International Space Station (Updates)

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Odds and ends day....

Recycling water is key to getting humans to Mars

Aquaporin A/S 

Making sure that astronauts have enough to drink is one of the toughests parts to figuring out long-term space travel. Water is heavy, quickly used and expensive to get into orbit. To put it into perspective, it costs $10,000 per pound to launch a spaceship, and a gallon of water weighs 8.33 pounds.

 

Astronauts are limited to three gallons a day when they're in space, but that still adds up. $249,900 each day! As NASA sets it sights on Mars, astronauts will need an efficient way to recycle water. 

Astronauts have been drinking distilled urine since 2009, and they currently recapture 93 percent of wastewater, but the system they’re using now is heavy, slow and has been prone to breaking down. It spins the urine at high speed to separate out the water vapor, then treats it chemically. The system can recycle 6,000 liters a year, but that's not enough to sustain a crew of multiple astronauts over a long period.

So astronauts on the International Space Station are testing a new way to drink filtered pee. Aquaporin A/S, a Danish biotech company, has developed a filter that uses aquaporin proteins to pull clean water out of urine, sweat, wastewater, condensation and other liquid sources available in space. Aquaporin molecules are proteins that live within cell membranes that are super efficient at letting water pass through, but don’t transfer anything else.

 

 

“There are many types of aquaporins, some can do the selective water transport better than others, but in essence this is what makes our membrane technology unique. We use these proteins as building blocks in the fabrication of the membranes,” says Claus Hélix Nielsen, Aquaporin’s vice president for public-private partnerships.

The filter works essentially the same way your kidney does. The system is just two tubes hooked up to an energy source. It pulls a liter of urine from one container through the filter and out into another container in less than a minute. The device is small, light and less likely to clog than the filters currently being used. 

Aquaporin A/S has been working with NASA since 2011, testing prototypes in a lab. “So far, the Aquaporin Inside Forward Osmosis membrane is the only membrane we have tested that comes very close to fulfilling the membrane requirements for a simple, lightweight and reliable system to extract potable water from body fluids in space,” Michael Flynn, head of the advanced human support technology research group at NASA Ames, said in a press release.

As of last week, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen is at the International Space Station testing the filters. Mogensen will be filtering three urine samples while he’s in space. He’s also bringing the filtered water back to Earth to be analyzed here. If the system works well, Aquaporin A/S would like to bring the device to other places where clean water is hard to come by—whether that be developing countries or drought-ridden areas.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/new-efficient-filter-helps-astronauts-drink-their-own-urine-180956499/?no-ist

Note...The astronauts may be limited to 3 gallons a day, but they do not use that much...they conserve...article sensationalism 

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Asteroid-Mining Plan Would Bake Water Out of Bagged-Up Space Rocks

An innovative plan to use “optical mining” is part of the Asteroid Provided In-Situ Supplies (Apis) concept — an ability to tap mega-amounts of water from space rocks to help establish valuable infrastructure in space.
Credit: TransAstra

PASADENA, Calif. — A new way to harvest asteroid resources is being eyed as a possible game changer for space exploration.

The patent-pending innovation, called "optical mining," could allow huge amounts of asteroid water to be tapped, advocates say. This water, in turn, could provide relatively cheap and accessible propellant for voyaging spacecraft, lowering the cost of spaceflight significantly.

Development of the optical-mining idea has been funded by a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) fellowship and grant, along with a small business contract. The concept — which is also known as the Asteroid Provided In-Situ Supplies plan, or Apis — was detailed here during a special NIAC session held on Sept. 2 during the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' (AIAA) Space 2015 meeting.

 

 

Loads of water

Sercel said that the optical-mining approach aims to excavate carbonaceous chondrite asteroid surfaces and drive water and other volatile materials out of this excavated material and into an enclosing, inflatable bag, all without the need for complex or impractical robotics.

The Apis plan involves harvesting up to 100 metric tons of water from anear-Earth asteroid, and taking the material to lunar orbit or other depot locations, using only a single SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch, Sercel added.

Apis team members have already performed computer simulations and lab experiments on meteorite samples to get a better idea of how to approach the intended work in space.

Light and heat

Sercel and his colleagues are using their large solar furnace at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to shed light andheat onto the idea.

Since the late 1970s, researchers have used this furnace to simulate the sudden heat generated by a nuclear explosion. The furnace makes use of two primary sets of mirrors. One large, flat set can pivot around to seize the rays of the sun and direct them though a shutter system onto the second set of mirrors, which, in turn, focuses the light and heat onto the target.

In the September-October time frame, Sercel said, the Apis team will do proof-of-concept experiments at the White Sands facility. Hardware brought to the test site will hold cantaloupe-sized asteroid simulant targets that will be superheated by reflected and concentrated sunlight.

 

 
This solar furnace at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico uses mirrors to focus the sun onto a small point. Normally used to simulate the heat from a nuclear explosion, this high-tech blast oven is slated for use to test an in-space idea for using asteroids. The same gear has been used to test a theory that a space-based version of the furnace could be used to deflect a meteor headed for Earth. 
Credit: Drew Hamilton, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico

In-space spalling

The products of interest to Sercel are volatiles, especially water. Volalites can be harvested from rock by a process called spalling, in which tiny, explosive pops of expanding gas drive out particles and gas.

Sercel said that the New Mexico tests could show that highly concentrated optical energy excavates the surface of material in a controlled way, analogous to how intense lasers can ablate surfaces, constantly exposing new material and forcing water out of the spalled material.

"It actually digs holes and tunnels into the rock. The heat goes in, is absorbed in thin layers and drives out the volatiles in tiny, explosivelike pops that eject material in a controllable way," Sercel said. "We believe that highly concentrated sunlight can drill holes, excavate, disrupt and shape an asteroid while the asteroid is enclosed in a containment bag."

Solid ice

The Apis solar-thermal oven scheme makes use of thin-film inflatable structures stemming from work on NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). The ARM plan calls for plucking a boulder off a near-Earth asteroid using a robotic probe, then hauling this chunk of rock to lunar orbit, where it could be visited by astronauts. [NASA's Asteroid Capture Mission in Pictures]  

But in the Apis case, the inflatable capture system is fabricated from high-temperature material and designed to fully enclose the target.

After the asteroid has been encapsulated and de-spun, an inflatable solar concentrator churns out direct solar-thermal energy to the asteroid surface. This heat is used to excavate the asteroid and force the water to outgas into the enclosing bag.

From there, the outgassing water is pumped into a passively cooled bag and stored as solid ice.

Storage bag

Up to 120 tons of water, collected over several months, could be stored in this manner, Sercel said. The Apis system would then transport the harvested water to lunar orbit, using some of the asteroid water as fuel for its onboard solar-thermal propulsion system.

Once in orbit around the moon, the water can be converted into consumables and propellant to support a variety of enterprises, including human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.

"Apis is a commercially viable approach to the extraction, processing and delivery of water from asteroids to in-space assets," Sercel concluded.

http://www.space.com/30582-asteroid-mining-water-propulsion.html

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 'Cosmonauts' Exhibition Offers Rare Look at Soviet Space Artifacts in London

"Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age," now open at the Science Museum in London, provides a rare look at more than 150 Soviet-era spacecraft, spacesuits and other artifacts.
Credit: Science Museum

The capsule that launched the first woman into space, the most complete Soviet lunar lander still in existence and the 80-year-old original drawings of a Russian rocket pioneer are among the more than 150 rare Soviet-era space relics now on display in London.

Billed as the greatest exhibition of Soviet spacecraft and artifacts ever to be seen outside of Russia, "Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age" opened to the public Friday (Sept. 18) at the Science Museum in South Kensington. Years in the making, the unprecedented exhibition is the result of a partnership between the museum, the State Museum and Exhibition Center Rosizo in Moscow and Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos.

"'Cosmonauts' is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition that has taken years of dedication and skill to make a reality," said Ian Blatchford, the director of the Science Museum. "The Russian space program is one of the great intellectual, scientific and engineering successes of the 20th century, and I am thrilled that we have been able to bring together such an outstanding collection of Russian space artifacts to celebrate these achievements."

 

 

In 1957, the Soviet Union initiated the space age with the launch of the world's first satellite. Following the success of Sputnik, the country launched the first animal, man and woman into orbit — all within six years.

"Our work in space is inspired by the bravery of [first man in space] Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova and the first cosmonauts," said Russiancosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko in a video sent down from the International Space Station. "We hope you will enjoy discovering how they made space travel a reality."

"In this new exhibition, you can see Tereshkova's Vostok 6 capsule, a moon lander and much more," Kornienko added.

Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space on June 16, 1963. She came to the Science Museum to help launch the new gallery on Thursday (Sept. 17).

"I believe this exhibit shows how interesting and important for mankind is the work of people both on the ground and in space," Tereshkova stated. "It creates the possibility to think about future cooperation between our scientists [and] our young people who want to fly into space."

For decades, Tereshkova's Vostok 6 capsule has been on display in the private museum of its builder, Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia, located near Moscow. The opening of "Cosmonauts" offered the opportunity for Tereshkova to be reunited with the spacecraft that carried her for 48 revolutions around the Earth.

"I look at [the capsule] with love because it allowed me to work successfully for over three days in orbit," she said.

 

 Valentina Tereshkova, who in 1963 became the first woman to fly in space, stands with her Vostok 6 capsule in the new exhibition, “Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age” at the Science Museum, London. 
Credit: Science Museum

Another of the exhibition's featured relics is the 16-foot-tall (5 meters) LK-3 lunar lander. Built in 1969, it was designed to take a single cosmonaut to the surface of the moon. Kept secret for two decades, this lunar lander was declassified especially for "Cosmonauts," according to the museum.

"The lunar lander you have here was used as a training model at the cosmonaut training center," explained Alexei Leonov, who made the world's first spacewalk in 1965 and had been slated to fly to the moon had the LK program not been cancelled in the wake of rocket failures and the U.S. Apollo astronauts getting there first.

"Londoners, visitors to the museum, will be able to see it all as it happened in our country [and] see it with their own eyes," said Leonov during a visit to the Science Museum in May. "These are the objects that with the help of which we conquered space, step by step."

"Cosmonauts" covers the full history of the Russian space efforts, from rocket pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's 1933 drawings depicting weightlessness and life in orbit almost 30 years before spaceflight would become a reality to an original engineering model of Sputnik, through an ejector seat and suit used to launch the first dogs into space to a space toilet, shower and other space equipment that were designed to help cosmonauts living aboard the Mir space station.

The exhibition also showcases a rarely seen collection of original Soviet space poster art, which fixed the image of the cosmonaut in the minds of the Russian people.

"We are borrowing things that that our Russian colleagues really do think of as their crown jewels — and almost none have ever left Russia," said Blatchford.

"Cosmonauts" is open now through March 13, 2016 at the Science Museum, London. Tickets run £14 (about $22) for adults; children under 7 get in free.

For more details about the exhibition, "Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age," see the Science Museum's website at: sciencemuseum.org.uk/cosmonauts.

http://www.space.com/30594-cosmonauts-exhibition-soviet-space-artifacts.html

This would be a really neat museum visit........ 

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Looks like another player in the prefab space industry....

Expect Martian Colonies to Build Themselves First

Image courtesy SHEE project.

Space explorers will travel to prefabricated colonies on the Moon, Mars and elsewhere, says the Self-deployable Habitat for Extreme Environments project (SHEE).

SHEE is developing domiciles to be deployed on alien worlds, the brain-child of architect Ondrej Doule, to be used as the European Space Agency's first autonomously deployed space habitat. The SHEE habitat is a hybrid structure comprised of rigid, inflatable and robotic components. The prototypes would integrate living and workspace to optimize as much as possible a comfortable alien dwelling.

The project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Program for research, Technological Development and Demonstration. Autonomous extraterrestrial construction has been the method of consensus of initial colony formation because human labor in space or on an alien planet's surface would simply be too risky. Atmospherics, electromagnetism and gravity, amongst other conditions, present too many unknowns for humans to be the primary constructors.

"As with every prototype, there are issues that have to be addressed after first uses and transport, and also continuous integration that started in Estonia, so we are optimizing the system instantly," said Doule.

Doule is quite busy trotting around the world for this project. He is the chair of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space Architecture Technical Committee, and is an assistant professor at the Florida Institute of Technology's Human-Centered Design Institute in Melbourne, Florida. He is also the founder of the Czech Republic's Space Innovations virtual studio, and is constructing one part of the SHEE at the Estonian University of Tartu.

He will soon travel to the International Space University of Strasbourg, France, where he and a team will test SHEE without humans so it could construct itself and operate for 14 days in an alien environment.

Later, a dusty environment in Spain will serve as a test zone for environmental functionality of robotics. Ongoing research to increase efficiency will help minimize SHEE's ecological footprint.

"The analog environment is located in Spain, where the SHEE should serve as a base for human-robotic interaction tests," Doule said. "This is the place where the SHEE gets dirty for the first time, and we will discover its capacity to work in dusty environments with its inflatable seals."

SHEE also has potential for use in disaster areas. It's partially autonomous subsystem and self-deployability could become a standard for temporary housing and relief from the elements without the need of connecting to pre-existing infrastructure.

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Expect_Martian_Colonies_to_Build_Themselves_First_999.html

Will have to watch their progress....slightly different development use, than the Bigelo modules though......

Later.......

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Reminder for Supermoon Eclipse, September 27th........

On Sept. 27, skywatchers throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, western Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean region will witness a total eclipse that happens to occur when the moon looks abnormally large and bright in Earth's sky. It will be the first supermoon eclipse since 1982, and the last until 2033.

This rare celestial phenomenon has its roots in the moon's elliptical orbit around Earth. [Supermoon Lunar Eclipse: Complete Blood Moon Coverage]

"When the moon is farthest away, it's known as apogee, and when it’s closest, it's known as perigee," Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement. "On Sept. 27, we're going to have a perigee full moon — the closest full moon of the year."

The moon is about 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) closer to Earth at perigee than it is at apogee. As a result, perigee full moons, also known as supermoons, appear about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter in the sky than do apogee full moons (which are also called minimoons).

"There's no physical difference in the moon," Petro said. "It just appears slightly bigger in the sky. It's not dramatic, but it does look larger."

"Normal" total lunar eclipses — which occur when the Earth, moon and sun align, and the moon passes completely into Earth's shadow — aren't terribly uncommon: On average, a skywatcher in a given location on Earth can expect to see one of these events every 2.5 years or so. 

But it is uncommon for a total lunar eclipse to coincide with a supermoon. There have been just five such events since 1900 (in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982), NASA officials have said. 

Rarity does not imply anything inexplicable, however.

"It's just planetary dynamics. The orbit of the moon around Earth is inclined to the axis of Earth, and the orbital plane of all these things just falls into place every once in a while," Petro said. "When the rhythms line up, you might get three to four eclipses in a row, or a supermoon and an eclipse happening."

The supermoon will begin to dim slightly at 8:11 p.m. EDT on Sept. 27 (0011 GMT on Sept. 28), NASA officials said. The total eclipse will start at 10:11 p.m. EDT (0211 GMT), and it will last 72 minutes.

http://www.space.com/30567-supermoon-lunar-eclipse-science-explained.html

 Rare ‘Super-Harvest Blood Moon’ To Shine On September 27, 2015 | Video

video is 2:51 minutes

 

Later......

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Spaceflight oddities and fun stuff....slow day

A bat stowed away on the orange external fuel tank of the space shuttle Discovery during its March 15, 2009 launch.Credit: collectSPACE.com

The shuttle climbs, bat still holding on (NASA)

So what happened? If the bat wasn’t frozen to the shuttle, why would he remain stuck on the external fuel tank? Surely he should have flown away when the shuttle powered up and vibrated before lift off? According to a NASA press release, the bat may have had little choice but to cling onto the shuttle. When the images were examined by a wildlife specialist, the conclusion was the bat may have had a broken wing, forcing him to hold on tight. Unfortunately, holding onto the fuel tank spelled certain doom; it is doubtful he would have been able to remain attached as the violent shaking and g-forces took hold. Although he made it as high as the launch tower, it is likely the bat dropped off and died in the searing 1400°C exhaust of the throttling boosters.

 http://www.universetoday.com/27370/the-discovery-bats-fate-is-confirmed/
http://www.space.com/6442-bat-hung-ride-space.html

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In the wrong place at the wrong time, a bird is silhouetted against the clear blue Florida sky (upper left) as it falls away from Space Shuttle Discovery after hitting the external tank during liftoff of mission STS-114 in July 2005.

In 2005, a large turkey vulture collided with the back of the space shuttle Discovery?s external tank during NASA?s first flight since the 2003 loss of the Columbia orbiter, which was destroyed during re-entry due to heat shield damage incurred during its launch two weeks earlier. The 2005 bird strike incident proved fatal for the turkey vulture, but posed no risk to the shuttle Discovery since it occurred on the side of the external tank that faces away from the attached orbiter.

As a safety precaution, NASA undertook measures to reduce the potential for a bird strike to rain debris on a launching shuttle and damage its fragile heat shield. The first step calls for employees to call in any reports of road kill around the space center, which can attract flocks of large, ravenous turkey vultures.

?We?re in the middle of a wildlife refuge,? Beutel said of the Florida launch site, which sits in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. ?There are going to be birds out there.?

 http://www.space.com/6323-bird-strikes-threaten-space-shuttles.html

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A NASA camera accidentally captured an airborne frog as the agency’s LADEE moon mission blasts off from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. 
Credit: NASA Wallops Flight Facility/Chris Perry

Closeup of the frog silhouette taken during NASA’s moon rocket launch on September 6, 2013. Credit: NASA Wallops Flight Facility/Chris Perry

Agency officials confirm the photo has not been faked and it was captured in a single shot by one of the still cameras at the launch site that was triggered by the sound of the blast.

Herpetologist David Green of McGill University in Montreal, who has looked at the photos, confirms that the shadow is in all likelihood a frog, displaying a very typical stance of plummeting amphibians seen in nature.

“This indeed looks like the natural position frogs exhibit when falling from great heights,” said Green.  The question everyone of course is asking…did the rocket -propelled frog make it out alive from this fiery blast. NASA cannot confirm it.

“I have no idea if the little guy survived but I can imagine he wasn’t too happy,” said Green.

 http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/12/flying-frog-photo-bombs-rocket-launch/

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When lettuce is not enough.........

Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Nemiroff (Michigan Tech. U.)

Explanation: How will cows survive on the Moon? One of the most vexing questions asked about space, scientists have spent decades debating this key issue. Finally, after extensive computer modeling and over a dozen midnight milkings, engineers have designed, built, and now tested the new Lunar Grazing Module (LGM), a multi-purpose celestial bovine containment system. By now, many of you will not be surprised to be wished a Happy April Fool's Day from APOD. To the best of our knowledge, there are no current plans to launch cows into space. For one reason, cows tend to be large animals that don't launch easily or cheaply. As friendly as cows may be, head-to-head comparisons show that robotic rovers are usually more effective as scientific explorers. The featured image is of a thought-provoking work of art named "Mooooonwalk" which really is on display at a popular science museum.

 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150401.html

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Like a giant boot: This space suit was among the first made for dogs for experiments on the effects of low gravity and high-speed launches on living things
 

 

Long before man ventured into space, our canine companions were testing the water for us.

To assess the then unknown effects of low gravity and forces during launch on living things, Russian scientists made these high-pressure suits to help keep dogs safe during experiments in the 1950s.

They were strapped into what might be considered today as a rather crude contraption, put into a rocket and fired 80km to the edge of space before returning to Earth by parachute.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2231719/One-small-step-mans-best-friend-The-dog-space-suits-canine-cosmonauts.html

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When Kermit went missing, and blame went to Dr Evil...till they found the frognaut..

December 2003

A joke started about the KERMIT transfer protocol

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/frogs-in-space-a-brief-history/279608/
http://science.slashdot.org/story/03/12/10/1957244/kermit-alive-and-well-on-the-space-station

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Imposter......

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Cancelled spacesuits

Construction worker suit

Swiss army suit

Changed her mind.....Lt Shelly

Pre Orion test capsule...

The New Frontier...cancelled pilot , TV

Where's my climbing boots......

http://www.freakingnews.com/Space-Suits-Pictures--1392.asp

Later.......

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

More ESA Student CubeSats Preparing for Space

OUFTI-1 Cubesat   ESA

While waiting for the first ESA student CubeSat to be deployed from the International Space Station at the beginning of October, the three Fly Your Satellite! CubeSats candidate for rocket launch are completing their environmental test campaign.

 

During the past few months, the student satellites had to pass a number of tests in order to make sure they would be able to perform properly in the harsh conditions encountered during launch and in orbit. This test campaign represented Phase 2 of the Fly Your Satellite! educational programme.

The satellites were tested before, between, and after being exposed to extreme environmental conditions, such as vibrations and temperature cycles in a thermal/vacuum chamber. These tests are necessary to demonstrate that the CubeSats are capable of working in these harsh environments and are not visibly damaged by them.

The three CubeSats that underwent the 'Fly Your Satellite!' environmental test campaign are presented

http://spaceref.com/nasa-hack-space/more-esa-student-cubesats-preparing-for-space.html

Good article. The link above, explains how all 3 test units undergo vibration testing, where placed in the vacuum chamber and went through normal space temperature variations. All 3 cubes had problems pop up, were corrected and retested. Very valuable testing to prevent a mistake getting through and the satellite failing once in orbit.

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NASA tries it's best to promote it's activities, and to focus on younger generations, which is fine...but....sometimes does get a bit carried away. I have noticed this myself with the "one year crew" mission. Nasa has advertised this along the lines of unprecedented...but that is stretching things too far...and I am not the only one who noticed.......

Forgetting What Russia Did In Space Decades Ago

By Keith Cowing on September 20, 2015 12:28 PM.  4 Comments

 Keith's note: Russia (USSR) did this 4 times decades ago. Its all listed here on Wikipedia.

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2015/09/forgetting-what.html

The one year in space is not unprecedented......the fact of the "twins" is a first, and extensive testing on this mission toward health, is great....but one year has been done by 4 astronauts already.......never forget your history.......

Longest Human Space Flights

#	Time in space	Crew	Country	Launch date (Launch craft)	Landing date (Landing craft)	Space Station or mission type
1	437.7 days[12][13]	Valeri Polyakov[12]	Russia	1994-01-09 (Soyuz TM-18)	1995-03-22 (Soyuz TM-20)	Mir[12]
2	379.6 days[13]	Sergei Avdeyev[13]	Russia	1998-08-13 (Soyuz TM-28)	1999-08-28 (Soyuz TM-29)	Mir[13]
3	365.0 days[13]	Vladimir Titov[13] Musa Manarov[13]	Soviet Union	1987-12-21 (Soyuz TM-4)	1988-12-21 (Soyuz TM-6)	Mir[13]
4	326.5 days[14]	Yuri Romanenko[14]	Soviet Union	1987-02-5 (Soyuz TM-2)	1987-12-29 (Soyuz TM-3)	Mir[14]
5	311.8 days[15]	Sergei Krikalev[15]	Soviet Union/ Russia	1991-05-18 (Soyuz TM-12)	1992-03-25 (Soyuz TM-13)	Mir[15]
6	240.9 days[16]	Valeri Polyakov[16]	Soviet Union	1988-08-29 (Soyuz TM-6)	1989-04-7 (Soyuz TM-7)	Mir[16]
7	237.0 days[17]	Leonid Kizim[17] Vladimir Solovyov[17] Oleg Atkov[17]	Soviet Union	1984-02-08 (Soyuz T-10)	1984-10-02 (Soyuz T-11)	Salyut 7[17]
8	215.4 days[18]	Mikhail Tyurin[18] Michael López-Alegría[18]	Russia  United States	2006-09-18 (Soyuz TMA-9)	2007-04-21 (Soyuz TMA-9)	International Space Station[18]
9	211.4 days[19]	Anatoli Berezovoy[19] Valentin Lebedev[19]	Soviet Union	1982-05-13 (Soyuz T-5)[19]	1982-12-10 (Soyuz T-7)[19]	Salyut 7[19]
10	207.5 days	Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin	Russia	1998-01-29 (Soyuz TM-27)	1998-08-25 (Soyuz TM-27)	Mir

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records

Total time in space

Rank	Person	Days	Flights	Status	Nationality
1	Gennady Padalka	879.480	5	Active	Russia
2	Sergei Krikalev	803.371	6	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
3	Alexandr Kaleri	769.276	5	Active	Russia
4	Sergei Avdeyev	747.593	3	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
5	Valeriy Polyakov	678.690	2	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
6	Anatoly Solovyev	651.117	5	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
7	Yuri Malenchenko	641.466	5	Active	Russia
8	Viktor Afanasyev	555.772	4	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
9	Yury Usachev	552.773	4	Retired	Russia
10	Pavel Vinogradov	546.939	3	Active	Russia
11	Musa Manarov	541.021	2	Retired	Soviet Union ( Azerbaijan)
12	Fyodor Yurchikhin	537.106	4	Active	Russia
13	Mikhail Tyurin	532.118	4	Active	Russia
14	Oleg Kotov	526.211	3	Active	Russia
15	Alexander Viktorenko	489.066	4	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
16	Nikolai Budarin	444.060	3	Retired	Russia
17	Yuri Romanenko	430.765	3	Retired	Soviet Union
18	Alexander Volkov	391.495	3	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
19	Oleg Kononenko	391.471	2	Active	Russia
20	Yuri I. Onufrienko	389.282	2	Retired	Russia
21	Vladimir G. Titov	387.036	4	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
22	Vasili Tsibliyev	381.662	2	Retired	Russia
23	Valery G. Korzun	381.653	2	Retired	Russia
24	Michael Fincke	381.633	3	Active	United States
25	Peggy A. Whitson	376.738	2	Active	United States
26	Leonid Kizim	374.749	3	Deceased	Soviet Union
27	Michael Foale	373.763	6	Retired	United States /  United Kingdom[32]
28	Aleksandr Serebrov	372.954	4	Deceased	Soviet Union /  Russia
29	Valeri Ryumin	371.725	4	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
30	Donald Pettit	369.696	3	Active	United States
31	Sergey Volkov	365.940	3	Active	Russia
32	Anton Shkaplerov	365.001	2	Active	Russia
33	Jeffrey Williams	362.060	3	Retired	United States
34	Vladimir Solovyov	361.952	2	Retired	Soviet Union
35	Thomas Reiter	350.239	2	Retired	Germany
36	Koichi Wakata	347.356	4	Active	Japan
37	Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Skvortsov	345.267	2	Active	Russia
38	Talgat Musabayev	341.408	3	Retired	Russia
39	Roman Romanenko	333.459	2	Active	Russia
40	Vladimir Lyakhov	333.324	3	Retired	Soviet Union
41	Aleksandr Samokutyayev	331.474	2	Active	Russia
42	Yuri P. Gidzenko	329.950	3	Retired	Russia
43	Sunita Williams	321.719	2	Active	United States
44	Gennadi Manakov	309.889	2	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
45	Aleksandr P. Aleksandrov	309.758	2	Retired	Soviet Union
46	Gennady Strekalov	268.938	5	Deceased	Soviet Union /  Russia
47	Michael López-Alegría	257.944	4	Retired	United States
48	Viktor Savinykh	252.849	3	Retired	Soviet Union
49	Vladimir Dezhurov	244.229	2	Retired	Russia
50	Oleg Atkov	236.950	1	Retired	Soviet Union

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records

I think, overall, Nasa does a good job of "keeping the interest" out there...but once in a while, someone needs to proof read and put data in context, as well as recognizing past accomplishments........

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 September 2015

On Sept. 17, 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly captured images and video from the International Space Station during an early morning flyover of the United States. Sharing with his social media followers, Kelly wrote, "Clear skies over much of the USA today. #GoodMorning from @Space_Station! #YearInSpace." Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA.

Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko have been teaming up for a variety of human research studies in space since March. Scientists are observing the effects of living in space on long-term crew members. This week the duo explored head pressure and visual impairment some station astronauts have experienced to help NASA prepare future crew members for the Journey to Mars.

The next cargo mission, ISS Progress 61 (61P), to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch Oct. 1 and dock six hours later to the rear docking port of the Zvezda service module. A pair of cosmonauts practiced the techniques Friday they would use in the unlikely event it became necessary to use the Zvezda's telerobotically operated rendezvous system to manually dock the 61P.

 

Retraction of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock (JEMAL) Slide Table: Following up on the successful launch yesterday of the two JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (JSSOD) #4 satellites, Yui extended the JEMAL slide table out to the JEM Exposed Facility, monitored the soft dock of the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) with the attached JSSOD to the slide table by the JEM Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), then retracted the slide table and powered off the RMS monitors. 

 

Radi-N Neutron Field Study (Radi-N): Kononenko handed over eight Radi-N detectors to Lindgren who in turn deployed eight bubble detectors around the ISS for the Radi-N experiment. The objective of this investigation is to better characterize the ISS neutron environment and define the risk posed to the crewmembers' health and provide the data necessary to develop advanced protective measures for future space flight.

SOLAR Investigation: Measurements continue to be taken for ESA's SOLAR investigation during the current sun visibility window. Two sun spectrum and two calibration measurements have been performed. The goal of the SOLAR instruments is to measure solar spectral irradiance and variability.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS)-2 Locker Removal and Disposal: Following yesterday's activity to clear the LAB1P5 location of stowage, Lindgren and Yui removed the MSS-2 Locker and disposed of it in the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-5. This volume will eventually be used by Common Communications for Visiting Vehicle (C2V2) hardware, which will be installed during Increment 46.

Station Support Computer (SSC) Donut Service Pack Status: The Donut Service Pack deployed over the weekend is operating, however continues to experience a couple of issues. On the ground, OPTIMIS Viewer encounters sluggish performance, requiring nonessential users to log off. Nonessential users can still access Flight Notes, Chits, and Jedi Messages etc.. Onboard ISS, SSC Windows Server "ISS-SERVER1" is experiencing high memory usage and requires ground controllers to reboot the server several times per day to reduce memory consumption. As long as these reboots are being performed, there's no impact to the crew. Ground Teams are working to come up with a more permanent solution to both issues.

 

 

 

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
JEMRMS Ops to install MPEP on JEMAL Slide Table

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 09/19: Weekly Cleaning, Crew Off Duty
Sunday, 09/20: Crew Off Duty
Monday, 09/21: T2 Yearly Maint, SLM Ops, HTV Cargo Ops, OH Vision Test, OH BP Measurements, Lab Bacteria Filter R&R

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) - Process
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-18-september-2015.html

Later........

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 September 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 September 2015.  NASA

Japan's resupply ship, the "Kounotori" HII Transfer Vehicle-5 (HTV-5), will end its stay at the International Space Station next Monday. A new Russian Progress cargo mission will launch to replenish the crew Oct. 1. While the HTV-5 is winding down its mission, the six-member Expedition 45 is conducting human research and lab maintenance.

 

First time space-flyers Kjell Lindgren from NASA and Yui Kimiya Yui from Japan checked each other's eyes today for the Ocular Health study. Lindgren then moved on to a six-month inspection of the treadmill inside the Unity module while Kimiya replaced bacteria filters in the Destiny lab module.

Station Commander Scott Kelly started his workday swabbing his body to collect microorganism samples for the Microbiome study. Kelly later cleaned a science freezer before measuring the acoustic levels inside the space station.

There are three veteran cosmonauts onboard the station with a combined 8 missions, including the current mission, on the orbital lab. Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko worked in the Microgravity Science Glovebox for the OASIS liquid crystal experiment. Flight Engineer Sergey Volkov with One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko studied how living in space affects a crew member's cardiovascular and respiratory systems for the DAN experiment.

 

 

Microbiome Investigation: Kelly completed survey questions and performed body sample collections for his Flight Day 180 session of the Microbiome investigation. Microbiome investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and an individual's microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body at any given time).

Observation Analysis of Smectic Islands in Space (OASIS) Sample Exchange: Kononenko performed an OASIS sample exchange today, installing the third of four sample cartridges into the experiment hardware housed in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). OASIS studies the unique behavior of liquid crystals in microgravity, including their overall motion and the merging of crystal layers known as smectic islands. Liquid crystals are used for display screens in televisions and clocks, and they also occur in soaps and in cell membranes. The experiment allows detailed studies of the behavior of these structures, and how microgravity affects their unique ability to act like both a liquid and a solid crystal.

Treadmill 2 (T2) Yearly Maintenance: Lindgren performed a thorough inspection of T2's drive shaft, pulley teeth, motor, motor carriage bolts, motor belt, mounting screws, lateral belts, and clean the bearing housing. All observations were photo documented and downlinked to the ground for analysis. Once the maintenance was completed, T2 was powered up and is back in operation.

USOS Hatch Seal Inspections: Lindgren cleaned and inspected USOS Hatch Seals, Hatch Plate Sealing Surfaces, and Hatch Handle Mechanisms. Hatches targeted for today's inspection included the Node 1 (Port, Stbd, Fwd, Aft), Lab (Fwd, Aft), Node 2 (Aft), and Node 3 (Nadir, Fwd). Additional hatch inspections are scheduled to occur this Thursday, September 24th.

Sound Level Meter (SLM) Ops: Kelly measured the acoustic environment in habitable areas of the ISS by taking sound level readings. Today's measurements took place within Node 3, Cupola, MRM1, SM, and T2 operating at various speeds before the treadmill's yearly maintenance. One set of measurements, those following completion of the T2 yearly maintenance, were deferred to tomorrow due to crew time constraints.

Lab Bacteria Filter Change out: As part of routine maintenance, Yui changed out six bacteria filters in Lab today.

Water Recovery System (WRS) Total Organic Compound Analyzer (TOCA) Results: Today's TOC level was 2932 µg/L. This continues an upward trend, though currently still below the screening limit of 3000 µg/L. The WRS Ion Exchange (IX) Bed and Microbial Check Valve (MCV) replacement are planned in early October and should help lower the TOC levels. The date for the Multifiltration (MF) bed replacement is TBD.

 

 

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

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 09/22: 44S Emergency OBT, Ocular Health, HTV Cargo Ops, Cognition Test
Wednesday, 09/23: Sprint, Ocular Health, EVA Tether Inspect, EVA Safer Swap, RMCT Swap
Thursday, 09/24: Cardio Ox Ultrasound, Cell Biology Experiment, HTV Cargo Ops, Hatch Seal Inspect, RMCT Swap

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 - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-21-september-2015.html

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In Next Earth Venture Mission, ISS Payloads Need Not Apply

WASHINGTON — After heavily promoting the International Space Station’s exterior as an Earth observation platform, NASA told aspiring principal investigators to steer clear of the outside of the orbital outpost in the second-ever Earth Venture mission competition that began in early September.

“International space station payloads are not solicited,” reads the Earth Venture Mission-2 announcement of opportunity NASA released Sept.  3.

Earth Venture missions feature standalone spacecraft managed by a single principal investigator. The latest competition caps mission costs at $166 million in 2018 dollars, excluding launch, and sets a June 30, 2022, deadline for liftoff.

 

 

Those who want to propose must notify NASA of their intentions by October 2. Finished proposals are due Dec. 4. NASA will select one proposal for an award in August 2016, according to the solicitation.

While payloads mounted to the ISS exterior are banned in the Earth Venture Mission-2 competition, they were allowed in a NASA Earth Venture Instrument solicitation that closed in June, and which is pending selection, according to NASA spokesman Steven Cole.

Despite banning exterior payloads, the latest Earth Venture mission solicitation does not totally slam the door on station. Cubesat proposals are permitted, and launching them from the privately owned cubesat dispenser aboard ISS is not prohibited, according to the Earth Venture Mission-2 solicitation.

NASA is aiming for one Earth Venture mission solicitation every four years.

The first Earth Venture mission solicitation appeared in 2011 and was won in 2012 by the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), which is set to launch in October 2016 aboard Orbital ATK’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket. The eight-spacecraft, hurricane-forecasting constellation began development at Sierra Nevada Space Systems in Louisville, Colorado, in August.

Around this time last year, NASA began a big publicity push for using instruments mounted to the exterior of the International Space Station for Earth science observations. NASA said then it planned to launch five such instruments to the outpost by the end of the decade — and perhaps as many as 20 more through the station’s expected end of life some time next decade.

In September 2014, ISS had two Earth science payloads on its exterior. It has since added two more: the ISS-Rapid Scatterometer in late 2014, and the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System in January. Both rode to space on SpaceX’s Dragon vehicle, which remains grounded after June’s Falcon 9 launch failure. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus, NASA’s other domestic option for getting its instruments to station, was grounded after the October 2014 launch failure of its Antares rocket but is scheduled to return to flight in December atop an Atlas 5 rocket.

 http://spacenews.com/in-next-earth-venture-mission-iss-payloads-need-not-apply/

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News Conference Features Next Space Station Crew, Interview Opportunities

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a news conference for the next crew launching to the International Space Station, including NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, on Thursday, Sept. 24, at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA Television will broadcast the news conference live at 2 p.m. EDT, preceded by video of crew training at 1:30 p.m.

 

Joining Kopra will be fellow astronaut Timothy Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). Immediately after the news conference, all three crew members will be available for individual in person or phone media interviews.

To request attendance credentials or reserve an interview opportunity, media must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. International media must call by 6 p.m. today to arrange credentials to attend the event.

Reporters who wish to participate by telephone must contact the Johnson newsroom no later than 1:50 p.m. on the day of the news conference. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using the hashtag #askNASA.

The crew members will launch to the space station aboard a Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft Dec. 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Their arrival will, for one week, increase the station's crew to a team of nine that includes the one-year mission crew of NASA astronaut and station commander Scott Kelly and cosmonautMikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos.

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos and astronauts Kjell Lindgren of NASA andKimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will return to Earth on Dec. 22after concluding their five-month space station mission. Kopra, Peake and Malenchenko will return to Earth in May 2016 as part of the Expedition 47 crew.

Born in Austin, Texas, Kopra is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point inNew York. He holds a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, a second master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a third and fourth in business administration from Columbia University in New York and London Business School in the United Kingdom.

Kopra's first mission into space was as a flight engineer on Expedition 20 in 2009. During that two-month mission, he completed one spacewalk that lasted five hours, 32 minutes.

 http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/prnewswire-space-news.html?rkey=20150917DC05231&filter=1639

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Canada Seeks To Help ESA Deorbit Envisat Using Robot Arm

Artist's concept of the European Envisat Earth observation satellite. Credit: ESA

VICTORIA, British Columbia — Canada could play a prominent role in a deorbiting mission for the European Envisat Earth observation satellite, with robotic arm technology the most feasible method for such a job, according to industry and Canadian Space Agency officials.

The European Space Agency has yet to approve a mission although Canada expects one to develop between 2017 to 2021, with a potential launch in 2021, according to the Canadian Space Agency.

MDA Corp. of Richmond, British Columbia, recently finished an initial study that concluded that deorbiting Envisat could be accomplished using a robotic arm and capture tool.

 

“Given Canada’s leadership, experience and capabilities in on-orbit serving Canada could play a prominent role in deorbit,” the agency said in an Aug. 14, 2014, examination of the Envisat issue. That document was released through the federal Access to Information law.

Dan King, MDA’s director of business development for robotics and automation, said that by the end of the year ESA is expected to start a new phase in its study of a potential deorbiting mission.

“From our capability standpoint we are definitely planning to continue to be engaged,” he said in an interview with SpaceNews. “But as to how far we go in the future it’s TBD [to be determined] at the moment.”

Envisat is one of the largest Earth observation spacecraft ever built. It is 26 meters long and an estimated 8 metric tons. It was launched in 2002 in a sun-synchronous orbit but stopped communicating in April 2012.

The defunct satellite is considered one of the largest orbital debris threats in low Earth orbit. In addition to its size, the satellite is outfitted with a variety of antennas and other equipment, a concern since such devices could splinter if hit by debris. There is also concern that as Envisat ages in the harsh space environment, such hardware becomes increasingly brittle, increasing the likelihood that debris could be created.

Envisat will continue to orbit for 150 years if nothing is done.

King said the ESA has studied other capture options, including the use of a harpoon device or a net to snag the spacecraft. MDA looked at using a robotic arm to grab the launch adapter ring of the satellite.

“You capture the defunct satellite and then put it into a trajectory that it can then deorbit,” he said. “The option we studied is totally viable.”

King noted that Envisat is spinning, a situation that makes the robotic arm scenario a more favorable option.

“Part of the advantage of the robotic approach is that you can make sure your robotic arm is fast enough to track the spin rate and then capture it,” he said, “which is in a way, to a lesser extent, not unlike the techniques we have used, for example, on the space shuttle to capture a satellite with a relative rate of motion.”

Canadian Space Agency spokeswoman Émilie Dutil-Bruneau noted that while the deorbiting mission has yet to be approved by the ESA’s Council of Ministers, the ESA recently published an invitation to tender for the preliminary phase of the potential mission.

“Under the Canada-ESA Cooperation Agreement, Canadian industry could participate in this process,” Dutil-Bruneau said. “That said, final procurement decisions have not yet been determined.”

ESA has faced criticism from some space law specialists who complained that the agency could have done more to prevent Envisat from becoming such a debris threat.

In an October 2012 presentation in Naples, Italy, to the 63rd International Astronautical Congress, Martha Mejia-Kaiser, an International Institute of Space Law member from the Autonomous National University of Mexico, labeled Envisat a “ticking bomb,” adding that it posed an unusually large danger in its orbit at 780 kilometers in altitude.

Critics say ESA did not maintain sufficient fuel onboard the spacecraft to lower its orbit to the point where it could enter a destructive re-entry.

In October 2012, ESA countered such views; Envisat, the agency noted, was planned and designed in 1987-1990, a time when space debris was not considered to be a serious problem and before the existence of space debris mitigation guidelines, established by the United Nations in 2007.

ESA pointed out that those guidelines have now been adopted for all its projects.

The voluntary guidelines recommend that countries with low-orbiting satellites cease operations early enough so there is enough fuel to lower a spacecraft’s orbit to the point that atmospheric drag pulls it into destructive reentry within 25 years.

Lowering Envisat to an orbit that would allow re-entry within 25 years, however, was never an option because of its design and limited amount of fuel, ESA has stated.

Some space specialists argue that ESA could be held liable if Envisat or pieces of it collide with an operational satellite.

 

 http://spacenews.com/canada-seeks-to-help-esa-deorbit-envisat-using-robot-arm/

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

China aims for landing on moon’s far side by 2020

China’s Yutu rover is pictured in this view from the Chang’e 3 landing platform shortly after arriving on the moon in December 2013. Credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences/NAOC

A rover and landing platform developed as a backup for China’s Chang’e 3 moon mission will be repurposed to attempt the first touchdown on the lunar far side by the end of the decade, Chinese officials said.

The Chang’e 4 landing probe will carry more science payloads than the Chang’e 3 mission, which touched down in the moon’s Mare Imbrium region in December 2013, according to a Sept. 8 report by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

The mission to the moon’s far side, which is heavily cratered and rougher than the lunar near side, will require the launch of an additional spacecraft to relay signals between the lander and Earth.

The moon is tidally locked with Earth, meaning the same face is always visible from the ground.

A presentation on the Chang’e 4 mission at a June meeting of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs indicated the relay satellite will be launched by the end of 2018 to a gravitationally-stable location called the Earth-moon L2 point beyond the moon’s far side.

The communications satellite will have a three-year mission, during which the Chang’e 4 lander will be launched, according to the June presentation made by a Chinese scientist.

 

The heavily cratered far side of the moon is seen in this image from the Apollo 11 mission. Credit: NASA

 

Xinhua was less specific about the timing of the Chang’e 4 mission, only reporting it would launch before 2020.

Astronomers have long dreamed of a radio telescope on the far side of the moon, where it would be free from interference from artificial radio sources on Earth.

Xinhua quoted Zou Yongliao, an official from the moon exploration department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as saying: “If we can can place a frequency spectrograph on the far side, we can fill a void.”

If successful, Chang’e 4 will be the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon, which was never observed until the Soviet Union’s Luna 3 probe flew past the moon in 1959.

China is developing a more ambitious mission named Chang’e 5 for launch in 2017 to land on the moon and return surface samples. Engineers launched a demonstrator probe last year for a round-trip flight around the moon to prove out heat shield material for the Chang’e 5 mission.

 

 

China’s Chang’e 3 mission in 2013 accomplished the first soft landing on the moon since the Soviet Luna 24 sample return craft arrived in 1976. Chang’e 3’s six-wheeled Yutu rover traveled 114 meters (374 feet) before its mission ended.

Chinese scientists say a ground-penetrating radar on the rover detected nine distinct subsurface layers below the landing site, evidence the region has a complex geologic history distinct from areas explored by the Apollo astronauts, according to results published in March in the journal Science.

An ultraviolet telescope on the Yutu rover’s landing platform observed Earth’s plasmasphere from the moon.

Chang’e 3 landed just east of a 450-meter (1,500-foot) impact crater scientists say formed less than 100 million years ago.

The mission returned more than a terabyte of raw science data. China has released Chang’e 3 science data on a publicly accessible website, including a repository of spectacular images.

Chang’e 4’s basic platform is already assembled, with planning for the mission’s science payload underway, according to information released at June’s UN meeting.

Its prime engineering objective is to demonstrate landing and deep space data relay on the lunar far side. Science goals include studying lunar dust and geology, the radiation environment on the far side of the moon, and conducting radio astronomy observations.

Chinese officials have invited international partnerships on the Chang’e 4 mission, identifying secondary spacecraft, scientific instrumentation, deep space tracking, and data analysis as areas for potential cooperation.

U.S. law restricts NASA from bilateral cooperation with China on space missions.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/09/21/china-aims-for-landing-on-moons-far-side-by-2020/

Later.........

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 22 September 2015

NASA Astronaut Kjell Lindgren (back) gives Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko (front) a haircut inside the station's Harmony module. Space station crew members use a special set of clippers with a vacuum attachment to collect loose hairs in microgravity. Credit: NASA. (09/12/2015)

Crew members practiced an emergency evacuation drill and conducted long-term biomedical research today onboard the International Space Station. Japan's fifth resupply ship is also being loaded with trash before its mission ends early next week.

Station Commander Scott Kelly teamed up with his fellow One-Year Crew member Mikhail Kornienko and cosmonaut Sergey Volkov to review the procedures they would use to evacuate the station in the unlikely event of an emergency. Kelly then moved on to exploring fluid physics and more Twins studies. Kornienko, Volkov including cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko worked on Russian science and systems maintenance.

Meanwhile, astronauts Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren are preparing a Japanese cargo craft, the "Kounotori" HII Transfer Vehicle-5, for its release and destructive entry Monday over the Pacific Ocean. Another cargo craft, Russia's ISS Progress 61 (61P), is being readied for its Oct. 1 launch and six-hour delivery mission to the station's Zvezda service module. Kornienko and Volkov practiced the telerobotic rendezvous techniques they would use if it became necessary to manually dock the 61P.

 

 

HTV Cargo Transfer Status: Yui and Lindgren continued working on HTV-5 Cargo transfer operations today. Cargo specialist estimate the crew will need approximately 1 hour to complete the HTV-5 cargo operations.

44 Soyuz (44S) Emergency Descent Drill: Kelly, Volkov, and Kornienko participated in an emergency decent drill this morning. This training session focused on off-nominal procedures that would be used in the event the crew needed to egress the ISS and perform an emergency descent.

Sound Level Meter (SLM) Ops: Lindgren obtained acoustic readings of Treadmill 2 (T2) at various speeds which will be compared to the readings Kelly took yesterday before the T2 Yearly Maintenance.

Possible Conjunction with Object #81934: Ground teams are evaluating tracking data for a possible conjunction with object #81934. The time of closest approach is Wednesday, 23 September at 1:03pm CDT. Concern level on the item is currently high and teams are evaluating the potential for a Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM).

 

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 09/23: Sprint, Ocular Health, EVA Tether Inspect, EVA Safer Swap, RMCT Swap
Thursday, 09/24: Cardio Ox Ultrasound, Cell Biology Experiment, HTV Cargo Ops, Hatch Seal Inspect, RMCT Swap
Friday, 09/25: HTV GLA/LED Light Removal, HTV Departure OBT, Cell Biology Experiment

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) - Norm
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 

 

 http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-22-september-2015.html

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Eye Checks, Fitness Research and Spacewalk Preps for Space Station Crew

 

The six-member space station crew is conducting human research to prepare future astronauts for long-term missions beyond low-Earth orbit including NASA’s Journey to Mars. The orbital residents are also getting ready to release a cargo craft Monday while getting ready for a late October spacewalk.

Space station Commander Scott Kelly, who is comparing his body to his ground-based twin brother ex-astronaut Mark Kelly, collected and stored a urine sample for the Twins study. He also scanned his legs with an ultrasound for the Sprint fitness study with some assistance from Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren partnered with Yui for ultrasound scans of the eyes and an echocardiogram of the heart for the Ocular Health study. The duo then moved on to tool collection for a planned October 28 spacewalk by Kelly and Lindgren before loading trash intoJapan’s HTV-5 resupply ship due to leave the station Monday at 11:20 a.m. EDT.

 http://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/09/23/eye-checks-fitness-research-and-spacewalk-preps-for-space-station-crew/

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SPACE CORN FAILS TO APPETIZE:

Regular readers of Spaceweather.com know that we have been flying simple life forms to the edge of space onboard helium balloons to test their response to space weather. Some fare better than others. Yeast, for instance, is incredibly tough. The microbes easily survivetemperatures as low as -60 C and cosmic ray dose rates 100x Earth-normal. Corn, on the other hand, appears to be more fragile. In the spring of 2015, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched seed packets of corn and other vegetables to the stratosphere during geomagnetic storms. Bruce Binion bought some of these seeds as a gift for his father, a veteran farmer, who planted them alongside regular corn as an experiment. Here are the results:

 

 
 

"I must say this experience has been quite fascinating," reports Binion. "Compared to regular corn, the 'space corn' stalks were quite short, tasseled out quite early, and the ears were stunted. As can be seen in the picture, above, Dad has a normal, good-eating ear from the same garden area shown for reference beside a couple of ears grown from your space seeds."

In summary, cosmic rays do not seem to agree with corn. Sorry, astronauts!

 http://spaceweather.com/

Later.......

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 23 September 2015

 

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 23 September 2015.  Nasa

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren partnered with Yui for ultrasound scans of the eyes and an echocardiogram of the heart for the Ocular Health study. The duo then moved on to tool collection for a planned October 28 spacewalk by Kelly and Lindgren before loading trash into Japan's HTV-5 resupply ship due to leave the station Monday at 11:20 a.m. EDT.

H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Cargo Transfer Status: The crew continued working on HTV5 cargo transfer operations today, and are nearly complete with loading the vehicle. HTV hatch closure is scheduled for Sunday, with unberth on Monday.

Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: In support of the ISS Upgrades EVA scheduled for late October, Yui prepared a new Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) for use and an old unit for return. The new SAFER will be checked out in the coming weeks. He also inspected Load Alleviating Strap on Safety Tethers, Waist Tethers and soft strap on D-Ring Extenders. In addition, Lindgren lubricated EVA Mobility Unit (EMU) suits 3010 and 3003 O2 actuator slider bars and evaluated O2 actuator forces. During the course of this activity, he noted a gouge to a Service and Cooling Umbilical (SCU) O-ring. He provided imagery of the gouge which is being evaluated by engineering teams.

Robotics Micro-Conical Tool (RMCT) Swap: Tonight robotics ground controllers will begin two days of activities to troubleshoot the torque anomaly previously seen with RMCT1, and to rule out the SPDM's Tool Holster Assembly (THA) Micro-Conical Fitting (MCF) as the potential root cause. This involves using the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to pick up RMCT1 with Arm2 and RMCT2 with Arm1. Each RMCT will then be used to grasp the other THA MCF before being stowed in its original location.

Conjunction with Object # 81934 Status: After evaluating tracking data overnight, ground teams determined that the conjunction with Object #81934 was of low concern and discontinued planning for a Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM).

 

 

Ground Activities
All activities are on schedule unless otherwise noted.

Battery Capacity Test for Battery Set 3A2
RMCT Swap

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 09/24: Cardio Ox Ultrasound, Cell Biology, HTV Cargo Ops, Hatch Seal Inspect, Galley Rack knee brace install.
Friday, 09/25: HTV GLA/LED Light Removal, HTV Departure OBT, Cell Biology Experiment
Saturday, 09/26: Weekly Cleaning, Crew Off Duty

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 - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-23-september-2015.html

Space Station Live: Cultivating Plant Growth in Space
video is 5:08 min

 

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Space fish detail effects of microgravity on bones

Medaka fish raised on the International Space Station developed lighter, weaker bones, researchers in Japan report.

Previous studies have found the bones of astronauts become less dense after spending extended periods of time in microgravity, but researchers haven't been able to determine why.

The new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, offers insights as to how bones react to life in space.

According to researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, time spent in microgravity encouraged osteoclast activity. Osteoclasts are the bone cells responsible for bone resorption. Osteoclasts dismantle bone tissue, while osteoblasts form bone tissue.

Together, these cells play a vital role in the maintenance, repair, remodeling, and overall amount of bone tissue.

Researchers were also able to identify a series of unregulated genes responsible for boosting osteoclast activity.

The research was made possible by genetic engineering. The Mendaka specimens were modified so that their osteoclasts and osteoblasts produced two different types of fluorescence when activated, allowing researchers to monitor the fishes' bones in real time.

Of the 312 modified fish, only the healthiest 24 juvenile specimens were sent to space. The rest stayed behind to serve as a control group.

Weightlessness has a variety of effects on human health. In addition to resulting in bone and muscle loss, time spent in microgravity has also been shown to affect an astronaut's vision, blood pressure, ability to heal and much more.

In preparation for future deep-space missions, NASA scientists are working with researchers around the world to better understand the physiological consequences of lengthy periods of time spent in space.

 http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Space_fish_detail_effects_of_microgravity_on_bones_999.html

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Congress, full of lawyers......and definitely, not the top "apples".......

Can Congress Authorize Mining On Asteroids?

 

"In May, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would give asteroid mining companies property rights to the minerals they extract from space. Called the Space Act of 2015, the bill now awaits the Senate's decision. ... In an article in the journal Space Policy, Fabio Tronchetti, a lawyer at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China, argues that the Space Act of 2015 would violate the Outer Space Treaty. He writes: States are forbidden from extending their territorial sovereignty over outer space or any parts of it. Despite arguments claiming otherwise this prohibition also extends to private entities. In essence, Tronchetti argues that if the U.S. passes this bill, it will confer rights to space companies that the U.S. doesn't have the power to give."

 Keith's note: This is like the legislation declaring the Apollo landing sites and their artifacts as a "National Historic Park". How can the U.S. Congress make laws, impose regulations, and confer rights regarding activities - by anyone - on bodies in the solar system over which it has no jurisdiction?

- H.R.2262 - SPACE Act of 2015

"Any asteroid resources obtained in outer space are the property of the entity that obtained them, which shall be entitled to all property rights to them, consistent with applicable federal law and existing international obligations."

- Outer Space Treaty

"Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means."

 http://nasawatch.com/archives/2015/09/can-congress-au.html

No country can claim sovereignty on a celestial object....Period

Later.......

[DocM]

Under the Outer Space Act a signatory nation cannot claim a celestial object, and a nation is responsible for government and non-government activities from its soil.

Article I states outer space "....shall be free for exploration and use...." This has been widely interpreted to mean commercial activity zones can be declared under the laws of the nation where these activities originate, not unlike the exploitation of the high seas which are referenced later in the treaty. The US legislation simply codified the procedures for doing so. 

The US and most other major spacefaring nations are not signatories to the Moon Treaty, the exceptions being India and France. The vast majority of nations ignored that treaty.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Under the Outer Space Act a signatory nation cannot claim a celestial object, and a nation is responsible for non-government group activities from its soil. This has been widely interpreted to mean commercial activity zones can be declared under the laws of the nation where these activities originate. The US legislation simply codified the procedures for doing so. 

The US and most other major spacefaring nations are not signatories to the Moon Treaty, the exceptions being India and France. The vast majority of nations ignored that treaty.

 

Actually, the "Moon Treaty", is a "sub treaty"...The main treaty, which is the "Outer Space Treaty", specifically states, among other things...
 

The treaty explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet, claiming that they are the common heritage of mankind.^[3] Art. II of the Treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means". However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object.^[4] The State is also liable for damages caused by their space object.^[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Treaty
http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html

The US and Russia, in the 60's, were the prime movers, in the development of the UN "Outer Space Treaty" ,...formally the .......(Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies)

The "Outer Space Treaty" forms the legal backbone for International Law, and even the UN charter has to abide by it.

The US signed and ratified the UN "Outer Space Treaty" on 27 January, 1967/10 October, 1967, all signed in London, Moscow and the USA,respectively. So far, 103 countries have signed, only 26 have not ratified the treaty

http://www.state.gov/t/isn/5181.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty

As far as commercial mining, not going to be a problem at all, as it will be treated as an "active mining claim" and will be encouraged. What will not be tolerated, is any "state" laying claim to a celestial body. A "state" may try to lay a claim, but it will be laughed off, with good reason, as celestial bodies are for all mankind. 

The "Moon Treaty" was ignored primarily due to militarization wording, for most parts, because the main coverage was in the "Outer Space Treaty", of which all major space faring nations are signed and ratified. The "Outer Space Treaty" is the backbone treaty, the others (and their associated sub paragraphs) are mainly "riders".

Later.....

[DocM]

Unratified riders by all but 2 of the major spacefaring nations, and about 80% of the world at large. It has no teeth, and barely any gums.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Unratified riders by all but 2 of the major spacefaring nations, and about 80% of the world at large. It has no teeth, and barely any gums.

The "riders" mean nothing. The "Outer Space Treaty" is in force, and effect, by all signatories and the UN

[DocM]

Yup, and the legal consensus is that it allows activity zones and "use."

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Yup, and the legal consensus is that it allows activity zones and "use."

Yes it does...and commercial will be welcomed by all. What congress may be doing, is writing the groundwork for US mining firms, to ensure that they follow the law and have a means to force compliance on "rouge" companies. This would be a good idea, and should be presented to the UN, for other countries to limit their liabilities from rogue operators. I would like to see "active mining claims", so that a company does not have to worry about a "large investment" being compromised. Planetary Resources will do a good job....but, I worry about other nations acting stupid.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Russia's Second Six-Time Cosmonaut and 'Two Tims' Set for December Launch to Space Station

The crew of Soyuz TMA-19M consists of (from left) Tim Peake, Tim Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko. Photo Credit: Michael Galindo/AmericaSpace

With less than 12 weeks to go before their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the three-man crew of Soyuz TMA-19M—consisting of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, U.S. astronaut Tim Kopra and Britain’s Tim Peake—gathered before representatives of the media at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, earlier today (Thursday, 24 September), to discuss their upcoming mission. The event was extensively covered for AmericaSpace by photographer Michael Galindo, whose images are available in his Flickr gallery. Originally scheduled to fly on 20 November, their launch was shifted to 15 December, as 2015’s International Space Station (ISS) manifest morphed in response to several unanticipated events. Should the current schedule hold, the trio will initially join the incumbent Expedition 45 team of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergei Volkov, U.S. astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and One-Year crewmen Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, before rotating into Expedition 46 through March 2016 and eventually into Expedition 47 (under Kopra’s command), until their planned return to Earth on 5 May 2016. The mission promises to rapidly shift veteran cosmonaut Malenchenko up the experience table to become one of the world’s top three most seasoned spacefarers, whilst also offering a long-overdue return to space for Kopra and making Peake the first “official” British astronaut.

more info at the link....
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=86459#more-86459

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 Fire in the Hole: Studying How Flames Grow in Space

A team of scientists and engineers test the components of Saffire I (background) and Saffire II (foreground). Image courtesy NASA.

Understanding how fire spreads in a microgravity environment is critical to the safety of astronauts who live and work in space. And while NASA has conducted studies aboard the space shuttle and International Space Station, risks to the crew have forced these experiments to be limited in size and scope.

Now a new experiment, designed, built and managed at NASA's Glenn Research Center, will ignite an understanding of microgravity fire on a much larger scale. The Spacecraft Fire Experiment, known as Saffire, is a series of experiments to be launched on three different flights beginning next spring.

"A spacecraft fire is one of the greatest crew safety concerns for NASA and the international space exploration community," says Gary Ruff, Saffire project manager.

Saffire will involve far larger flames than previous experiments and will investigate the way fire spreads on a variety of combustible materials. Because the experiments will be conducted away from the space station, there is no risk to the astronauts aboard.

Each Saffire experiment will be remotely operated inside a 3 x 5 foot module, split into two compartments. One side of the module is an avionics bay that contains sensors, high definition video cameras and signal processing equipment. The other side contains the hardware required to ignite a large flame and burn the fabrics and materials inside.

When the experiments begin, Saffire I and III will burn one large 16 by 37 inch piece of SIBAL cloth, a blend of fiberglass and cotton. This material has been studied in previous microgravity combustion experiments, although at a much smaller size. The SIBAL cloth will be burned from the bottom to see how the flame spreads. If the flame extinguishes itself, scientists will light it at the top and see what happens as the flame moves opposite to the airflow.

Saffire II will ignite a mix of nine different samples of materials used routinely on the space station including flame retardant fabrics used for astronaut clothing, station Plexiglas window samples with edge variations and structures used for storage containers and silicone composites. Each sample is two by 11 inches, the size sample NASA uses to screen materials on Earth before they are used on a spacecraft.

Concepts for additional Saffire missions- IV, V, VI are in development focusing more on flame spread, smoke propagation, detection and suppression of fire.

"Saffire seeks to answer two questions," says David Urban, principle investigator. "Will an upward spreading flame continue to grow or will microgravity limit the size? Secondly, what fabrics and materials will catch fire and how will they burn?"

The payloads will hitch a ride on a resupply mission to the space station in an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo vehicle and will be launched beginning next spring. When each Cygnus vehicle arrives, astronauts will unload their supplies, but Saffire will remain on board Cygnus.

"Within the first day after Cygnus pulls away from the space station, we will begin the experiment, which will run autonomously once the RUN command is sent," says Steven Sinacore, deputy project manager. "It will only take a few hours to run the experiments, but Cygnus will remain in space for seven days to ensure complete data transmission back to the Saffire operations team on the ground." Eventually, Saffire, along with Cygnus, will burn up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

As NASA continues to send astronauts to the space station and continues the path toward a human mission to Mars, improving understanding of the structure of spacecraft fires is critical. "Saffire is all about gaining a better understanding of how fire behaves in space so NASA can develop better materials, technologies and procedures to reduce crew risk and increase space flight safety," says Ruff.

 http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Fire_in_the_Hole_Studying_How_Flames_Grow_in_Space_999.html

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A little late posting, but the idea is neat......

Personalized Book Will Launch Kid's Name to Space Station in New Contest

A new contest, ending Wednesday (Sept. 23), promises to send the personalized book "The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home" to the International Space Station.
Credit: Lost My Name

A new personalized children's book will take a trip to the International Space Station bearing the name of one lucky child on Earth.

The book comes from Lost My Name, a company that sells "personalized entertainment" books in which a child's name can be printed as a part of the story. Lost My Name will send a copy of new book "The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home" (Lost My Name, 2015) to the space station on Dec. 3, aboard the Cygnus Orbital spacecraft.

Because each copy of the book can be personalized, U.S. and U.K. parents can submit their own children's names (and other information) into the contest. One lucky child will be picked to have his or her story rocketed into space. The contest is open between Sept. 17 and Sept. 23.

http://www.space.com/30597-personalized-kids-book-space-contest.html

Later....... 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 24 September 2015

Milky Way from the ISS.   NASA

Japan's "Kounotori" HTV-5 space freighter is due for release Monday morning ending its month-long stay at the station's Harmony module. The HTV-5 is still being packed with trash and disposable gear for a fiery destruction over the Pacific Ocean. The next shipment of new research, gear, food and fuel is being prepared as Russia's readies its ISS Progress 61 resupply ship for an Oct. 1 launch.

Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock (JEMAL) Pressurization and Leak Check: In preparation for Lindgren's removal of the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (JSSOD) from the JEMAL Slide Table tomorrow, today Yui pressurized the JEMAL and performed a leak check.

Sound Level Measurements in the Mouse Habitat Unit (MHU): Yui installed the MHU Interface Unit in the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) and then took sound level measurements inside the Interface Unit with a sound level meter. These measurements will provide an indication of the sound levels that mice in the MHU will be exposed to during JAXA's Mouse Epigenetics experiment, which will be performed after the mice arrive on a visiting vehicle in the future.

Galley Rack Secure: Today, Lindgren installed a Knee Brace Assembly at the NOD1P4 location in order to permanently secure the Galley Rack. Due to structural interference, the Galley Rack was temporarily secured last week on September 15th. Hardware needed for Galley Rack activation is scheduled to arrive on a later flight. Once in operation, the Galley Rack will provide ISS Crews with a consolidated location for a potable water dispenser, two freezers, two food warmers, and a 16 port Ethernet switch.

United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) Hatch Seal Inspections: Kelly cleaned and inspected USOS Hatch Seals, Hatch Plate Sealing Surfaces, and Hatch Handle Mechanisms. Hatches targeted for today's inspection included the Airlock, Node 3 (Nadir, Forward, Starboard) JLP, JPM (Starboard, Zenith), and PMM.

Robot Micro Conical Tool (RMCT) Troubleshooting: Last night, the Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) and Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to perform RMCT checkouts. These operations, which will continue later this evening, are being performed to help determine if the RMCT1 torque anomaly seen earlier this year is in any way related to it being stowed on SPDM Tool Holder Assembly (THA)-1.

 

 

Completed Task List Items

LAB1OP5 LHA R&R
P/TV consumables audit
58mm lens troubleshooting
Wet/dry vacuum mod
Air quality survey

Ground Activities
All activities are on schedule unless otherwise noted.

Battery Capacity Test on Set 3A3
RMCT Swap

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 09/25: HTV GLA/LED Light Removal, HTV Departure OBT, Cell Biology Experiment
Saturday, 09/26: Weekly Cleaning, Crew Off Duty
Sunday, 09/27: HTV-5 Hatch Closure, HTV-5 -Vestibule Demate, CPA Install

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 - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-24-september-2015.html

Expedition 46/ 47 scheduled for December launch

Video is 1:16 min....

 

How the Human Body’s Immune System Responds in Microgravity

Video is 0:57 min

 

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NASA ISS Space to Ground Weekly Report - 25 September 2015

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---25-september-2015.html

Space to Ground: Movie Night: 9/25/2015

Video is 1:55 min

 

Don't forget the eclipse on Sunday night, HTV departs on Monday, India has a launch on Monday, Ariane 5 on Wednesday, and Progress 61P on Thursday....get the lawn chairs ready.....

Later.........

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Watch the Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

 

Watch the Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight.   NASA

Tonight's evening sky presents a rare total lunar eclipse that will also be a supermoon. It's an event that won't happen again until 2033 and last happened in 1982. If the sky is clear for you, it's an opportunity not to be missed.

http://spaceref.com/moon/watch-the-supermoon-total-lunar-eclipse-tonight.html

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 Space Race on Earth: Astronauts Compete in 2,000-Mile Road Rally

A new international space race is set to launch between astronauts from the United States, Brazil, France and India.

But instead of blasting off for the moon or Mars, the space explorers have traded in their rockets for minivans and are racing from Connecticut's capital to Florida's Space Coast.

Former space shuttle astronaut Jon McBride is hitting the road against Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian astronaut; Jean-Loup Chretien, first Frenchman in space; and Rakesh Sharma, India's first cosmonaut, in the9th annual Fireball Run. Dubbed the "Space Race," this year's rally is an 8-day, 2,000-mile (3,200 km) trivia game, where the United States serves as the game board.

 

Beginning Sunday (Sept. 27), the astronauts — joined by celebrities, models, business owners and elected leaders — will travel from Hartford, Connecticut, to Cocoa Beach, Florida, along the way answering trivia questions to reveal their next destination and an awaiting challenge they must complete to move on. The "Space Race" however, is not a road race — the teams' driving speed will be monitored by GPS and plotted online for all to follow.

The rally, which will be broadcast online as an adventure-travel reality show, benefits the Child Rescue Network, a Florida-based non-profit committed to protecting children. Each race team is provided 1,000 missing child posters to give out featuring a child who has gone missing from their home of origin.

In addition to watching online or through services such as Roku and Google Play, the public can meet and cheer on the race teams at the starting and finish lines in Hartford and Cocoa Beach, as well as at scheduled stops in Queen Anne's County, Maryland; Williamsburg, Virginia; Topsail Island, North Carolina; Florence, South Carolina; Liberty County, Georgia; and Sanford, Florida.

 

 http://www.space.com/30661-fireball-run-space-race-road-rally.html

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Zero Gravity celebrates 10 years in business....

A company that makes some of the thrills of spaceflight more accessible to regular folks has hit a major milestone — 10 years of weightless flights.

The Virginia-based Zero Gravity Corp. (Zero G) has now been flying customers on a specially modified Boeing 727 jet for a decade. The plane, known as G-Force One, flies in parabolic arcs that generate brief periods of weightlessness.

Customers usually pay $4,950 for this experience, which can be exhilirating and nauseating at the same time. (G-Force One is sometimes referred to as a "vomit comet.") But the company is knocking 20 percent off the price for all future flights this year.

 

 

"We've flown over 500 weightless flights with more than 12,000 clients, including notables like Stephen Hawking, James Cameron, Kate Upton, Halle Berry, Martha Stewart, Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Dyrdek. It's been amazing!" Terese Brewster, ZERO-G president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. "In celebration of our 10-year anniversary, we want to say 'thank you' by discounting all remaining 2015 seats."

 http://m.space.com/30646-zero-g-10-years-weightless-flights.html

Later.....

[Draggendrop Veteran]

For those who missed the eclipse, or had overcast to deal with, here is a time lapse...

Raw: Timelapse of Supermoon Eclipse

video is 2:03 min

 

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Live coverage: Japanese cargo craft departs International Space Station

HTV5 released   NASA

13:11  Second separation burn complete

The HTV cargo ship is moving away from the space station at a faster rate now after the second of three separation maneuvers to distance itself from the complex.

13:01  First separation burn complete

The first two-second engine firing in a series of HTV departure burns has been completed, and a second separation maneuver is planned in less than 10 minutes with a 12-second pulse of the spacecraft's thrusters.

12:55

HTV's thrusters have been activated, according to mission control.

12:55  HTV-5 released

The HTV has been released, and the robot arm has pulled back away from the HTV.

Release occurred at 1653 GMT (11:53 a.m. EDT), and the first major separation burn is set for five minutes after departure.

12:50

Standing by for release of HTV-5.

12:39

The space station crew has been given the "go" for release of HTV-5 in the next release window. Kimiya Yui will be at the controls of the robotic arm.

12:36  HTV-5 departure set for 1652 GMT (12:52 p.m. EDT)

Mission control says the next HTV-5 release window opens at 1652 GMT (12:52 p.m. EDT) and extends four minutes.

12:12

Mission control has instructed the crew to be back inside the windowed Cupola module in about 10 minutes to prepare for today's second attempt to release the HTV cargo craft.

11:46  NASA TV coverage resumes shortly

The next lighting opportunity for release of the HTV-5 cargo craft opens at 1641 GMT (12:41 p.m. EDT). NASA TV coverage will resume a few minutes before.

11:44  HTV-5 release expected later today

Astronaut Koichi Wakata in mission control in Houston has radioed the space station crew that engineers are planning for a release of the HTV-5 supply ship on the lab's next orbit around Earth.

"We're looking at a one rev (revolution) late release still, and all the activities that are scheduled this afternoon have to go to the right at this time," Wakata told the crew.

"OK, copy, we're looking at a one rev late release, and we're pushing the schedule to the right for everything else," replied flight engineer Kjell Lindgren. "Just let us know where you need us, and we'll be ready to support."

11:32  Crew troubleshoots robotics problem

The space station crew has reconfigured the robotic arm's work station inside the windowed Cupola module after the astronauts received a brake error message just before the planned release of the HTV-5 cargo craft.

NASA TV's commentator says the crew has about a half-hour to resolve the issue and still release the spacecraft with good lighting conditions on this orbit.

11:22  Crew told to stand down from HTV release

Mission control has radioed the crew to stand down from further actions at this time. It is unclear what problem occurred.

11:17

The International Space Station is currently flying over the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

11:09

Once the HTV is out of the grasp of the robotic arm, it will drift down and away from the arm for a few minutes before a series of planned rocket firings to accelerate its departure.

11:01  Crew go for HTV-5 release

All console positions inside mission control in Houston are "go" for release of the HTV. Mission control has radioed the crew the release window opens at 1520 GMT (11:20 a.m. EDT) and closes at 1524 GMT (11:24 a.m. EDT).

Astronaut Kimiya Yui will give the command for the robot arm's snares to release the cargo craft.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/09/27/mission-status-htv-5/

I will try to dig up a time lapse video later........

As far as the delay in the release of HTV5, why would anyone remove the HTV from dock, then have it hang on the end of the robotic arm for 4.5 hours, where the arm is not naturally extended down with centrifugal force, to reduce stress on the coupling brakes, run it through 4 cycles of temperature extremes, and wonder why a malfunction brake light occurs.........enough said.....

[Draggendrop Veteran]

There was a lot of confusion, about the wording, of a NASA release, for future ISS science submissions....to correct this...we have this..

Letter | NASA Still Pursuing Earth Science Onboard International Space Station

NASA will continue to encourage International Space Station instruments in forthcoming Earth Venture Instrument solicitations, which happen every 18 months. Credit: NASA

The SpaceNews article “In Next Earth Venture Mission, ISS Payloads Need Not Apply” gives the erroneous impression that NASA is no longer interested in using the International Space Station as a platform for its Earth science investigations. Nothing could be further from the truth.

NASA continues to actively solicit ideas for Earth science instruments to attach to the ISS exterior for studying Earth. All three of NASA’s Earth Venture Instrument solicitations to date, including the most recent call that just closed this summer, were open to proposals to fly instruments on the ISS.

The article notes correctly that one of the several types of Earth Venture solicitations — the Earth Venture Mission-2 call for standalone small satellite missions issued Sept. 3 — states that ISS instrument proposals are not appropriate for that type of Earth Venture project. The article fails to mention, however, that ISS instruments will continue to be encouraged in forthcoming Earth Venture Instrument solicitations, which happen every 18 months.

NASA’s Earth Science Division continues to strongly support the use of the ISS for Earth science. We have two new ISS Earth-observing instruments set to launch in 2016: SAGE 3 and the Lightning Imaging Sensor. Two more instruments from our second Earth Venture Instrument selection — the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lidar (GEDI) and the Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) — are on track to launch to the ISS before 2020. And through our regular series of Earth Venture Instrument calls, we are looking forward to receiving proposals for new and innovative ISS instruments that will advance our nation’s capability to better understand our changing planet.

Michael H. Freilich
Washington

The writer is director of NASA’s Earth Science Division.

 http://spacenews.com/letter-nasa-still-pursuing-earth-science-onboard-international-space-station/

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HTV supply ship sets course for re-entry

 

The HTV-5 supply ship flies away from the space station after release from the robotic arm Monday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

Heading for a destructive re-entry over the South Pacific with several tons of trash, Japan’s fifth HTV cargo craft departed the International Space Station on Monday after overcoming a last-minute snag in the lab’s robotics system.

The space station’s 58-foot-long robotic arm disengaged the HTV supply ship from a docking port on the outpost’s Harmony module early Monday, then maneuvered the spacecraft to a departure point about 30 feet beneath the complex.

Astronauts Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren were gearing up to release the H-2 Transfer Vehicle at 1520 GMT (11:20 a.m. EDT), but mission control instructed the crew to stand down after receiving an error message on the station’s robotic arm.

It was not immediately clear what caused the brake error message, but astronauts rebooted the robot arm’s work station in the windowed cupola module and released the 33-foot-long barrel-shaped cargo craft about 90 minutes later than planned at 1653 GMT (12:53 p.m. EDT).

Yui was at the controls of the robotic arm to let go of the HTV, which is the fifth in a series of at least nine Japanese supply ships built to service the space station through 2020.

The HTV logistics freighters are nicknamed Kounotori, which is Japanese for white stork.

The HTV-5 spacecraft fired its thrusters in a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, setting up for three major rocket firings Tuesday to guide the spaceship toward a fiery re-entry over the South Pacific Ocean.

The first de-orbit burn is set to begin around 1357 GMT (9:57 a.m. EDT) Tuesday, with re-entry expected around 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT).

Any small fragments of the HTV that survive the scorching plunge through the atmosphere will fall in the remote uninhabited South Pacific between New Zealand and Chile.

The spacecraft is coming back to Earth with several tons of trash, including three unpressurized experiment boxes at the end of their lives. The packages from NASA, JAXA and the U.S. Air Force contain experiments that tested materials in space and observed the Earth’s ozone layer.

HTV-5 launched Aug. 19 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, and it reached the space station Aug. 24. The ship stayed at the complex for 35 days.

The mission delivered 9,500 pounds of supplies and experiments to the space station and its six-person crew.

The experiments are devoted to studying how the human body changes in space, a prime objective of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s nearly one-year stay aboard the outpost. Other investigations delivered by the H-2 Transfer Vehicle include a cosmic ray telescope designed to probe exotic dark matter in the universe and a commercially-funded experiment devised to examine how Japanese spirits age in zero gravity.

The HTV also carried up a new galley for the station astronauts to prepare meals.

The next HTV mission is scheduled to launch in December 2016.

 http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/09/28/htv-supply-ship-sets-course-for-re-entry/

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Bit behind, in their posting, but I'll put it here...

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 September 2015

 

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 25 September 2015. NASA

Radi-N Neutron Field Study (Radi-N): Kelly retrieved the eight bubble detectors from their deployed locations in the ISS and handed them over to a Russian crewmember. The objective of this investigation is to better characterize the ISS neutron environment. The data produced is used to define the risk posed to the crewmembers' health and support development of advanced protective measures for future space flight.

Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (JSSOD) #4 Removal: Lindgren opened the inner JEM Airlock hatch, extended the slide table into the JEM and removed the JSSOD from the slide table. He then retracted the slide table into the Airlock and closed the inner Airlock hatch.

Mouse Habitat Unit (MHU) Water Injection Troubleshooting: To support troubleshooting for MHU water injection, Yui injected wiper water into the six Mouse Habitat Cage units which were unexpectedly reported to be dry earlier this month.

 

Robot Micro Conical Tool (RMCT) Checkout: Last night, Robotics Ground Controllers continued the troubleshooting of Robot Micro Conical Tool 1 (RMCT1), stowing it on Tool Holder Assembly 2 (THA2) with the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Arm2. When closing RMCT1 collets on THA2 Micro Conical Fixture (MCF), the same off nominal signature as when closing collets on THA1 was observed, showing that the failure is very likely on the tool and not on THA1 MCF. While opening the collets to unstow RMCT1, a small piece of metal on RMCT1 was seen floating away. Operations continued to re-stow RMCT1 on THA1. SPDM Arm1 returned back RMCT2 on THA2 nominally and SPDM Arms and body were reconfigured for park. 

 

 

Ground Activities
All activities are on schedule unless otherwise noted.

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 09/26: Weekly Cleaning, Crew Off Duty
Sunday, 09/27: HTV5 Hatch Closure, HTV5 Vestibule Demate, CPA Install
Monday, 09/28: Node 2 CBM Demate, HTV Departure, METERON Rover inspection, EWIS NCU troubleshooting

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) - Standby
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Process
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-25-september-2015.html

HTV-5 detached from ISS (x20 speed)

video is 2:25 min

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 28 September 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 28 September 2015. NASA

Following a slight delay, Expedition 45 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA, backed up by NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren, commanded the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to release JAXA's H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-5 from the International Space Station at 12:53 p.m. EDT while the spacecraft was flying 256 miles above the Southern Pacific, after it unberthed from the space station at 7:12 a.m. EDT.

The HTV-5 will now move away from the orbiting laboratory to a safe location where it will fire its engines to begin a controlled deorbit to reenter Earth's atmosphere. The intense heat of reentry will cause the vehicle to burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

HTV-5 carried a variety of experiments and supplies to the space station, including the NanoRacks External Payload Platform, which can house multiple investigations in the open-space environment of the station, and the CALorimetric Electron Telescope investigation, an astrophysics mission that measures high energy particles to search for dark matter and the origin of cosmic rays.

 

Multi-Purpose End-to-End Robotic Operations Network (METERON) SUPVIS-E Surveyor Rover Operations: Using the ELIOS application running on the METERON-2 laptop in the ISS, Yui commanded the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Surveyor Rover located in Germany. He utilized video streams from the Lander, Surveyor Rover, and the Eurobot to perform a 360 degree inspection of the Eurobot. He also filled out and downlinked a questionnaire about the Surveyor Rover free driving. METERON examines the benefits of an astronaut controlling surface robots in real time from an orbiting spacecraft, and investigate how's best to explore a planet through a human-robotic partnership.

Systems Operation Data File (SODF) Procedures Deploy: Lindgren, updated Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Systems procedures within the US Airlock and In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Hatch Mechanism procedures within Russian Segment FGB module. The new hardcopy procedures arrived onboard HTV-5.

External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS) Network Communication Unit (NCU) Troubleshooting and Remove and Replace (R&R): The EWIS NCU, which allows for commanding and data retrieval from the EWIS sensors, had an anomaly on August 18th. Today, Kelly configured an Station Support Computer (SSC) client to directly connect to a suspect EWIS NCU via serial interface prior to troubleshooting the EWIS NCU then deconfigured following execution of troubleshooting. Following this troubleshooting session to gather data, the NCU was replaced. The new NCU is communicating on the network nominally.

Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM): In order to avoid a conjunction with Object 40241, ISS performed a successful 0.3 m/s PDAM on Sunday using Progress 60P docked to Docking Compartment (DC)-1. The PDAM did not impact HTV5 release today, and will not impact the 61P 4-orbit rendezvous scheduled for this Thursday, October 1st.

 

 

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
System Commanding in support of HTV-5 Departure

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 09/29: MCDA H/W Replace, Fundoscope, Node 1 Berthing Port / Galley Rack power cable route, LEE A Survey,
Wednesday, 09/30: SPHERES, Node 1 Berthing Port / Galley rack power cable route, AMS Survey
Thursday, 10/01: 61P Launch and Dock, Cubesat Deployer install on MPEP, SPRINT VO2, NPV O-Ring Install, Col PWS R&R

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 - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Standby
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-28-september-2015.html

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NASA TV to Air Space Station Cargo Ship Launch, Docking 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Television will provide live coverage of the next launch and docking of an unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft, Progress 61, to resupply the International Space Station Thursday, Oct. 1. NASA TV coverage will begin at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

ISS Progress 61 is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstanat 12:49 p.m. EDT (10:49 p.m. Baikonur time) on a fast-track, four-orbit journey to the orbital outpost.

Loaded with more than three tons of food, fuel and supplies for the Expedition 45 crew, the new Progress is scheduled to automatically link up to the rear port of the Zvezda service module about six hours after launch at 6:54 p.m. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 6:15 p.m.

The Progress will spend two months at the station before departing in early December for its deorbit into Earth's atmosphere where it will burn up with a load of station trash over the Pacific Ocean.

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

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/prnewswire-space-news.html?rkey=20150929DC13873&filter=1639

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 Leaders of World Space Agencies To Converge for IAC 2015 in Jerusalem

Heads of the world's leading space agencies will appear at a special plenary session at IAC 2015 in Jerusalem on Monday, October 12, 2015. The agency heads will discuss the latest advancements and breakthroughs in space exploration and heightening international cooperation.

The session, which will be moderated by German journalist Uli Bobinger, will include Isaac Ben-Israel, Chairman of the Israel Space Agency, Charles Bolden, Administrator of NASA, Xu Dazhe, Administrator of China's CNSA, Igor Komarov, Head of Russia's ROSOSMOS, Naoki Okumura, President of Japan's JAXA, and Jan Woerner, Director General of the European Space Agency.

"As the incoming Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), this IAC in Jerusalem is for me an opportunity to underline once more the extraordinary value of international cooperation in space," said Jan Woerner. "Space has long proved to be a bridge that overcomes beyond political problems we face here on Earth. I strongly believe that all space-faring counties can work together to sustain and enhance international cooperation now and in the future. The global community expects that from us," Prof. Woerner continued.

Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, Chairman of the Israel Space Agency welcomed the opportunity to host his colleagues in Jerusalem. "We look forward to sharing Israel's achievements in the field of space science and technology. Despite being one of the world's smallest countries, we have achieved space-exploration independence allowing us to develop, launch and maintain our own satellites making us an international leader in the field," Prof. Ben-Israel said.

"While our space program was originally built for military purposes, we are proud of the efforts that we have made over the past five years to adapt it into a civilian program that is furthering advancements in communications, environmentalism, science and technology on a daily basis," Prof. Ben-Israel concluded.

Naoki Okumura, President of Japan's JAXA, also expressed his delight in advance of his visit to Jerusalem. "I look forward to discussing with fellow heads of space agencies the future space exploration as well as the contribution of space technology and applications to socio-economic and environmental issues on Earth."

A 30 min. Q amd A session open to journalists and the public will follow the plenary in the Small Dulzin.

The IAC 2015 will take place October 12-16th at the International Convention Center - Binyanei Hauma in Jerusalem and will include 30 top-level symposia and over 2,000 additional presentations. Attendance is expected by participants from 70 nations with special attention to Israel's contribution to the advancement of space as well as enabling guests to appreciate the unique history and society of Jerusalem.

 http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Leaders_of_World_Space_Agencies_To_Converge_for_IAC_2015_in_Jerusalem_999.html

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Lockheed Martin moves forward with Space Fence program

U.S. government officials approved Lockheed Martin's design for their Space Fence system, which includes a large-scale digital radar and a turn-key facility, the company announced today.

The Space Fence is a next-generation space surveillance system being built by the U.S. Air Force. Its purpose is to monitor both artificial satellites and space debris that orbit Earth. The plans were based on an earlier system called the Air Force Space Surveillance System, but those plans were abandoned in 2013. Space Flight Now reported Lockheed Martin won a $915 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to build the "fence" in July 2014.

The project aims to allow the U.S. military to monitor tens times more "space junk" than it can currently with aging technology, meaning it will be able to catalog orbital objects more than 1.5 million times a day, and be able to predict space-based collisions.

Assessment of the Space Fence was conducted by the U.S. Air Force through the program's Critical Design Review. This three day process followed the delivery of 21,000 pages of design documents, and an eight-day Design Walkthrough. Steve Bruce, vice president for Advanced Systems at Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems and Training business, is optimistic about the program's success.

"Completion of CDR marks the end of the design phase and the start of radar production and facility construction of the Space Fence system," says Bruce, "Once complete, Space Fence will deliver revolutionary capability to the U.S. Air Force with a flexible system capable of adapting to future missions requiring new tracking and coverage approaches."

Construction of what will be the largest digital phased radar has begun on Kwajalein Island.

 http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Lockheed_Martin_moves_forward_with_Space_Fence_program_999.html

Construction of the world’s largest digital phased array radar has begun on Kwajalein Island

Space Fence facility – Kwajalein Island

MOORESTOWN, N.J., Sept. 28, 2015 – Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE: LMT) Space Fence System, including the large-scale digital radar and turn-key facility were deemed technically mature and provided evidence that all requirements will be met through the program’s Critical Design Review (CDR) conducted by the U.S. Air Force.

Government representatives met with Lockheed Martin engineers in Moorestown to review the Space Fence S-band radar system design, which will detect, track, and catalog orbital objects in space more than 1.5 million times a day to predict and prevent space-based collisions. The three-day CDR was preceded by the delivery of 21,000 pages of design documents, and an eight-day Design Walkthrough, to ensure the system will meet performance requirements. The CDR event featured the demonstration of a small-scale system built with end-item components that detected and tracked orbiting space objects.

“Completion of CDR marks the end of the design phase and the start of radar production and facility construction of the Space Fence system,” says Steve Bruce, vice president for Advanced Systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business. "Once complete, Space Fence will deliver revolutionary capability to the U.S. Air Force with a flexible system capable of adapting to future missions requiring new tracking and coverage approaches. We look forward to continuing our successful partnerships with the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Life-Cycle Management Center and Space Command.”

Within the Space Fence radar open architecture design, Lockheed Martin uses the latest monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology, including Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor materials. GaN provides a number of significant advantages for active phased array radar systems, including higher power density, greater efficiency and significantly improved reliability over previous technologies.

Lockheed Martin has a decade of investment and significant experience in successfully developing GaN-based products.  Lockheed Martin is able to procure mature technology that is commercially available, aided by significant investment occurring in the marketplace in areas such as cell phone infrastructure and LED design. This is in alignment with the recent release of Better Buying power 3.0 and the need to leverage commercial technology where applicable to lower development costs and provide greater value for the Department of Defense.

In addition to engineering the radar arrays, the Lockheed Martin team also broke ground on the new six-acre Space Fence site earlier this year on Kwajalein Island, 2,100 miles southwest of Honolulu. The construction process is challenging due to the remoteness and cultural and historic significance of the location.  The buildings are designed to handle high winds and seismic loads, while maintaining the alignment and accuracy of the radar system.

The sensor site installation will include an on-site operations center and an annex to the current island power plant that will ensure the Space Fence system has everything necessary to provide continuous Space Situational Awareness. Once construction is complete, Space Fence will go through testing and validation before its initial operating capability occurs in late 2018.

For additional information, visit our website:www.lockheedmartin.com/spacefence.

 http://lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2015/september/150928-mst-space-fence-program-completes-critical-design-review.html

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is about midway between Hawaii and Australia. 

First settled by Micronesian navigators, they were subsequently controlled (some say exploited) by Spain and Germany, and finally by Japan. 

Prior to the beginning of World War II, the Japanese fortified some of the atolls as a defensive measure. When that war ended with Japan's defeat, the United States was given total control. 

For almost 40 years the islands were under U.S. administration as the easternmost part of the United Nation's Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. 

The United States used some of these isolated atolls for nuclear testing between 1947 and 1962. Long term affects are yet to be totally understood, and damage claims are still in the courts to this day. 

In 1986 the islands gained independence under a Compact of Free Association with the United States. Under the terms of that agreement, the U.S would provide significant financial aid, that to date now exceeds $1 billion. 

The Marshall Islands include the Ratak (sunrise chain) and Ralik (sunset chain), two parallel chains of 29 coral atolls, thousands of tiny islets, and hundreds of very small low-lying islands, all scattered over a wide area of the Pacific Ocean. 

The Kwajalein Atoll, with a huge central lagoon, is the largest coral atoll on the planet. The U.S maintains a strong military presence on Kwajalein, and from here controls a missile testing range. 

The clear-blue waters surrounding the Marshall Islands boasts of over 800 species of fish and 160 species of coral. The numerous offshore World War II shipwrecks add another dimension to local scuba diving and snorkeling attractions. 

 

Fast Facts

• Name: Republic of the Marshall Islands 
• Capital City: Majuro (30,000 pop.)
• Population: 70,983 (2014 est.)
• World Populations (all countries)
• Currency: United States dollar (USD) 
  (conversion rates)

 http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/oceania/mh.htm

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA, Boeing Extend International Space Station Contract

Press Release From: Boeing 
Posted: Tuesday, September 29, 2015

 

NASA has awarded a key contract to Boeing [NYSE: BA], the International Space Station’s prime contractor, to continue providing key engineering support services, resources and personnel to the program through Sept. 30, 2020. The contract, valued at $1.18 billion, extends for five-years.

NASA and its 16 international partners are analyzing the ability to sustain station operations through 2020. Boeing’s contract includes a task to assess the feasibility of extending the life of the station’s primary structural hardware even further, through the end of 2028. ISS has been continually occupied since Nov. 2, 2000.

“This is a continuation of the successful relationship with NASA and 16 partner nations in maintaining the health of the station,” said John Elbon, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space Exploration. “In addition, it builds on Boeing’s tradition of innovation and technological advancement to incorporate efficiencies and improve performance to the station as its importance to the future of human spaceflight continues to grow.”

The extension includes end-to-end subsystem management for the majority of station systems and allows Boeing to continue providing the program with hardware and software sustaining engineering, among other tasks. The work will be performed at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston; John F. Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Fla.; Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., and other domestic and international locations.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Defense, Space & Security is a $31 billion business with 53,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

 

// end //

http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=46949

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 ESA: Be The First to Catch Signals From Student-built AAUSAT5 Cubesat

AAUSAT5 Cubesat   ESA

To celebrate the launch of the student-built AAUSAT5 CubeSat from the International Space Station into low Earth orbit, ESA's Education office challenges the amateur radio community to listen out for the tiny satellite.

Be the first to send in your recorded signal from AAUSAT5 and you will receive a prize from ESA's Education Office.

Launched on 19 August to the ISS, the Danish student CubeSat is now waiting for its deployment from the Japanese Kibo module's airlock. Sometime in the week of 5 October, an astronaut will manipulate a robotic arm to lift AAUSAT5 from the airlock and place it in orbit.

Once launched from the International Space Station the CubeSat will begin transmitting signals to Earth that can be picked up by anyone with common amateur radio equipment. ESA challenges anyone to record the signal and send it to us (cubesats@esa.int) and Aalborg University (studentspace@space.aau.dk).

The first correct email received will win the following prices:

- ESA/AAUSAT5 poster with signatures of the team members
- ESA Education goodie bag
- Scale 1:1 3D printed model of the AAUSAT 5 satellite

AAUSAT5 is the 5th CubeSat designed and built by the University of Aalborg, Denmark. It is the 2nd AAUSAT satellite tested under ESA's supervision as part of the ESA Education Office's Fly Your Satellite programme.

The technical objective of AAUSAT5 is to test an improved version of an Automatic Identification System (AIS), which aims to track and identify ships transiting away from coastal areas and those in remote areas.

If successful, a satellite-based AIS system could enable the establishment and use of safe new shipping lanes.

For more information please see the ESA AAUSAT5 website and the team site from the University of Aalborg.

Radio Contact Information:

AAUSAT5 contact: Downlink frequency 437.425 MHz
every 3 minute CW beacon 437.425 MHz 30 WPM (PARIS)
every 30 second Modulated beacon GMSK(FSK) 9600 bps

http://spaceref.com/nasa-hack-space/esa-be-the-first-to-catch-signals-from-student-built-aausat5-cubesat.html

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 NASA Tests Lunar Rover Prototype with Eye Toward Flying Real Thing

WASHINGTON — The prototype of a rover designed to search for water ice at the poles of the moon passed a series of tests on Earth in August as project officials seek to line up funding and potential partnerships for the mission.

A NASA team put the prototype version of the Resource Prospector rover, dubbed RP15, through its paces on a test site dubbed the "rock yard" at the Johnson Space Center, testing some of the technologies needed to operate on the lunar surface.

"We wanted to take what we had learned so far and actually attempt to do an entire terrestrial mission, with as high a fidelity we could afford with the budget we're given," Dan Andrews, Resource Prospector project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center, said in an Aug. 31 presentation at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Space 2015 conference in Pasadena, California.

 

Andrews said the project came up with the idea of RP15 in the fall of 2014, just before the current fiscal year started, and set a goal of building and testing the rover by the end of this fiscal year. A group at JSC that previously worked on Robonaut, a humanoid robot flown on the International Space Station, built the rover hardware, with software developed at Ames based on that used on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission.

The tests in the JSC rock yard, he said, successfully demonstrated some of the key technologies of the rover, including its ability to drill into the ground and capture samples. They also tested distributed operations, with teams at Ames controlling the rover at JSC.

 

 

The RP15 rover prototype at Johnson Space Center.
Credit: NASA

 

Current plans for Resource Prospector call for launching the mission on a medium-class rocket, like SpaceX's Falcon 9, in 2020. The spacecraft would land on the lunar surface, near one of the poles, using a "crushable pad" landing system that eliminates the need for landing legs and makes it easier for the rover to roll off the lander and onto the lunar surface.

The rover will carry a neutron spectrometer to probe for water ice deposits into the lunar surface. The solar-powered rover would also make brief excursions into permanently shadowed regions of craters most likely to have near-surface deposits of ice, drilling for samples before retreating back into sunlit regions to analyze them.

Andrews said Resource Prospector is designed to carry out its complete mission within a two-week lunar day. That eliminates the complexity and accompanying cost of designing the rover to survive the long lunar night.

Resource Prospector has a planned cost of no more than $250 million, excluding launch. Andrews said the mission would most likely be carried out in cooperation with an international or commercial partner that would provide the lander. "We've been told by the [White House] Office of Science and Technology Policy that commercial partnerships, or international partnerships, trump everything," he said.

A leading option is to work with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is planning a lunar lander mission. NASA and JAXA have discussed potential cooperation on Resource Prospector for a year and a half, including putting together a report on how the NASA rover would be included on the JAXA lander.

"They are building, as you might imagine, a very impressive lander, more than we need to execute this mission," Andrews said. A problem with that option, though, is that the lander may not be ready for a 2020 mission, since JAXA is not planning to fly a smaller prototype lander until 2019. A second option, he said, is to partner with Taiwan, which is also studying a lunar lander mission.

Andrews said he has also visited with the three companies — Astrobotic Technology, Masten Space Systems and Moon Express — that are part of NASA's Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown initiative   to support development of commercial lunar landers. Astrobotic and Moon Express are among the teams in the Google Lunar XPrize competition to develop lunar landers by a deadline that has been extended several times, most recently to the end of 2017. A decision on some kind of partnership is needed by June 2016 to support a launch in the fall of 2020, he said.

Work on Resource Prospector, including the RP15 rover, has been funded by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems program office. Future support, though, remains uncertain. One issue, Andrews suggested, was the politics of lunar exploration in the wake of the decision to cancel the Constellation program in 2010. "It got swept up in general with the politics of 'no' to the moon," he said.

Andrews said Resource Prospector is now ready to go into Phase B, the planning phase of project development, provided the funding is there. "The politics may not be lined up yet," he said. "Everything's right but the local U.S. politics."

 http://www.space.com/30623-nasa-tests-lunar-rover-prototype.html

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 29 September 2015

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 29 September 2015.©RSC ENERGIA/NASA

The latest Russian resupply ship, the Progress 61, rolled out to its launch pad today, getting set for a Thursday launch at 12:49 p.m. EDT (4:49 p.m. UTC) and a docking to the Zvezda service module at 6:54 p.m.

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren are getting ready for the first of two U.S. spacewalks scheduled for Oct. 28. The duo will lubricate the Canadarm2's leading end effector (LEE) systems. The LEE is used to grapple, maneuver and release cargo craft, as well as latch on to external station systems. Kelly photographed the LEE today from the seven-window cupola to document its condition and prepare for the upcoming spacewalk.

 

Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) / FLame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX)-2J Fiber Arm Replacement: Kelly replaced the FLEX-2J Fiber Arm today as part of routine maintenance operations for the CIR. He removed the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) Chamber Insert Assembly (CIA) from the CIR Combustion Chamber, and restrained it on the Maintenance Work Area (MWA) work surface. After replacing the Fiber Arm, he reinstalled the MDCA CIA back into the CIR Combustion Chamber. FLEX-2J studies the interactions of flames on the motion and ignition of millimeter-sized droplets. Results can provide fundamental insight into the physics of fuel burning, which improves computer models designed to reduce emissions and improve fuel consumption efficiency in space and on Earth.

MAGVECTOR Experiment Run Completion: The fifth run of European Space Agency's (ESA's) MAGVECTOR investigation was completed and Lindgren transfered data from the run to a SSC for downlink. MAGVECTOR qualitatively investigates the interaction between a moving magnetic field and an electrical conductor. The expected changes in the magnetic field structure on the Ram and Wake side of the electrical conductor are of interest for technical applications as well as for astrophysical research.

Node 1 Nadir Berthing Port Preparation: As part of USOS Reconfiguration, Lindgren and Yui routed two power cables from the Lab Aft Starboard Endcone into the Overhead Starboard Standoff. Today's activity required the crew to rotate the LAB1O6 rack. Although the power cables were not connected today, these cables will eventually provide power from Node 2 to the Node 1 Nadir Berthing Port and the Node 1 Galley Rack. Additional Lab cable routing is scheduled to occur tomorrow, September 30th.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Ops: Overnight, Robotics Flight Controllers activated the MSS and performed a Space Station Remote Manipulator (SSRMS) walk off from Node 2 to Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF)-1. Once the walk off was complete, they maneuvered the SSRMS in preparation for a Latching End Effector (LEE) A survey by the crew. Kelly then performed a regularly scheduled snare cable inspection and an inspection of the latches as a follow up from the LEE-A lubrication performed during an Extravehicular Activity (EVA) in February 2015. Once the inspections were complete, Robotic Flight Controllers maneuvered the SSRMS in preparation for a Mobile Transporter (MT) translation from Worksite 5 to Worksite 2. The translation is currently in work.

 

 

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Robotic ops for SSRMS LEE Survey
MT Translation from Worksite 5 to Worksite 2 [In Work]

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 09/30: SPHERES, Node 1 Berthing Port / Galley rack power cable route, AMS Survey
Thursday, 10/01: 61P Launch and Dock, Cubesat Deployer install on MPEP, SPRINT VO2, NPV O-Ring Install, COL PWS R&R
Friday, 10/02: JEMAL Depress, MELFI 2 Troubleshooting, MF Bed, IX Bed, EFA & MCA R&Rs, Cap. Beverage, WRS Waste Water Filter replace, RRM Phase 2

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 - Shutdown
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Standby
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up

 

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-29-september-2015.html

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Russian scientist hope to get rocket fuel, water, oxygen from Lunar ice 

File image

Russian scientists are currently studying lunar ice, hoping to get hydrogen rocket fuel, water and oxygen from the moon, Igor Mitrofanov from the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) told Radio Sputnik.

The Russian space robot Lend is currently exploring both moon poles that have large reserves of ice. Studies have shown that there is enough hydrogen to produce rocket fuel. Furthermore, both water and oxygen could be extracted from lunar ice, the scientist said.

A processing factory to derive hydrogen rocket fuel, water and oxygen from lunar ice might start as early as 2035, Mitrofanov said.

"Many people, myself included, think that the Moon will be the next continent [planet] that humans will conquer. And if it's so, then the presence of such an important resource like water is very important," Mitrofanov told Radio Sputnik.

To function properly, the International Space Station (ISS) needs a constant delivery of water, oxygen and fuel. But if Russia builds a base on the Moon, then astronauts will already have these essential resources, Mitrofanov shared his optimistic view.

By 2018, Russia's reconnaissance spacecraft Luna-25 should land on the south pole of the Moon. Construction of Luna 25 is already underway, and once finished, the spacecraft will carry eight cameras to help it navigate and take pictures. It will also feature a drill tool capable of digging into the moon's surface.

After landing another lunar robot during 2020-2021 Russia will try to bring back a piece of lunar ice to the Earth by 2025. Following a thorough study, a group of Russian astronauts will fly to the Moon by the beginning of the 2030s. Then, within the next 5-10 years, a processing plant for rocket fuel, water and oxygen could be set up, the Russian scientist said.

 http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Russian_scientist_hope_to_get_rocket_fuel_water_oxygen_from_Lunar_ice_999.html

Russia will definitely be setting up a long term presence on the moon....good for them....

[Unobscured Vision]

The people on the ISS are busy. Lots of traffic already the past two months and the schedule is still packed with stuff going on.

This is just how it should be. No more failures with launches, everything rolling forward.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

The people on the ISS are busy. Lots of traffic already the past two months and the schedule is still packed with stuff going on.

This is just how it should be. No more failures with launches, everything rolling forward.

Yes...food supplies are good, next is more experiments, cubesats and the bigelow unit. SpaceX has CRS8 in around 5th of January, orbital due up, progress and another HTV in 2nd quarter 2016. This gives lot's of time for a few Falcon's and the FH in early 2016. Presently, there are more experiments than people required....it will be great to have commercial crew on line and running experiments back on both Dragons.....

[Unobscured Vision]

Yes...food supplies are good, next is more experiments, cubesats and the bigelow unit. SpaceX has CRS8 in around 5th of January, orbital due up, progress and another HTV in 2nd quarter 2016. This gives lot's of time for a few Falcon's and the FH in early 2016. Presently, there are more experiments than people required....it will be great to have commercial crew on line and running experiments back on both Dragons.....

2016 is going to be an awesome year to be a human on board the ISS. I'd sure like a -naut term to use for the crew that makes everybody one group ... Astronaut and Cosmonaut remind me too much of the Cold War era.

Aethernaut seems okay, but eh. I dunno. *shrug*