parachute system at 15:57:58 Moscow Time (7:57 a.m. EST) at an altitude of 10.5 kilometers.

The touchdown site was expected to be around 125 kilometers northeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, after sunset. According to NASA, it was the sixth night landing for Soyuz in the ISS history and the first post-sunset landing, since five previous ones had taken place in pre-dawn hours.

The scheduled landing time was 16:12 Moscow Time (8:12 a.m. EST, 7:12 p.m. Kazakhstan time), however the factual moment of touchdown could not be immediately confirmed due to darkness and bad weather at the landing site. The Russian mission control confirmed successful landing around six minutes after the scheduled touchdown time. Recovery teams reportedly saw strobe light of the descent module still in the air under the parachute and then found the capsule resting on its side in the snow-covered ground.

Despite darkness and cold weather, the crew was successfully extracted from the descent module within 30 minutes after landing.

Back in orbit, the departure of Soyuz TMA-17M will officially mark the beginning of Expedition 46 aboard the station under the continued command of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who is on a nearly year-long mission. Along with his crewmates Mikhail Kornienko, (also spending a year in space) and Sergey Volkov of Roskosmos, the three-person crew will operate the station for four days until the arrival of three new crew members. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and British astronaut Tim Peake, representing the European Space Agency, are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, on Dec. 15, 2015, onboard the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_soyuz_tma17m.html#landing

[ISS] Soyuz TMA-17M Undocks from the International Space Station

video is 4:42 min

Edited December 12, 2015 by Draggendrop
Add Video

6,181 · December 12, 2015

Soyuz departure tweet collection.....some good images

http://spaceflight101.com/scott-kellys-incredible-soyuz-return-photos/

6,181 · December 12, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 10 December 2015

Quote

Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA, along with crewmates Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, will operate the station for four days until the arrival of three new crew members.

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Dec. 15 and arrive at the station about 6 hours later.

Kelly and Kornienko are on the first joint U.S.-Russian one-year mission, an important stepping stone on NASA's journey to Mars.

Quote

The ISS crew is sleep shifting today in support of Soyuz 43 (43S) undock and landing tomorrow. Crew sleep will begin at 9:00am CST this morning. 43S undocking is scheduled to occur early Friday morning at 3:49am CST.

Orbital ATK (OA)-4 Status: The crew started their day by outfitting the Node 1 to Cygnus vestibule, removing Controller Panel Assemblies (CPAs), and opening the Node1 and Cygnus hatches. Once the hatches were open, they obtained an air sample and installed Inter-module Ventilation (IMV) ducting. They also photo documented overall cargo configuration. No issues were observed with the cargo. Cygnus cargo operations are scheduled to start next week.

Crew Departure Preparation: Yui and Lindgren continued packing their personal items in preparation for crew return to Earth on 43S tomorrow. The personal items will return by way of 43S, SpX-8, and SpX-9 vehicles.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Nominal System Commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 12/11: 43S Undock and Landing, Twin Study, Cygnus Emergency Procedure Review
Saturday, 12/12: Crew Off Duty, Weekly Cleaning
Sunday, 12/13: Crew Off Duty

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component - Status

Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Norm
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-10-december-2015.html

Expedition 46-47 Crew Prepares for Launch

video is 5:52 min

------------------------------

NASA ISS Space to Ground Weekly Report - 11 December 2015

NASA ISS Space to Ground Weekly Report - 11 December 2015. NASA

Quote

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-iss-space-to-ground-weekly-report---11-december-2015.html

Space to Ground: Home For The Holidays : 12/11/2015

video is 2:09 min

6,181 · December 13, 2015

Star-Filled Skies & a Colorful Sunrise – Soyuz Rocket rolls to Historic Baikonur Launch Site

NASA

Quote

A Soyuz rocket began its rollout to its historic Baikonur Launch Site under a star-filled sky Sunday morning, arriving at the launch pad at sunrise – marking the start of final preparations for the launch of three International Space Station Crew Members. Five-time space flier Yuri Malenchenko, shuttle and ISS veteran Tim Kopra and first-time flight engineer Tim Peake are set for liftoff aboard their Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft on Tuesday at 11:03 UTC to embark on a fast-track rendezvous with the orbiting laboratory for docking at 17:24 UTC, joining ISS Expedition 46 for a stay of seven months.

more at ...

http://spaceflight101.com/star-filled-skies-a-colorful-sunrise-soyuz-rocket-rolls-to-historic-baikonur-launch-site/

[ISS] Soyuz TMA-19M Rolls to Launch Pad ahead of British First

video is 6:07 min. Another excellent video release.....

6,181 · December 14, 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 11 December 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 11 December 2015. NASA

Quote

Three crew members from the International Space Station returned to Earth on Friday. The landing in Kazakhstan wrapped up a space mission that lasted 141 days and returned samples from several NASA human research experiments aboard the station.

Expedition 45 flight engineers Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos (Russian Federal Space Agency) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) touched down at approximately 8:12 a.m. EST (7:12 p.m. Kazakhstan time) northeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. It was the first time a crew has landed after sunset and only the sixth nighttime Soyuz return from the space station.

As they adjust to gravity after their stay in space, Russian recovery teams will help the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and load them into waiting helicopters for return flights home to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, northeast of Moscow.

The trio arrived at the station July 23 and orbited Earth 2,256 times, traveling a total of 59.6 million miles. It was the first mission for Lindgren and Yui and the third for Kononenko, who has now spent 533 days in space.

Quote

During his time on the orbiting complex, Lindgren ventured outside the confines of the space station for two planned spacewalks. The first included a variety of station upgrade and maintenance tasks, including routing cables to prepare for new docking ports for U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. The second spacewalk resulted in the successful reconfiguration of a space station ammonia cooling system.

The Expedition 46 crew members remaining aboard to continue research and maintenance are Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov. The three-person crew will operate the station for four days until the arrival of three new crew members. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Dec. 15.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
43S undock activities

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 12/12: Crew Off Duty, Weekly Cleaning
Sunday, 12/13: Crew Off Duty
Monday 12/14: Crew Off Duty

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:

Component- Status
Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Norm
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Full Up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Off

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-11-december-2015.html

Welcome Back to Earth

video is 10:13 min., departure to "on the bus"

Expedition 45 Crew Traveling Home

video is 4:30 min.

6,181 · December 15, 2015

Crew On Quick Trip to Station After “Flawless” Launch

Three Expedition 46 crew members launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-19M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Quote

The Soyuz TMA-19M launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 6:03 a.m. EST Tuesday (5:03 p.m. in Baikonur). At the time of launch, the space station was flying 252 miles above northeast Kazakhstan. Tim Kopra of NASA, Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency), and Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos are now safely in orbit.

NASA Television coverage continues: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

Below is a schedule of the remainder of the trip today to the orbiting laboratory:

6:48 a.m.      DV-1 rendezvous burn (64 mph / 93 fps)
7:32 a.m.      DV-2 burn (53 mph / 77 fps)
8:31 a.m.      DV-3 burn (27 mph / 40 fps)
9:19 a.m.      DV-4 burn (13 mph / 19 fps)
10:15:55 a.m. Automated Rendezvous & Docking (AR&D) start
10:24 a.m.    AR&D Impulse 1 (19 mph / 28 fps)
10:25 a.m.    US Motion Control Sys handover to Russian segment
10:30 a.m.    Station maneuvers to docking attitude
10:44 a.m.    AR&D Impulse 2 (.2 fps)
10:47 a.m.    Range 124 miles – establish Soyuz VHF-2 voice link
10:48 a.m.    Soyuz Kurs-A (Active) activation
10:50 a.m.    Service Module (Zvezda) Kurs-P (Passive) activation
11:08 a.m.    AR&D Impulse 3 (46 mph / 68 fps)
11:13 a.m.    Range 49.7 miles – Valid Kurs-P range data
11:34 a.m.    Range 9.3 miles (49,212 ft) – Kurs-A & -P short test
11:42 a.m.    Range 4.9 miles (26,247 ft) – Soyuz TV activation
11:45 a.m.    NASA TV: Docking coverage begins
11:45 a.m.    SCAN & RapidScat inhibit–NLT (3.7 miles / 19,685 ft)
11:50 a.m.    AR&D Impulse 4 (16 mph / 23 fps)
11:52 a.m.    AR&D Ballistic Targeting Point
11:55 a.m.    AR&D Impulse 5 (13 mph / 20 fps)
11:58 a.m.    AR&D Impulse 6 (4.5 mph / 6.6 fps)
12:01 p.m.    Fly-around mode start
12:07 p.m.    Station keeping start
12:13 p.m.    Final approach start
12:16 p.m.    Station inertial snap-and-hold window open
12:18 p.m.    Sunset
12:24 p.m.    Docking to MRM1 –“Rassvet”

253 miles up & above Southwestern Russia

Station to free drift

12:37 p.m.    Soyuz and Rassvet hooks closed

Station maneuvers to LVLH attitude

12:53 p.m.    Sunrise
1:30 p.m.      Russian to US Motion Control System handover
2:00 p.m.     NASA TV: Hatch/welcome coverage
2:25 p.m.      Hatch opening & welcome ceremony

Includes VIP & family calls from Baikonur

4:00 p.m.     NASA TV: Docking, hatches & welcome highlights

To learn more about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station. For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit:https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/. To join the conversation online about the International Space Station, follow @Space_Station.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/12/15/crew-on-quick-trip-to-station-after-flawless-launch/

NASA TV

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Live coverage: Russian-American-British crew launches toward space station

Quote

06:35

Russian Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko, NASA flight engineer Tim Kopra and British astronaut Tim Peake have arrived in orbit following a good launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

NASA says both solar arrays have unfurled aboard the spacecraft to generate electricity, and the first major orbit-adjustment maneuver is planned for 6:48 a.m. EST (1148 GMT) to begin raising the capsule's altitude to match that of the space station.

A second "delta velocity" burn is set for 7:32 a.m. EST (1232 GMT), followed by several more firings over the next few hours to set up for rendezvous and docking.

The 7.9-ton capsule's automated rendezvous sequence, guided by its Kurs radar system, will commence at 10:15 a.m. EST (1515 GMT).

The Soyuz should be in position to start a flyaround maneuver at range of about 400 meters, or 1,300 feet, at about 12:01 p.m. EST (1701 GMT) to line up with the docking port on the space station's Earth-facing Rassvet module. Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko will be standing by to take over manual flying of the spacecraft if required. Final approach will begin about 11 minutes before docking, which is scheduled for 12:24 p.m. EST (1724 GMT).

The docking should occur 6 hours and 21 minutes after liftoff.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/12/15/expedition-46-mission-status-center/

The launch went well and the sky was really clear, which should allow us some great shots and video later in the day...

December 15, 2015

Was nice launch to watch, especially with the clear skies. All the way up to LES eject, staging and fairing sep was really nicely visible. Good show

6,493 · December 15, 2015

Conversation with my coworker:

Coworker: "How long's he up there for?"

Me: "6 Months"

Coworker: "What, in that thing? Won't he be really cramped?"
Me: "Haha, no, he's going to the ISS"

Coworker: "The what?"

Me: "International Space Station"

Coworker: "The What?"

Me: " :pinch: "

6,181 · December 15, 2015

TMA-19M hatch opening to occur shortly.....

Quote

12:40

The docking probe on the front of Soyuz has retracted, allowing the hooks and latches to close and form a seal between the capsule and station. Pressure and leak checks will be performed over the next orbit before the hatchway is opened for the crew to enter into the station in a couple of hours.

12:38

Soyuz docked while the space station flew 252 miles over India.

12:33 Contact and capture!

Contact and capture confirmed!

12:33

Soyuz is 3 meters, or about 10 feet, from the station, Malenchenko reports.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/12/15/expedition-46-mission-status-center/

As Beittil had mentioned in above post, the weather was great, and booster separation visible...around 3 min mark in video below...

[ISS] Launch of Soyuz TMA-19M with British Astronaut Tim Peake

video is 11:25 min., a few ISS shots as well....

Quote

The final maneuvers including flyaround, a short station-keeping period and berthing were scheduled to be initiated at 20:01:07 Moscow Time (12:01 EST) in fully automated mode.

The docking of the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft with the ISS was scheduled on the day of the launch at 20:24:09 Moscow Time (12:24:09 EST). The spacecraft was to berth at the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port of the MIM1 Rassvet module on theRussian segment of the outpost.

However, just few meters from the station, the Kurs automated rendezvous system suddenly aborted the approach and fired the attitude-control thrusters, DPO, forcing the ship away from the station. The crew immediately initiated a switch to manual control and after several minutes of re-alignment with the docking port, Yuri Malenchenko manually guided the spacecraft to a successful docking at 20:33:29 Moscow Time (12:33 p.m. EST), around nine minutes behind schedule.

The hatch opening between the transport ship and the station is scheduled for 22:25 Moscow Time (2:25 p.m. EST) on December 15.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-soyuz-tma19m.html

Expedition 46 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and flight engineers Tim Kopra of NASA, center, and Tim Peake of ESA farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz TMA-19M rocket for launch Dec. 15 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-soyuz-tma19m.html

The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft approaches the International Space Station with three new Expedition 46-47 crew members. Credit: NASA TV

Here is a nice launch image.....

more images at....

http://spaceflight101.com/photos-soyuz-tma-19m-launches-with-three-space-station-residents/

misc articles....

http://spacenews.com/soyuz-crew-enroute-to-international-space-station/

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-soyuz-tma19m.html

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/12/soyuz-tma-19m-launch-landmark-uk-spaceflight/

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/12/15/new-crew-arrives-at-station-for-six-month-mission/

http://www.americaspace.com/

http://spaceflight101.com/photos-soyuz-tma-19m-launches-with-three-space-station-residents/

I will post the docking video when available.....

6,181 · December 16, 2015

New Crew Arrives at the International Space Station Crew

TMA-19M NASA

Quote

Hatches between the International Space Station and an arriving Soyuz spacecraft opened at 2:58 p.m. EST Tuesday, signaling the arrival of three new crew members, including NASA astronaut Tim Kopra.

They will join other residents on the station to continue important research that advances NASA's journey to Mars, while making discoveries that can benefit all of humanity.

Kopra, Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Tim Peake launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:03 a.m. (5:03 p.m. in Baikonur) and, after orbiting Earth four times, manually docked to the station at 12:33 p.m.

The arrival of Kopra, Malenchenko and Peake returns the station's crew complement to six. The three join Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Flight Engineers Sergey Volkov and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos. During more than five months on humanity's only microgravity laboratory, the Expedition 46 crew members will conduct more than 250 science investigation in fields including biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

Kopra, Malenchenko and Peake will remain aboard the station until early June 2016. Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth at the conclusion of their one-year mission on March 1, 2016, along with Volkov. The pair will have spent 340 consecutive days living and working in space to advance understanding of the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges astronauts face during long duration spaceflight, in addition to developing countermeasures to reverse those effects.

Ongoing station research also includes the Microbial Payload Tracking Series project, which uses microbial analysis techniques to establish a census of the microorganisms living on surfaces and in the atmosphere of the space station. Along with crew members and experimental payloads, the space station is home to a variety of microbes, which are a cleaning nuisance and potentially threatening to crew health and station equipment. Analyzing these microbes can help determine whether some are more virulent in space, and which genetic changes might be involved in this response. Results from the investigation can be used to evaluate cleaning strategies, and to mitigate microbe-related risks to crew health and spacecraft system performance.

The crew members are scheduled to receive several cargo spacecraft -- including multiple U.S. commercial resupply vehicles from SpaceX and Orbital ATK -- each delivering tons of food, fuel, supplies and research.

SpaceX will deliver on its eighth commercial resupply services mission an important technology project that could help drive future exploration. Developed under a public-private partnership, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an expandable habitat technology demonstration for the International Space Station. Expandable habitats can greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions, weighing less and taking up less room on a rocket.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/american-russian-and-briton-join-international-space-station-crew.html

Manual Docking for Soyuz TMA-19M as Automated Docking Aborted

video is 22:10 min

Hatches Opening between Soyuz TMA-19M & ISS

video is 1:38 min.

The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft lifted off at 1103:09 GMT (6:03 a.m. EST; 5:03 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

Milestone	Moscow Time	Altitude, km	Latitude, deg. min	Longitude. deg, min.	Velocity, km/s	G-force
Braking engine firing starts	15:19:18	416.7	-48.00	313.29	7.357	0.00
Braking engine firing ends	15:23:58	408.0	-38.54	333.47	7.242	0.05
Spacecraft sections separation	15:46:33	139.9	+27.58	032.08	7.568	0.00
Atmospheric entry	15:49:27	100.3	+36.12	041.52	7.616	0.00
Aerodynamic control starts	15:51:02	080.2	+40.18	048.10	7.618	0.09
Maximum G-loads	15:56:02	033.8	+47.57	067.49	2.276	4.21
Parachute release command	15:57:58	010.5	+48.26	068.51	0.212	1.20
Landing	16:12:10	000.0	+48.28	069.00	0.000	1.00
Main parachute opening in case of emergency ballistic descent	15:55:01	010.7	+46.53	062.46	0.207	1.30

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