International Space Station (Updates)

6,181 · November 16, 2016

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 14 November 2016

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The rocket that will launch the next crew to the International Space Station rolled out to its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On orbit, the three Expedition 50 crew members are conducting human research, measuring radiation levels and wrapping up Cygnus cargo operations.

Veteran space travelers Peggy Whitson of NASA and Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos along with space newcomer Thomas Pesquet from ESA are in Kazakhstan getting ready for their mission in space. Their Soyuz MS-03 rocket stands at its launch pad counting down to a launch Thursday at 3:20 p.m. EST. The new crew members will take a two-day trip to the orbital complex where they will live and work until May.

Shane Kimbrough, NASA astronaut and Expedition 50 Commander, is nearing the end of Cygnus cargo transfers as he readies the resupply vehicle for its Nov. 21 release from the Unity module. Afterward, Cygnus will stay in space a few more days to release a set of tiny weather satellites and conduct the Saffire-II spacecraft fire study.

Cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko, who is on his second space station mission, logged his food and medicine intake today for the Morze hormone and immune experiment. Kimbrough handed Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov a collection of radiation detectors that only monitor neutrons and will be processed for the RaDI-N experiment.

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Orbital ATK (OA)-5 Cargo Operations: The crew performed 3.5 hours of Cygnus cargo transfer operations today, thus completing all of the Cygnus cargo operations. Following today's transfer operations the crew participated in a conference with ground specialists. Ground teams are assessing photos of the vehicle to verify the final configuration.

Emergency Book Updates: The crew made pen and ink (redline) edits into the six hard copy Emergency (EMER)-1a books. These changes reflect new operations following the ISS Server1 transition to Zbook that was completed last week. The EMER-1a books contain crew response to Depress, Fire and the equipment to be retrieved prior to isolating a module.

Station Support Computer (SSC) Guacamole Service Pack Transition: Today, ground controllers deployed the Guacamole service pack on the SSC client laptops. This service pack provides software updates and additional functionality, including applications for the European Space Agency (ESA) EveryWear payload. The EveryWear application allows for connecting remote "wearable" sensors, allowing for physiology data collection for both science research and medical purposes.

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Completed Task List Items
Veggie 03 Pillow Watering (Completed Monday)
HRF Ultrasound 2 USB Drive Swap (Completed Saturday)
OA-5 Flag Photograph (Completed Saturday)
JEM CTB Location Confirmation (Completed Saturday)

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Battery 4B3 Reconditioning
SSRMS SPDM Stow

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 11/16: TOCA Analysis, Ipad Air 2 Deploy, Cygnus Depart OBT, Server 2 Deploy
Thursday, 11/17: 49S Launch, DoseTrack, STRATA Card, Cygnus Egress, Winscat
Friday, 11/18: Cygnus Vestibule Demate, Node 1 CPA Install, RWS Setup

several short video's also available at the link...

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-international-space-station-on-orbit-status-14-november-2016.html

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Soyuz MS-03 Undergoes Prelaunch Integration (November 13th)

Soyuz MS-03 NASA

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Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft its moved toward its encapsulation into the upper stage of its Soyuz booster Nov. 9. at Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Expedition 50-51 crew members Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will launch on the Soyuz Nov. 18, Baikonur time, for a six-month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Alexander Vysotsky

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/soyuz-ms-03-undergoes-prelaunch-integration.html

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Soyuz Rocket Rolls Out for Thursday Crew Launch

The Soyuz MS-03 rocket stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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The rocket that will launch the next crew to the International Space Station rolled out to its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On orbit, the three Expedition 50 crew members are conducting human research, measuring radiation levels and wrapping up Cygnus cargo operations.

Veteran space travelers Peggy Whitson of NASA and Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos along with space newcomer Thomas Pesquet from ESA are in Kazakhstan getting ready for their mission in space. Their Soyuz MS-03 rocket stands at its launch pad counting down to a launch Thursday at 3:20 p.m. EST. The new crew members will take a two-day trip to the orbital complex where they will live and work until May.

Shane Kimbrough, NASA astronaut and Expedition 50 Commander, is nearing the end of Cygnus cargo transfers as he readies the resupply vehicle for its Nov. 21 release from the Unity module. Afterward, Cygnus will stay in space a few more days to release a set of tiny weather satellites and conduct the Saffire-II spacecraft fire study.

Cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko, who is on his second space station mission, logged his food and medicine intake today for the Morze hormone and immune experiment. Kimbrough handed Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov a collection of radiation detectors that only monitor neutrons and will be processed for the RaDI-N experiment.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/11/14/soyuz-rocket-rolls-out-for-thursday-crew-launch/

Soyuz Rocket reaches Baikonur Launch Pad for Thursday Night Liftoff with next ISS Crew

indepth analysis...

http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-ms-03-rollout/

Soyuz crew launcher rolled out for liftoff from Kazakhstan

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/11/15/soyuz-crew-launcher-rolled-out-for-liftoff-from-kazakhstan/

Removal of ILV "Soyuz-FG" from TPK "MS-03 Alliance"

video is 7:11 min.

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New Crews Announced Before Next Crew Launches

Expedition 50 crew members (from left) Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy and Thomas Pesquet stand in front of the first stage engines of their Soyuz booster rocket.

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NASA announced today the crew members chosen to launch on four upcoming missions to the International Space Station. Meanwhile, three Expedition 50 crew members are orbiting Earth today working on cargo operations, human research and awaiting the launch and docking of three new crew members this weekend.

New space station crews were officially announced today that will launch to the station in 2017. Four NASA astronauts, four Roscosmos cosmonauts and one astronaut each from the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are scheduled to launch in March, May, September and October of next year.

Commander Shane Kimbrough is nearly complete with Cygnus cargo transfers and will close the hatch this weekend. The Cygnus space freighter from Orbital ATK is on track to be released early next week from the Unity module. NASA TV will cover the event live when the Canadarm2 grapples Cygnus and releases it for departure Monday at 8:20 a.m. EST.

Flight engineers Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov recorded their food and medicine consumption again today for the Morze hormone and immune experiment. Borisenko then moved on to transferring cargo from the Progress 64 resupply ship while Ryzhikov checked lights and cleaned vents and fans.

Back on Earth, two veteran station residents and a new space flyer are two days away from launching aboard a Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft to begin a five-month mission on the orbital complex. First-time European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet will join NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who will be on her third mission, and cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, who will be on his second mission, Nov. 17 when they lift off and take a two-day trip to their new home in space.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/11/15/new-crews-announced-before-next-crew-launches/

NASA Updates 2017 International Space Station Crew Assignments

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NASA and its international partners have updated the assignments for several crew rotations to the International Space Station in 2017. The changes reflect a switch in assignments for some NASA astronauts, as well as a reduction in the number of Russian cosmonauts on some missions.

Expedition 51/52 crew members NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will launch in March 2017. Yurchikhin will be the Expedition 52 commander.

In May 2017, Expedition 52/53 will launch with NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli and Russian Cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy. Bresnik will be the Expedition 53 commander.

Expedition 53/54 will launch in September 2017. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will make up that crew, with Misurkin commanding Expedition 54.

Expedition 54/55 will launch with NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Norishige Kanai and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov in October 2017. Expedition 55 will be commanded by Skvortsov.

The Expedition 50/51 launch of NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, astronaut Thomas Pesquet of ESA and cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy is unchanged and on track to launch Nov. 17 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. They will join Expedition 50 crew members currently on the station, including astronaut Shane Kimbrough of NASA and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos. Kimbrough is the commander of Expedition 50 and Whitson will assume command for Expedition 51.

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-updates-2017-international-space-station-crew-assignments

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PCO has completed the preparatory work for the removal into orbit manned spacecraft # SoyuzMS03 -http: // www. roscosmos.ru/22913/ .

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Strait of Gibraltar Seen From Orbit

This image of southern Spain, Portugal and North Africa was taken by Sentinel-3A's Ocean and Land Colour Instrument on 7 November 2016.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016. Copyright: 2016 EUMETSAT

http://spaceref.com/onorbit/strait-of-gibraltar-seen-from-orbit.html

6,181 · November 17, 2016

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 15 November 2016

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Commander Shane Kimbrough is nearly complete with Cygnus cargo transfers and will close the hatch this weekend. The Cygnus space freighter from Orbital ATK is on track to be released early next week from the Unity module. NASA TV will cover the event live when the Canadarm2 grapples Cygnus and releases it for departure Monday at 8:20 a.m. EST.

Flight engineers Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov recorded their food and medicine consumption again today for the Morze hormone and immune experiment. Borisenko then moved on to transferring cargo from the Progress 64 resupply ship while Ryzhikov checked lights and cleaned vents and fans.

Back on Earth, two veteran station residents and a new space flyer are two days away from launching aboard a Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft to begin a five-month mission on the orbital complex. First-time European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet will join NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who will be on her third mission, and cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, who will be on his second mission, Nov. 17 when they lift off and take a two-day trip to their
new home in space.

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NanoRacks Science Box installation: The crew installed the NanoRacks Science Box into the EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack 4, located in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). Currently, ground teams are troubleshooting a data connectivity issue. The NanoRacks Science Box is an EXPRESS Rack locker payload, designed to operate in mission cycles and will be launched and returned on a regular basis. Each mission will host a number of customer payloads and a multitude of science objectives. The Science Box installed today houses five individual payloads, each with their own mission objective ranging from robotic arm proof of concepts to seedling microgravity exposure experiments.

Node 3 to Node 1 Inter-Module Ventilation (IMV) Cone Screen Installation and Cleaning: Today the crew installed an IMV Cone Screen in the Node 1 to Node 3 vestibule to prevent FOD from entering the Node 3 Starboard Zenith IMV fan when operating in IMV Split Atmosphere Configuration. After the installation, the crew performed cleaning of the N1 to N3 IMV ducting.

Station Support Computer (SSC) Server 2 Deploy: Today, the crew replaced ISS-Server1 (T61p Laptop) with SSC Server-2 (ZBook), which will act as a backup in the event of a failure of the already-deployed SSC Server-1.

Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Stow: Last night (GMT 319-320), the Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) and maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to stow the SPDM on Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture 2 (PDGF2). After MSS Software version, Mt Thor, uplink (completed on GMT 313), SPDM LEE capture of MBS PDGF2 was successfully performed for the first time using Gear Box Limping (GBL) feature, also called Active limping of SSRMS. After completing the SPDM base change, SSRMS was maneuvered to park position in preparation of the re-grapple of Cygnus Wednesday (GMT 321), before Cygnus unberth and release Monday (GMT 326).

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Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
SSC Server 2 Transition

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 11/16: TOCA Analysis, Ipad Air 2 Deploy, Cygnus Depart OBT
Thursday, 11/17: DoseTrack, STRATA Card, Cygnus Egress
Friday, 11/18: Cygnus Vestibule Demate, Node 1 CPA Install, RWS Setup

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 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-15-november-2016.html

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Soyuz Rocket Blessed Before Launch, Cygnus Prepped for Departure

An Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz rocket and members of the media Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

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The Soyuz rocket that will launch three new Expedition 50 crew members to space Thursday was blessed at its launch pad today. Back in space, the Canadarm2 grappled the Cygnus cargo craft ahead of its release early next week.

An Orthodox priest performed the traditional blessing of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft today before its launch to the International Space Station.

Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA are in quarantine at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Kazakhstan and are scheduled to liftoff Thursday at 3:20 p.m. EST on a two-day trip to their new home in space.

The new trio will dock to the Rassvet module Saturday afternoon and join Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko who have been in space since Oct. 19. The new Soyuz crew ship will make four spacecraft docked at the orbital complex before the Cygnus resupply ship departs two days later.

Cygnus will end its month-long stay at the Unity module on Monday when Kimbrough commands the Canadarm2 to release the cargo craft at 8:20 a.m. NASA TV will broadcast the release and departure of Cygnus beginning at 8 a.m. Before Cygnus begins its fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere it will stay in space a few more days to release a set of ocean ship tracking CubeSats and conduct the Saffire-II spacecraft fire study.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/11/16/soyuz-rocket-blessed-before-launch-cygnus-prepped-for-departure/

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NASA Astronaut on Verge of Becoming Oldest Woman in Space

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NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is on the verge of becoming the oldest woman in space, adding to her long list of barrier-breaking records.

Whitson will be 56 when she rockets off the planet Thursday. She'll celebrate her 57th birthday in February on the International Space Station.

That's a far cry from John Glenn's space shuttle flight at age 77 and a few years shy of the male runners-up. But it's enough to beat Barbara Morgan's record as the world's oldest spacewoman. Morgan waited so long to fulfill her role as Christa McAuliffe's teacher-in-space backup that she was 55 when she finally flew in 2007.

This will be the third space station mission for Whitson, an Iowa-born biochemist, and her second stint as commander. She'll launch from Kazakhstan with two younger men, Russian and French. They'll join an American and two Russians at the space station.

"It is a great place to work and live, and I feel really lucky that we are going to be with friends while we're there," Whitson said Wednesday at the traditional day-before-launch news conference.

"Even if I'm just cleaning the vents in the fans, it all is important."

more at the link...

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/nasa-astronaut-verge-oldest-woman-space-43579578

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Space Poop Challenge: NASA Calls for Better Spacesuit Potty Systems

spacepoop.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none

NASA has initiated a "Space Poop Challenge," and is calling on innovators to come up with new designs for a spacesuit waste management system.
Credit: NASA

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Sometimes the "call of nature" is really urgent – and if you're in a spacesuit, you can't easily rush to the bathroom.

That's why NASA has created the "Space Poop Challenge." The agency is asking innovators to create fecal, urine and menstrual management systems for spacesuits, that would work for up to six days.

NASA astronauts wear diapers to take care of their bodily needs while they're launching, landing or spacewalking. However, these diapers are only good for a few hours; sitting in poop, urine or menstrual fluid for more than that is bad for your health, and your backside, besides.

"Future missions may require long-duration waste management for use by a pressurized suited crew member," NASA wrote in a statement on HeroX, a website where people or organizations can host incentive-based competitions.

"In the event of cabin depressurization or other contingency, crew members may need to take refuge in their launch and entry suits for a long-duration: 144 hours," according to the statement. "The crew member will have less than 60 minutes to get into and seal their spacesuit. To ensure the crew member's safety, the solution [proposed system] needs to take no more than five minutes [to set up and integrate with the spacesuit]."

Further complicating the challenge is the requirement that the system work in microgravity, in a pressurized spacesuit. This means would-be designers need to contend with floating water and debris that everybody really, really wants to keep far away from human orifices or vital spacesuit systems.

The new system will be designed for NASA's Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit, an improvement on the orange spacesuit used for shuttle launches and landings. That suit is expected to be used by astronauts on the Orion spacecraft.

The submission deadline for the Space Poop Challenge is Dec. 20, and winners will be announced Jan. 31, 2017. You can see all the guidelines and rules on this website. https://herox.com/SpacePoop/

http://www.space.com/34690-nasa-space-poop-challenge-for-spacesuit-potty.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=socialtwitterspc&cmpid=social_spc_514648

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Approved by the main crew of the ship # SoyuzMS03 Oleg Novitsky, Tom Sand, Peggy Whitson. Start November 17 at 23:20 -http: // www. roscosmos.ru/22923/ .

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Northern Manitoba, Canada November 9, 2016

In Northern Manitoba, autumn ice covers the lakes, rivers and peatland near the shore of the Hudson Bay. Planet.com

https://www.planet.com/gallery/manitoba-20161109/

6,181 · November 18, 2016

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 16 November 2016

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The Soyuz rocket that will launch three new Expedition 50 crew members to space Thursday was blessed at its launch pad today. Back in space, the Canadarm2 grappled the Cygnus cargo craft ahead of its release early next week.

An Orthodox priest performed the traditional blessing of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft today before its launch to the International Space Station. Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA are in quarantine at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Kazakhstan and are scheduled to liftoff Thursday at 3:20 p.m. EST on a two-day trip to their new home in space.

The new trio will dock to the Rassvet module Saturday afternoon and join Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko who have been in space since Oct. 19. The new Soyuz crew ship will make four spacecraft docked at the orbital complex before the Cygnus resupply ship departs two days later.

Cygnus will end its month-long stay at the Unity module on Monday when Kimbrough commands the Canadarm2 to release the cargo craft at 8:20 a.m. NASA TV will broadcast the release and departure of Cygnus beginning at 8 a.m. Before Cygnus begins its fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere it will stay in space a few more days to release a set of ocean ship tracking CubeSats and conduct the Saffire-II spacecraft fire study.

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Cygnus Departure Preparations: Today, Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and grappled Cygnus for release and departure scheduled for Monday, November 21st. The crew then performed an On Board Training (OBT) session to review release procedures.

iPad Air 2 Deploy: iPad Air 2 were deployed in the place of the current iPad 3s. The iPad Air 2 will be used for everyday crew functions including viewing timelines, procedures and crew messages. These iPads have the ESA Everywear app and other crew preference apps including Microsoft Office Products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Two iPad 3s will remain onboard for several ongoing payload operations that are not able to update to the iPad Air 2s and one iPad 3 will continue to be used for the Wall Clock.

Oxygen Generation System (OGS) Hydrogen Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) Quick Disconnect (QD) Inspection: The crew accessed and inspected QD "DIW FROM RSA" on the OGS Hydrogen Dome. This QD was not able to be fully mated during last week's Hydrogen ORU replacement and had to be secured with Kapton Tape. The QD was inspected for leaks as well as any movement out of position. No connections are demated or mated during this task. Crew reported no visible water in the rack or on or around the QD, and OGS was reactivated.

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Elbow Camera Failure: This morning, during operations to power SSRMS in preparation for grappling Cygnus, the tip elbow camera initialized with color bars. Multiple power cycle and reroute attempts have not been successful to recover the camera. This camera was providing clearance and alignment views which can be substituted with the SSRMS Base Elbow camera. Loss of the SSRMS Tip Elbow camera does not impact unberth and release operations for Cygnus.

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Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
SSRMS Cygnus Grapple
JEMRMS Ground Control Handhold Exp Platform Sample View

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 11/17: DoseTrack, STRATA Card, Cygnus Egress
Friday, 11/18: Cygnus Vestibule Demate, Node 1 CPA Install, RWS Setup
Saturday, 11/19: 49S Docking

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 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-16-november-2016.html

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Russian Soyuz Launches Three new Crew Members to the International Space Station

Three crew members representing the United States, Russia and France are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST Nov. 17, 2016 (2:20 a.m. Nov. 18, Baikonur time).
Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

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Three crew members representing the United States, Russia and France are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST Thursday, Nov. 17 (2:20 a.m. Nov. 18, Baikonur time).

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), is scheduled to dock with the space station's Rassvet module at 5:01 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 4:15 p.m. Hatches are scheduled to open about 7:35 p.m., with NASA TV coverage starting at 6:45 p.m.

The arrival of Whitson, Novitskiy and Pesquet returns the station's crew complement to six. The three join Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko. The Expedition 50 crew members will spend over four months conducting more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

Upcoming research includes how lighting impacts the overall health and well-being of crew members, and how microgravity affects tissue regeneration in humans and the genetic properties of space-grown plants.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/russian-soyuz-launches-three-new-crew-members-to-the-international-space-station.html

Expedition 50-51 Launches to International Space Station

video is 10:51 min., launch at the beginning of the video.

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Expedition 50 Launches on Two-Day Trip to Station

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The Soyuz MS-03 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 3:20 p.m. EST Thursday, Nov. 17 (2:20 a.m. Baikonur time, Nov. 18). At the time of launch, the space station was flying about 250 miles over the south Atlantic east of Argentina. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) are now safely in orbit.

Over the next two days, the trio will orbit the Earth for approximately two days before docking to the space station’s Rassvet module, at 5:01 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19. NASA TV coverage of the docking will begin at 4:15 p.m. Saturday.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/11/17/expedition-launches-on-two-day-trip-to-station/

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Soyuz MS-03 heads to ISS

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A Soyuz-FG rocket lifted off on Nov. 17, 2016, at 23:20:13.099 Moscow Time from Pad No. 5 at Site 1 in Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The launch vehicle carried the 7,220-kilogram Soyuz MS-03 (No. 733) transport spacecraft with a crew of three to the International Space Station, ISS.

Propelled by the simultaneous thrust of the four engines of the first stage and the single engine of the second stage, the rocket headed east to align its ascent trajectory with an orbital plane inclined 51.67 degrees toward the Equator. Slightly less than two minutes into the flight, the ship's emergency escape system jettisoned, immediately followed by the separation of the four boosters of the first stage.

The second (core) stage of the booster continued firing for less than five minutes into the flight. Almost exactly 40 seconds after the separation of the first stage, the payload fairing protecting the spacecraft in the dense atmosphere split into two halves and fell away.

Moments before the second stage completed its firing 4.7 minutes into the flight, the four-chamber engine of the third stage ignited, firing through a lattice structure connecting two boosters. Moments after the separation of the core booster, the tail section of the third stage split into three segments and fell away.

According to the mission control in Korolev, the separation of the Soyuz MS-03 from the third stage of the launch vehicle took place as scheduled at 23:29:01.26 Moscow Time.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz-ms-03.html

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Photos: Soyuz lights up the Night

http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-ms-03-launch-photos/

NASA/Bill Ingalls

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# SoyuzMS03 : there is separation of manned spacecraft! Docking with the ISS on November 20 at 01:01 MSK.

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Clouds Over the Philippine Sea Viewed From Orbit

Philippine Sea NASA

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Flying over the Philippine Sea, an astronaut looked toward the horizon from the International Space Station and shot this photograph of three-dimensional clouds, the thin blue envelope of the atmosphere, and the blackness of space.

The late afternoon sunlight brightens a broad swath of the sea surface on the right side of the image. In the distance, a wide layer of clouds mostly obscures the northern Philippine islands (top right).

Looking toward the sun to capture an image is a special technique used by astronauts to accentuate the three dimensions of landscapes and cloudscapes through the use of shadows. Two large thunderclouds rise next to one another (lower right). These clouds have long tails, also known as anvils, that stretch nearly 100 kilometers to the south. Anvils form when thunderstorm clouds rise high into the atmosphere and reach a "capping layer" thousands of meters (tens of thousands of feet) above sea level. Capping layers stop the upward growth of a cloud, deflecting air currents horizontally to form anvils.

Astronaut photograph ISS048-E-10018 was acquired on June 25, 2016, with a Nikon D4 digital camera using a 116 millimeter lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 48 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed.

Image Credit: NASA

http://spaceref.com/onorbit/clouds-over-the-philippine-sea-viewed-from-orbit.html

6,181 · November 19, 2016

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 17 November 2016

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The Soyuz MS-03 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 3:20 p.m. EST Thursday, Nov. 17 (2:20 a.m. Baikonur time, Nov. 18). At the time of launch, the space station was flying about 250 miles over the south Atlantic east of Argentina. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) are now safely in orbit.

Over the next two days, the trio will orbit the Earth for approximately two days before docking to the space station's Rassvet module, at 5:01 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19. NASA TV coverage of the docking will begin at 4:15 p.m. Saturday.

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Cygnus Departure Preparations: Today the crew began configuring the Cygnus vehicle for departure. Today's activities included relocating PCS computers to support Cygnus release, and egressing the Cygnus vehicle. During the Cygnus egress procedure the crew installed the Air Revitalization System (ARS) sample line cap, derouted and stowed the Intermodular Ventilation (IMV) supply duct, removed handrails and radial port closeout, and closed the Cygnus hatch. The IMV supply duct was stowed in a mission-specific configuration to support Spacecraft Fire Experiment (SAFFIRE) operations after Cygnus unberthing.

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA): The crew demated the connection between the Fluid Control and Pump Assembly (FCPA) at Quick Disconnect (QD) 27 on the recently replaced Pressure Control and Pump Assembly (PCPA). This activity will allow teams to determine if the FCPA is the source of elevated conductivity in the UPA distillate. Troubleshooting involve disconnecting QD27 for two Advanced Recycle Filter Tank Assembly (ARFTA) concentration cycles to isolate the FCPA housing from the purge distillate. If conductivity significantly improves in this configuration, this could potentially implicate the FCPA.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Nominal ground commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 11/18: Cygnus Vestibule Demate, Node 1 CPA Install, RWS Setup
Saturday, 11/19: 49S Docking
Sunday, 11/20: Crew Off Duty

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 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-17-november-2016.html

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

NASA ISS Space to Ground Weekly Report - 17 November 2016

Quote

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

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-iss-space-to-ground-weekly-report---17-november-2016.html

Space to Ground: That’s no Moon!: 11/17/2016

video is 1:59 min.

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

Rendezvous and docking of Soyuz MS-03 at ISS

Quote

Upon reaching its planned orbit, Soyuz MS-03 is expected to be 246.2 degrees away and below the ISS, which at the time will be circling the planet in the 404.01 by 420.22-kilometer orbit with an inclination 51.63 degrees toward the Equator.

The mission will follow a two-day rendezvous profile with the station. According to the Russian mission control in Korolev, the Soyuz is scheduled to perform two orbital maneuvers during the 3rd orbit and another one during the 17th orbit of the flight, which would bring the spacecraft into the vicinity of the station.

Following its orbit corrections, Soyuz MS-03 should begin an autonomous rendezvous with the ISS around 22:40:54 Moscow Time on Nov. 19, 2016, aiming to lock sensors of its Kurs-NA rendezvous system onto the station during the 33rd orbit of the mission.

The final maneuvers, including a flyaround of the ISS, a short station-keeping period and berthing should commence at 00:39:53 Moscow Time on November 20.

The docking of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is scheduled on Nov. 20, 2016, at 01:01:46 Moscow Time (5:01 p.m. EST on November 19) at the nadir (Earth-facing) port of the MIM1 Rassvet module, a part of the Russian segment of the ISS.

According to NASA, the hatches between the spacecraft and the station will be opened around 7:35 p.m. EST on November 19 (It will be 3:35 a.m. Moscow Time on November 20). Aboard the ISS, Novitsky, Pesquet and Whitson will join the crew of the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft Sergei Ryzhikov, Andrei Borisenko and Shane Kimbrough.

The crew of Soyuz MS-03 is expected to remain onboard the ISS until May 2017.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz-ms-03.html

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

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

Earth from Space: Gibson Desert, Australia

esa_earth_from_space_Gibson_Desert_11181

Earth from Space: Gibson Desert, Australia. ESA

Quote

The Sentinel-2A satellite takes us over the Gibson Desert in Western Australia in this false-colour image.

Covering an area of over 150 000 sq km, the desert sports gravel terrains covered by desert grasses, as well as red sandy plains and dunefields. A drought in the 1980s forced the indigenous Pintupi people to the central-eastern area of the desert, where they made contact with Australian society in what is believed to be one of the last first-contact events in Australia.

On the left side of this false-colour image we see many strange shapes in varying shades of blue. These are the remnants of areas purposefully burned by the Pintupi people to encourage plant growth or drive game animals into the open.

Many of the Pintupi people moved to settlements when the British military began testing missile in the region in the 1950s. The areas that they had burned became overgrown, becoming even more susceptible to manmade or lightning-caused fires, which then burn out of control, leaving behind large burn scars.

In the lower-right corner of the image we can make out a circular structure. This is the Connolly Basin impact crater, believed to have been formed around 60 million years ago. Some 9 km across, the rim rises 25-30 m above the crater's basin.

http://spaceref.com/earth/earth-from-space-gibson-desert-australia.html

6,181 · November 21, 2016

Soyuz docking boosts station crew size back to six

Quote

Two days after launch from Kazakhstan, a Russian Soyuz ferry ship glided to a smooth docking with the International Space Station Saturday, bringing a veteran cosmonaut, a Frenchman making his first flight and NASA’s most experienced female astronaut to the lab complex.

With commander Oleg Novitskiy at the controls, flanked on the left by European Space Agency flight engineer Thomas Pesquet and on the right by NASA’s Peggy Whitson, the Soyuz MS-03/49S spacecraft moved in for a docking at the Earth-facing Rassvet module at 4:58 p.m. EST (GMT-5).

After extensive leak checks to verify structural integrity and an airtight seal, hatches were opened just after 7:30 p.m. and the crew was welcomed aboard by Expedition 50 commander Shane Kimbrough, Soyuz MS-02 commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who were launched to the station Oct. 19.

Floating in the Russian Zvezda module, the combined six-member crew held a traditional video conference with program managers, family and friends gathered at the Russian mission control center near Moscow.

“Hello, Dad, how are you,” Novitskiy’s daughter radioed.

“How are you, did you cry much?” he asked.

“No crying at all.”

“Well, I was hoping someone would cry!” Novitskiy joked.

“We were all worried, of course, but we were being brave,” his daughter said.

Novitskiy’s grandmother called up her congratulations, saying “we, the earthlings, need to follow your example, we need to all love each other. Good health to you and your crew and your colleagues. … We’ve started the countdown to your landing!”

Quote

The station crew will welcome a Russian Progress cargo ship in two weeks and a Japanese HTV freighter on Dec. 13. The HTV is loaded with six state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries that will replace 12 aging nickel-hydrogen batteries in one set of the station’s solar arrays. They will be installed during at least two spacewalks in January.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is expected to arrive in late January, followed by another Progress in early February, another Cygnus later that month and another Dragon in early March. The SpaceX dates assume the company completes its recovery from a Sept. 1 launch pad explosion that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket.

Additional spacewalks are planned in the spring to attach a short tunnel-like pressurized mating adapter to a port on the forward Harmony module that eventually will be used by commercial crew ships being built by Boeing and SpaceX. One such port already is attached to the front of the station.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/11/20/soyuz-docking-boosts-station-crew-size-back-to-six/

Expedition 50-51 Crew Docks to the Space Station

video is 3:44 min.

Expedition 50-51 Welcomed Aboard the Space Station

video is 22:56 min., entry at the beginning, rest is the interview.

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

Rendezvous and docking of Soyuz MS-03 at ISS

Quote

The docking of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft and the ISS took place at 4:58:35 p.m. EST (November 19) over the northeastern coast of Brazil, around three minutes ahead of schedule. (The milestone was originally scheduled on Nov. 20, 2016, at 01:01:46 Moscow Time (5:01 p.m. EST on November 19).

The spacecraft berthed at the nadir (Earth-facing) port of the MIM1 Rassvet module, a part of the Russian segment of the ISS. According to NASA, hooks of the docking mechanism, securing the Soyuz at its docking position were successfully closed at 5:04 p.m. EST.

Quote

According to NASA, hatches between the spacecraft and the station were opened at 7:40 p.m. EST on November 19, around five minutes behind schedule. (It was 3:40 a.m. Moscow Time on November 20).

Aboard the ISS, Novitsky, Pesquet and Whitson will join the crew of the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft Sergei Ryzhikov, Andrei Borisenko and Shane Kimbrough.

The crew of Soyuz MS-03 is expected to remain onboard the ISS until May 2017.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz-ms-03.html

Multinational Soyuz Crew boards Space Station after flawless two-day Flight

indepth analysis...

http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-ms-03-docking/

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

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

Quote

18 years ago rocket "Proton-K" delivered into orbit Functional Cargo Block "Dawn" - the first module # ISS http: // www. roscosmos.ru/22944/

Memorable date. 1998 - Launch of the first module of the ISS

Quote

11.20.2016 8:26
18 years ago, 20 November 1998, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome was launched, which marked the beginning of construction of the first International Space Station. Carrier rocket "Proton-K" delivered into orbit Functional Cargo Block "Dawn" - the first module of the ISS.

"Zarya" module has been designed, manufactured and tested engineering "Salute" and the Bureau GNKPTS them. Khrunichev, RSC "Energy" held station equipment scientific equipment. In total, the creation module "Zarya" was attended by about 240 Russian companies.

Russian module includes all the systems required to operate as an autonomous manned space vehicle and laboratories. The module includes 31 on-board system, which includes about 3,000 units designed to perform the basic functions for motion control, control on-board complex software systems docking with the ISS elements, life support systems, power, scientific equipment and information exchange between the station and Earth. The maximum diameter of the housing module 4.1 m, length 12.6 m.

Until the summer of 2000. "Dawn" performed the functions of power stations, as well as the attitude control and temperature control. After docking with the module "Zvezda" July 26, 2000 and with the expansion of the station, most of these functions were transferred to other units. It remains unchanged function of fuel storage, warehouse, also conducted experiments in "Zarya" module.

http://www.roscosmos.ru/22944/

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

Tijuana, Mexico November 11, 2016

To the north, parkland separates the subdivisions of San Diego County, California from the manmade US/Mexico Border. To the south, the gridded residential streets of Tijuana’s Libertad and Zona Norte neighborhoods abut the common boundary. Planet.com

https://www.planet.com/gallery/tijuana-20161111/

6,181 · November 22, 2016

3 days old, but has a bit of data...

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 November 2016

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 November 2016. NASA

Quote

Today: Preparation for Cygnus Unberth and Release: The crew completed configuring the Cygnus and the Node 1 vestibule in preparation for Cygnus departure on Monday, November 21st.

Today's task included removing Intermodule Ventilation and Power/Data Jumpers, installing the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) Center Disk Cover and four CBM Controller Panel Assemblies (CPAs) onto an Active CBM bulkhead, and then closing the Node 1 nadir hatch.

49S Status: Soyuz 49S launched on time at GMT 322/20:20 with a nominal separation from the launch vehicle at 20:29 GMT. Ascent was nominal and all appendages were deployed. On Orbit 1 the Motion Control System and the Kurs-NA system were tested with nominal results and the docking probe was extended nominally. Rendezvous maneuvers DV1, DV2 and DV3 were completed nominally on Orbits 3, 4 and 17 respectively. 49S is scheduled to dock to the ISS at the MRM1 Nadir port on Saturday at 22:01 GMT.

Educational Public Affairs Opportunity (PAO) Event: The ISS crew participated in an educational PAO event with Wheat Ridge High School in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. During this event the ISS crew answered questions submitted by the students addressing day-to-day life onboard the ISS and astronaut education/career experiences.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Node 1 CBM Prep for Demate
OGA Cell Stack Scan
Lab MCA Zero Calibration

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 11/19: Housekeeping, 49S rendezvous and docking
Sunday, 11/20: Crew Off Duty
Monday, 11/21: OA-5 unberth, Marrow Collection, Fluid Shift Setup, MSL Cartridge Exchange, MATISS Install

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 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-18-november-2016.html

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

Astronauts Release Cygnus Space Freighter From Station

The Orbital ATK Cygnus space freighter is seen moments after being released from the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV

Quote

Expedition 50 robotic arm operators Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) commanded the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the Cygnus spacecraft at 8:22 a.m. EST while the space station was flying 251 miles over the Pacific Ocean, off the west coast of Colombia. Earlier, ground controllers detached Cygnus from the station and maneuvered it into place for its departure.

Once Cygnus is a safe distance away from the station, ground controllers at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and at Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia, will activate the Saffire-II experiment.

Cygnus also will release four LEMUR CubeSats from an external deployer on Friday, Nov. 25, sending them to join a remote sensing satellite constellation that provides global ship tracking and weather monitoring.

The spacecraft will remain in orbit until Sunday, Nov. 27, when its engines will fire twice, pushing it into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

The Cygnus resupply craft launched Oct. 17 on an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, for the company’s sixth NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission. The company’s seventh contracted resupply mission is targeted for spring 2017 on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/11/21/astronauts-release-cygnus-space-freighter-from-station/

U.S. Commercial Cargo Ship Departs the Space Station Headed for a Destructive Reentry

video is 7:44 min.

Timelapse Cygnus CRS-5 Release from ISS 4x

video is 8:15 min., audio is also 4X...faster than chipmunks...

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

Advanced Plant Habitat Test Unit Arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

Advanced-Plant-Habitat-Test-Unit-1024x68

A test unit of NASA’s Advanced Plant Habitat was delivered to the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 17. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White

Quote

A high fidelity test version of NASA’s Advanced Plant Habitat (APH), the largest plant chamber built for the agency, arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week. The engineering development unit arrived by truck, was offloaded and transported to a laboratory at the Space Station Processing Facility.

Inside the lab, NASA engineers, and scientists and technicians on the Engineering Services Contract will train with the test unit to learn how to handle and assemble it before the actual APH unit arrives early next year. They also will test how the science integrates with the various systems of the plant habitat.

NASA Kennedy engineers designed parts of the APH, but also fabricated the flight growth chamber, with the remaining subsystems designed and built by ORBITEC in Madison, Wisconsin. The unit is a closed-loop system with a controlled environment than can house large plants. The system will use red, green and blue LED lights, similar to the Veggie growth system that currently is on the International Space Station. The APH also has the capability of using white LEDs and infrared light. The APH will have about 180 sensors and four times the light output of Veggie.

Kennedy scientists developed the science carrier that will be inserted in the APH for plant growth experiments on the space station and the control experiments on the ground. Payload integration engineers with Jacobs, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will help integrate the science, or seeds, into the APH. Jacobs research scientists also are providing lab space and support for the APH.

The small-scale experiment, called Plant Habitat 1 or PH01, will contain Arabidopsis seeds, small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard. PH01 and the APH unit will be delivered to the space station in 2017.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2016/11/21/advanced-plant-habitat-test-unit-arrives-at-nasas-kennedy-space-center/

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

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

East Tavaputs Plateau, Utah, USA November 13, 2016

Natural Gas well pads dot the sandstone canyons of Utah's East Tavaputs Plateau. Planet.com

https://www.planet.com/gallery/desolation-canyon-20161113/

6,181 · November 23, 2016

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 November 2016

nasa_iss_on_orbit_status_report_112116_9

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 November 2016. NASA

Quote

Expedition 50 robotic arm operators Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) commanded the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the Cygnus spacecraft at 8:22 a.m. EST while the space station was flying 251 miles over the Pacific Ocean, off the west coast of Colombia. Earlier, ground controllers detached Cygnus from the station and maneuvered it into place for its departure.

Once Cygnus is a safe distance away from the station, ground controllers at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and at Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia, will activate the Saffire-II experiment.

Cygnus also will release four LEMUR CubeSats from an external deployer on Friday, Nov. 25, sending them to join a remote sensing satellite constellation that provides global ship tracking and weather monitoring.

The spacecraft will remain in orbit until Sunday, Nov. 27, when its engines will fire twice, pushing it into Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

The Cygnus resupply craft launched Oct. 17 on an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, for the company's sixth NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission. The company's seventh contracted resupply mission is targeted for spring 2017 on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Quote

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Potential Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Leak: This morning an unexpected caution indicating "UPA Potential WSTA leak" annunciated following use of the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC). The crew isolated the UPA and WHC was configured to internal [EDV] to isolate the system. An on-orbit inspection by the crew showed pretreated urine on the urine valve block. The crew cleaned up the pretreated urine and closed out the WHC. WHC is No-Go for use and ground specialists are working the follow-on plan. The crew has been authorized to use the Russian toilet. Due to the leak, the planned WSTA leak was aborted.

Cygnus Departure: Cygnus was unberthed nominally from the ISS at 5:23 AM CST and was released at 7:22 AM CST. Post departure science objectives for Cygnus including Saffire-II and NanoRacks CubeSat deployments. Cygnus re-entry is planned for November 27.

Later today, Saffire-II will initiate and conduct a roughly 2-hour experiment session, followed by multi-day data downlinks. The Saffire-II experiment attempts to quantify the flammability of several materials in microgravity, and compares them to flammability limits in normal gravity.

The NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer - External (NRCSD-E) deploy is planned November 25, at which time the Cygnus will be 100 km above the ISS, this will be the the first time NRCSDs deploy above the ISS. A total of 4 LEMUR-2 satellites will deploy from the Cygnus vehicle. The NanoRacks-LEMUR-2 satellites are part of a remote sensing satellite constellation that proves global ship tracking and weather monitoring.

Marrow Collections: The crew performed their first blood collections in support of the Canadian Space Agency's (CSA's) Marrow experiment. After collecting, the blood was spun in the Refrigerated Centrifuge and stored in the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). The Marrow investigation looks at the effect of microgravity on the bone marrow. It is believed that microgravity, like long-duration bed rest on Earth, has a negative effect on the bone marrow and the blood cells that are produced in the bone marrow.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Following the successful Cygnus unberth and release, the Robotics Ground Controllers performed a video survey of the Node 1 Nadir Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM). They then walked the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) off Node 2 onto Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture 3 (PDGF3) and maneuvered the SSRMS to a Mobile Transporter (MT) translation configuration. Currently the Robotics Ground Controllers are performing additional troubleshooting of the SSRMS End B Camera Light Pan/Tilt Unit (PTU) Assembly (CLPA).

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Cygnus unberth and undock ops
SSRMS ACBM inspection
SSRMS Walkoff to MBS3

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 11/22: Water Monitoring Suite, JAXA Stowage outfitting, Fluid Shifts, MagVector, Emer Role/Resp Rvw
Wednesday, 11/23: Aquamembrane, Everywear, JAXA Stowage outfitting, OBT Emer H/W Fam, Eye Exam, EVA UIA Biocide Filter
Thursday, 11/24: Aquamembrane, Fluid Shifts, CBEF, PEPS Inspect, Storytime

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 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-21-november-2016.html

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

Visiting Vehicle Launches, Arrivals and Departures

iss_11-21-16.jpg?itok=pFH60kl4

Nov. 21, 2016: International Space Station Configuration. Three spacecraft are docked at the station including the Soyuz MS-02 and MS-03 crew vehicles and the Progress 64 resupply ship. NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/visiting-vehicle-launches-arrivals-and-departures

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

New Crew Begins First Week Aboard Station

The newly-docked Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is next to one of the Cygnus’ round Ultraflex solar arrays in the left foreground. The Cygnus cargo craft departed the station two days after the Soyuz arrived.

Quote

Three new crew members are in their first week aboard the International Space Station. They joined the Expedition 50 crew Saturday bringing the occupancy of the orbital lab to six humans.

The two U.S. astronauts, three cosmonauts and one French astronaut are getting ready for Thanksgiving in space. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is beginning her third station mission and will spend the traditional U.S. holiday orbiting above the Earth for the third time.

Meanwhile, new crew members Whitson, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and first time space-flyer Thomas Pesquet and are familiarizing themselves with their home on orbit where they will live for the next six months. Whitson was last onboard the station during Expedition 16 in 2008 before Japan’s Kibo lab module had been delivered and the final solar arrays had been installed.

Whitson spent several hours repairing the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) today, one of two functional toilets aboard the station. She replaced several components after a leak was detected in the WHC on Monday.

Novitskiy’s previous mission was Expedition 34 which ended in 2013. Pesquet is on his first spaceflight and is the fourth astronaut from France to visit the space station.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/11/22/new-crew-begins-first-week-aboard-station/

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

Cygnus OA-5 departs ISS

Quote

The Cygnus OA-5 cargo spacecraft was detached from the robotic arm of the ISS at 8:22 a.m. EST on Nov. 21, 2016, around two minutes behind schedule.

Before its release, robotics controllers maneuvered Cygnus into a correct position below the station, and when the outpost was flying over the coast of Columbia, Expedition 50 robotic arm operators Shane Kimbrough of NASA (Soyuz MS-02 crew) and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, ESA, (Soyuz MS-03 crew) gave the command for its release. Three minutes later, the spacecraft initiated a three-minute burn to exit the station's 200-meter "keep-out zone."

Five hours after departing the station, around 12:30 p.m. Houston Time, ground controllers at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and at Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia, were scheduled to activate the Saffire-II experiment, intentionally igniting a fire inside a module aboard the unmanned spacecraft.

The second in a series of three, the experiment allows researchers to study a realistic fire on an exploration spacecraft. Instruments on the Cygnus will measure flame growth, oxygen use and more. Results could determine microgravity flammability limits for several spacecraft materials, validate NASA’s material selection criteria, and help scientists understand how microgravity and limited oxygen affect flame size. The investigation is important for the safety of current and future space missions.

On November 25, Cygnus is scheduled to enter an orbit around 100 kilometers above the ISS for the release of four LEMUR CubeSats. Cygnus will release satellites from an external deployer on Nov. 25, 2016, at 11:03 a.m. and 6:10 pm. Houston Time, sending them to join a remote sensing satellite constellation that provides global ship tracking and weather monitoring.

The spacecraft will remain in orbit until Nov. 27, 2016, when its engines will fire twice, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Houston Time, pushing it into Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/cygnus-oa-5.html#depart

Cygnus Cargo Craft departs Space Station for In-Space Fire Experiment & Satellite Deployments

Quote

The Cygnus OA-5 cargo craft departed the International Space Station on Monday after a month-long cargo delivery mission, heading off on a one-week free flight to release a series of small satellites and perform the second Spacecraft Fire Experiment ahead of a planned end of mission date on November 27.

Cygnus OA-5, named the SS Alan Poindexter after the late NASA Astronaut, launched back on October 17 atop the first Antares 200-series rocket, returning to flight from the Wallops Flight Facility after a two-year gap to fit the launcher with new engines following the dramatic launch failure on the Orb-3 mission back in 2014. The revamped Antares performed admirably and in fact boosted the Cygnus spacecraft into a higher orbit than expected in simulations of the new rocket’s performance.

Quote

With Cygnus on its way, the OA-5 mission heads into a second phase dedicated to the SAFFIRE-II experiment and the release of four Lemur CubeSats. Set for 17:13 UTC on Monday is an orbit-raising maneuver prior to the initiation of the SAFFIRE experiment at 18:30 UTC.

SAFFIRE-II is the second Spacecraft Fire Experiment in a series of tests that involve the largest intentional fires ever ignited in space as well as a series of flammability studies with different materials. The first SAFFIRE experiment – performed on the OA-6 mission back in June – studied large-scale fire progression in space with a 0.4 by 1.0-meter piece of cotton-fiberglass blend that was ignited on one end with cameras and sensors watching over a number of parameters like flame front speed, temperatures, oxygen consumption and more.

The second SAFFIRE experiment is different in that it involves nine smaller samples to examine the flammability of different materials at different thicknesses and their Maximum Oxygen Concentration (MOC) flammability limits. SAFFIRE is the first study of large-scale fire progression in space to deliver valuable information for the design of future spacecraft since fire represents one of the biggest risk potentials for human spaceflight missions.

Operated by NASA’s Glenn Research Center, SAFFIRE-II will last up to a few hours with each sample being closely watched by cameras and sensors. Due to the large volume of data generated by the experiment, Cygnus will remain in orbit for several more days to allow regular data downlink sessions.

SAFFIRE II Hardware – Photo: NASA

SAFFIRE II Sample Card – Photo: NASA

Lemur-2 Satellite – Photo: Spire Global, Inc.

more at the link...

http://spaceflight101.com/cygnus-oa5-departure/

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4928.jpg?w=880&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&f

Calgary, Canada

Moonlight reflected in the ISS solar panels as an aurora dances over northern Canada.
Photograph: Tim Peake/ISS/Nasa/Esa

38,279 · November 28, 2016

4,806 · December 3, 2016

No posts from DD in a while. Hope he's okay.

38,279 · December 17, 2016

6,181 · January 16, 2017

Looks like I have some catching up to do........

iss_12-13-16.jpg?itok=d1e-UoAG

Dec. 13, 2016: International Space Station Configuration. Four spacecraft are docked at the station including the Kounotori HTV-6, Soyuz MS-02 and MS-03 crew vehicles and the Progress 64 resupply ship.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/visiting-vehicle-launches-arrivals-and-departures

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

Six CubeSats deployed from Space Station for Technical Demonstration Missions

C2ShHpKVIAArmIm.jpg-large-512x382.jpg

Monday’s Satellite Deployments – Credit: JAXA

Quote

Six small satellites from Japan, Singapore and Italy were released from the International Space Station on Monday to begin a variety of technical demonstration missions with particular focus on orbital debris removal and re-entry systems.

The satellites were taken up to the orbiting complex by the HTV-6 cargo spacecraft in December and were deployed by an upgraded J-SSOD deployment mechanism developed in Japan. JSSOD is the Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer and was first used in 2012 to mark the first robotic deployment of CubeSats from the Space Station which, by now, has become a standard part of the Station’s operational repertoire with well over 100 satellite deployments in recent years.

The 2012 JSSOD deployment served as a pathfinder and was followed by the development of other deployment mechanisms – notably the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer that has been in use for over 100 satellite deployments, and the SSIKLOPS mechanism which provides an orbital launch pad for non-CubeSat missions.

http://spaceflight101.com/six-cubesats-deployed-from-space-station-for-technical-demonstration-missions/

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

Backup Vehicle to replace next Soyuz headed to ISS

The most recent Soyuz (MS-03) during pre-launch processing – Photo: RSC Energia

Quote

Roscosmos on Monday confirmed earlier reports that the next Soyuz spacecraft to fly to the International Space Station with a crew of two will be replaced by the subsequent vehicle that was at a similar stage in its launch processing campaign.

The Interfax news agency, citing sources at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, reported last Friday that testing conducted on the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft at the Cosmodrome “revealed a number of problems.” The source also said that the spacecraft would likely need to be replaced by the next in line to keep up the planned launch schedule with liftoff currently penciled in for late March.

The Roscosmos State Corporation issued a brief statement on Monday, confirming that the mission of Soyuz MS-04 would be performed by the spacecraft with serial number 735 instead of number 734. However, Roscosmos noted the switch was not due to a technical issue, but not expressly stated the reason for the late switch.

http://spaceflight101.com/backup-vehicle-to-replace-next-soyuz-headed-to-iss/

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

NASA ISS Space to Ground Report - 13 January 2017

Video is 2:39 min.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-iss-space-to-ground-report---13-january-2017.html

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

International Space Station Spacewalkers Perform Ongoing Station Power Upgrades

NASA/ESA

Quote

Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency conducted a spacewalk in U.S. spacesuits to upgrade the system for the 1A power channel of the orbital laboratory's starboard 4 (S4) truss solar arrays.

Moving adapter plates and batteries, Kimbrough completed the work to hook up electrical connections for the last three of six new lithium-ion batteries recently delivered to the station, and to move the last of the old nickel-hydrogen batteries that will be stored on the station. It was the second spacewalk in a week for Kimbrough and the fourth of his career, and the first for Pesquet in the refurbishment of two of the station's eight power channels. On Jan. 6, Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA conducted similar work for the 3A power channel of the station's S4 solar arrays.

video is 7:21 min.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/international-space-station-spacewalkers-perform-ongoing-station-power-upgrades.html

More images at...

http://spaceflight101.com/us-eva-39-photos/

Spartan control panel...takes a bit to load...power status.

http://isslive.com/displays/spartanDisplay1.html

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

Monster Cameras on the International Space Station

Thomas Pesquet: Lots of cameras in the Russian segment! They also have fantastic windows looking straight down. A laptop showing our navigation software is visible on the right. NASA/ESA

http://spaceref.com/nasa-hack-space/monster-cameras-on-the-international-space-station.html

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

Thomas Pesquet: Dangling My Feet in Space

This is what a spacewalk is: 400km of void under your feet. NASA/ESA

http://spaceref.com/onorbit/thomas-pesquet-dangling-my-feet-in-space.html

6,181 · January 18, 2017

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 16 January 2017

Quote

Today: Japanese-Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-6 (J-SSOD-6) Deployment: Today four deployers, holding six satellites, were grappled by the JEM Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS) and deployed.

J-SSOD #6 is the first enhanced J-SSOD, which is able to launch twice the amount of satellites when compared to previous deployers. Photos of each satellite deployment were taken by the crew from the Cupola. J-SSOD #6 jettisoned the following experiments in the sequence below:

1st Deployment

FREEDOM (1U): Demonstrate a de-orbit devices using a thin-film unfolding mechanism in space
WASEDA-SAT3 (1U): Image projection on the surface of a drag chute with a micro-projector
ITF-2 (1U): Builds a network for people using satellite data

2nd Deployment

EGG (3U): Demonstration to unfold a toroidal infallible structure for aeroshells

3rd Deployment

AOBA-Velox-III (2U): A demonstration of Pulsed Plasma Thruster

4th Deployment

TuPOD (3U): Deployment of two TubeSat daughter satellites

The J-SSOD facility provides a reliable, safe and economically viable means of deploying research small satellites into Earth orbit. Atmospheric and surface monitoring, radio communications testing, and small object and sample return to the ground for testing and analysis are all potential candidates for this facility.

Quote

H-II Transfer Vehicle 6 (HTV) Cargo Operations: Over the weekend the crew completed 5 hours and 30 minutes of loading trash onto the HTV vehicle. Ground specialist estimate the crew will need another 4 hours and 30 minutes of cargo operations to complete the vehicle loading. HTV is scheduled to unberth from the ISS on Friday 27-January-2017.

Treadmill 2 System (T2) Status: Over the weekend ground specialists were able to uplink and apply the GUI Service Pack successfully, and have since resync-ed the CLU with the GUI. Earlier today the crew disconnected the breakout cable, returned T2 to its nominal configuration and completed a nominal T2 exercise session.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Friday evening, at the completion of EVA 39, the Robotics Ground Controllers mated the Mobile Base System (MBS) Payload and ORU Accommodation (POA) umbilicals to the HTV6 Exposed Pallet (EP) and applied payload power to it. They also performed the uncaging of the Spare Camera, Light, and PTU Assembly (CLPA) installed during the EVA on the Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly (MTRA) wedge and performed successful checkouts on the Spare CLPA camera unit. Saturday, the Robotics Ground Controllers stowed three Nickel-Hydrogen (NiH2) batteries, 2 batteries were from SPDM and 1 from the Enhanced ORU Temporary Platform (EOTP), on the HTV6 EP.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
J-SSOD Deploy
Lab MCA Zero Calibration
FPMU Deact

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 01/17: EVA Loop Scrub, P/TV 4K Lab Config, Fluid Shifts, Microbial Monitoring System, Aquapad,
Wednesday, 01/18: ELF Holder Removal, J-SSOD Removal, Fluid Shifts, ARED Sensor Cal, MDCA CIA T/S
Thursday, 01/19: N2 VAP Install, Fluid Shifts, MAGVector, Story Time Heat Transfer Demo, SABL Removal, HRF2 Resupply

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:
Component - Status
Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-16-january-2017.html

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

Reusable NORS Provides Fresh Air for Space Station Use

Quote

How do astronauts aboard the International Space Station get fresh oxygen for spacewalks and everyday use in the orbiting laboratory? After the space shuttle retired, NASA designed the Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System, or NORS. Once onboard, the tanks are used to fill the oxygen and nitrogen tanks that supply the needed gases to the station’s airlock for spacewalks. They are also used as a secondary method to replenish the atmosphere inside of the space station.

The tanks are fully reusable once they have been inspected after returning from space. Earlier this week, the first flight-returned NORS Recharge Tank Assembly was depressurized at Kennedy. This particular NORS tank was returned on the SpaceX CRS-9 flight after spending almost a year on station. There are currently four more tanks aboard the station that are scheduled to come down soon so they may be reused in the future.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2017/01/13/reusable-nors-provides-fresh-air-for-space-station-use/

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

UTSW finds likely cause -- and potential prevention -- of vision deterioration in space

Quote

DALLAS - January 16, 2017 - Vision deterioration in astronauts who spend a long time in space is likely due to the lack of a day-night cycle in intracranial pressure. But using a vacuum device to lower pressure for part of each day might prevent the problem, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers said. Their study appears in the Journal of Physiology.

A change in vision is the No. 1 health risk for astronauts who spend extended periods of time on the International Space Station. The new research showed that intracranial pressure in zero-gravity conditions, such as exists in space, is higher than when people are standing or sitting on Earth, but lower than when people are sleeping on Earth. The researcher's finding suggests that the constancy of pressure on the back of the eye causes the vision problems astronauts experience over time.

full article here...

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/usmc-ufl011717.php

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

Iowa Students to Speak to NASA Astronaut on the International Space Station

Quote

Press Release From: NASA HQ
Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Students from Oskaloosa and Mt. Ayr Community Schools in Iowa will have the opportunity to speak with a NASA astronaut living and working aboard the International Space Station at 10:25 a.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 19. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, an Iowa native, will answer questions from fourth graders assembled at Iowa Public Television's studios in Johnston, Iowa. Whitson launched to the space station on Nov. 17 and will live aboard until the spring.

Media interested in covering the event should contact Susan Ramsey at 515-725-9703. The IPTV studio is located at 6450 Corporate Drive in Johnston.

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

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

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information, videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

// end //

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=50253

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

SAGE III to Provide Highly Accurate Measurements of Atmospheric Gases

technicians-clean-room-langley-sage-3-lg

SAGE-3-ISS being readied for shipping.

Quote

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon get an important tool to investigate the Earth's upper atmosphere capable of conducting highly accurate measurements of aerosols and gaseous constituents in the stratosphere and troposphere. The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) will study ozone, aerosols, water vapor, and other atmospheric gases to help us better understand the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment.

SAGE III was initially planned to be launched to ISS aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft in November 2016 atop a Falcon 9 launcher. The mission, designated CRS-10, was to be lifted off from from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's (CCAFS) Space Launch Complex 40, however it was postponed several times and is currently targeted to be launched on Feb. 8, 2017 from the Launch Complex 39A. The delays were forced by a pending investigation of the Sept. 1 explosion at the launch site when a Falcon 9 rocket was destroyed during a pre-launch static fire test.

The SAGE III instrument was delivered from NASA's Langley Research Center to NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in November 2015 and is now completely ready for launch.

"Final powered testing was completed at the KSC Space Station Processing Facility during the past year and in December 2016 the instrument payload and the Nadir Viewing Platform were handed over to SpaceX for installation into the Dragon Trunk of the Falcon 9 rocket. The integrated trunk is now awaiting launch," Marilee M. Roell, SAGE III Science Manager at NASA's Langley Research Center told SpaceFlight Insider.

more at the link...

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/SAGE_III_to_Provide_Highly_Accurate_Measurements_of_Atmospheric_Gases_999.html

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

NASA considering Boeing offer for additional Soyuz seats

Quote

WASHINGTON — NASA is proposing to purchase, through Boeing, additional Soyuz seats for International Space Station missions to both take advantage of Russian plans to decrease the size of its crew and as insurance against potential additional commercial crew delays.

In a “sources sought” procurement filing Jan. 17, NASA said it considering plans to acquire from Boeing two Soyuz seats on missions to the ISS in the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018, and options for three additional Soyuz seats in 2019. Boeing, the filing stated, had obtained the rights to the seats from Soyuz manufacturer RSC Energia.

The two near-term seats take advantage of seats the Russians are vacating as a cost-saving measure. Roscosmos, the Russian state space corporation, announced in September it was reducing its crew on the ISS from three to two, starting in March and until the launch of a new laboratory module, expected some time in 2018.

At the time, Roscosmos had no firm plans to make use of the seats on Soyuz spacecraft freed up by the decision to reduce its crew, but suggested it would make the seats available to the other ISS partners. “We discussed with our partners to maybe use this free seat for them,” Igor Komarov, head of Roscosmos, said at the International Astronautical Congress in September. “We expect some interest from that side.”

Boeing gained access to the seats as part of an agreement with Energia to settle a legal dispute regarding Sea Launch. Boeing won a judgment of more than $320 million against Energia from a federal court in May 2016, but subsequent legal filings indicated that the two companies were negotiating a settlement.

“We got together with Energia and discussed what in-kind things that we could perhaps put on the table that might offset this debt,” John Elbon, vice president and general manager of space exploration at Boeing, said in a Jan. 17 interview. Part of the broader agreement between the two companies included rights to the Soyuz seats, but he said specific details of the settlement agreement between the companies were proprietary.

more at the link...

http://spacenews.com/nasa-considering-boeing-offer-for-additional-soyuz-seats/

NASA Solicitation: Procurement of Crew Transportation and Rescue Services From Boeing

Quote

Status Report From: NASA HQ
Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2017

GENERAL INFORMATION
Notice Type: Presolicitation
Posted Date: January 17, 2017
Response Date: Jan 27, 2017 4:30 pm Central
Archiving Policy: Manual Archive
Archive Date: -
Original Set Aside: N/A
Set Aside: N/A
Classification Code: 18 -- Space vehicles
NAICS Code: 336 -- Transportation Equipment Manufacturing/336414 -- Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing

Solicitation Number: NNJ17ZBG001L
Notice Type: Presolicitation
Synopsis: Added: Jan 17, 2017 8:00 am

NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, 77058-3696, Mail Code: BG

NASA is considering contracting with The Boeing Company (Boeing) for crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) on the Russian Soyuz vehicle. This transportation would be for one crewmember in the Fall of 2017 and one crewmember in the Spring of 2018.

NASA is considering purchasing these services from Boeing, without competition, because no other vehicles are currently capable of providing these services in Fall 2017 or Spring 2018. NASA has contracts with two U.S. commercial companies for crew transportation to the ISS. However, these vehicles are still in the developmental stage, and not expected to begin fully operational flights to the ISS until 2019. NASA also is considering an option to acquire crew transportation from Boeing for three crewmembers on the Soyuz in 2019, to ensure the availability of back-up transportation capability in the event the U.S. commercial contractor vehicles are delayed or to augment future ISS operations and research.

NASA is issuing this synopsis in order to provide notice of the Agency's requirements and to determine whether any other potential sources have the current capability to provide these crew transportation services in the needed timeframes. Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to provide the crew transportation services described below. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. The determination of whether or not to acquire these services without competition is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Submissions must be provided in writing to the identified point of contact not later than 4:30 p.m. local time on January 27, 2017. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. The Government intends to acquire the described services as a commercial item using FAR Part 12.

more at the link...

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=49783

Just extra "cushion seats" for Commercial Crew delay...via commercial debt transaction between Boeing and Energia for the Sea Launch payments in question. Seats will then be sold, at debt value, to NASA for a cushion.

Nothing new, just a creative way of balancing a debt. One note is the inclusion of the planned 4th seat for scientific duties, which commercial crew will be doing anyway.

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

Mont Blanc Viewed From Orbit

homas PesquetL Europe's roof - Mont Blanc! I was lucky enough to climb it one summer in the best company. ESA/NASA

http://spaceref.com/onorbit/mont-blanc-viewed-from-orbit.html

38,279 · January 18, 2017

So,

CCtCap is late for financial, progress and late-add requirements reasons. It's too late to order new Soyuz seats, this takes 2 years, putting NASA in a pinch.

Boeing is owed $$ from RSC Energia (Russia) because of the failed SeaLaunch partnership. Russia settles by giving Boeing 5 seats on existing Soyuz flights.

Boeing sells 2 of them them to NASA.

Possibility: Boeing astronauts use some of the remaining rides for training before Starliner flies.

Which is revealed by a new Procurement

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d4bd5c52373053a6dfb6acd03398978c&tab=core&_cview=0

PROCUREMENT OF CREW TRANSPORTATION AND RESCUE SERVICES FROM BOEING

Solicitation Number: NNJ17ZBG001L(m
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Office: Johnson Space Center

NASA is considering contracting with The Boeing Company (Boeing) for crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) on the Russian Soyuz vehicle. This transportation would be for one crewmember in the Fall of 2017 and one crewmember in the Spring of 2018. NASA is considering purchasing these services from Boeing, without competition, because no other vehicles are currently capable of providing these services in Fall 2017 or Spring 2018. NASA has contracts with two U.S. commercial companies for crew transportation to the ISS. However, these vehicles are still in the developmental stage, and not expected to begin fully operational flights to the ISS until 2019. NASA also is considering an option to acquire crew transportation from Boeing for three crewmembers on the Soyuz in 2019, to ensure the availability of back-up transportation capability in the event the U.S. commercial contractor vehicles are delayed or to augment future ISS operations and research.
>
>
An agreement was recently reached between the Boeing Company and S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Public Corporation, Energia ("RSC Energia"), who is the manufacturer of the Soyuz spacecraft and has the legal rights to sell the seats and associated services. As a part of this agreement, Energia agreed to provide to Boeing two specifically identified seats on the Soyuz spacecraft for long-duration travel to and from the ISS, one on a flight to occur in the Fall 2017 timeframe and another on a flight to occur in the Spring 2018 timeframe. Additionally, Energia provided Boeing three additional specifically identified seats in the Spring 2019 timeframe on two Soyuz spacecraft. Finally, Boeing and RSC Energia agreed that each of these five seats will include a launch of an individual to and from the ISS, including all services normally provided during launches to ISS. Boeing and RSC Energia have represented that Boeing has the full rights to these seats and can sell them to any third party.
>
>
Since both U.S. commercial contractors' vehicles are still in the developmental stage, and not expected to begin fully operational flights to the ISS until 2019, the Russian Soyuz is currently the only vehicle capable of meeting the Government's needs in the required timeframes. As stated above, Boeing has obtained the exclusive ownership rights to these particular Soyuz seats and ancillary services during the stated time periods. The option for these Soyuz services in the Spring of 2019 time frame may be utilized as a primary or backup transportation capability to ensure proper launch cadence with no gaps in crew rotation transportation, or to augment future ISS operations and research. However, after U.S. commercial entities are fully operational and able to fulfill crew transportation requirements, the U.S. commercial vehicles will be NASA's primary transportation source to ISS.

6,181 · January 18, 2017

Some days it's like........

:woot:

6,181 · January 19, 2017

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 17 January 2017

nasa_iss_on_orbit_status_report_011717_9

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet completed his first spacewalk last Friday together with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough to complete a battery upgrade to the outpost’s power system. Thomas is seen here at the external pallet of Japan’s HTV-6 supply ship retrieving battery adapters to install closer to the Station’s solar arrays. Thomas commented on the picture: “I was holding on carefully to the International Space Station: I grew attached to it.” Credit: ESA.

Quote

Today: Extra-vehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Loop Scrub: Today, the crew configured EMUs 3006 and 3008 for loop scrubbing following last week's EVA.

They initiated ionic and particulate filtration (scrubbing) and conducted biocidal maintenance (iodination) on the suit and Airlock cooling water loops. Samples of the coolant water will be obtained before and after the loop scrub activity to determine the effectiveness of the filtering. A portion of the water sample was utilized for a conductivity test and the remaining water will be sent to the ground for chemical analysis.

Ultra-High Definition (UHD) Camera Test: The crew setup, configured and performed a test with the UHD camera. The first 4K live downlink event using the 4K Encoder is currently planned for 01- February. This equipment was delivered to the ISS on HTV-6, and allows real time streaming of 4K UHD video.

Quote

Water Monitoring Suite: In coordination with regular Environmental Health System (EHS) water sampling, the crew performed the Microbial Monitoring System (MMS) portion of the WMS experiment. By using the same water collected for the EHS sample, ground teams can evaluate the capabilities of the new hardware. The crew configured the hardware to sample a low and high DNA concentration sample using the Razor Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Microbial Monitoring System. The WMS is a set of hardware that monitors microbes, silica and organic material in the water supply on the ISS. The hardware ensures crew members can test and monitor the safety of their water supplies on future space missions, especially on long-duration missions to Mars, asteroids or other destinations where Earth-based testing would be difficult or impossible.

Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) Troubleshooting Tool Build: The crew constructed three tools which will be used to identify and manipulate a disengaged fastener on the CIR Chamber Insert Assembly (CIA) Shroud Plate(s). One tool was constructed from Coldplate/Wireway cover Teflon sheets to identify and hook a suspected disengaged fastener on the CIR CIA Shroud Plate. Another tool was constructed from aluminum plates to be used as a guide to allow the disengaged fastener to travel over the window segment of the CIR Combustion Chamber. The last tool was constructed from Teflon and used to guide the other tools into position. The troubleshooting tasks to use these tools is schedule for Wednesday.

H-II Transfer Vehicle 6 (HTV) Cargo Operations: Yesterday the crew completed 5 hours and 30 minutes of loading trash onto the HTV vehicle. Ground specialist estimate the crew will need another 3 hours and 30 minutes of cargo operations to complete the vehicle loading. HTV is scheduled to unberth from the ISS on Friday 27-January-2017.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
EMU Scrub Monitoring
SM Refueling Operations

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 01/18: ELF Holder Removal, J-SSOD Removal, Fluid Shifts, ARED Sensor Cal, MDCA CIA T/S
Thursday, 01/19: N2 VAP Install, Fluid Shifts, MAGVector, Story Time Heat Transfer Demo, SABL Removal, HRF2 Resupply
Friday, 01/20: ER-7 IPEHG Install, EXT MDM Checkout, CDRA Troubleshooting Cable Install, ELF Sample Install

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:
Component - Status
Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-17-january-2017.html

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

Crew Switches to Human Research after Spacewalks

European astronaut Thomas Pesquet inserts a locker into a science freezer. The locker holds scientific samples for stowage and later analysis. ESA/NASA

Quote

Following a successful pair of spacewalks, the Expedition 50 crew has switched gears and is moving full-speed ahead with advanced space research. The orbital residents checked out science gear and studied the impacts of living in space.

European astronaut Thomas Pesquet repressed the Japanese Kibo lab module airlock after a small satellite deployer shot a set of tiny satellites, or CubeSats, into Earth orbit on Monday. The variety of CubeSats will test new spacecraft deorbiting and propulsion technologies and be used for communication purposes.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson joined veteran cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Oleg Novitskiy for the ongoing Fluid Shifts study and collected blood, urine and saliva samples. The human research experiment seeks to investigate vision and eye damage some astronauts have reported after their space missions.

Commander Shane Kimbrough worked on combustion science gear troubleshooting a pair of devices that explore flames and high temperatures in space. Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov worked inside a docked Soyuz spacecraft recharging computer batteries.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/01/18/crew-switches-to-human-research-after-spacewalks/

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

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

Progress MS-04 failure investigation ends

Quote

On Jan. 11, 2017, the investigation commission chaired by Director General of the Roskosmos State Corporation Igor Komarov reviewed the results of the investigative work into the Progress MS-04 accident.

According to Roskosmos, the accident led to the unplanned separation between the third stage of the launch vehicle and the spacecraft. Members of the commission established that the most probable cause of the accident had been the disintegration of the oxidizer tank of the third stage as a result of the failure of the 11D55 engine, following the fire and disintegration of its oxidizer pump, Roskosmos said. The fire in the pump and its disintegration could be triggered by a possible injection of the foreign particles into the pump's cavity or by violations during the assembly of the 11D55 engine, such as a wrong clearance between the pump's shaft and its attachment sleeve, floating rings and impellers, leading to a possible loss of balance and vibration of the rotor.

The fault, which has a production nature, manifested itself during the flight, Roskosmos said. The State Corporation promised to prepare a plan of immediate action at enterprises of the the rocket industry to ensure the safe launch of the Progress MS-05 spacecraft, Roskosmos announced.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/progress-ms-04.html#conclusion

Soyuz MS-04 Details

Quote

On Jan. 16, 2017, Roskosmos announced that the vehicle with a production number 735 would be used for the Soyuz MS-04 mission, instead of previous plans to fly Vehicle No. 734. Roskosmos said that the swap was not due to "technical reasons," but in reality, it was caused by a leakage discovered in the thermal control system, SOTR, of Vehicle No. 734. As a result, the launch of the Soyuz MS-04 mission had to be postponed from March 27 until April 20, 2017, at the earliest, depending on the readiness of Vehicle No. 735. The subsequent mission of the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft also had to be delayed from May 29 until around July 28, 2017.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/2017.html#soyuzms04

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

Nador, Morocco January 3, 2017

The Moroccan city of Nador is sheltered from the Mediterranean by Mar Chica, a sandy saltwater lagoon. Mar Chica has a shallow maximum depth—only eight meters—allowing us to see the ebb and flow of tides clearly from space. Planet.com

https://www.planet.com/gallery/nador-20170103/

13,544 · January 19, 2017

On 1/18/2017 at 5:35 AM, DocM said:

Boeing is owed $$ from RSC Energia (Russia) because of the failed SeaLaunch partnership. Russia settles by giving Boeing 5 seats on existing Soyuz flights.

The U.S. slaps sanctions on Russia for various reasons, but we continue to do business with them in space as if nothing has happened.

Such is the nature of the Russian magnanimous soul

Spoiler

Although Rogozin did suggest on at least one occasion that they use a trampoline instead

4,806 · January 19, 2017

It's the politics of the past sixteen years -- which are going to change massively in a few days. We're going from "misguided, self-righteous & self-deluded with our ears plugged" saying 'lalalalalala" to "confer with everybody, and then let's fix this crap quickly and responsibly in a way that's best for everyone involved" in one day. :yes:

13,544 · January 19, 2017

28 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

It's the politics of the past sixteen years

You've pinpointed the years quite well.

After offering Bush to use the Russian air transit corridors for the U.S. Afghan mission post 9/11, that helped ease the burden by realizing the fuel cost savings, Putin in return got the non-cooperation on Chechnya (despite Bush's pledges to fight the terrorism), the civil unrests and the provocations right on the Russian borders (the Ukraine 2004, Georgia 2006), and the expansion of NATO.

13,721 · January 19, 2017

1 hour ago, Mirumir said:

You've pinpointed the years quite well.

After offering Bush to use the Russian air transit corridors for the U.S. Afghan mission post 9/11, that helped ease the burden by realizing the fuel cost savings, Putin in return got the non-cooperation on Chechnya (despite Bush's pledges to fight the terrorism), the civil unrests and the provocations right on the Russian borders (the Ukraine 2004, Georgia 2006), and the expansion of NATO.

Is there a need for this rhetoric here? Your post has nothing to do with the ISS ... a place where Nations come together (regardless of their differences on land) and conduct science for the betterment of Earth.

6,493 · January 19, 2017

1 hour ago, Mirumir said:

You've pinpointed the years quite well.

After offering Bush to use the Russian air transit corridors for the U.S. Afghan mission post 9/11, that helped ease the burden by realizing the fuel cost savings, Putin in return got the non-cooperation on Chechnya (despite Bush's pledges to fight the terrorism), the civil unrests and the provocations right on the Russian borders (the Ukraine 2004, Georgia 2006), and the expansion of NATO.

Hi I think you've got the wrong thread.

Back on topic, did the latest power upgrade go ok?

4,806 · January 20, 2017

It's more of a dialogue that cooperation on the ISS is going to be much more smooth and direct now. That's what @Mirumir and I were getting at once US/Russian relations are finally improved under the new Administration.

4,806 · January 20, 2017

@John. yeah, the upgrade went fine. I think there was one stuck bolt that the Astronauts had a hard time with, but it got sorted out and things went fine afterwards.

6,181 · January 21, 2017

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 January 2017

Quote

Following a successful pair of spacewalks, the Expedition 50 crew has switched gears and is moving full-speed ahead with advanced space research. The orbital residents checked out science gear and studied the impacts of living in space.

European astronaut Thomas Pesquet repressed the Japanese Kibo lab module airlock after a small satellite deployer shot a set of tiny satellites, or CubeSats, into Earth orbit on Monday. The variety of CubeSats will test new spacecraft deorbiting and propulsion technologies and be used for communication purposes.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson joined veteran cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Oleg Novitskiy for the ongoing Fluid Shifts study and collected blood, urine and saliva samples. The human research experiment seeks to investigate vision and eye damage some astronauts have reported after their space missions.

Commander Shane Kimbrough worked on combustion science gear troubleshooting a pair of devices that explore flames and high temperatures in space. Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov worked inside a docked Soyuz spacecraft recharging computer batteries.

Quote

Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-6 (J-SSOD6) Removal: Following the successful deployments on Monday, the crew repressed the JEM Airlock (JEMAL) then extended the Slide Table into the cabin to remove the deployers from the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP). The next use of the JEMAL is the High Definition Television External Facility-2 (HDTV-EF2), a high-definition television camera system, which is used for earth observation from the ISS and will be installed on the JEM-EF.

Improved Payload Ethernet Hub Gateway (iPEHG) Procedure Review: The crew reviewed procedures for installing an iPEHG into Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station (ExPRESS) Rack-7 (ER-7) on Friday. Following the review, the crew participated in a conference with the ExPRESS Rack Ops Lead to address any questions. The iPEHG is a component of the ISS's Joint Station Local Area Network (JSL) and provides switched Ethernet full-duplex network data communication between International Standard Payload Racks (ISPR) devices, ExPRESS Rack devices, the JSL Edge Routers (ER), and a fiber optic High Rate Data Link (HRDL) Gateway to the High Rate Communications System (HRCS).

Solid State Lighting Assembly (SSLA) Installation: Today, the crew installed SSLAs into the Node 1 Overhead Port and Overhead Starboard locations. This was a Task List activity. The SSLAs were designed to replace General Luminaire Assemblies (GLAs) to improve visual acuity and to provide a crew health countermeasure for circadian rhythms, sleep, alertness and performance. To accomplish these goals, SSLAs are designed to operate in 3 modes with 3 distinct spectrum. The different spectrum provide control of the blue portion of the light which impacts melatonin production in humans which impacts sleep.

CLPA (Camera Light Pan Tilt Assembly) Install on Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS): Last Friday, the CLPA checkout was nominal on the Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly (MTRA), but a trip indication was observed when attempting to power on the light. Teams have resolved the camera can be installed on the SSRMS with the faulty light. Later this evening, the plan is to inspect the CLPA, inspect the MTRA, perform additional troubleshooting, and install the CLPA on the SSRMS end B. During the inspections, the 72-pin connector will be inspected by the SSRMS camera at close range for damage. If damage is seen to the connector, the CLPA will be reinstalled to the MTRA instead of the SSRMS end B.

Source (long address)

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NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 19 January 2017

Quote

The Expedition 50 crew is continuing its investigation into vision changes and eye damage some astronauts have experienced after long-term missions in space.

Living in the microgravity environment causes a headward fluid shift that may be causing pressure behind astronauts' eyes resulting in visual and physical changes.

Two cosmonauts, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, and European astronaut Thomas Pesquet explored a possible solution to the upward fluid pressure. Borisenko donned the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) suit which pulls fluids down towards the feet. Ryzhikov and Pesquet then used an ultrasound scan and performed eye checks on Borisenko to determine the effectiveness of the LBNP suit.

On the station maintenance front, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson installed vacuum access ports in the Harmony module. Commander Shane Kimbrough connected gas and water umbilical hoses in the Columbus lab module. He also updated supplies for the Human Research Facility that enables scientists to learn how astronauts adapt to living in space.

Quote

Vacuum Access Port (VAP) Installation and Leak Check: Today, the crew installed a VAP in Node 2 from the LAB Vent Relief Valve to provide vacuum access capability for Visiting Vehicles berthed to Node 2 Nadir after PMA3 is relocated to Node 2 Zenith. Once installed, the VAP and lines were depressed and a leak check started to verify their integrity. The VAP Mod Kit consists of a Vacuum Access Port, Vacuum Hoses, and Vacuum Access Port Adapters to support vacuum through LAB Vent Relief Valve.

Aquapad Analysis: The crew performed an inspection and analysis of water samples collected on Tuesday. This is the third session of Aquapad collection and analysis, where the crew first verified colony growth and condensation levels on each of the Aquapad Containment Boxes then using the EveryWear application, the crew took pictures of the Containment Box for ground analysis. Aquapad is a new approach developed by France's CNES space agency: paper impregnated with powdered growth medium creates a 3D petri dish. When water is added, the microbes form colored spots revealing their locations. Using a tablet computer application the crew will photograph the dots to calculate precisely how many bacteria are present.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Arm2, grasped the SPDM Enhanced Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP), and rotated it in preparation SPDM stow. They then maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to remove the spare Camera, Light, Pan/Tilt Unit (PTU) Assembly (CLPA) installed on the Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly (MTRA) during USOS EVA 39 on Friday 13-January. After it was verified by video survey that the electrical connectors on both the MTRA and the CLPA appeared nominal, the Robotics Ground Controllers installed the CLPA on the SSRMS End B Boom. Upon powering up the SSRMS End B Video Distribution Unit (VDU) a CLPA Light electrical circuit trip message was received, same message was seen last Friday during the initial powerup. Finally the Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the SSRMS and SPDM to a park position. A CLPA checkout was completed, and as expected the CLPA Light did not work but the Camera functioned nominally.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
MSS Powerup Troubleshooting
VHF Emergency Comm Checkout

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Friday, 01/20: ER-7 IPEHG Install, EXT MDM Checkout, CDRA Troubleshooting Cable Install, ELF Sample Install
Saturday, 01/21: Weekly Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty
Sunday, 01/22: Crew Off Duty

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:
Component - Status
Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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

Source (long address)

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

NASA ISS Space to Ground Report - 20 January 2017

Quote

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

Space to Ground: Satellites Away!: 01/20/2017

video is 2:05 min.

http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-iss-space-to-ground-report---20-january-2017.html

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

Astronauts Improving Space Science Productivity

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet poses with a photo of several of his European astronaut predecessors taken aboard the International Space Station.

Quote

The International Space Station residents are wrapping up their work week today installing and checking science communications gear. The Expedition 50 crew is also continuing to explore how long-term space flight affects eyesight.

Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet worked on increasing the operations and communication capabilities of science gear. The duo worked on separate devices to improve data transfers between different science racks allowing more research to be conducted on orbit.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson joined cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Andrey Borisenko for ongoing research into eye damage and vision changes that may be caused by living in space. A possible solution to the upward fluid pressure that may harm an astronaut’s eyes is the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) suit

Whitson donned the suit today which pulls fluids down towards the feet to offset the headward flow. Novitskiy and Borisenko used an ultrasound scan and performed eye checks on Whitson to determine the effectiveness of the suit.

http://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/01/20/astronauts-improving-space-science-productivity/

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

Cubesats Deployed From the International Space Station

Cubesats NASA

Quote

Thomas Pesquet: So cool to watch these micro satellites fly in formation above Earth on Tuesday. Peggy took fantastic shots, and Shane some great videos.

It was a team effort, but crowded in the Cupola ;). Our satellite deployer is installed at the end of the Japanese robotic arm. I installed the deployer with the satellites and transferred it outside via the Japanese Kibo mini-airlock three weeks ago. The Japanese robotic arm was operated from ground control to grab the deployer with the robotic arm and deployed for launch. As the satellites are so small (generally a cube of 10 cms) there were quite a few and many student projects and tests of new technology. We launched Freedom to demonstrate a way of de-orbiting satellites to clean up space junk, the WASEDA-SAT3 that is testing super-light satellite structures amongst other things, the ITF-2 satelite for amateur radio, a larger satellite called EGG that demonstrates unfolding of a toroidal infallible structure for aeroshells and the AOBA-Velox-III to demonstrate a satellite propulsion system that uses pulsed plasma thrusters.

http://spaceref.com/onorbit/cubesats-deployed-from-the-international-space-station.html

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

ESA Astronaut Christer Fuglesang Will Teach Online Course on Human Spaceflight

Quote

Christer Fuglesang, a veteran of five spacewalks and a professor of particle physics, will present a five-week online course on human spaceflight beginning on 23 January.

The course is available to all to follow on aspects of human spaceflight such as the environmental, medical and technical challenges of space travel, offering a broad overview of spaceflight from research to social and political aspects and looking to the future.

Christer says: "Human spaceflight is extremely inspiring and involves much more than the few lucky astronauts who go to space.

"Enrol now if you are curious about spaceflight or want a better understanding of the subject."

The course is offered for free online with weekly tests and a final exam. A certified diploma is available if you pass the tests for a fee.

The course is offered by the Swedish KTH Royal Institute of Technology in collaboration with ESA.

Christer earned a PhD from Stockholm University in 1987 in particle physics and worked at CERN from 1988 to 1991.

He flew on two missions with the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station in 2006 and 2009, participating in five spacewalks.

Between 2010 and 2013 he was the Head of the Science and Applications Division of ESA's Human Spaceflight directorate.

video and "signup" at the link.....cool!

http://spaceref.com/nasa-hack-space/esa-astronaut-christer-fuglesang-will-teach-online-course-on-human-spaceflight.html

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

Space Station Flies In The Face Of The Moon - Skywatching Video

video is 1:03 min.

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

NASA Opens Media Accreditation for Next SpaceX Space Station Cargo Launch

Quote

Media accreditation now is open for launch of the next SpaceX commercial cargo resupply services mission to the International Space Station, currently targeted for no earlier than February.

The uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The exact launch date and time still are under review.

Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at Kennedy. Credentialing deadlines are as follows:

International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m. EST Sunday, Jan. 22.
U.S. media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.

more at the link...

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-opens-media-accreditation-for-next-spacex-space-station-cargo-launch

NASA Hosts News Conference, Interviews with Next Space Station Crew

Quote

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, who are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in late spring, will participate in a news conference at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The news conference will air live on NASA Television and stream on the agency’s website.

This will be Bresnik’s second trip to the space station, the second expedition for Ryazanskiy, and Nespoli’s third trip to the space station. They will be part of Expeditions 52 and 53.

Media who wish to participate by telephone should call Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 1:45 p.m. Those following the briefing on social media can ask questions using the hashtag #askNASA.

After the news conference, interview opportunities are available with all crew members, in person or by phone. To request credentials to attend in person, or to reserve an interview opportunity, media must contact Johnson's newsroom by 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23. The deadline for international media accreditation has passed.

more at the link...

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-hosts-news-conference-interviews-with-next-space-station-crew

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

Pangane, Mozambique January 3, 2017

In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, the fishing village of Pangane juts into the Indian ocean. Small islands, sandbars, and mangrove forests dot the province’s tropical coastline. Planet.com

https://www.planet.com/gallery/key-west-20170103/

6,181 · January 22, 2017

Bits and Bytes...

From School to Space: Satellite Built by Brazilian Students Launched in Orbit

students-brazil-tancredo-1-satellite-lg.

he students have essentially proven that they can accomplish amazing things if given a chance, along with proper guidance and training of course, as all of the people involved in the project were tutored at the National Space Research Institute.

Quote

A satellite built by students of a Brazilian middle school was launched into space from aboard the International Space Station on Monday, January 16.

The Tancredo-1 satellite, developed by the students of Tancredo de Almeida Neves Municipal School in the city of Ubatuba, measures only 13 centimeters in diameter and weighs about 700 grams.

Launched into orbit about 400 kilometers above the Earth, the satellite will help study how plasma forms in the atmosphere.

Candido Moura, the teacher in charge of the project, told Sputnik Brazil that he came up with this idea in 2010 after reading an article in a science magazine about a US company offering to launch satellites in space.

He and his students managed to build the satellite by 2013, but the company they contracted said it wasn't ready to carry out the launch, prompting Moura to seek help at the Brazilian Space Agency, which was impressed by their ambitions.

"We had to remake the entire satellite because the ISS, which agreed to carry out the launch, has much more strict safety regulations than most carrier rockets.

"The process was done in several stages. First a carrier rocket was launched to the ISS; the whole flight took 5 minutes. Then it spent 3 days docking with the ISS, and only after that the satellite was launched in space. Tancredo-1 will remain in orbit for 4 months," Moura said.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/From_School_to_Space_Satellite_Built_by_Brazilian_Students_Launched_in_Orbit_999.html

All smiles...excellent!

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

Crew Studies How Space Affects Eyesight

Quote

The Expedition 50 crew is continuing its investigation into vision changes and eye damage some astronauts have experienced after long-term missions in space. Living in the microgravity environment causes a headward fluid shift that may be causing pressure behind astronauts’ eyes resulting in visual and physical changes.

Two cosmonauts, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, and European astronaut Thomas Pesquet explored a possible solution to the upward fluid pressure. Borisenko donned the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) suit which pulls fluids down towards the feet. Ryzhikov and Pesquet then used an ultrasound scan and performed eye checks on Borisenko to determine the effectiveness of the LBNP suit.

On the station maintenance front, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson installed vacuum access ports in the Harmony module. Commander Shane Kimbrough connected gas and water umbilical hoses in the Columbus lab module. He also updated supplies for the Human Research Facility that enables scientists to learn how astronauts adapt to living in space.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/01/19/crew-studies-how-space-affects-eyesight/

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

Cabbage Now on Astronaut’s Menu

Quote

Astronaut Peggy Whitson will initiate the next round of crops to be grown aboard the International Space Station today. For the first time, a Chinese cabbage variety named Tokyo Bekana will be grown in space. The cabbage was chosen as a good candidate because it is a quick growing leafy green that is rated highly from a nutritional and taste perspective. Whitson will act as the on-orbit gardener, tending to the cabbage for about a month.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2017/01/20/cabbage-now-on-astronauts-menu/

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

Next Cygnus Mission to Station Set for March

Quote

Orbital ATK has completed a significant mission milestone for NASA's next International Space Station cargo mission.

The Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) of the Cygnus spacecraft has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for processing and assembly before launch. The OA-7 mission is targeted to launch on Thursday, March 16 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Orbital ATK will launch Cygnus atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket for delivery of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The 30 minute launch window opens at 12:29am EDT.

OA-7 will mark Orbital ATK's seventh cargo delivery mission for NASA under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) -1 contract.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Next_Cygnus_Mission_to_Station_Set_for_March_999.html

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

SAGE III to provide highly accurate measurements of atmospheric gases

Quote

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon get a new tool to investigate the Earth’s upper atmosphere. This device will be capable of conducting highly accurate measurements of aerosols and gaseous constituents in the stratosphere and troposphere.

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) will study ozone, aerosols, water vapor, and other atmospheric gases to help provide a better understanding of the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment.

SAGE III was initially planned to be launched to the ISS aboard SpaceX‘s Dragon cargo craft in November 2016 atop a Falcon 9 launcher. The mission, designated CRS-10, will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s (CCAFS) Space Launch Complex 40.

However, it was postponed several times and is currently targeted to fly on Feb. 8, 2017, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. The delays were forced by the Sept. 1 explosion at SLC-40 when another Falcon 9 rocket was destroyed during a pre-launch static fire test.

After arrival at the ISS, SAGE III will be mounted externally on the station on the Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station (ExPRESS) Pallet Adapter (ExPA) to the Express Logistic Carrier (ELC). The instrument will orbit between 239 and 257 miles (385 and 415 kilometers) above Earth’s surface at a 51.6-degree inclination with nearly a three-day repeat cycle. The station’s orbit is expected to help maximize the scientific value of SAGE III’s observations while proving that atmospheric science instruments do have a place on the orbiting laboratory.

To fulfill its scientific goals SAGE III is equipped with a total mass of about 1,162 pounds (527 kilograms) of tools. Its most important payload is considered to be the Sensor Assembly (SA) instrument—a grating spectrometer that measures ultraviolet and visible light and has a two-axis pointing system. SA contains the Charge Coupled Device (CCD) array detector that enhances measurement capability and may allow for new experimental data products like methane, bromine monoxide, and iodine monoxide, as well as measure larger aerosols.

SAGE III is also fitted with the Interface Adapter Module (IAM), the Disturbance Monitoring Package (DMP), the Hexapod Pointing System (Hexapod Electronics Unit and Hexapod Mechanical Assembly), and the Instrument Control Electronics box. IAM is perceived as the “brain” of the instrument payload, providing power and computing to the payload and acting as the interface between the instrument and the station. DMP is a miniature inertial measurement unit that will measure all of the small motions from the ISS, while the Hexapod Pointing System will act as the “legs” of the payload, which keep the instrument level in orbit.

The main scientific objective of the SAGE III mission will be obtaining high quality, global measurements of key components of Earth’s atmosphere. In particular, the instrument will assess the state of recovery in the distribution of ozone and will re-establish the aerosol measurements needed by both climate and ozone models. The mission is expected to gain further insight into key processes contributing to ozone and aerosol variability.

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/iss/sage-iii-provide-highly-accurate-measurements-atmospheric-gases/

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/sage-iii-to-look-back-at-earths-atmospheric-sunscreen

Ozone Monitoring SAGE III Set to Launch on SpaceX CRS-10

video is 3:25 min.

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

Quote

This year, it plans to send into orbit a new module of the ISS - "Science." This will be the fifth module of the Russian segment of the station.

2017: Work restarts on the MLM module

Quote

In a rare good news for the Russian segment of the ISS, the work on the MLM module had finally restarted by the end of 2016. This time, the MLM team had a goal of launching the spacecraft in December 2017, even though, it could require to cut the time originally allocated for the spacecraft testing.

As of January 2017, the launch of the MLM module was scheduled for December 6 of the same year, followed by the docking at the ISS on Dec. 15, 2017. To free the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port on the Zvezda Service Module, SM, for the new arrival, the Progress MS-06 cargo ship will undock from the Russian segment along with the Pirs Docking Compartment, SO1, which has occupied that location since 2001. The Pirs module will then be deorbited and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean along with Progress MS-06.

Following the integration of the MLM module, on Jan. 23, 2018, the Soyuz MS-06 transport spacecraft will undock from the zenith (sky-facing) port of the MIM2 Poisk module, make a quick fly around of the ISS and re-dock at the nadir port of the MLM, becoming the first spacecraft parking at the new module.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_fgb2.html#2017

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

Quote

# History : 39 years of the first flight, "truck", "Progress"http: // www. roscosmos.ru/23147/

History of space exploration. 39 years of the first flight "TRUCK" "PROGRESS"

Quote

01.20.2017 9:48
Exactly 39 years ago, on 20 January 1978, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch vehicle "Soyuz" with the first automatic transport cargo ship (THC) «Progress-1".

The first space "truck" drove the Soviet orbital station "Salyut-6" scientific equipment, life support crew and fuel components for propulsion. The weight of the ship at the time of the launch was 7020 kg, the weight of the goods delivered - 2300 kg.

After completion of the mission in the cargo hold units of equipment were stacked end-of life, household garbage and other waste. The ship was undocked from the station and sent in a short autonomous flight, which ended by reducing the orbit and flooding in the estimated point of the Pacific Ocean.

Structurally, "Progress-1" consisted of three compartments. Volume of cargo compartment sealed, equipped with a docking station, amounted to 6.6 m³. To reduce the time to unload all the goods of small size were placed in containers and large equipment and instruments are mounted on a special frame. Within four refueling components compartment with the fuel tank was installed, compressed air cylinders and nitrogen, sensors, detectors. On the outer surface of the "Progress-1" were installed antenna radio systems, optical devices, sensors, motors systems orientation and motion control, three light index and two television cameras.

When you create a "Progress-1" were widely used devices, parts and design elements of the "Soyuz" manned spacecraft, but in general it was a new spacecraft for other purposes.

Throughout its history, the transport cargo ship "Progress" have undergone many upgrades and today continue to be successfully used for the transport and logistics of the International Space Station.

Currently operated ships of the new series "Progress MS." These ships set unified command and telemetry system with optional telemetry channel. New command radio receives signals via relay satellites "Luch-5", so that the zone of radio visibility of the ships widened to 70% of the coil length. The ships are equipped with the modern on-board electronic system rendezvous and docking "Kurs-NA" and the digital television system. The structure of the onboard equipment of ships modification "Progress MS" entered a new digital back-up circuit control unit development RKK "Energy", an upgraded unit BDUS-3A angular velocity sensor and LED light Coffs.

Thanks to the new ground and airborne radio systems made possible the use of modern data transmission protocols, resulting in improved stability of the vehicle's control systems.

http://www.roscosmos.ru/23147/

6,181 · January 24, 2017

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 20 January 2017

nasa_iss_on_orbit_status_report_012017_9

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough is photographed during a spacewalk in January 2017. During the nearly six hour spacewalk, the two astronauts successfully installed three new adapter plates and hooked up electrical connections for three of the six new lithium-ion batteries on the International Space Station. Astronauts were also able to accomplish several get-ahead tasks including stowing padded shields from Node 3 outside of the station to make room inside the airlock and taking photos to document hardware for future spacewalks. Credit: NASA.

Quote

The International Space Station residents are wrapping up their work week today installing and checking science communications gear. The Expedition 50 crew is also continuing to explore how long-term space flight affects eyesight.

Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet worked on increasing the operations and communication capabilities of science gear. The duo worked on separate devices to improve data transfers between different science racks allowing more research to be conducted on orbit.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson joined cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Andrey Borisenko for ongoing research into eye damage and vision changes that may be caused by living in space. A possible solution to the upward fluid pressure that may harm an astronaut's eyes is the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) suit

Whitson donned the suit today which pulls fluids down towards the feet to offset the headward flow. Novitskiy and Borisenko used an ultrasound scan and performed eye checks on Whitson to determine the effectiveness of the suit.

Quote

Improved Payload Ethernet Hub Gateway (iPEHG) Installation: The crew installed an iPEHG into Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station (ExPRESS) Rack-7 (ER-7). The iPEHG is a component of the ISS's Joint Station Local Area Network (JSL) and provides switched Ethernet full-duplex network data communication between International Standard Payload Racks (ISPR) devices, ExPRESS Rack devices, the JSL Edge Routers (ER), and a fiber optic High Rate Data Link (HRDL) Gateway to the High Rate Communications System (HRCS). Ground activation and checkout was completed successfully.

External (EXT) Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) Checkout: Last week, the crew configured a new Enhanced Processor and Integrated Communications (EPIC) EXT MDM by removing two circuit cards from a donor MDM and installing them, plus an additional spare card, into the spare EXT MDM. The MDM Front Cover was then exchanged for an EXT MDM Ethernet Cover. Today, the crew used the MDM On Orbit Tester (MOOT) to perform a checkout of the new MDM configuration. EPIC MDMs feature faster processors, increased memory, and an Ethernet port for data output, allowing for the simultaneous operation of a greater number of experiments. The upgraded EXT MDM is scheduled to be installed during a future EVA.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Overnight, the Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to stow the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) on Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture 2 (PDGF2). Then the SSRMS was walked off MBS PDGF1 onto MBS PDGF3. In this configuration, with Latching End Effector B (LEE-B) as the Base LEE and LEE-A as the Tip LEE, troubleshooting was performed to help determine the cause of the Binary Data Transfer (BDT) errors received late last year during the HTV-6 Exposed Pallet (EP) extraction and transfer to the Payload ORU Accommodation (POA). The anomaly appears to be within the SSRMS and is present when LEE A is the tip and payload power is being applied while operating on Channel A. At the completion of the troubleshooting, the SSRMS was walked back off MBS PDGF3 onto MBS, the SPDM was unstowed and the SSRMS and SPDM were configured for the Mobile Transporter (MT) translation from Worksite 2 (WS2) to WS5, which was then completed this afternoon in preparation for HTV6 Operations.

Integrated Communications Unit (ICU) R3 Software Patch: The ground team uplinked and installed the ICU R3 Patch 3 utilizing the generic ICU Software Load Procedure, This software patch specifically updates the Real Time Flow (RTF) Single Board Computers (SBC) within the ICU to support the upcoming installation of the new Edge Router replacement next year. The software patch works with both the current Edge Router and it's replacement.

Quote

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
MT Worksite Translation (WS2 to WS5)

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Saturday, 01/21: Weekly Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty
Sunday, 01/22: Crew Off Duty
Monday, 01/23: CDRA Selector Valve R&R, MDCA Replace, Fluid Shifts

QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group:
Component - Status
Elektron - Off
Vozdukh - Manual
[СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off
[СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - Off
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Idle
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-20-january-2017.html

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

NASA TV to Broadcast Cargo Ship Departure from Space Station

Quote

Six weeks after delivering more than 4.5 tons of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station, an unpiloted Japanese cargo spacecraft is scheduled to depart the station Friday, Jan. 27. Live coverage of the departure will begin at 10 a.m. EST on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Ground controllers will use the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to unberth the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) H-II Transport Vehicle-6 (HTV-6) several hours before its release. Space station Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), with back-up support from Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA, will then command the station’s robotic arm to release HTV-6, loaded with station trash, at 10:30 a.m.

The cargo ship will move to a safe distance below and in front of the station for about a week’s worth of data gathering with a JAXA experiment designed to measure electromagnetic forces using a tether in low-Earth orbit. JAXA is scheduled to deorbit the craft around Feb. 5 and have it burn up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-tv-to-broadcast-cargo-ship-departure-from-space-station-0

Japan’s HTV-6 resupply ship is pictured attached to the Harmony module during robotics operations.

Japanese Cargo Ship Set to Leave Friday

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/01/23/japanese-cargo-ship-set-to-leave-friday/

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

Clouds Cast A Shadow Over Snowy Romanian Fields

Romanian Fields ESA/NASA

Quote

Thomas Pesquet: A veil of clouds creeps ominously over a snowy plain. Not a poem for Sunday, but a common sight over Earth!

http://spaceref.com/onorbit/clouds-cast-a-shadow-over-snowy-romanian-fields.html

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

Quote

In the Cosmonaut Training Center. YA Gagarin began training on actions after landing in the forest and marshland in winter.

Quote

# Quizzed at the cosmonaut Andrei Borisenko, and he responded. Create a new blog entry -http: // www. roscosmos.ru/23153/ .

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

Key West, Florida, USA January 3, 2017

The geometric, gridded streets of Key West contrast with the organic forms in the shallow sands surrounding the island. Planet.com

https://www.planet.com/gallery/key-west-20170103/

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