Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 3, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 3, 2017 NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 1 March 2017 - Station Orbit Boosted NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 1 March 2017 - Station Orbit Boosted. NASA Quote The International Space Station will boost its orbit Wednesday night to get ready for a crew swap next month. Three Expedition 50 crew members will complete their mission and a new two-person crew will launch to the station in April. Commander Shane Kimbrough and his crewmates Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will end their mission April 10 after 173 days in space. The trio will undock from the Poisk mini-research module in their Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft officially ending the Expedition 50 mission. The reboost also readies the station for the arrival of two new crew members who will arrive April 20. Veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, a first-time space flyer, will take a short four-orbit ride aboard the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft and dock to Poisk. The new Expedition 51 trio is scheduled to stay in space for 136 days. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will become Expedition 51 commander after Kimbrough and his crew undock. She is staying behind with fellow crewmates Thomas Pesquet from France and Oleg Novitskiy from Russia. They will stay in space until June 2 ending their mission after 195 days when they return home in their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft. Engineers on the ground switched from one pump to another in the thermal cooling system for one of the particle detectors on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), an experiment to study cosmic ray particle physics from the outside of the International Space Station. The silicon tracker is one of several detectors that collect data on cosmic particles and is equipped with four redundant pumps used to circulate carbon dioxide to maintain the required temperature in the changing thermal environment outside the station. A pump stopped functioning on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, and was the second to stop after a different pump experienced a similar issue in March, 2014. Only one pump is required to operate at a given time, and long-term planning is underway to potentially bypass the pumps and associated equipment with an upgraded system put in place during a series of spacewalks. AMS launched in 2011, and results have already contributed to science showing potential indirect evidence of dark matter and other new cosmic ray particle physics discoveries. Quote JAXA Freezer-Refrigerator Of STirling cycle (FROST) 2 Installation: The crew installed the second FROST in the JEM Pressurized Module (JPM). FROST was delivered over two flights, SpaceX-10 and HTV-6 and will deliver conditioned stowage capability. The next planned use of FROST2 is for the Moderate Temperature Protein Crystal Growth (MT PCG) experiment scheduled to fly on SpX-11. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Last night the Robotics Ground Controllers translated the Mobile Transporter (MT) from Worksite 7 (WS7) to WS6. The MSS was subsequently powered up and the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) were maneuvered to stow the SPDM on the Lab Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF). The SSRMS was then walked off Mobile Base System (MBS) PDGF4 onto the Node 2 PDGF and the SSRMS was maneuvered to unstow the SPDM. Finally SPDM Arm2 rotated the SPDM Enhanced Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP) thus completing the MSS reconfiguration required for the start of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) Instrument Panel (IP) extraction from the SpX-10 Dragon Trunk on 02 Mar 17. MSS performance was nominal. ISS Reboost: Overnight the ISS is scheduled to perform a reboost using the SM main engines at 3:10 GMT (21:10 CST). The purpose of the reboost is to set up the planned conditions for the upcoming landing of 48S on April 10th and launch of 50S on April 20th. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. 1A3 Battery Capacity Test N3 MCA Full Calibration Reboost Three-Day Look Ahead: Thursday, 03/02: CDRA R&R, EVA Loop Scrub/H2O Conductivity Test, EMU Swap, PM3 H/W Gather, N3 Endcone Cleanout Friday, 03/03: Node 2 Power Cable (HMU 220) Rerouting, PMA3 Ingress, ESA Energy, Node 3 IMV Valve Scavenge Saturday, 03/04: Weekly Housekeeping, MESC 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 - Startup Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-1-march-2017---station-orbit-boosted.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceref%2Fjext+(SpaceRef+-+Space+News+as+it+Happens) ------------------------ Station Lifts Orbit, Crew Explores Diet and Stem Cells (From left) Crewmates Thomas Pesquet, Oleg Novitskiy and Peggy Whitson just recently celebrated 100 days in space. The trio is scheduled to return to Earth June 2. Quote The International Space Station fired its engines Wednesday night slightly raising its orbit to accommodate a crew exchange in April. In the meantime, the six-person Expedition 50 crew continued learning how living in space affects the human body. The station’s third module, the Zvezda service module which launched in 2000, fired its main engines for 43 seconds overnight. The orbital reboost places the station at the correct altitude for the departure of three Expedition 50 crew members April 10. Just ten days later, two new space residents will arrive completing the Expedition 51 crew. Scientists are exploring the best nutrition requirements to keep astronauts healthy and productive during long-term space missions. Astronaut Thomas Pesquet is contributing to that research today beginning a prescribed diet for the next 11 days. During that period he will collect urine samples and measure his breathing for the Energy study. Results will help researchers plan meals to ensure successful missions farther out into space. Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, who will become station commander April 9, peered at stem cells through a specialized microscope on today. She is helping scientists understand how microgravity increases stem cell replication possibly improving disease treatments on Earth. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/02/station-lifts-orbit-crew-explores-diet-and-stem-cells/ --------------------- New Plant Habitat Will Increase Harvest on International Space Station Dr. Oscar Monje, a research scientist, pours a growing substrate called arcillite in the science carrier, or base, of the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) inside a laboratory at the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Developed by NASA and ORBITEC of Madison, Wisconsin, the APH is the largest plant chamber built for the agency. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White Quote A new, nearly self-sufficient plant growth system by NASA is headed to the International Space Station soon and will help researchers better understand how plants grow in space. The Advanced Plant Habitat will be used to conduct plant bioscience research on the space station, and help NASA prepare crew to grow their own food in space during deep-space exploration missions. Some of the components of this new system have arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and are being prepared for delivery to the station on Orbital ATK’s seventh commercial resupply mission to the station. The new plant system will join Veggie – NASA’s first fresh food growth system already active on station. Dr. Howard Levine, the project scientist overseeing the development of the advanced system, along with Dr. Gioia Massa, a life science project scientist and deputy project scientist, were two of the researchers who helped design the science requirements for the hardware and the test plan to validate it when it was tested at ORBITEC in Madison, Wisconsin. "A team of scientists here at Kennedy Space Center have been developing the procedures for the first experiment using a prototype, or engineering development unit, of the plant habitat in the Space Station Processing Facility," Levine said. Arabidopsis seeds, small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard, have been growing in the prototype habitat, and will be the first plant experiment, called PH-01, grown in the chamber aboard the space station. more at the link... https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-plant-habitat-will-increase-harvest-on-international-space-station ------------------------ Space Station Reboost, Possible USOS Crew Mission Extension & busy March Schedule Quote The International Space Station completed its first orbital reboost of 2017 Thursday morning to set up the proper orbital geometry for the landing of Soyuz MS-02 with three ISS residents and the launch of the MS-04 spacecraft in April. The scheduled maneuver was completed at 3:10 UTC, firing the engines of the Station’s Zvezda Service Module for 43 seconds to accelerate the Space Station by 0.65 meters per second. Thursday’s reboost lifted the Space Station from an orbit of 399.4 by 407.8 Kilometers to a 400.0 by 409.6-Kilometer orbit, according to tracking data provided through U.S. Space Surveillance assets. This reboost put ISS into an orbit taking 92.67 minutes for one lap around the Earth; it was the first boost of the Station’s orbit since early November 2016. The Space Station regularly completes reboost maneuvers to maintain its orbital altitude around 400 Kilometers, countering a gradual decline in speed due to drag in the outermost layers of Earth’s atmosphere. Reboost maneuvers are also used to set up phasing for visiting vehicle arrivals and departures, creating the orbital geometry needed for efficient rendezvous maneuvers, especially for the crewed Soyuz craft that employ a six-hour launch-to-docking profile requiring a precise phasing setup. Quote Thursday’s maneuver was performed to tweak the Station’s orbit and set up the proper track for the landing of Soyuz MS-02 on April 10, marking the homecoming of ISS Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko after 173 days in orbit. The maneuver also set up the orbital geometry required for the expedited rendezvous of Soyuz MS-04, gearing up for liftoff with veteran Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA Astronaut Jack Fischer on April 20 at 7:13 UTC followed by a six-hour link-up for an express docking to the Poisk Module – marking the first four-orbit mission of the new MS class vehicles. Soyuz MS-04 launches with a crew of two instead of the usual three crew members after Russia decided to reduce its crew aboard ISS from three permanent residents to a pair of Cosmonauts because the workload on the Russian Segment will not justify a crew complement of three, at least until the country’s flagship science module ‘Nauka’ can be launched. NASA, through a deal signed with Boeing, decided to take advantage of empty seats on the upcoming Soyuz MS-06 and MS-08 missions in September 2017 and March 2018 to temporarily increase the US Segment crew to four and gain an additional pair of hands for the busy scientific program aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA is also evaluating whether to take advantage of the empty seat on Soyuz MS-04 and move one of the Soyuz MS-03 crew members to the MS-04 spacecraft and extend their mission from a planned June homecoming to early September. The two crew members in question are veteran Astronaut Peggy Whitson who will assume the commander position for Expedition 51 and ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Russian sources have indicated that Roscosmos has given the all-clear to move one crew member from MS-03 to MS-04, but NASA has not yet committed to the mission extension. A switch in Soyuz spacecraft would require a simple swap of the crew member’s Kazbek seat liner that is custom fitted for each Soyuz passenger and built for easy transfer from one spacecraft to another. more at the link... http://spaceflight101.com/iss-expedition-50/space-station-reboost-busy-march-schedule/ ------------------------- Quote Today held a planned correction of the ISS orbit to form the ballistic conditions for running "MS-04 Soyuz" 20.04.2017. ---------------------------- 5 NASA Software Codes You Can Download – For Free! Quote One of the biggest steps of any mission starts right here on Earth at a computer desk – NASA runs on software, period. Rovers can’t move, spacecraft can’t fly, even rockets can’t blast off without the software codes that run them all. We’ve compiled hundreds of these powerful codes into one location at software.nasa.gov. And guess what? You can start downloading them right now for free! Here are just a few you can use: samples at the link... http://nasa.tumblr.com/post/157906081634/5-nasa-software-codes-you-can-download-for-free Software library Ebook Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 5, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 5, 2017 ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/02/2017 Quote Lab Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Maintenance: Yesterday the crew installed the newer generation beds, like those in Node 3 CDRA, into Lab CDRA. Today, the crew repaired the CDRA Valve Power Cable W9P12 by splicing in two new wire segments and performing a 120V power check of the connector prior to installing CDRA into the LAB AR Rack. Initial CDRA power and data checkout was nominal. The full Lab CDRA checkout is in work. Pressurized Mating Adaptor (PMA) 3 Ingress Prep: The crew is scheduled to ingress the PMA3 tomorrow morning. Today the crew reviewed the PMA3 ingress procedure and gathered required hardware for tomorrow’s activities. Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells (MESC) Microscope Operations: The crew removed a BioCell from the Space Automated Bioproduct Laboratory-2 (SABL2) and placed it on the microscope stage configured outside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). The crew worked with ground specialist to image areas of the BioCell plate. Following the focused imaging, the crew reinserted the BioCell back into the SABL. MESC will aid researches determine the efficiency of using a microgravity environment to accelerate expansion (replication) of stem cells for use in terrestrial clinical trials for treatment of disease. ISS Reboost: Last night the ISS performed a nominal reboost using the SM main engines, TIG 061/03:10 GMT burn duration 43 seconds. The reboost set up the planned conditions for the upcoming landing of 48S on 10-April and launch of 50S on 20-April 20. The 50S launch will utilize the 4-orbit rendezvous. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Robotics operations for Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) Instrument Panel (IP) extraction from the SpX-10 Dragon Trunk have begun. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Lab AR Rack Activation Lab CDRA Checkout SAGE IP Extract Three-Day Look Ahead: Friday, 03/03: Node 2 Power Cable (HMU 220) Rerouting, PMA3 Ingress, ESA Energy, Node 3 IMV Valve Scavenge Saturday, 03/04: Weekly Housekeeping, Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells (MESC) Session Sunday, 03/05: Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells (MESC) Session https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2017/03/02/iss-daily-summary-report-3022017/ -------------------------- Trio Surpasses 100 Days as Dragon Unloads Earth Science Astronaut Peggy Whitson shows off posters signed by hundreds of personnel who have supported her mission. Quote Three Expedition 50 crew members recently surpassed 100 days in space and will come home in June. Also, SpaceX Dragon external experiments are being unloaded for installation on the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson has been living in space with her Expedition 50 crewmates for over 100 days now. She and Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency and Oleg Novitskiy from Roscosmos will return to Earth June 2 after 197 days in space. The trio launched Nov. 17 beginning a two-day trip to the station. Whitson has reached out to her supporters on the ground and mentioned them with her “NASA Village” campaign from space. She launched to the station with posters signed by hundreds of support personnel and recently showed them off on orbit. Quote A pair of Earth observation experiments delivered last week on the SpaceX Dragon have been robotically removed from the resupply ship. Both experiments will be installed on specialized pallets on the outside of the orbital laboratory and activated for years of research. The first experiment, SAGE-III, will observe how tiny particles interact with Earth’s sunscreen, or ozone, possibly affecting the climate. The second, Lightning Image Sensor, will monitor lightning around the globe to improve weather forecasting, enhance climate models and increase aviation safety. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/03/trio-surpasses-100-days-as-dragon-unloads-earth-science/ --------------------------- NASA Highlights Science on Next Commercial Resupply Mission to International Space Station Quote Press Release From: NASA HQ Posted: Thursday, March 2, 2017 NASA will host a media teleconference at noon EST Monday, March 6, to discuss science investigations launching on the next Orbital ATK commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station. The briefing will stream live on NASA's website. Orbital ATK is targeting Sunday, March 19 for the launch of its Cygnus spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. A 30-minute launch window opens at 10:56 p.m. EDT. Participants in Monday's briefing are: Henry Martin, external payloads coordinator from NanoRacks in Houston, will discuss some of the 38 CubeSats scheduled to be deployed from the space station, including QB50, a group of CubeSats from 28 universities around the world. Howard Levine, project scientist at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will discuss an advanced plant habitat for studying plant physiology and growing fresh food in space. John Dec, principle investigator of the Red-Data 2 experiment at Terminal Velocity Aerospace in Atlanta, Georgia, will highlight a new type of recording device scheduled to ride along Cygnus as it reenters the Earth's atmosphere to provide data about the conditions the spacecraft encounters during atmospheric reentry. Glauco Souza, principal investigator, n3D Biosciences in Houston, will discuss how using magnetized cells and tools will improve the reproducibility of experiments in space. Sourav Sinha, principal investigator for ADCs in Microgravity at Oncolinx LLC in Boston, will discuss an antibody investigation to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs and reduce side effects. To participate in the teleconference, media must contact Cheryl Warner at 202-358-1100 or cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov by 10 a.m. Monday, for dial-in information. Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live online at: http://www.nasa.gov/live http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=50523 -------------------------- NASA Ames Research Center Viewed From Orbit NASA Ames Research Center NASA Quote Shane Kimbrough@astro_kimbrough .@NASAAmes looking great from @Space_Station - neighboring Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and a touch of San Jose California. http://spaceref.com/onorbit/nasa-ames-research-center-viewed-from-orbit.html ---------------------- ISS/Kibo Monthly News: January, 2017 Quote Exchange of ISS Batteries Removal and replacement of the ISS battery Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) delivered by KOUNOTORI6 were conducted from December 31 - January 14, 2017. There are 48 sets of nickel-hydrogen batteries currently used on the ISS, but given the approaching end of their service life, a new type of Japanese lithium-ion battery cell was adopted as the replacement. The new battery ORUs will provide sufficient power with only 24 battery ORUs. This time, nine of the 12 battery sets installed on the S4 truss were replaced by six new battery sets. The NASA ground team conducted removal and replacement operations by maneuvering the ISS robotic arm (Space Station Remote Manipulator System or SSRMS), followed by two Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) conducted by Astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson on January 6, and by Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet on January 13. An additional 18 battery ORUs will be delivered by the future HTV 7-9 missions to sustain prolonged operations of the ISS. Quote Preparation for the first combustion experiment in Kibo Preparations are ongoing for the group combustion experiment, for which Astronaut Onishi conducted assembly and verification while onboard the ISS. The Group Combustion Experiment Module (GCEM) is the device used to conduct the first Japanese combustion experiment in space on investigating the combustion mechanism of fuel droplet groups (gathering of fuel particles). When conducting combustion experiments on the ground, strong natural convection occurs due to the difference in temperature between the high-temperature flame and ambient air. On the ISS, detailed observation of combustion itself is possible because such convection does not occur in a microgravity environment. On January 16, in cooperation with the ground controllers, the air tightness and supply lines of nitrogen gas and air were verified in the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) in which the Chamber for Combustion Experiment (CCE) was installed aiming to begin the experiment in mid-February. Composition for the combustion experiment (Credit: JAXA) Quote Successful deployment of six CubeSats delivered by KOUNOTORI6 On January 16, 2017, from 6:10 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. (JST), during four deployment opportunities, a total of six microsatellites were successfully deployed into orbit from the Japanese Experiment Module ("Kibo"). The series of deployments was conducted in the following order: First: three 1U-sized CubeSats, each developed by the University of Tsukuba (ITF-2), Waseda University (WASEDA-SAT3), and Nakashimata Engineering Works, Ltd./Tohoku University (FREEDOM) Second: A 3U-sized CubeSat by the University of Tokyo (EGG) Third: A 2U-sized CubeSat co-developed by Kyushu Institute of Technology and Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (AOBA-Velox III) Last: A 3U-sized CubeSat, TuPOD (containing two microsatellites called TubeSats) co-developed by JAMSS/GAUSS/Tancred elementary school and INPE (Brazil)/OSN (U.S.) For the series of deployments, an upgraded JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) featuring deployment capacity of up to 12 microsatellites (12U) at one time was used for the first time. Given the dramatically increased demand for CubeSat deployment in the past few years, JAXA has upgraded the deployer to meet that demand. At the Tsukuba Space Center, the personnel involved in development of each CubeSat monitored and applauded the successful deployment. In Brazil, others involved in development monitored the deployment of TuPOD live via the Internet. JAXA will continue to offer CubeSat deployment opportunities using the mechanisms of Kibo. more at the link... http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/monthly/2017/1701.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter -------------------------- --------------------------------- NACA (history image) Patternmakers Workmen in the patternmakers' shop manufacture a wing skeleton for a Thomas-Morse MB-3 airplane for pressure distribution studies in flight. Image # : L-00184 Date: June 1, 1922 NASA image link, various image sizes available 25 years later, the sound barrier was broken on October 14, 1947, and 95 years later, SpaceX delivered CRS-10 to the ISS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 7, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 7, 2017 ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/03/2017 Quote Advanced Plant Experiments (APEX)-04 Photo: The crew retrieved an APEX-04 petri plate and photographed it on the Advanced Biology Research Facility (ABRS) photogrid. The picture will be downlinked for ground teams to evaluate the growth status. The APEX-04 (Epigenetic change in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to spaceflight – differential cytosine DNA methylation of plants on the ISS) experiment investigates how spaceflight can affect an organism on a molecular level without altering its outward appearance. Previous research has demonstrated that large numbers of plant genes are expressed differently in space compared to plants on Earth, which can alter how plants grow. This investigation studies the entire genome of thale cress plants grown in space, creating maps of spaceflight-specific changes in certain groups of genes. Results give new insight into plants’ molecular responses to spaceflight, which benefits efforts to grow plants in space for food and oxygen. Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 (PMA3) Ingress: The crew ingressed PMA3. They removed the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) Center Disk Cover to provide access to the vestibule areas. They then ingressed PMA3 and removed stowage which needs to be removed prior to the PMA3 relocation. The crew also scavenged the Node 3 Port Forward Intermodular Ventilation (IMV) Valve. There are no spare IMV Valves on orbit currently. Due to the PMA3 ingress and stowage relocation out of PMA3, the removal of this valve became much more feasible for access and crew time requirements. When the crew is complete with today’s PMA3 activities they will close the Node 3 Port Hatch. Over the next few weeks the crew will continue to prepare the PMA-3 to be relocated from Node 3 Port to Node 2 Zenith for its new job as an IDA docking port for ISS. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Overnight, the Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to extract the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) Instrument Panel (IP) from the SpX-10 Dragon Trunk. They then maneuvered the SPDM and SSRMS to install the SAGE IP on the SPDM Enhanced Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP). Finally the Robotics Ground Controllers rotated the SPDM EOTP and reconfigured the SPDM for the extraction of the SAGE Nadir Viewing Platform (NVP) from the Dragon Trunk. This afternoon, they extracted the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) Nadir Viewing Platform (NVP) from the SpX-10 Dragon Trunk. They then maneuvered the SPDM and SSRMS to remove the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) from the SPDM EOTP. Later today, SSRMS & SPDM will install OPALS into the Dragon trunk. MSS performance was nominal.. Quote Completed Task List Items EVA H2O Hardware Label PIP COL SUP1 Hardware Deploy CDM Data Download Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. SAGE Extraction OPALS Transfer Three-Day Look Ahead: Saturday, 03/04: Weekly Housekeeping, Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells (MESC) Session Sunday, 03/05: Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells (MESC) Session Monday, 03/06: EVA Tool Config, Fluid Shifts, MESC Hardware Teardown https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2017/03/03/iss-daily-summary-report-3032017/ -------------------------- CubeSats Deployed During Crew Ultrasound Scans Five Expedition 50 crew members gather in the Zvezda service module for mealtime. Clockwise from bottom are NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Oleg Novitskiy, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov. Quote Four CubeSats were deployed this morning as the crew researched fluid shifts toward the head that may affect astronaut vision. Tools were also being collected and organized today ahead of possible maintenance spacewalks. Four CubeSats were ejected Monday morning from outside Japan’s Kibo lab module using the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer. The LEMUR-2 satellites will help monitor global ship tracking and improve weather forecasting. Sergey Ryzhikov from Roscosmos participated in ultrasound scans of the head and neck for the long-running Fluid Shifts study. Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency joined Ryzhikov for the experiment to learn how to prevent upward fluid shifts that may cause lasting eye damage. Commander Shane Kimbrough worked inside the Quest airlock today gathering spacewalk tools. Mission planners are looking at potential spacewalks to continue upgrading the International Space Station’s power systems. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/06/cubesats-deployed-during-crew-ultrasound-scans/ ------------------------ Video: CubeSats Deployed from International Space Station Quote Five small CubeSats were deployed from the International Space Station on Monday via NanoRacks’ commercial deployment mechanism that allows ISS to serve as an orbital launch pad for educational and commercial satellite missions of short duration. Operations started in the early hours on Monday when the small airlock on the Japanese Kibo module was opened and the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer was moved to the outside, grappled by the Japanese robotic arm that then moved the deployer to the proper direction for safe satellite release from ISS without risk of re-contact. The first deployment of the day occurred at 10:25:01 UTC when two Lemur-2 satellites were sent on their way for operator Spire Global, joining a constellation of CubeSats delivering meteorological and ship-tracking data. Another pair of Lemurs followed at 15:05:00 UTC and the final deployment of the day was TechEdSat5, operated by San Jose State University and NASA’s Ames Research Center for research into passive, targeted sample return capabilities. All five satellites deployed on Monday were flown to ISS aboard the HTV-6 cargo spacecraft last December along with a group of Japanese CubeSats that were sent on their way in deployment cycles in December and January. The next batch of CubeSats headed to the Space Station is set for liftoff on March 20 (UTC) aboard the Cygnus OA-7 cargo craft that will deliver more than two dozen CubeSats to ISS belonging to the QB50 Project. more at the link... http://spaceflight101.com/iss-expedition-50/video-cubesats-deployed-from-international-space-station/ Five CubeSats released from Space Station (March 6, 2017) video is 3:15 min. --------------------------- Keeping Liquids Off the Wall NASA Quote On Earth, liquid flows downhill thanks to gravity. Creating an effective liquid fuel tank involves little more than putting a hole at the bottom of a container. That won’t work in space, though. In microgravity, with no gravity to force liquids to the bottom of a container, they cling to its surfaces instead. Spacecraft employ special devices such as vanes, sponges, screens, and channels to guide a liquid where it is needed – to an engine in the case of fuel or propellant. The Slosh Coating investigation tests using a liquid-repellant coating inside a container to control the movement of liquids in microgravity. Researchers will compare the behavior of liquid in two tanks, one with the coating and one without, aboard the International Space Station. For this test, the clear tanks contain colored water. High definition cameras will record the motion of the water as the containers are put through a series of maneuvers. In microgravity, when liquid propellant spreads out and evenly coats the walls of a container, it creates two problems, explains principal investigator Brandon Marsell of NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center. Heat on the outside of the tank can boil off the propellant, which wastes fuel, and fuel may not reach the engine to start it when needed. “We thought if we painted liquid-repelling material on the walls of the tanks, theoretically, instead of sticking to the wall, fluid will stick to the sump at the bottom of the tank, where we want it,” Marsell said. If that proves to be the case, liquid-repellant coatings can be used to design more efficient storage tanks for propellants and other essential fluids for long-duration space flights. Keeping cryogenic propellants off tank walls also will reduce the heat transferred to the fluid and, therefore, the amount of propellant lost to boil-off. That could greatly increase performance of spacecraft, enabling future missions to travel greater distances without increasing the amount of fuel storage. Coatings also offer other potential advantages. “The sponges, vanes, baffles and other structures placed inside fuel tanks to move liquid where it is needed are all susceptible to breakage,” Marsell said. “If we can replace these complicated metallic mechanisms with a coating, it will reduce the potential for things to break, as well as save weight and money.” “We know the coating will repel water, but we aren’t sure what the fluid will do instead,” said co-investigator Jacob Roth, who is also with the LSP. “We think it will bounce off the walls and stick to the bottom of the tank, the sump, where there is no coating. One question this test might answer is how well it sticks, how easy or difficult it is to dislodge the liquid from the sump when it sloshes around.” If the coating works as expected, the next step will be testing its use on an actual fuel tank for a spacecraft. Potential uses of the final technology include coating the fuel tanks of various rocket stages and in containers at propellant depots, or fuel stations in space. Scientists can design specific coatings to repel different liquids. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/slosh_coating --------------------- NASA Wants to Create the Coolest Spot in the Universe Quote This summer, an ice chest-sized box will fly to the International Space Station, where it will create the coolest spot in the universe. Inside that box, lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic "knife" will be used to cancel out the energy of gas particles, slowing them until they're almost motionless. This suite of instruments is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), and was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. CAL is in the final stages of assembly at JPL, ahead of a ride to space this August on SpaceX CRS-12. Its instruments are designed to freeze gas atoms to a mere billionth of a degree above absolute zero. That's more than 100 million times colder than the depths of space. "Studying these hyper-cold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity," said CAL Project Scientist Robert Thompson of JPL. "The experiments we'll do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy -- some of the most pervasive forces in the universe." When atoms are cooled to extreme temperatures, as they will be inside of CAL, they can form a distinct state of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this state, familiar rules of physics recede and quantum physics begins to take over. Matter can be observed behaving less like particles and more like waves. Rows of atoms move in concert with one another as if they were riding a moving fabric. These mysterious waveforms have never been seen at temperatures as low as what CAL will achieve. NASA has never before created or observed Bose-Einstein condensates in space. On Earth, the pull of gravity causes atoms to continually settle towards the ground, meaning they're typically only observable for fractions of a second. But on the International Space Station, ultra-cold atoms can hold their wave-like forms longer while in freefall. That offers scientists a longer window to understand physics at its most basic level. Thompson estimated that CAL will allow Bose-Einstein condensates to be observable for up to five to 10 seconds; future development of the technologies used on CAL could allow them to last for hundreds of seconds. Bose-Einstein condensates are a "superfluid" -- a kind of fluid with zero viscosity, where atoms move without friction as if they were all one, solid substance. "If you had superfluid water and spun it around in a glass, it would spin forever," said Anita Sengupta of JPL, Cold Atom Lab project manager. "There's no viscosity to slow it down and dissipate the kinetic energy. If we can better understand the physics of superfluids, we can possibly learn to use those for more efficient transfer of energy." Five scientific teams plan to conduct experiments using the Cold Atom Lab. Among them is Eric Cornell of the University of Colorado, Boulder and the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Cornell is one of the Nobel Prize winners who first created Bose-Einstein condensates in a lab setting in 1995. The results of these experiments could potentially lead to a number of improved technologies, including sensors, quantum computers and atomic clocks used in spacecraft navigation. more at the link... https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-wants-to-create-the-coolest-spot-in-the-universe ------------------- Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 9, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 9, 2017 NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 6 March 2017 - More CubeSats Deployed Today NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 6 March 2017 - More CubeSats Deployed Today. SPIRE GLOBAL Quote Four CubeSats were deployed this morning as the crew researched fluid shifts toward the head that may affect astronaut vision. Tools were also being collected and organized today ahead of possible maintenance spacewalks. Four CubeSats were ejected Monday morning from outside Japan's Kibo lab module using the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer. The LEMUR-2 satellites will help monitor global ship tracking and improve weather forecasting. Sergey Ryzhikov from Roscosmos participated in ultrasound scans of the head and neck for the long-running Fluid Shifts study. Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency joined Ryzhikov for the experiment to learn how to prevent upward fluid shifts that may cause lasting eye damage. Commander Shane Kimbrough worked inside the Quest airlock today gathering spacewalk tools. Mission planners are looking at potential spacewalks to continue upgrading the International Space Station's power systems. Quote Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Tool Configuration: The crew began configuring tools to support the EVAs being planned for later this month. Urine Processor Assembly (UPA): UPA was operated twice today unsuccessfully. Both runs were terminated due to high conductivity. The recommendation is to perform an Advanced Recycle Filter Tank Assembly (ARFTA) drain and fill and start a new concentration cycle. Plans are being finalized to disconnect Quick Disconnect (QD) 32 and install a CWC-I (Contingency Water Container- Iodine) to capture the purge distillate. This should return conductivity to a nominal level and prevent further high conductivity incidents. The source of the contamination in the purge distillate causing high and erratic conductivity is either the Distillation Assembly (DA) or Fluids Control and Pump Assembly (FPCA). An FCPA inspection of its liquid barrier is scheduled for March 14. This inspection will either clear or indict the FCPA as the source of the Pre-Treated Urine (PTU) in the purge distillate. A spare FCPA is on board and a spare DA is manifested on OA-7. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Saturday, Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to rotate the Enhanced Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP) and stow the SPDM on Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) 2. They then walked the SSRMS off the Node 2 PDGF onto Mobile Base System (MBS) PDGF 1 and translated the Mobile Transporter (MT) from Worksite 6 (WS6) to WS2. As they were ahead of schedule, the SSRMS was then maneuvered to unstow the SPDM and position it for the start of the removal of the Robotics Refuelling Mission (RRM) payload from EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4). Sunday, the RRM was removed from the ELC with SPDM Arm 2. As they were ahead of schedule, Robotics Ground Controllers proceeded to install the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) Nadir Viewing Platform (NVP) onto ELC 4 with SPDM Arm 1. MSS performance was nominal for all operations. Quote Completed Task List Items Carbon Dioxide Monitor (CDM) Data Download Relocate CTB from Columbus to PMM ESA Active Dosimeter Area Monitoring Columbus System CD/DVD swap FGB EDV Relocate Dragon Cargo Transfer Operations Carbon Dioxide Monitor (CDM) Set-up Photo TV D4 Camera Sensor Cleaning Transfer 66P Unpack Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. NRCSD #10 Deploy MESC Teardown support Three-Day Look Ahead: Tuesday, 03/07: Body Measures, PMA3 Relocate Preps, Auxin Transport, OBT EMER sim, OCT Eye Exam Wednesday, 03/08: Eye Ultrasound, N3 Port CPA Install, NanoRack Module 9, APEX-4 Thursday, 03/09: CubeSate Deployer Removal, HXP Adapter Install, Fluid Shifts, EVA Tool Config, PMA3 Relocate Preps 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 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Process Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-6-march-2017---more-cubesats-deployed-today.html ------------------------------- NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 7 March 2017 - Studying Space Nutrition for Deep Space Exploration Quote NASA is preparing for longer human journeys deeper into space and is exploring how to keep astronauts healthy and productive. The Expedition 50 crew members today studied space nutrition, measured their bodies and checked their eyes to learn how to adapt to living in space. The space residents also unloaded a cargo ship, worked on the Tranquility module and practiced an emergency simulation. The ongoing Energy experiment that ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet collected urine samples for today seeks to define the energy requirements necessary to keep an astronaut successful during a space mission. Pesquet also joined NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson for body measurements to learn how microgravity affects body shape and impacts crew suit sizing. Commander Shane Kimbrough checked his eyes today with Whitson's help and support from experts on the ground. Kimbrough worked throughout the day before his eye checks and configured the Tranquility module for upcoming electronics and communications work. Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy continued unloading gear from the newly-arrived Progress 66 cargo ship. At the end of the day, Novitskiy joined Whitson and Pesquet for an emergency simulation with inputs from control centers in Houston and Moscow. Quote Node 3 (N3) Port Bulkhead Feedthrough Remove and Replace (R&R): The crew replaced three existing Bulkhead Feedthroughs on the Node 3 Port Bulkhead. This activity will provide a connectivity pathway for wireless payload data transmission and prepare for future utilization of the Node 3 Port location. N3 Port Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) Control Panel Assembly (CPA): The crew took photos of the Vestibule with CPAs removed to identify any interference issues with the CPAs folded. They also photographed the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)3 starboard hatchway surface to reveal any interference issues with the Hatch Depress Indicator. They then performed a fit check of the N3 Port Aft CPA in a folded down position with connectors still mated. The activity was performed to test a concept to save crew time for visiting vehicle operations in the future by folding the CPAs out of the way versus completely removing and reinstalling the CPAs. Onboard Training (OBT) - Emergency Response: During this OBT the 49S crew completed the following objectives for an ammonia leak scenario: Practiced ISS emergency response with crew and ground roles based on information provided by simulator displays. Physically translated through the ISS to the appropriate response locations. Practiced procedure execution and associated decision making based on cues provided by the simulator. Practiced communication and coordination with Mission Control Center-Houston (MCC-H) and MCC-Moscow as required. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. JEMRMS SFA release, park N3 MCA Full Calibration Solar Array Maximum Power Evaluation Temporary Lab CDRA Activation Three-Day Look Ahead: Wednesday, 03/08: Eye Ultrasound, N3 Port CPA Install, NanoRack Module 9, APEX-4 Thursday, 03/09: CubeSate Deployer Removal, HXP Adapter Install, Fluid Shifts, EVA Tool Config, PMA3 Relocate Preps Friday: Rodent Research procedure review/equipment gather, Fluid Shifts, Cygnus OBT QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - On [СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - Off Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Process Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-7-march-2017---studying-space-nutrition-for-deep-space-exploratio.html -------------------------- Harvest Day on Station as Kids Space Research Begins Quote The crew is harvesting plants today grown on the International Space Station that will be returned to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon. Also, a variety of student experiments submitted from schools across the United States were activated inside the orbital laboratory. Dragon is due to return to Earth and splash down in the Pacific Ocean March 19. The resupply ship will carry back gear and science samples for analysis by NASA personnel. Plants that were grown on petri plates for the APEX-04 study will also be returned aboard Dragon. Astronaut Peggy Whitson harvested those plants today helping researchers study the molecular changes that plants experience when grown in space. Future scientists had their experiments activated today inside the NanoRacks commercial space research facility aboard the station. Students from five U.S. schools will be exploring ways to reduce infections, improve muscle injury treatments, grow plants on Mars, filter bacteria and solve common slippery surface problems. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/08/harvest-day-on-station-as-kids-space-research-begins/ ---------------------------- Ongoing Space Science Seeks to Keep Astronauts Healthy Quote NASA is preparing for longer human journeys deeper into space and is exploring how to keep astronauts healthy and productive. The Expedition 50 crew members today studied space nutrition, measured their bodies and checked their eyes to learn how to adapt to living in space. The space residents also unloaded a cargo ship, worked on the Tranquility module and practiced an emergency simulation. The ongoing Energy experiment that ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet collected urine samples for today seeks to define the energy requirements necessary to keep an astronaut successful during a space mission. Pesquet also joined NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson for body measurements to learn how microgravity affects body shape and impacts crew suit sizing. Commander Shane Kimbrough checked his eyes today with Whitson’s help and support from experts on the ground. Kimbrough worked throughout the day before his eye checks and configured the Tranquility module for upcoming electronics and communications work. Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy continued unloading gear from the newly-arrived Progress 66 cargo ship. At the end of the day, Novitskiy joined Whitson and Pesquet for an emergency simulation with inputs from control centers in Houston and Moscow. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/07/ongoing-space-science-seeks-to-keep-astronauts-healthy/ ------------------------------ SAGE III Installed on Its New Home on the International Space Station The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III is visible here on its new home on the International Space Station's ExPRESS Logistics Carrier platform. Credits: NASA Quote Just a little more than two weeks after its Feb. 19 launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon spacecraft, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) is now safely installed on the outside of the International Space Station, where it will monitor ozone and aerosols in Earth’s upper atmosphere. In a highly choreographed sequence of events, the station’s robotic Canadarm2 removed the instrument payload and its Nadir Viewing Platform (NVP) from the Dragon trunk and installed them on the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier platform. The entire sequence took about four days. The NVP allows SAGE III to face nadir, or down, toward Earth. Final installation of the instrument payload, which includes SAGE III and its hexapod pointing system, took place March 7. “With a flawless launch and the on-orbit assembly sequence behind us, the SAGE III and the space station teams have completed a major milestone,” said SAGE III Project Manager Mike Cisewski. “Our team is ready to proceed with payload commissioning and our long-term work of extending the SAGE data record from the station.” Activation and calibration of SAGE III will take approximately 90 days. Brooke Thornton, SAGE III mission operations manager, and the mission operations team will closely monitor those activities from the Flight Mission Support Center at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. more at the link... https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/sage-iii-installed-on-its-new-home-on-the-international-space-station --------------------------------- NASA Parachute Device Could Return Small Spacecraft from Deep Space Missions NASA Quote After a two-month stay aboard the International Space Station, NASA’s Technology Educational Satellite (TechEdSat-5) that launched Dec. 9, 2016, was deployed on March 6, 2017 from the NanoRacks platform and into low-Earth orbit to demonstrate a critical technology that may allow safe return of science payloads to Earth from space. Orbiting about 250 miles above Earth, the Exo-Brake, a tension-based, flexible braking device resembling a cross-shaped parachute, opens from the rear of the small satellite to increase the drag. This de-orbit device tests a hybrid system of mechanical struts and flexible cord with a control system that warps the Exo-Brake. This allows engineers to guide the spacecraft to a desired entry point without the use of fuel, enabling accurate landing for future payload return missions. Two additional technologies will be demonstrated on TechEdSat-5. These include the ‘Cricket’ Wireless Sensor Module, which provides a unique wireless network for multiple wireless sensors, providing real time data for TechEdSat-5. The project team seeks to develop building blocks for larger scale systems that might enable future small or nanosatellite missions to reach the surface of Mars and other planetary bodies in the solar system. https://www.nasa.gov/ames/image-feature/nasa-parachute-device-may-return-small-spacecraft-from-deep-space-missions -------------------------- Unobscured Vision and Jim K 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 11, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 11, 2017 ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/09/2017 Quote Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL) Reboot: Overnight, the MSL facility experienced a reboot and went into safe mode as designed but further processing of the current Solidification along an Eutectic Path in Ternary Alloys (SETA) cartridge will not be possible. The SETA cartridge had processed 9 out of the 92 millimeters long sample in the solidification phase of its run and cannot be re-processed after reaching this point. The MSL team commanded a controlled cooldown of the facility per standard procedures. The facility reboot is something that has been seen in the past, and ground teams are evaluating further steps. There are currently 2 remaining cartridges on-board for processing in MSL. Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)3 Depressurization: The crew used the Manual Pressure Equalization Valve (MPEV) Internal Sampling Adapter (ISA), Vacuum Access Jumper (VAJ), Multimeter and ISA Scopemeter Pressure Probe to depress PMA3. The initial 30 minute gross leak checked passed and an eight day fine leak check is in progress. Following these activities all items that were temp stowed to access PMA3 were re-stowed in the Node 3 Endcone. Orbital 7 (OA-7) On-board Training (OBT): In preparation for OA-7 berth, currently planned for March 23, the USOS crew completed this OBT with support from ground teams. The crew reviewed capture procedure, mission profile overview, rendezvous crew procedures and interfaces for monitoring/commanding Cygnus. They also practiced a 30 meter approach and 2 Capture Point hold runs. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Overnight, Robotics Ground Controllers installed the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) Payload on the Enhanced ORU Temporary Platform (EOTP). The SPDM then released the payload and the SSRMS with the SPDM were maneuvered to a park position. Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE) removal from ELC is planned Friday evening. MSS performance was nominal. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Solar Array Maximum Output Test UPA PCPA pumpdown Three-Day Look Ahead: Friday, 03/10: Rodent Research procedure review/equipment gather, Fluid Shifts, Cygnus OBT Saturday, 03/11: Rodent Research operations, Auxin Transport equipment gather/run #4 Sunday, 03/12: Rodent Research operations https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2017/03/09/iss-daily-summary-report-3092017/ ----------------------------- NASA ISS Weekly Space to Ground Report - 10 March 2017 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-weekly-space-to-ground-report---10-march-2017.html Space to Ground: At Home in space : 03/10/2017 video is 2:10 min. ---------------------------- Video: Busy ISS Robots install Atmospheric Sensing Payload Quote Timelapse video of robotic activities underway outside the International Space Station from March 2 through 8 covering the installation of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE-III) and the removal of the Robotic Refueling Mission payloads. This clip plays at 50x real speed, you can use YouTube’s speed adjustment function to slow it down or increase to up to 100x real speed. SAGE-III is taking a permanent position on Express Logistics Carrier 4 out on the starboard truss of the Space Station from where it will monitor ozone and aerosols in Earth’s atmosphere to continue a long-term data record going back into the 1980s when SAGE instruments provided pivotal data enabling an accurate calculation of ozone loss in the atmosphere that prompted major policy changes to protect Earth’s ozone layer. Major Steps seen in this video: Quote 1) Removal of the SAGE Instrument Payload from the Dragon SpX-10 Trunk Section, March 2 - 23:13 UTC 2) Removal of the SAGE Nadir Viewing Platform from the Dragon Trunk, March 3 - 15:47 UTC 3) Installation of the OPALS Payload in the Dragon Trunk for Disposal, March 3 - 22:22 UTC 4) Removal of the Robotic Refueling Mission pallet from ELC-4, March 5 - 22:08 UTC 5) Installation of the SAGE Nadir Viewing Platform on ELC-4 FRAM-3, March 6 - 0:39 UTC 6) Installation of the SAGE Instrument Payload to the Nadir Viewing Platform, March 7 - 23:36 UTC (All times approximate!) http://spaceflight101.com/video-busy-iss-robots-install-atmospheric-sensing-payload/ [Timelapse] Dragon SpX-10 Robotics Part 2 (SAGE-III Installation) video is 21:21 min. ---------------------------------- SpaceX science – Dragon delivers experiments for busy science period Quote SpaceX’s CRS-10 resupply mission has enjoyed a smooth period following its somewhat eventful berthing to the Station last month. In the two weeks since the cargo craft arrived at the orbital outpost, the Expedition 50 crew has unloaded all experiments and cargo from the internal and external compartments of Dragon and is now busy reloading the vehicle with experiments and equipment that will return to Earth for recovery later this month. CRS-10 delivers multitude of experiments: Given the unexpectedly fun start to Dragon’s time at the Station for CRS-10, which saw a flawless launch from the Kennedy Space Center followed by a rendezvous abort – the first ever for Dragon – during approach to the ISS, the Expedition 50 crew has made quick work of unloading the vehicle of all of its supplies from both inside and outside the spacecraft. indepth analysis at the link....good read... https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/03/spacex-dragon-experiments-busy-science-period/ ------------------------ NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List 739 10 March 2017 (Space Life Science Research Results) Quote Status Report From: Spaceline Posted: Friday, March 10, 2017 SPACELINE Current Awareness Lists are distributed via listserv. Please send any correspondence to Robyn Ertwine, SPACELINE Current Awareness Senior Editor, rertwine@nasaprs.com. Papers deriving from NASA support: long list of papers at the link... http://spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=49935 --------------------- Plans for the first spaceport are close to finalization Quote NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars by the 2030s faces many challenges. Now, if all goes well, the American space agency is poised to take one of the first steps toward overcoming those challenges. Although the project is still speculative, NASA and other International Space Station (ISS) partners have begun making plans for a cis-lunar “spaceport” designed to provide a stepping-stone to the Red Planet. Last month, representatives from five of the world’s space agencies met in Tsukuba, Japan, to discuss their plans for a space station orbiting the Moon. Finalization of the station’s design could come as early as next year. In the ensuing months, these space agencies will begin reviewing plans for a potential cis-lunar station that would serve as proof of concept for many of the challenges that manned missions to asteroids and Mars would pose. Such challenges include the development of deep space life support systems and the integration of human and robotic science and spaceflight operations. Cis-lunar space is simply the volume of space enclosed by a sphere with a diameter equivalent to the Moon’s orbit. Proving that closed-system, long-term human habitation is manageable here is a necessity before longer missions are planned at distances that don’t allow for easy rescue or resupply. During the meeting in Tsukuba, the ISS partners agreed upon a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit, or NRHO, for the station, which would be an oval-shaped loop that would bring the station as close to the Moon as 900 miles (1,500km) and take it out to 43,000 miles (70,000km) throughout a single orbit. There are several advantages of such an orbit, including minimal need for fuel to correct course, consistent communication with Earth and direct sunlight on the station’s solar panels, and ease of access (and egress) for NASA’s Orion spacecraft. Such an orbit is not ideal, however, for exploration of the lunar surface. Russia’s Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, which would prefer the station be used primarily for lunar exploration, is still evaluating the feasibility of a lower lunar orbit, despite the agreement on an initial NRHO. more at the link... http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/03/first-spaceport-plans ------------------------ --------------------------- Planet.com Explorer beta as main page...neat ------------------------ Oculus' MissionISS is a 'True-to-Life' Simulation Quote The realistic simulation takes you inside the International Space Station. It is available in the Oculus store. http://www.space.com/36018-oculus-missioniss-is-a-true-to-life-simulation-video.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social#?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2016twitterdlvrit 'Mission:ISS' from Oculus, Available Now! video is 1:02 min. Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 14, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 14, 2017 Data is a few days behind, but I'll post what I have.... NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 10 March 2017 Quote Today - Advanced Plant Experiments (APEX)-04: The crew configured the Veggie facility for the next APEX-04 Petri Plate sample for a four-day growing cycle. After the four days of growth, the petri plate will be inserted into the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) Light Microscopy Module (LMM) facility for detailed imaging. The APEX-04 (Epigenetic change in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to spaceflight - differential cytosine DNA methylation of plants on the ISS) experiment investigates how spaceflight can affect an organism on a molecular level without altering its outward appearance. Previous research has demonstrated that large numbers of plant genes are expressed differently in space compared to plants on Earth which can alter how plants grow. This investigation studies the entire genome of thale cress plants grown in space, creating maps of spaceflight-specific changes in certain groups of genes. Results give new insight into plants' molecular responses to spaceflight which benefits efforts to grow plants in space for food and oxygen. Rodent Research Preparations: The crew gathered and prepared for this weekend's Rodent Research operations, configuring the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) facility with necessary equipment and reviewing On-Board-Training (OBT) videos. The Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect (RR-4) investigation studies what prevents vertebrates such as rodents and humans from regrowing lost bone and tissue, and how the microgravity extraterrestrial condition impacts the process. Results could lead to tissue regeneration efforts in space and a better understanding of limitations of limb regrowth at wound sites. Quote General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator (GLACIER)-2: Last night GLACIER-2 (planned to be at +4° Celsius) experienced a plethora of unexpected reboots. Ground controllers attempted several recovery steps but were unable to resolve the issue. To reduce heat generation within the unit, the GLACIER was powered off and at crew wakeup, the Auxin Transport samples were moved to GLACIER-1, which was already at the appropriate temperature. No science loss is anticipated, as the highest temperature that the samples saw was below critical temperatures. Ground teams are reviewing data to determine cause of the reboots. Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA) 3 Operations: Following this week's PMA3 activities, today the crew recorded PMA3 pressure reading and tore down the Internal Sampling Adapter (ISA)/Vacuum Access Jumper (VAJ) setup. Orbital 7 (OA-7) On-board Training (OBT): In preparation for OA-7 berth currently planned for March 23, the USOS crew completed another session of Cygnus rendezvous training. The focus was on both nominal and off nominal operations as well as crew interfaces for monitoring and commanding the vehicle. SpaceX-10 Cargo Operations: The crew has completed approximately 30 hours of cargo packing with approximately 20 hours of packing to be completed. Quote Completed Task List Items FE-5 EVA EPIC Lube Procedure Review Dragon Cargo Ops Message EVA ECWS OBT Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. JEMRMS SFA park SAGE checkout/downlink commanding Three-Day Look Ahead: s Saturday, 03/11: Rodent Research operations, Auxin Transport equipment gather/run #4 Sunday, 03/12: Rodent Research operations Monday, 03/13: Rodent Research operations, HXP2 sample exchange, Energy Armband data save 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 - Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Process Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-10-march-2017.html --------------------------- Preparing Plants Seeds For Space Station Research Plant seeds NASA (Bill White) Quote Dr. Oscar Monje, a research scientist, packs a growing substrate called arcillite in the science carrier, or base, of the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) inside a laboratory at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Developed by NASA and ORBITEC of Madison, Wisconsin, the APH is the largest plant chamber built for the agency. It is a fully automated plant growth facility that will be used to conduct bioscience research on the International Space Station. The APH will be delivered to the space station aboard future Commercial Resupply Services missions. http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/preparing-plants-seeds-for-space-station-research.html ---------------------------- NASA Outlines Science Payloads, Ahead of Next ISS-Bound Cygnus Cargo Mission The OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft, also known as “Space Ship John Glenn”, is prepared for encapsulation within its Atlas V payload fairing. Photo Credit: Alan Walters/AmericaSpace Quote One of the key payloads heading uphill on OA-7 is the Advanced Plant Habitat, which was discussed during Monday’s teleconference by Project Scientist Dr. Howard Levine. Designed to enable investigators to better understand the mechanics of plant growth in space, the fully-enclosed habitat—for which a high-fidelity test mockup arrived at KSC last November—will join the ongoing Veggie experiment, which is presently growing fresh food aboard the ISS. Already, small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard have been grown on Earth in a prototype habitat and will also be grown on-orbit by the Expedition 50 and 51 crews. The habitat carries more than 180 sensors to measure temperature, oxygen content and moisture levels and, unlike the Veggie hardware, requires relatively little crew time to install, add water and maintain. According to NASA, it is designed to support commercial and fundamental plant research for up to a 135-day science investigation and for at least a year of continuous operation without maintenance. The Advanced Plant Habitat will be installed into a standard EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack inside Japan’s Kibo laboratory module. Also destined for an EXPRESS rack location will be Principal Investigator Dr. Sourav Sinha’s ADCs in Microgravity experiment, which will evaluate new Azonafide Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs), combining an immune-activating drug with antibodies to target solely cancerous cells. This is hoped to eventually increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs on Earth, as well as reducing side effects. “In microgravity,” NASA has explained, “cancer cells grow in three-dimensional spheroid structures that closely resemble their form in the human body, allowing for better drug testing. This investigation accelerates development of targeted therapies for cancer patients.” Upon arrival at the ISS, the experiment hardware will be transferred to BioServe’s Space Automated Bioproduct Lab (SABL) unit inside an EXPRESS rack. much more at the link... http://www.americaspace.com/2017/03/09/nasa-outlines-science-payloads-ahead-of-next-iss-bound-cygnus-cargo-mission/ --------------------------- International Space Station Calendar Quote Planning Date Event March 19, 2017 Dragon SpX-10 Departure & Landing March 20, 2017 Cygnus OA-7 Launch atop Atlas V March 23, 2017 Cygnus OA-7 Rendezvous, Capture, Berthing March 28, 2017 USOS EVA 40 – PMA-3 Prep, SPDM, MDM (Kimbrough, Pesquet) March 30, 2017 PMA-3 Relocation from Node 3 Port to Node 2 Zenith April 2, 2017 USOS EVA-41 – PMA-3 Outfitting, MDM (Kimbrough, Whitson) April 5, 2017 ISS Reboost April 7, 2017 USOS EVA-42 – MDM, ELC-4 (Whitson, Pesquet) April 10, 2017 Soyuz MS-02 Undocking & Landing April 20, 2017 Soyuz MS-04 Launch and Docking (Yurchikhin, Fisher) April/May 2017 Dragon SpX-11 http://spaceflight101.com/iss/iss-calendar/ -------------------------- Quote Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky: "Great combination: blue-white Earth, space bottomless black and gold solar panels ..." # MKSfotoDnya -------------------------------- Denmark Seen From Orbit Thomas PesquetL This one is for you, Andreas Mogensen. Denmark in all its glory, without a single cloud in winter. I know, nobody will ever believe me It looks quite hygge down there ESA/NASA http://spaceref.com/europe/denmark-seen-from-orbit.html ----------------------- The Pyramids Seen From Orbit Thomas Pesquet Finally! Snapped the Pyramids. Enfin! Voilà les Pyramides. ESA/NASA http://spaceref.com/onorbit/the-pyramids-seen-from-orbit.html Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 15, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 15, 2017 NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 13 March 2017 Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the John Glenn banner is attached inside the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module. The Cygnus cargo module has been renamed the S.S. John Glenn to honor the late former Project Mercury and space shuttle astronaut. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than March 21, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White. Quote Today - Rodent Research-4: Over the weekend and continuing today, the crew performed Rodent Research operations, in coordination with ground specialists, collecting samples and stowing them in Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for return on SpX-10. The Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect (RR-4) investigation studies what prevents vertebrates such as rodents and humans from regrowing lost bone and tissue and how the microgravity extraterrestrial condition impacts the process. Results could lead to tissue regeneration efforts in space and a better understanding of limitations of limb regrowth at wound sites. Energy Requirements for Long-Term Space Flight (Energy): The crew concluded their 11-day Energy session on Saturday with both the subject and the control collecting urine and water samples. The subject doffed the arm band on Saturday and downlinked the data today. The Energy investigation measures adaptations in the components of total energy expenditure of crewmembers so that an equation to determine the energy requirements of crewmembers during space flight may be derived. Such knowledge of energy requirements will ensure health, good performance and the overall success of a mission and also helps in planning exercise load and cargo allotments for food during space flight. Auxin Transport: On Saturday and Sunday, the crew executed Days 5 and 6 of the Auxin Transport Experiment Run 4. On Day 5 the crew performed Sample Fixation by harvesting plants and inserting them into Chemical Fixation Bags. On Day 6, the Chemical Fixation Bags were stowed in MELFI for return on SpX-10. Auxin Transport is a JAXA sponsored study to clarify the role of the plant hormone auxin under microgravity conditions. Specialists hope to collect gene expression data, including levels and redistribution of the proteins for auto-morphogensis (differentiation of tissues and subsequent growth without an introduced stimulus) using corn plants as the plant organism model for Auxin Transport 4. Exposed Experiment Handhold Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM) Exchange: Ground controllers removed ExHAM-1 from the JEM Exposed Facility (JEF) Platform and installed it on the JEM Airlock (JEMAL) slide table. The crew removed the ExHAM and installed ExHAM-2 on the Handhold Experiment Platform (HXP). The Slide Table was retracted back into the airlock. The JEMAL will be depressed prior to ground teams installing ExHAM-2 on the JEF. Mobile Servicing System (MSS): Friday evening, Robotics Ground Controllers temporarily removed a spare Direct Current Switching Unit (DCSU) on the EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Logistics Carrier 2 (ELC2) Site 2 to provide access to the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE). To do so Ground Controllers had to perform an offset approach due to unexpected DCSU Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) interference. The MISSE Payload was then removed from ELC2 Site 3. The MISSE will be stowed in the SpX-10 Trunk later today. Saturday, Robotics Ground Controllers translated the Mobile Transporter (MT) from Worksite #2 (WS2) to WS6 and walked off Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) from Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF)1 onto Node2 PDGF. MSS performance was nominal this weekend. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. N3 MCA Full Calibration JEMAL Depress N2 Zenith CBM Checkout Lab CDRA operate for 4 half cycles MISSE Install S/U Three-Day Look Ahead: Tuesday, 03/14: Rodent Research operations, APEX4, Microbial Sampling Wednesday, 03/15: Dragon Cargo Transfer, Auxin Transport, NanoRack Science Box 2, MERLIN1 Transfer Thursday, 03/16: APEX, Sample transfers to Glacier/Polar, FCPA Inspection, EVA Loop Scrub, RR Habitat Stow 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 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 -Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-13-march-2017.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceref%2Fjext+(SpaceRef+-+Space+News+as+it+Happens) ------------------------- Space Station Partners Release Latest Updates to Docking Standards Quote The International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board (MCB) has approved a major update to the station docking system standard. First released in 2010, the docking standard established a common standard to enable spacecraft of multiple types to dock to the space station and with one another in space. Revision E solidifies the International Docking Standard as an internationally recognized and accepted standard for both docking system design and rendezvous targets for both the International Space Station and as the baseline for exploration and cislunar space. "The latest revision to the docking standard further opens the door to contributions by international agencies, as well as commercial enterprises for both the International Space Station and exploration," said William Gerstenmaier, MCB chair and associate administrator for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate in Washington. "We have already seen benefits of this standard, which created the opportunity to develop additional standards for spacecraft design.” In July 2016, NASA’s first international docking adapter (IDA) was launched to the space station in the trunk of a commercial resupply vehicle. NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins installed the adapter the following month. The new IDA is fully compliant with the new standard, and a second IDA is now awaiting launch manifest to the space station. “This particular release of the standard is significant to the Canadian Space Agency as the space station partnership has captured the first standard set of requirements for a vehicle docking interface which is also compatible with a robotic arm berthing installation option,’’ said Gilles Leclerc, director general for Space Exploration, Canadian Space Agency (CSA). “The recent robotic pre-installation of the IDA on station is also a great success and demonstration of future capability for handling low mass interfaces for deep space.” A companion Target User Guide has also been released into the public domain, which further solidifies the use of standardized docking targets. The standard has been fully adopted since there are now six docking systems under development and each are fully compliant. “The European Space Agency has been committed to the development of this standard since the inception of the working group. We have been working for a number of years on the International Berthing Docking Mechanism design, which is now fully compatible with the International Docking Standard,” said David Parker, director of ESA’s (European Space Agency) Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration. “The mechanism development has been confirmed by the ESA Member States and the system will be operational by 2020.” The space station's senior level management board, the MCB includes senior representatives from NASA; Roscosmos; the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, assisted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; ESA; and the CSA. This group coordinates the orbiting laboratory's operations and activities among the partners. The Multilateral Coordination Board released the document to allow non-partner agencies and commercial developers to review the new standard and provide feedback. Technical teams from the five space station partner agencies will continue to work on additional refinements and revisions to the standard. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-partners-release-latest-updates-to-docking-standards International Docking System Standard, Rev E, 146 page pdf I have a short description, with images done already (few months ago), for Rev D...will xref and post in a week or so... -------------------------- US astronaut’s spaceflight to be financed by Russian corporation as debt repayment Quote MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. U.S. astronaut Joseph M. Acaba will fly to the International Space Stations (ISS) as a third crew member of the Soyuz MS-06 spaceship. His flight will be financed by Russia’s Rocket and Space Corporation Energia as debt repayment to US’ Boeing under the joint project Sea Launch, a source in the Russian space industry told TASS on Monday. "Joseph Acaba has been appointed as a member of the main crew of the Soyuz MS-06 spaceship due to be launched to the International Space Station on September 13. Shannon Walker has been appointed as a member of backup crew. Most likely, she will be subsequently chosen as a main crew member of the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft due to fly to the ISS in March 2018," the source said. A spokesman for the cosmonaut training center told TASS on Monday the two U.S. astronauts are to begin pre-flight training but did not specify which crews they have been appointed to. According to earlier reports, under an amicable agreement reached by Energia and Boeing as part of debt repayment under the Sea Launch project, the Russian corporation will give the American side five seats aboard Soyuz spacecraft, in particular one seat in 2017, one seat in 2018, and an option on three seats in 2019. Energia’s debt to Boeing was 330 million US dollars, as was ruled by a California court in 2015. In the summer of 2015, the sides reached an amicable agreement where Energia undertook to repay its debt by means of works and new projects. Acaba and Walker were named NASA astronaut candidates in May 2004. Both have already made a spaceflight aboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship. http://tass.com/science/935282 --------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 18, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 18, 2017 NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 15 March 2017 - NanoRacks Module 9 Operations Quote Today - Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Overnight, the Robotics Ground Controllers unstowed the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) Payload from the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Enhanced Orbit Replaceable Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP). They then stowed the RRM on the Dragon Trunk Site 1 Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism (PFRAM). Next they released the RRM and withdrew SPDM Arm1 from the Dragon Trunk. Finally the Robotics Ground Controllers rotated the SPDM EOTP to its nominal park position. MSS performance was nominal. Manufacturing Device Feedstock Exchange: The crew replaced the Feedstock Canister for the Manufacturing Device, resupplying the 3-D printer with Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) for future prints. The Manufacturing Device-Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) enables the production of components on the ISS for both NASA and commercial objectives. Parts, entire experiments, and tools can be created on demand utilizing the AMF that is installed into an Express Rack locker location. The AMF is capable of producing parts out of a wide variety of thermopolymers including engineered plastics. NanoRacks Multi-Gas Monitor (MGM): This morning the crew removed the MGM from EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack 4, and packed it for return on SpX10. The ground teams elected to return the MGM as they have been unable to command to it and hope to retrieve saved data during ground troubleshooting. The Nanoracks MGM is a proof of concept sniffer type payload mounted in a Nanoracks platform that continuously monitors oxygen, carbon dioxide, ammonia and water gases in the ISS cabin air. Quote NanoRacks Module 9 Operations: The crew is scheduled to perform the Return minus 5 days (R-5) operations in support of the NanoRacks Module 9 experiments for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP)/National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) experiments. Supporting various schools and student designed experiments studying a range of objectives, the SSEP lets students design experiments that address real challenges of living and working in space. The program also is a key initiative for U.S. science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, educating and inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers to work on the space program. Arabidopsis Germination in Martian Soil Simulant (Open Window School, Bellevue, WA) The experiment determines if Arabidopsis thaliana germinates in Martian soil simulant in microgravity. Other researchers have shown A. thaliana grows in Martian soil simulant, but the lower gravity of Mars cannot be simulated on Earth. The microgravity environment on the ISS allows for testing of plant growth in an environment closer to the gravity on Mars than that of Earth. Meteor Space Station Power Controller (SSPCM) Trip: Overnight, there was an overcurrent trip of the SSPCM feeding the Meteor payload in the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). The Meteor payload is powered from an Alternating Current (AC) inverter. The Meteor payload was powered off at the time of the trip and is not planned to be used until after SpaceX-10 departure. Ground teams are investigating. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. RRM Install in Dragon Trunk MCA Lab/N3 Humidity Comparison Cygnus Prox Checkout EWC WAP Checkout using WHDC SPDM Stow Three-Day Look Ahead: Thursday, 03/16: APEX, Sample transfers to Glacier/Polar, EVA Loop Scrub, RR Habitat Stow Friday, 03/17: At Home In Space, Dragon Depart OBT, Dragon Transfers, Rodent Research Stow, Conclude PMA3 Fine Leak Check, WVE R&R Prep Saturday, 03/17: Dragon Unberth Prep (Coldbag Packing, Center Stack Load, N2 CPA Install, Vestibule Depress), Dragon Unberth and Overnight Park 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 - Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Standby 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-space-station-on-orbit-status-15-march-2017---nanoracks-module-9-operations.html --------------------------- NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 16 March 2017 Magnitogorsk, Russia. ROSCOSMOS COSMONAUT SERGEY RYZHIKOV Quote Aquapad Analysis: The crew performed the analysis for the water samples taken on Tuesday. Using the EveryWear application, the crew captured images of the Aquapad Containment Boxes which will be downlinked for analysis. After image capture, the Aquapad Containment Boxes were packed for SpX-10 return. 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. Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Suit Maintenance: The crew performed routine maintenance tasks on EMU 3006 and EMU 3008 including a water recharge, loop scrub, a post-loop scrub water sample and an EMU conductivity test. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Overnight, the Robotics Ground Controllers stowed the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) on Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture #2 (PDGF2). After Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) had released SPDM, SSRMS Latching End Effector (LEE) diagnostics and checkouts as well as SSRMS Joint Diagnostics were performed on the prime and redundant strings. Finally, SSRMS grappled the SpX-10 Flight Releasable Grapple Fixture (FRGF) in preparation of the SpX-10 release. MSS performance was nominal. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) 275 Failure: White Sands Facility reported a timeout of the 275 satellite. Specialist are working the issue and expect a return to service no earlier than 18:30 GMT. Depress Pump Test: Today the crew turned on the airlock depress pump for 44 minutes in order to verify proper Node 3 to Airlock Moderate Temperature Loop (MTL) cooling. This test was performed because when the Airlock cooling was switched from Lab MTL to Node 3 MTL the team realized the flow is in reverse. Temperatures during the test confirmed better cooling to the depress pump and downstream hardware than predicted. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. SSRMS Dragon Grapple CUCU Checkout Three-Day Look Ahead: Friday, 03/17: At Home In Space, Dragon Depart OBT, Dragon Transfers, Rodent Research Stow, Conclude PMA3 Fine Leak Check, WVE R&R Prep Saturday, 03/17: Dragon Unberth Prep (Coldbag Packing, Center Stack Load, N2 CPA Install, Vestibule Depress), Dragon Unberth and Overnight Park Sunday, 03/18: Dragon Release, Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off [СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Process Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-16-march-2017.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceref%2Fjext+(SpaceRef+-+Space+News+as+it+Happens) -------------------------- NASA ISS Weekly Space to Ground Report - 17 March 2017 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-weekly-space-to-ground-report---17-march-2017.html Space to Ground: Packing Dragon: 03/17/2017 video is 2:42 min. --------------------------- Researchers Ready to Collect Science, Tech Samples Returning to Earth Quote SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, March 19, with more than 5,400 pounds of NASA cargo, and science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station. Everything from stem cells that could help us understand how human cancers start and spread after being exposed to near zero-gravity, to equipment that is paving the way toward servicing and refueling satellites while they’re in orbit will be on board. After Dragon is recovered off the west coast of Baja California, some of the cargo will be removed and returned to NASA immediately while Dragon itself is prepared for a return trip to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas. There, the processing and further unloading of scientific samples and returning station hardware will continue. A variety of technological and biological studies are returning in Dragon. The Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells investigation had crew members observe cell growth and other characteristics in microgravity. This information will provide insight into how human cancers start and spread, which aids in the development of prevention and treatment plans. Results from this investigation could lead to the treatment of disease and injury in space, as well as provide a way to improve stem cell production for human therapy on Earth. Samples from the Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect study, a U.S. National Laboratory investigation sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, studied what prevents vertebrates such as rodents and humans from re-growing lost bone and tissue, and how microgravity conditions impact the process. Results will provide a new understanding of the biological reasons behind a human’s inability to grow a lost limb at the wound site, and could lead to new treatment options for the more than 30 percent of the patient population who do not respond to current options for chronic non-healing wounds. Several external payloads were removed from the space station and placed in the Dragon’s trunk for disposal. The Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) device tested the potential for using a laser to transmit data to Earth from space, indicating that high speed space to ground optical communications are possible from a fast moving spacecraft. The Materials on International Space Station Experiment tested the radiation tolerance of a computer built from radiation-tolerant material to simulate work for a future long-term space mission. The Robotic Refueling Mission Phase 2 tested new technologies, tools and techniques that could eventually give satellite owners resources to diagnose problems on orbit, repair failures, and keep certain spacecraft instruments performing longer in space. The Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 19, carrying about 5,500 pounds of supplies and scientific cargo on the company’s tenth commercial resupply mission to the station. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/researchers-ready-to-collect-science-tech-samples-returning-to-earth ---------------------- NASA TV to Air Preview Briefing, Three U.S. Spacewalks Quote Press Release From: Posted: Friday, March 17, 2017 Expedition 50 astronauts will conduct three spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS) in late March and early April to prepare for the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft and upgrade station hardware. NASA Television will air a briefing to preview the spacewalks, or extravehicular activities (EVAs), at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, March 22, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The briefing participants are: Kenneth Todd, ISS Operations Integration Manager Emily Nelson, NASA Flight Director Sarah Korona, U.S. EVA # 40 Spacewalk Officer John Mularski, U.S. EVA # 41 Spacewalk Officer Alex Kanelakos, U.S. EVA # 42 Spacewalk Officer U.S. reporters who plan to attend the briefing at Johnson must arrange for credentials via the Johnson newsroom by 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 21. Reporters planning to ask questions by phone must call the newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 22. The spacewalks currently are scheduled for March 24, April 2 and April 7. NASA TV will provide complete coverage beginning each day at 6:30 a.m., with the six-and-a-half hour spacewalks scheduled to begin about 7 a.m. The first spacewalk will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) for installation of the second International Docking Adapter, which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings. The PMA-3 provides the pressurized interface between the station modules and the docking adapter. Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will disconnect cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 to prepare for its robotic move Thursday, March 30. PMA-3 will be moved from the port side of the Tranquility module to the space-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will become home for the docking adapter, which will be delivered on a future flight of a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. The spacewalkers also will install on the starboard zero truss a new computer relay box equipped with advanced software for the adapter. The two spacewalkers will lubricate the latching end effector on the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspect a radiator valve suspected of a small ammonia leak and replace cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost. Radiators are used to shed excess heat that builds up through normal space station operation. The second spacewalk will feature Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA reconnecting cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 at its new home on top Harmony. They also will install the second of the two upgraded computer relay boxes on the station’s truss and install shields and covers on PMA-3 and the now-vacant common berthing mechanism port on Tranquility. The final spacewalk will feature Whitson and Pesquet replacing an avionics box on the starboard truss called an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier, a storage platform. The box houses electrical and command and data routing equipment for the science experiments and replacement hardware stored outside of the station. The new avionics box is scheduled to launch aboard Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo craft this month. This will be the 198th, 199th and 200th spacewalks in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Kimbrough’s two spacewalks will be the fifth and sixth of his career. Whitson will be making the eighth and ninth spacewalks of her career – more than any other female astronaut. Pesquet will undertake the second and third spacewalks in his career. Get NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=50626 -------------------- Soyuz MS-04 to fly reduced crew to ISS Quote In the first manned launch of 2017, the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft was slated to carry two members of Expedition 51 and 52 to the International Space Station, ISS. Roskosmos made a decision to reduce the Russian crew aboard the ISS beginning in 2017 to save funds. After a technical delay, a liftoff of Soyuz MS-04 was re-scheduled for April 20, 2017. The spacecraft is expected to remain docked at ISS until Sept. 3, 2017. Soyuz MS-04 is being prepared for vacuum testing. Quote Ship replacement As of 2014, the Soyuz MS-04 mission was planned for March 30, 2017, but the launch was later advanced to March 27, 2017, during the adjustment of the overall ISS flight manifest. 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 had not been 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. Preparations for launch On March 17, 2017, RKK Energia, the Soyuz developer, announced that its team had been preparing Soyuz MS-04 for vacuum testing at the 17T523 facility in Baikonur. Soyuz MS-04 crew: Primary crew Fyodor Yurchkhin (Roskosmos) Jack Fischer (NASA) http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz-ms-04.html ------------------- Quote Preparation of manned spacecraft # SoyuzMS04 to test for leaks -https: // www. roscosmos.ru / . The launch is scheduled on 20 April. ------------------------------ Minimalist Snow Art Seen From Orbit Thomas Pesquet: Minimalist snow art in Russia. I cannot explain these km-long parallel lines. ESA/NASA http://spaceref.com/onorbit/minimalist-snow-art-seen-from-orbit.html Quote The dark, angular lines crossing this snowy landscape attracted the attention of an astronaut looking down from the International Space Station. This photograph shows the parallel lines of a major shelterbelt—also known as a windbreak—crossing the steppes of southern Russia near the Volga River (Volgograd Oblast). The image shows a 14-kilometer section of an extensive system of shelterbelts planted to protect crops and reduce the erosion of steppe soils by wind. The shelterbelt is broken where it meets a local stream. Each of the north-south trending lines is a dense mass of trees about 60 meters (75 yards) wide. The trees throw shadows to the east in this late afternoon view (north is to the right). Together the three lines span about 800 meters (900 yards), and there is enough space between the rows of trees for narrow fields to be tilled. Shelterbelt construction began when open steppe landscapes were first settled by Russian famers in the early 1700s. At present, more than 2 million hectares (5 million acres) of the steppes have been planted. The soils within the main shelterbelts in this region have been shown to be significantly improved, becoming richer in organic carbon than virgin soils that have never been plowed. The photograph also shows narrower lines of trees along farm boundaries; these protect individual fields from winds and associated gully erosion. The trees also protect water bodies from evaporation by the steady winds, and they prevent ponds and streams from filling with blown sand and silt. Lines of trees at the crest of the creek bank protect the creek valley (top right). https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=89817 Jim K 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 20, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 20, 2017 SpaceX’s Dragon supply carrier wraps up 10th mission to space station SpaceX’s Dragon capsule descends under parachutes toward the Pacific Ocean early Sunday. Credit: SpaceX Quote SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft ended a four-week mission Sunday with a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, returning from the International Space Station with more than 3,600 pounds of cargo, blood and urine samples, and specimens from a rodent research experiment aimed at helping patients with catastrophic bone injuries and osteoporosis. Flying northwest to southeast over the Pacific Ocean, the 12-foot-wide (3.7-meter) automated spaceship streaked through the upper atmosphere, its carbon ablative heat shield weathering temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius). Two drogue parachutes deployed to stabilize the descending ship, then three orange and white main parachutes, each stretching 116 feet (35 meters) in diameter, unfurled to slow the spacecraft to a gentle splashdown speed. The capsule was scheduled to reach the Pacific Ocean around 200 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, at 10:46 a.m. EDT (1446 GMT; 7:46 a.m. PDT), where a small SpaceX recovery crew was on standby to hoist the spacecraft on a vessel for the trip back to the Port of Los Angeles. Once Dragon is back in California, SpaceX will hand over time-sensitive samples to NASA for delivery to science teams around the world. more at the link... https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/03/19/spacexs-dragon-supply-carrier-wraps-up-10th-mission-to-space-station/ Successful Dragon Splashdown concludes tenth SpaceX Visit to ISS http://spaceflight101.com/dragon-spx-10-successfully-splashes-down/ SpaceX Dragon Capsule Returns to Earth with Ocean Splashdown http://www.space.com/36123-spacex-dragon-makes-ocean-splashdown-crs-10.html --------------------------------- SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft Departs Space Station The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was released from space station at 5:11 a.m. ET on March 19 after delivering more than 3,600 pounds of cargo NASA Quote Expedition 50 astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA released the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station‘s robotic arm at 5:11 a.m. EDT. With the spacecraft a safe distance from the station, SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, will command its deorbit burn around 10 a.m. The capsule will splash down at about 10:54 a.m. in the Pacific Ocean, where recovery forces will retrieve the capsule and its more than 5,400 pounds of cargo. The cargo includes science samples from human and animal research, external payloads, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities. The deorbit burn and splashdown will not be broadcast on NASA TV. NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the non-profit organization that manages research aboard the U.S. national laboratory portion of the space station, will receive time-sensitive samples and begin working with researchers to process and distribute them within 48 hours of splashdown. Dragon, the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact, launched Feb. 19 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and arrived at the station Feb. 23 for the company’s 10th NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/19/spacex-dragon-spacecraft-departs-space-station/ ------------------------------------ Dragon Splashes Down in Pacific Ocean The SpaceX Dragon is pictured seconds before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: SpaceX Quote SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 10:46 a.m. EDT, about 200 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, marking the end of the company’s tenth contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. Expedition 50 astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA released the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station’s robotic arm right on schedule, at 5:11 a.m. A variety of technological and biological studies are returning in Dragon. The Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells investigation had crew members observe cell growth and other characteristics in microgravity. This information will provide insight into how human cancers start and spread, which aids in the development of prevention and treatment plans. Results from this investigation could lead to the treatment of disease and injury in space, as well as provide a way to improve stem cell production for human therapy on Earth. Samples from the Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect study, a U.S. National Laboratory investigation sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, studied what prevents vertebrates such as rodents and humans from re-growing lost bone and tissue, and how microgravity conditions affect the process. Results will provide a new understanding of the biological reasons behind a human’s inability to grow a lost limb at the wound site, and could lead to new treatment options for the more than 30 percent of the patient population who do not respond to current options for chronic non-healing wounds. The Dragon spacecraft launched Feb. 19 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and arrived at the station Feb. 23. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/19/dragon-splashes-down-in-pacific-ocean/ ------------------------------- Timelapse of SpaceX Dragon CRS-10 Departing ISS video is 2:12 min. -------------------------------- --------------------------------- Thomas Pesquet NASA/ESA Quote Snow on the summit of a volcano in Hawaii! #asongoficeandfire https://flic.kr/p/Srp9HX #Proxima Jim K 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 21, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 21, 2017 reports are dated, but it's Monday..... NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 17 March 2017 - Dealing with TDRS 275 Communications Issues Quote Today - Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) 275 Failure: On Wednesday evening, White Sands Facility reported a timeout of the 275 satellite. This resulted in a loss of both S-band and Ku-band communications. The ISS team worked to fill comm gaps where possible. As of Friday, Network Specialists are still troubleshooting the issue with TDRS 275. Currently TDRS 275 is expected to return to operations on Monday. There have been no significant impacts to operations. Quote Robotic Work Stations (RWS) Remote Power Controller Module (RPCM) Failure: Today, during checkout of the Lab and Cupola RWS, RPCM LAS52A3B-A RPC-4 would not close. This RPC powers Common Video Interface Unit (CVIU)-4 for the Cupola RWS. Investigation of the signature indicates it is an FET Controller Hybrid (FCH) failure and must be Removed and Replaced (R&R'd). During the investigation, ground teams uncovered that RPC 1 may have a similar failure, and the Video Tape Recorder (VTR)-2 load on this RPC was previously declared failed. R&R of this RPCM has minimal powerdown impacts and is easily accessed. The result of this failure is only 2 of 3 Cupola RWS monitors are available. Only 2 RWS monitors are required for Visiting Vehicles capture and release. Additionally, a PCS (Portable Computer System) can be deployed in the Cupola for a third monitor if desired. There is no impact to the upcoming Extravehicular (EVAs) since these robotic operations are ground controlled. Ground teams are evaluating R&R of RPCM LAS52A3B-A next week. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. JEMRMS SFA Stow Dragon ROBoT support Dragon O2 Transfer Three-Day Look Ahead: Saturday, 03/17: Dragon Unberth Prep (Coldbag Packing, Center Stack Load, Egress, N2 CPA Install, Vestibule Depress), Dragon Unberth and Overnight Park Sunday, 03/18: Dragon Release, Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty Monday, 03/19: USOS Crew Off Duty QUICK ISS Status - Environmental Control Group: Component - Status Elektron - On Vozdukh - Manual [СКВ] 1 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV1") - Off [СКВ] 2 - SM Air Conditioner System ("SKV2") - On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab - Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 - Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - Reprocess Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-17-march-2017---dealing-with-tdrs-275-communications-issues.html -------------------------------- NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 18 March 2017 - Dragon Prepares to Leave the ISS File photo of SpaceX Dragon at the ISS. NASA Quote Today - Dragon SpaceX (SpX)-10 Unberth: The crew packed critical items and egressed the vehicle in preparation for Dragon departure. Dragon was unberthed from the ISS via ground commanding at approximately 4:45 PM CST today. Ground teams have started maneuvering the Dragon into a IDA viewing position followed by another maneuver about an hour and a half later to the overnight park position. Dragon release is planned tomorrow morning at 5:11 AM CST with splashdown approximately 5 hours later. Double Cold Bag (DCB) Packing: The crew performed the final DCB packing of the samples for planned for return on SpX-10. The crew transferred samples and Ice Bricks from Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator (GLACIER), Freezer-Refrigerator Of STirling cycle (FROST), and Space Automated Bioproduct Laboratory (SABL) into the DCBs. Warm samples and their conditioned Ice Bricks from MERLIN were packed into a Mini Cold Bag for SpX-10 return. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. EPS ORU Refresh Dragon Unberth Operations IDA Viewing Dragon Overnight Park Three-Day Look Ahead: Sunday, 03/18: Dragon Release, Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty Monday, 03/19: USOS Crew Off Duty Tuesday, 03/21: EVA Preps (Procedure Review/Conf, ROBoT, Safer Checkout, Airlock unstow) 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 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - ReProcess Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-18-march-2017---dragon-prepares-to-leave-the-iss.html -------------------------------- Crew Gears Up for Three Spacewalks as Dragon Heads to Port NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough is photographed during a spacewalk in January 2017. Quote The Expedition 50 crew is gearing up for three spacewalks over two weeks to continue the external maintenance at the International Space Station. Also, the SpaceX Dragon is returning to port today after completing a month-long stay at the station. Astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet will begin the first spacewalk Friday at 8 a.m. EDT. NASA TV will begin live coverage of the 198th spacewalk in support of station assembly and maintenance Friday at 6:30 a.m. The two spacewalkers will spend 6.5 hours disconnecting cables from the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3), lubricating the tip of the Canadarm2, inspecting a radiator and replacing cameras. Computer relay boxes will also be replaced. The new hardware contains software upgrades for future dockings of commercial crew vehicles. Friday’s cable work on the PMA-3 will prepare it for its relocation from the Tranquility module to the Harmony module on March 30. The relocation opens up the Tranquility port for the future installation of the new International Docking Adapter-3 set to be delivered on a future cargo mission. The SpaceX Dragon is heading to its port today in southern California after a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean Sunday morning. NASA support personnel will retrieve the numerous research samples stowed in Dragon’s cargo hold and deliver them to scientists for analysis. The results of the advanced space science may improve disease therapies and injury treatments on Earth. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/20/crew-gears-up-for-three-spacewalks-as-dragon-heads-to-port/ ----------------------------- NASA TV to Air Preview Briefing, Three U.S. Spacewalks Quote Expedition 50 astronauts will conduct three spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS) in late March and early April to prepare for the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft and upgrade station hardware. NASA Television will air a briefing to preview the spacewalks, or extravehicular activities (EVAs), at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, March 22, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The briefing participants are: Kenneth Todd, ISS Operations Integration Manager Emily Nelson, NASA Flight Director Sarah Korona, U.S. EVA # 40 Spacewalk Officer John Mularski, U.S. EVA # 41 Spacewalk Officer Alex Kanelakos, U.S. EVA # 42 Spacewalk Officer U.S. reporters who plan to attend the briefing at Johnson must arrange for credentials via the Johnson newsroom by 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 21. Reporters planning to ask questions by phone must call the newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 22. The spacewalks currently are scheduled for March 24, April 2 and April 7. NASA TV will provide complete coverage beginning each day at 6:30 a.m., with the six-and-a-half hour spacewalks scheduled to begin about 7 a.m. The first spacewalk will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) for installation of the second International Docking Adapter, which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings. The PMA-3 provides the pressurized interface between the station modules and the docking adapter. Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will disconnect cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 to prepare for its robotic move Thursday, March 30. PMA-3 will be moved from the port side of the Tranquility module to the space-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will become home for the docking adapter, which will be delivered on a future flight of a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. The spacewalkers also will install on the starboard zero truss a new computer relay box equipped with advanced software for the adapter. The two spacewalkers will lubricate the latching end effector on the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspect a radiator valve suspected of a small ammonia leak and replace cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost. Radiators are used to shed excess heat that builds up through normal space station operation. The second spacewalk will feature Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA reconnecting cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 at its new home on top Harmony. They also will install the second of the two upgraded computer relay boxes on the station’s truss and install shields and covers on PMA-3 and the now-vacant common berthing mechanism port on Tranquility. The final spacewalk will feature Whitson and Pesquet replacing an avionics box on the starboard truss called an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier, a storage platform. The box houses electrical and command and data routing equipment for the science experiments and replacement hardware stored outside of the station. The new avionics box is scheduled to launch aboard Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo craft this month. This will be the 198th, 199th and 200th spacewalks in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Kimbrough’s two spacewalks will be the fifth and sixth of his career. Whitson will be making the eighth and ninth spacewalks of her career – more than any other female astronaut. Pesquet will undertake the second and third spacewalks in his career. Get NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-tv-to-air-preview-briefing-three-us-spacewalks ------------------------- Orbital ATK CRS-7 Launch Targets NET March 27 Quote NASA, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance, or ULA, now are targeting launch of Orbital ATK’s seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station no earlier than Monday, March 27. The additional time allows the ULA team to troubleshoot a hydraulic issue discovered on ground support equipment needed for launch. Orbital ATK has contracted with ULA for its Atlas V rocket for the launch service, which will lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft is packed with 7,600 pounds of supplies and research for crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. The Atlas V and Cygnus remain secure and continue to undergo processing for launch. The encapsulated Cygnus spacecraft has been mounted to the top of the Atlas V in preparation for launch. https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2017/03/20/orbital-atk-crs-7-launch-targets-net-march-27/ --------------------------- ------------------------------ image link Jim K 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 22, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2017 ISS updates and station visuals are a bit behind in release...will update when data released. This is what I have... Astronauts Preparing for First of Three Spacewalks Quote Three astronauts are preparing for a Friday morning spacewalk to upgrade and maintain the International Space Station’s external systems. The three cosmonauts stayed focused today on their set of Russian space experiments and life support work. Astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency are reviewing procedures for the spacewalk set to begin Friday at 8 a.m. EDT with live NASA TV coverage at 6:30 a.m. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson joined the pair for the review and will assist the spacewalkers from inside the station. Friday’s spacewalk will see Kimbrough and Pesquet begin setting up the station for future commercial crew missions. They will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 for removal from the Tranquility module to the Harmony module. The astronauts will also replace computer relay boxes with software upgrades for future dockings of commercial crew vehicles. In the midst of the spacewalk work today, Pesquet received a call from the French President Francois Hollande who toured an observatory with school children outside Lyon, France. Kimbrough and Whitson answered questions submitted by social media fans on Facebook Live Tuesday morning. Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Andrey Borisenko documented what they ate for breakfast and lunch today for a pair of nutrition studies. The experiments are researching how diet affects a crew member’s metabolism and bone structure while living in space. Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov spent the day checking Russian life support gear and sampling drinking water. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/21/astronauts-preparing-for-first-of-three-spacewalks/ -------------------------------- Cygnus Packed with Experiments to Support Future Exploration file image via NASA Quote The International Space Station serves as the world’s leading orbital laboratory where crews conduct cutting-edge research and technology development. A crucial resupply line of spacecraft keeps work going that will enable human and robotic exploration of destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. The next mission to the orbiting outpost will be Orbital ATK's seventh commercial resupply services (CRS-7) mission. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than March 27, 2017, from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Staton. The recent date change allows the launch team additional time to troubleshoot a hydraulic issue discovered on required ground support equipment. Cygnus consists of a pressurized cargo module for crew supplies, scientific experiments and equipment, together with an associated service module providing solar power and propulsion. When members of the space station's Expedition 50 crew opens the hatch, they will be greeted with a sign noting the spacecraft was named in honor of John Glenn. The spacecraft will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. The booster and Centaur upper stage for the mission arrived at Port Canaveral, Florida, Feb. 6. From the port, the launch vehicle was transported to the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center, located south of pad 41. After the Atlas V completed final testing in that facility, it was moved to the Vertical Integration Facility for stacking. The Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module arrived at the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Jan. 9. The Cygnus service module arrived shortly thereafter. In the SSPF, technicians and engineers loaded supplies, equipment and scientific research materials aboard a Cygnus PCM. Once mated to its service module, the spacecraft was transported to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility for propellant loading and final stowage of supplies. After the Cygnus was encapsulated in its payload faring, it was transported to pad 41 to be mated atop the Atlas booster for final launch preparations. When Orbital ATK CRS-7 arrives at the space station, Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will capture Cygnus with the station's robotic arm. After receiving ground commands, the arm will rotate and install Cygnus on the bottom of the station’s Unity module. more at the link... https://www.nasa.gov/feature/cygnus-packed-with-experiments-to-support-future-exploration ----------------------------- SAGE III Achieves First Light from Space Station Perch Quote The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III, or SAGE III, reached another in a series of major recent milestones Friday, March 17, by collecting first light data from its new home on the International Space Station. In an email sent to SAGE III team members early Friday afternoon, acting SAGE III Project Manager Joe Gasbarre said, "After the mission operations and science teams had a chance early this morning to review the data received overnight, it was clear several successful solar occultations occurred, thus proving First Light had been achieved on the instrument." Solar occultation is a type of measurement that involves looking at the light from the sun as it passes through Earth's atmosphere at the edge, or limb, of the planet. SAGE III uses both solar and lunar occultation to measure ozone and aerosols in Earth's atmosphere. Autonomous operations of the instrument will continue over the weekend. Next week, the mission operations team will settle into what Gasbarre referred to as a "cadence of adjustments and data analysis" as instrument commissioning moves into full swing. Complete commissioning and calibration of SAGE III will take approximately 90 days. The SAGE III mission operations team is based at the Flight Mission Support Center at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. "I cannot say enough about the efforts of this entire team stretching back many years," said Gasbarre in his email. "This success is only possible due to the hard work, sacrifice and support of the entire team as well as our stakeholders." Once fully commissioned, SAGE III will take occultation measurements about 15 or 16 times a day. The space station's unique orbital path will allow SAGE III to make observations during all seasons and over a large portion of the globe. SAGE III launched to the station Feb. 19 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon spacecraft. Following docking of the Dragon capsule, the station's robotic Canadarm2 removed the SAGE III instrument payload and its Nadir Viewing Platform and installed them on the station. Installation was completed March 7. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/SAGE_III_Achieves_First_Light_from_Space_Station_Perch_999.html ------------------------------- Russia to Build First New-Generation 'Federation' Spacecraft by 2021 Quote The first Russian next-generation manned spacecraft called the Federation, which is 80 percent built of composite materials, will be manufactured by 2021, Russia's Energia space corporation said Friday. "It will be 80 percent composite...the spacecraft will be made of composite materials while the reusable landing capsule will be built from traditional materials," Energia General Director Vladimir Solntsev told reporters in Moscow. According to Energia, the Federation spacecraft has been designed to deliver up to four people and cargo to the Moon and space stations in low Earth orbits. The spacecraft's autonomous flight period is estimated at up to 30 days, with the capacity to stay attached to a space station for up to a year. The first unmanned test flight of the Federation has been scheduled for 2021, while the maiden manned flight is expected in 2023. The Federation will replace the aging Soyuz spacecraft in supporting low Earth orbit missions. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_to_Build_First_New_Generation_Federation_Spacecraft_by_2021_999.html ------------------------------- ---------------------------------- image link Jim K and Emn1ty 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Hearing on ISS commercialization @jeff_foust Stallmer: already seeing NASA investment in comm’l space capabilities paying huge dividends. > Gerst: NASA needs to relinquish role in LEO and move into deep space, but has to be a smooth handoff to private sector. > Dittmar: trend lines for comm’l use of ISS are positive, but predicting a date when comm’l can take over is difficult. > Gerst: ISS plays a critical role in supporting our exploration efforts. We’ll need some facility in space post-2024. > Dittmar: no question that we’ll have to move off ISS at some point; questions are when and how. > Rep. Dunn: what’s likelihood ISS could be supported entirely by comm’l partners by 2024? Stallmer: comm’l role going, but hard to speculate. > Stallmer: it would be very disruptive if we lost the ISS. We’d lose our outpost in space. > Hearing taking a detour into finding “additional planets”. [Not sure if Rep. Crist is referring to exoplanets, or a new planet definition.] > Rep. Rohrabacher: might be only member of committee who was here when ISS was approved. Was not a certainty it would go forward then. > Gerst: we’ve spent $67B to date on ISS, including shuttle transport costs; spending about $3B a year on it now. > Rohrabacher: I’m not sure the research done on the ISS has justified its cost. > Stallmer emphasizes “intangibles” of ISS investment: benefits of that is well worth the cost. > Gerst, on Chinese space station plans: there is a threat that China and its int’l relationships could threaten our leadership in space. > And that’s it for today’s hearing. And on another front, @jeff_foust At a @csf_spaceflight breakfast this morning, Sen. Ted Cruz says he wants to do a long-term NASA authorization and a new comm’l launch bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 23, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 23, 2017 NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 March 2017 - Preparations Underway or Friday Spacewalk File photo of spacewalk. NASA Quote Three astronauts are preparing for a Friday morning spacewalk to upgrade and maintain the International Space Station's external systems. The three cosmonauts stayed focused today on their set of Russian space experiments and life support work. Astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency are reviewing procedures for the spacewalk set to begin Friday at 8 a.m. EDT with live NASA TV coverage at 6:30 a.m. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson joined the pair for the review and will assist the spacewalkers from inside the station. Friday's spacewalk will see Kimbrough and Pesquet begin setting up the station for future commercial crew missions. They will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 for removal from the Tranquility module to the Harmony module. The astronauts will also replace computer relay boxes with software upgrades for future dockings of commercial crew vehicles. In the midst of the spacewalk work today, Pesquet received a call from the French President Francois Hollande who toured an observatory with school children outside Lyon, France. Kimbrough and Whitson answered questions submitted by social media fans on Facebook Live Tuesday morning. Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Andrey Borisenko documented what they ate for breakfast and lunch today for a pair of nutrition studies. The experiments are researching how diet affects a crew member's metabolism and bone structure while living in space. Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov spent the day checking Russian life support gear and sampling drinking water. Quote Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #40 Preparations: The crew participated in a briefing covering the following preparations: Crew member specific reminders Suit specifics and refreshers Key points in an emergency EVA day procedure sequence EVA day comm overview for suits Hardware management The crew is also performed the following: Onboard Training (OBT) EVA Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) session. Verified Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) is functional prior to EVA. Installed Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly (REBA) in EMUs 3006 and 3008. Verified EMU 3006 and 3008 glove heater functionality. Environmental Health System (EHS) Surface Sample Kit (SSK), Microbial Air Samper (MAS): The crew pre-gathered items for MAS and SSK sampling planned for tomorrow. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Yesterday and overnight, Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS and walked the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) off the Lab Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) onto the Functional Cargo Block (FGB) PDGF. They then performed a survey of the Starboard side of 48 Soyuz (48S). When the survey was completed, Controllers walked the SSRMS off the FGB PDGF onto the Lab PDGF and maneuvered the SSRMS to a park position. MSS performance was nominal. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) 275 Recovery: Overnight, TDRS 275 returned to service for S-Band and Ku-Band. The communications satellite had been out of service due to timeout event which occurred on 3/16/17. The TDRS Network continues to investigate the root cause of the anomaly. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. ROBoT OBT support SSRMS walkoff from N2 PDGF A to MBS3 Three-Day Look Ahead: Wednesday, 03/22: MELFI Icebrick Install, MSL SCA Exchange, Surface/Microbial Sampling, BEAM Ingress/Google Streetview, EVA Preps (ROBoT, Camera Config), CMO OBT Thursday, 03/23: EVA Preps (Procedure Review/Conf, Tool Config, Equip Lock Prep, Tool Audit) Friday, 03/24: EPIC MDM/SPDM Lube EVA, Orbital-7 Launch 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 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - ReProcess Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-21-march-2017---preparations-underway-or-friday-spacewalk.html --------------------------- BEAM Checks and Human Research Fill Crew Day Quote The astronauts took a break from spacewalk preparations today and checked out an expandable module and worked on science freezers. The crew also continued its human research program exploring space nutrition and the effects of microgravity on metabolism and the immune system. Thomas Pesquet opened the hatches to the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) today for a status check. The European Space Agency astronaut sampled BEAM’s air and surfaces for microbes and installed impact sensors. He also used a digital camera with a fish-eye lens to capture 360-degree imagery of the inside of BEAM. Veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson serviced three science freezers ensuring biological samples can be preserved for return on an upcoming SpaceX Dragon mission. She also brushed up on robotics skills necessary for Friday’s spacewalk. Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy logged his meals again today before collecting saliva samples for an immunity study. Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko researched how living in space long term affects metabolism and a crew member’s psychophysiological state. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/22/beam-checks-and-human-research-fill-crew-day/ ------------------------------ Futuristic Clock Prepared for Space Deep Space Atomic Clock NASA Quote No one keeps time quite like NASA. Last month, the space agency's next-generation atomic clock was joined to the spacecraft that will take it into orbit in late 2017. That instrument, the Deep Space Atomic Clock was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. On Feb. 17, JPL engineers monitored integration of the clock on to the Surrey Orbital Test Bed spacecraft at Surrey Satellite Technology in Englewood, Colorado. Timekeeping plays a critical role in spacecraft navigation and will be especially important for future deep space missions. This clock will be smaller, lighter and magnitudes more precise than any atomic clock flown in space before. Most spacecraft are tracked using "two-way" methods: the ground-based antenna 'pings' the spacecraft and waits for the signal to return. By measuring how long the signal takes to travel, the distance to the spacecraft can be calculated. A navigation team then processes this information to determine the spacecraft's flight path and determine if any course corrections are required. The clock enables "one-way" tracking, where the spacecraft doesn't need to send the signal back to Earth. The tracking measurements could be taken onboard and processed with a spacecraft-based navigation system to determine the path and whether any maneuvers are needed to stay on course. This will be a key advance for safely navigating future human exploration of the solar system by providing astronauts with their position and velocity when they need it. It will lighten the load on the antennas in NASA's Deep Space Network, allowing more spacecraft to be tracked with a single antenna. The Deep Space Atomic Clock would also improve the precision and quantity of the radio data used by scientists for determining a planet's gravity field and probing its atmosphere. The Deep Space Atomic Clock project is managed by JPL and funded by the Technology Demonstration Mission in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). STMD is responsible for developing the cross-cutting, pioneering, new technologies and capabilities needed by the agency to achieve its current and future missions. http://spaceref.com/nasa-hack-space/futuristic-clock-prepared-for-space.html ------------------------------ Orbital ATK CRS-7 Launch Postponed Quote NASA, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have postponed Orbital ATK’s seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. ULA discovered a new booster hydraulic issue during prelaunch testing. The ULA team is developing a plan to resolve the issue and a new launch date will be determined. Orbital ATK has contracted with ULA for its Atlas V rocket for the launch service, which will lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft is packed with 7,600 pounds of supplies and research for crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. The Atlas V and Cygnus remain secure. https://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital/2017/03/22/orbital-atk-crs-7-launch-postponed/?linkId=35745565 ------------------------------ This Russian ISS Module Has Been Delayed For a Decade and It's Still Not Ready to Fly ISS training modules at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. A mock-up Nauka module is in the foreground. Christopher Michel Quote MORE FIXES, MORE HEADACHES In the past few weeks, engineers found the same contamination they've been fighting for years inside the module's propellant tanks. The repair team tried to wash off these contaminants, but so far all efforts to cleanse the vessels have failed. To make matters worse, these particular tanks, originally designed in the early 90s, are no longer in production and simply can't be replaced. Because of these tanks' unique design, fitted neatly onto the module like the chamber of a revolver, no modern tanks will work without damaging the spacecraft. Nauka engineers did catch one lucky break. Roscosmos originally designed the vessel with a second set of shorter tanks. But to make room on the exterior of the converted module for the attachment of a European-built robotic arm and various scientific instruments, engineers removed the them. Now, these remaining (hopefully non-contaminated) tanks could be the only chance to get this long beleaguered spacecraft attached to the ISS. Configuration of the MLM. Anatoly Zak Quote Engineers have calculated that a mix of four of these short tanks and two long tanks will give the Nauka module just enough propellant to maneuver itself to the space station after its separation from the Proton M rocket and even have some extra fuel for another attempt to rendezvous with the station if needed. Although a thin ray of hope remains that Russia will finally get its long delayed spacecraft aloft, no one can tell right now how long this new obstacle will delay the Nauka from finally docking with the ISS. Artist rendering of Russian modules—MLM, Prichal, and NEM—separating from the ISS to form the Russian Orbital Station. Anatoly Zak Quote AN ISS TRAFFIC JAM The Nauka's continual delay has also affected other areas of Roscosmos' ISS effort. The completed Prichal Node Module was originally intended to dock with the Nauka module, but is effectively delayed instep with Nauka. Plans have considered building a special adaptor that could bypass the Nauka, but this would seriously hinder the Prichal Node Module since all but one of five extra docking ports available on Prichal will be rendered useless because of their close proximity to the station. Still, one open docking mechanism on the far side of Prichal could be used for the attachment of the Science and Power Module, NEM, which is currently in development and designed so that these Russian modules can continue on as the Russian Orbital Station after ISS enters retirement. Engineers continue toiling away under the added pressure that the ISS has an expected expiration date between 2024 and 2028, which is already an extension from its previous 2020 shut down date. However, all of these options remain on the table as Roscosmos officials are trying to decide what to do next. But since so much time and money have been invested into the Nauka, the Russian space agency is unlikely to give up on it any time soon. http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/satellites/a25773/mlm-delayed-russia/ Hope it works out...this is their science module as well. ------------------------------- NASA Plans PMA-3 Relocation for Commercial Crew, Three Record-Setting EVAs on Tap Quote Three pivotal and record-setting periods of Extravehicular Activity (EVA) are scheduled to occur from the International Space Station (ISS) over the coming weeks, according to a news conference, held at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, earlier today (Wednesday, 22 March). ISS Operations Integration Manager Kenny Todd and NASA Flight Director Emily Nelson were joined by the Spacewalk Officers for the three EVAs—Sarah Korona, John Mularski and Alex Kanelakos—to outline plans which will see a major reconfiguration of the station, ahead of Commercial Crew operations. Designated U.S. EVAs 40, 41 and 42, the three 6.5-hour spacewalks will occur on Friday, 24 March, Thursday, 30 March, and Thursday, 6 April. Current plans are for all three U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS) crew members to make two spacewalks apiece. Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough will lead EVA-40 with Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet, and will also lead EVA-41 with Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson. For the third and final spacewalk, Whitson will lead EVA-42 with Pesquet. Assuming all goes according to plan, this busy run of activity will end with Whitson setting a new record for the greatest number of EVAs (and the largest number of spacewalking hours) ever performed by a woman and will include the 200th EVA in support of ISS construction and maintenance. At present, inaugural unmanned missions by Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon are not expected until early 2018, followed by a pair of piloted test flights—featuring NASA shuttle and ISS veterans Sunita Williams, Eric Boe, Doug Hurley and former Chief Astronaut Bob Behnken—the following summer. Satisfactory completion of these milestones is expected to lead to the first “operational” Post-Certification Mission (PCM) as soon as September 2018. As outlined last fall by AmericaSpace, this represents a delay of around a year beyond the original timeline and is attributable to ongoing technical and software issues with the Commercial Crew vehicles. In order to enable future CST-100 Starliners and Crew Dragons to interface with the space station, a pair of Boeing-built International Docking Adapters (IDAs) will be installed onto the Harmony node. The “primary” IDA-1 would be attached to Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-2 on the forward “end” of the node, whilst the “backup” IDA-2 would be situated on PMA-3 on its space-facing (or “zenith”) side. Unfortunately, IDA-1 was lost in a June 2015 launch accident, forcing NASA to repurpose IDA-2 as the new “primary” port. After many delays, IDA-2 was successfully launched in July 2016 and installed onto PMA-2, during a combined EVA/robotics operation a few weeks later. Taking the place of the “backup” docking port will be a new IDA-3. This is currently being built from around 300 spare parts and IDA-3 will fly aboard SpaceX’s CRS-14 Dragon in early 2018. Friday’s EVA-40 will prepare Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-3 for relocation from its current perch on the station’s Tranquility node over to the space-facing (or “zenith”) port of the Harmony node. Image Credit: NASA Quote Before IDA-3 arrives, however, it is necessary for PMA-3 to be relocated from its current perch on the station’s Tranquility node to its final Commercial Crew location atop Harmony. That relocation will be principally controlled by the Robotics Officer (ROBO) in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at JSC, although it will require the EVA and “intravehicular” support by the Expedition 50 crew for internal reconfiguration and external cable disconnections and reconnections. Original plans called for the PMA-3 relocation to occur in October 2015, but the IDA-1 failure triggered a delay of almost 18 months. When the adapter is detached by means of the station’s 57.7-foot-long (17.6-meter) Canadarm2 on Thursday, 30 March, it will be its first movement to a new location in over seven years. Launched aboard shuttle Discovery in October 2000, PMA-3 was originally installed on the nadir face of the Unity node. A few weeks later, it supported the arrival of shuttle Endeavour on STS-97 and was used for only one more spacecraft docking, welcoming Atlantis and her STS-98 crew in February 2001. PMA-3 was then relocated by the STS-102 astronauts in March 2001 from the nadir to the port side of Unity, permitting the temporary installation of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). With the rapid expansion of the ISS and the addition of new pressurized modules, PMA-3 was moved back to Unity nadir in August 2007, ahead of the arrival of the Harmony node, and in early 2009 returned once more to Unity nadir. Its most substantial move, however, came in January 2010, when it was transferred from Unity to a temporary spot at Harmony zenith, where it waited for the arrival of Tranquility. During Endeavour’s STS-130 mission in February 2010, PMA-3 was moved to its current position at the port-facing end of the new node. more at the link... http://www.americaspace.com/2017/03/22/nasa-plans-pma-3-relocation-for-commercial-crew-three-record-setting-evas-on-tap/ --------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Grand Canyon Viewed From Orbit Grand Canyon ESA/NASA Quote Thomas Pesquet: The Grand Canyon, is less grand when seen from space but still very impressive! http://spaceref.com/earth/grand-canyon-viewed-from-orbit.html Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 26, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 26, 2017 NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 23 March 2017 - 40th U.S. Spacewalk on Tap Quote Two astronauts are getting the Quest airlock and their equipment ready for a Friday morning spacewalk. The cosmonauts continued their human research program today exploring the various affects of living in space. Spacewalkers Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet will exit the Quest airlock Friday at 8 a.m. EDT to begin setting up the International Space Station for future commercial crew missions. The duo will work outside for about 6.5 hours on the first of three spacewalks scheduled to take place over the next two weeks. Friday's major tasks include disconnecting cables from the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 ahead of its relocation from the Tranquility module to the Harmony module on Sunday. The latching end of the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator will also be lubricated and computer relay boxes with commercial crew software upgrades will be replaced. NASA TV will cover the spacewalk activities live beginning Friday at 6:30 a.m. Cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Oleg Novitskiy collected their blood, saliva and urine samples today for a metabolism study and an immunity experiment. Researchers will analyze these samples to learn how microgravity affects humans and provide countermeasures to keep crew members healthy. Quote MagVector Closeout: The crew completed closeout and cleanup activities for Science Run#9 of MagVector. The run was initiated on March 16, 2016 and has been ongoing for a week. MagVector and the venting system will be subsequently deactivated until a new science run is initiated. Cleanup steps included verifying the experiment has finished and moving the external USB memory drive to an Space Station Computer (SSC) for downlink and powering off the MagVector. The investigation studies how Earth's magnetic field interacts with an electrical conductor. Using extremely sensitive magnetic sensors placed around and above a conductor, researchers can gain insight into ways that the magnetic field influences how conductors work. This research not only helps improve future ISS experiments and electrical experiments, but it could offer insights into how magnetic fields influence electrical conductors in general - the backbone of our technology. Remote Power Control Module (RPCM) LAS52A3B-A RPC 4 Remove & Replace (R&R): On March 17, 2017, this RPC which powers Common Video Interface Unit (CVIU) 4 failed to close when commanded. The fault signature was indicative of a Field Effect Transistors (FET) Controller Hybrid (FCH) failure. The crew was successful in replacing the RPCM this morning, restoring functionality to RPC 4 and CVIU 4. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. EVA preparation activities Three-Day Look Ahead: Friday, 03/24: EPIC MDM/SPDM Lube EVA, Orbital-7 Launch Saturday, 03/25: Crew off duty, EMU water recharge, EVA debrief, Fluid Shifts h/w gather Sunday, 03/26: Crew off duty, N2 CBCS powerup, PMA3 relocate 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 - Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - ReProcess Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-23-march-2017---40th-us-spacewalk-on-tap.html ------------------------------ NASA Space Station Spacewalk Update 24 March 2017 - Spacewalkers Successfully Complete Primary Tasks Spacewalkers Thomas Pesquet (left) and Shane Kimbrough meet at the Quest airlock to begin wrapping up their successful spacewalk. Credit: NASA. Quote Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency concluded their spacewalk at 1:58 p.m. EDT. During the spacewalk, which lasted just over six-and-a-half hours, the two astronauts successfully disconnected cables and electrical connections on the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 to prepare for its robotic move Sunday, March 26. The PMA-3 provides the pressurized interface between the station modules and the International Docking Adapter, which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings. The astronauts also lubricated the latching end effector on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator "extension" for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspected a radiator valve and replaced cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost. Quote A second spacewalk has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 30, and a third spacewalk now is targeted for Thursday, April 6. The second spacewalk will feature Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA reconnecting cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 at its new home on top Harmony. They also will install the second of the two upgraded computer relay boxes on the station's truss and install shields and covers on PMA-3 and the now-vacant common berthing mechanism port on Tranquility. The plan for the final spacewalk is for Whitson and Pesquet to replace an avionics box on the starboard truss called an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier, a storage platform. The box houses electrical and command and data routing equipment for the science experiments and replacement hardware stored outside of the station. The new avionics box is scheduled to launch on the upcoming Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft mission. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 1,236 hours and 38 minutes working outside the station during 198 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-spacewalk-update-24-march-2017---spacewalkers-successfully-complete-primary-tasks.html Spacewalkers Successfully Complete Primary Tasks Quote Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency concluded their spacewalk at 1:58 p.m. EDT. During the spacewalk, which lasted just over six-and-a-half hours, the two astronauts successfully disconnected cables and electrical connections on the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 to prepare for its robotic move Sunday, March 26. The PMA-3 provides the pressurized interface between the station modules and the International Docking Adapter, which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings. The astronauts also lubricated the latching end effector on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator “extension” for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspected a radiator valve and replaced cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost. A second spacewalk has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 30, and a third spacewalk now is targeted for Thursday, April 6. The second spacewalk will feature Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA reconnecting cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 at its new home on top Harmony. They also will install the second of the two upgraded computer relay boxes on the station’s truss and install shields and covers on PMA-3 and the now-vacant common berthing mechanism port on Tranquility. The plan for the final spacewalk is for Whitson and Pesquet to replace an avionics box on the starboard truss called an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier, a storage platform. The box houses electrical and command and data routing equipment for the science experiments and replacement hardware stored outside of the station. The new avionics box is scheduled to launch on the upcoming Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft mission. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 1,236 hours and 38 minutes working outside the station during 198 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/24/spacewalkers-successfully-complete-primary-tasks/ French-American Spacewalking Duo aces busy EVA, ISS Docking Module ready for Robotic Relocation Quote Two Astronauts aboard the International Space Station ventured outside the hatches of the orbiting complex on Friday, spending six and a half hours spacewalking to complete a number of tasks including preparations for the relocation of one of the Station’s docking modules on Sunday. Veteran spacewalker Shane Kimbrough and ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet blazed through a busy EVA timeline, checking off all of the spacewalk’s objectives that included the installation of an upgraded computer box on the Station’s truss segment, inspecting an ammonia valve module for leaks, maintaining the Dextre robot and replacing a pair of cameras that had lost their lighting fixtures. U.S. EVA-40 had a duration of six hours and 34 minutes and set the stage for Sunday’s relocation of the PMA-3 module that will be followed by another excursion next week to outfit the module in its new location and complete more work outfitting the Station. PMA-3 Pre-Launch – Photo: NASA Kennedy PMA-3 Relocation – Image: NASA indepth analysis at the link... http://spaceflight101.com/us-eva-40-successfully-completed-outside-iss/ Preview of U.S. Spacewalk #40 video is 5:11 min. LIVE: Spacewalk #40 7:49:34 full EVA ------------------------------- NASA's hybrid computer enables Raven's autonomous rendezvous capability STP-H5, hanging at the end of Canada's robotic arm during installation on the outside of the International Space Station. Image courtesy NASA. Quote A hybrid computing system developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the enabling technology behind an ambitious experiment testing a relative navigation and autonomous docking capability known as Raven. Developed by the Satellite Servicing Projects Division, or SSPD, the carry-on luggage-sized module was launched February 19 aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, along with other experiments deployed outside the International Space Station on an experiment pallet. Raven is testing and maturing visible, infrared and lidar sensors and machine-vision algorithms; the module will bring NASA one step closer to realizing the groundbreaking autopilot capability that can be applied to many NASA missions for decades to come. Since NASA's pre-Apollo days, the agency has successfully docked spacecraft while they speed through space. However, all operations involved humans who orchestrated the movements from the ground. Raven's objective is to develop and mature technologies that ultimately will relieve human dependency and give spacecraft the ability to catch up with one another and dock autonomously in real time. "The Raven module is equipped with technology that lays the foundation for a relative navigation system," said Goddard Director Christopher Scolese. "What some may not fully appreciate is the fact th at Raven's sensors could not do their job if it weren't for another very effective technology called SpaceCube. The SpaceCube processor is the behind-the-scenes technology that is making this important demonstration possible." SpaceCube is a reconfigurable, very fast flight computing platform that Goddard technologists first demonstrated during a relative navigation experiment on the Hubble Servicing Mission-4 in 2009. During the Raven experiment, the module's "sensors serve as the eyes. SpaceCube acts as the brain, analyzing data and telling components what to do," said Ben Reed, deputy division director of SSPD. The "eyes" and the "brain" together create the autopilot capability. more at the link... http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASAs_hybrid_computer_enables_Ravens_autonomous_rendezvous_capability_999.html Unobscured Vision and Jim K 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 26, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 26, 2017 NASA will soon launch Roomba-like robots to stalk and spy on astronauts An illustration of Astrobee robots floating around the International Space Station. NASA; Business Insider Quote Astronauts locked inside the International Space Station (ISS) are about to get some new robotic friends: three autonomous cubes that will float around and record their every move. The free-flying robots are called Astrobees, and they might prowl around the ISS, film astronaut activities, power new science experiments, and help NASA locate lost items by the end of 2017. "We want this thing to be able to fly around inside the space station without the crew having to supervise it," Chris Provencher, Astrobee's project manager at NASA Ames Research Center, said in a video. The team at Ames in California has toiled for years to design and build its Astrobees. But they won't be the first floating robots to work alongside astronauts inside the ISS. The plan is for the Astrobees to replace three aging, orb-shaped devices called SPHERES — short for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites — which arrived at the space station in 2006. http://www.businessinsider.com/astrobee-cube-robot-space-station-2017-3 I hope they have "humour" settings.../s ------------------------ NASA Updates Schedule for International Space Station Spacewalks Quote Press Release From: NASA HQ Posted: Thursday, March 23, 2017 Expedition 50 astronauts will conduct up to three spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS) in late March and early April to prepare for the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft and upgrade station hardware. The first spacewalk remains on schedule for Friday, March 24. A second spacewalk has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 30, and a third spacewalk now is scheduled for Thursday, April 6. NASA TV will provide complete coverage beginning each day at 6:30 a.m. EDT, with the six-and-a-half hour spacewalks scheduled to begin about 8 a.m. The first spacewalk will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) for installation of the second International Docking Adapter, which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings. The PMA-3 provides the pressurized interface between the station modules and the docking adapter. Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will disconnect cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 to prepare for its robotic move Thursday, March 30. PMA-3 will be moved from the port side of the Tranquility module to the space-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will become home for the docking adapter, which will be delivered on a future flight of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. The spacewalkers also will install on the starboard zero truss a new computer relay box equipped with advanced software for the adapter. The two spacewalkers will lubricate the latching end effector on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator “extension” for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspect a radiator valve suspected of a small ammonia leak and replace cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost. Radiators are used to shed excess heat that builds up through normal space station operation. The second spacewalk will feature Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA reconnecting cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 at its new home on top Harmony. They also will install the second of the two upgraded computer relay boxes on the station’s truss and install shields and covers on PMA-3 and the now-vacant common berthing mechanism port on Tranquility. The final spacewalk will tentatively feature Whitson and Pesquet replacing an avionics box on the starboard truss called an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier, a storage platform. The box houses electrical and command and data routing equipment for the science experiments and replacement hardware stored outside of the station. The new avionics box is scheduled to launch on the upcoming Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft mission. Press Release From: NASA HQ Posted: Thursday, March 23, 2017 Expedition 50 astronauts will conduct up to three spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS) in late March and early April to prepare for the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft and upgrade station hardware. The first spacewalk remains on schedule for Friday, March 24. A second spacewalk has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 30, and a third spacewalk now is scheduled for Thursday, April 6. NASA TV will provide complete coverage beginning each day at 6:30 a.m. EDT, with the six-and-a-half hour spacewalks scheduled to begin about 8 a.m. The first spacewalk will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) for installation of the second International Docking Adapter, which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings. The PMA-3 provides the pressurized interface between the station modules and the docking adapter. Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will disconnect cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 to prepare for its robotic move Thursday, March 30. PMA-3 will be moved from the port side of the Tranquility module to the space-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will become home for the docking adapter, which will be delivered on a future flight of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. The spacewalkers also will install on the starboard zero truss a new computer relay box equipped with advanced software for the adapter. The two spacewalkers will lubricate the latching end effector on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator “extension” for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspect a radiator valve suspected of a small ammonia leak and replace cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost. Radiators are used to shed excess heat that builds up through normal space station operation. The second spacewalk will feature Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA reconnecting cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 at its new home on top Harmony. They also will install the second of the two upgraded computer relay boxes on the station’s truss and install shields and covers on PMA-3 and the now-vacant common berthing mechanism port on Tranquility. The final spacewalk will tentatively feature Whitson and Pesquet replacing an avionics box on the starboard truss called an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier, a storage platform. The box houses electrical and command and data routing equipment for the science experiments and replacement hardware stored outside of the station. The new avionics box is scheduled to launch on the upcoming Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft mission. This will be the 198th, 199th and 200th spacewalks in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Kimbrough’s two spacewalks will be the fifth and sixth of his career. Whitson will be making the eighth and ninth spacewalks of her career – more than any other female astronaut. Pesquet will undertake the second and third spacewalks in his career. Get NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information at:http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv Learn the latest on the International Space Station, its crew and their research at:http://www.nasa.gov/station // end // Get NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv Learn the latest on the International Space Station, its crew and their research at: http://www.nasa.gov/station // end // http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=50655 ---------------------------- ----------------------------- Data.... International Cloud Atlas Manual on the Observation of Clouds and Other Meteors (WMO-No. 407) Quote Welcome to the official site of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) International Cloud Atlas. This Atlas describes the classification system for clouds and meteorological phenomena used by all WMO Members. The classifications also describe meteorological meteors other than clouds – hydrometeors, lithometeors, photometeors, and electrometeors. https://www.wmocloudatlas.org/home.html ------------------------------- Image link... Jim K and Unobscured Vision 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 28, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 28, 2017 NASA ISS Weekly Space to Ground Report - 24 March 2017 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-weekly-space-to-ground-report---24-march-2017.html Space to Ground: Return of the Dragon: 03/24/2017 video is 2:28 min. ------------------------------- Weekend Robotics Work Sets Up Thursday Spacewalk Astronaut Shane Kimbrough takes an out-of-this-world selfie during a spacewalk on March 24, 2017. Quote The Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) was robotically removed Sunday from the Tranquility module and attached to the Harmony module after being prepared during a successful spacewalk Friday. A second spacewalk is scheduled for Thursday at 8 a.m. EDT to finalize the PMA-3 cable connections on Harmony. Commander Shane Kimbrough disconnected cables from PMA-3 while still attached to Tranquility during a spacewalk on Friday. That work allowed ground controllers to use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to remotely grapple and remove PMA-3 from Tranquility and attach it to Harmony. The relocation readies the PMA-3 for the future installation of the new International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3) set to be delivered on a future cargo mission. The IDA-3 will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings and provide the pressurized interface between the station and the adapter. Thursday’s spacewalk will see Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson complete the PMA-3 attachment work on the Harmony’s space-facing port. The duo will also install computer relay boxes containing software upgrades to enable future commercial crew vehicle dockings at the International Space Station. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/27/weekend-robotics-work-sets-up-thursday-spacewalk/ ---------------------------- ISS Docking Module Relocates to Establish Second Commercial Crew Docking Port Quote The International Space Station’s robotic arm was in action on Sunday, grasping onto a docking module and moving it to the space-facing side of the complex where it will serve as a second docking target for Commercial Crew vehicles expected to start arriving at the orbiting laboratory next year for regular crew exchange missions. Robotics specialists were in charge of controlling the Station’s 18-meter long Canadarm2 to remove Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 from its spot on the Port side of the Tranquility (Node 3) module and carefully maneuvering it into position on the Zenith port of the Harmony (Node 2) module where it was then bolted down. Initial outfitting of the module in its new location will be performed on Thursday by spacewalkers Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson before PMA-3 receives its International Docking Adapter early next year to fully commission it as a docking port for the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. analysis at the link... http://spaceflight101.com/iss-expedition-50/iss-pma-3-relocation/ Timelapse - Space Station Docking Module Relocation video is 4:02 min. Spacewalk Photos: Astronauts Prep Space Station for Future Commercial Spacecraft Slideshow at the link...25 slides of the EVA. http://www.space.com/36224-space-station-spacewalk-photos-eva-40-expedition-50.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social#?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2016twitterdlvrit ------------------------------ Extending Science in the Search for the Origin of the Cosmos Quote Attached to the outside of the International Space Station, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is circling Earth and sifting through cosmic ray particles traveling in the universe. Hundreds of scientists from 16 countries are analyzing the data, hoping to determine what the universe is made of and how it began, looking for clues on the origin of dark matter, invisible matter that can't be directly detected but can be inferred, and the existence of antimatter, made of elementary particles with the opposite charge of ordinary matter, which scientists have rarely been able to observe. AMS is composed of a magnet and several detectors that provide the scientists on the ground with information about the particles. The magnetic field produced by the magnet bends the trajectory of the electrically-charged cosmic ray particles already traveling in the space station’s path, thereby identifying the sign of the particle’s charge. AMS records the number of particles that pass through its detectors; the kinds of particles passing, characteristics such as particle charge, the sign of the charge (positive or negative), mass and velocity; and which direction they came from so that scientists can attempt to track down their source. All of the information is collected using 300,000 data channels in the nanoseconds it takes a particle to travel through AMS, and then sent down to scientists on the ground for analysis. The more particles AMS is able collect, the more scientists will be able to strengthen their findings. Launched in 2011, AMS was originally designed to operate for the duration of a three year mission, and has already surpassed that expectation. With the extension of the station through 2024, engineers are currently assessing long-term plans to extend the life of AMS to collect data throughout the lifetime of the station. Having exceeded the original three-year lifespan, some components are beginning to show wear. In particular, the thermal control system for one of the detectors, called the Silicon Tracker, has shown degradation. The system includes four redundant cooling pumps, only one of which is required to operate at given time. One of the pumps stopped functioning in March 2014, and another pump was found to have degraded as well, leading engineers on the ground to switch to one of two remaining pumps by the end of 2014 to continue collecting science data. A thermal cover was added during a spacewalk in 2015, and engineers switched to the last fully functional pump in March 2017 after the third pump showed similar signs of degradation. A functioning thermal control system is required to support the silicon tracker, and data from the silicon tracker is needed in combination with the data from the other trackers to support the AMS research. The other components of AMS appear to be in good shape, and long-term planning is underway to evaluate the potential to bypass the pumps and associated equipment for this tracker with an upgraded system put in place during a series of spacewalks. Close to 100 billion cosmic rays with energies up to multi trillion electron volts have been analyzed by AMS. Results to date have already challenged our understanding of the origin of cosmic ray particles and how they travel through the universe. For example, researchers have found an excess of high-energy positron particles, which are the anti-particle opposite to the common electron. The excess of positrons might be from a source we are familiar with, such as a pulsar, but they could also be produced by collisions of particles of dark matter. With additional data, enabled by extending the life of AMS, scientist may be able to determine the rate at which they decrease, shedding light on a possible cause. To provide further insight, AMS scientists are also analyzing high-energy antiprotons, which pulsars do not produce and may be a unique signature of dark matter. AMS is a joint effort between NASA and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and is led by Principal Investigator Samuel Ting, a Nobel laureate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The AMS team includes some 600 physicists from 56 institutions in 16 countries from Europe, North America and Asia. The contributions from the various participants were integrated when the AMS was built at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) outside of Geneva, Switzerland. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/extending-science-in-the-search-for-the-origin-of-the-cosmos --------------------------- A New Market Emerges Quote NASA recently marked a decade since it began a new era in commercial spaceflight development for low-Earth orbit transportation. The space agency inked agreements in 2006 to develop rockets and spacecraft capable of carrying cargo such as experiments and supplies to and from the International Space Station. The first development agreements for elements of commercial crew spacecraft followed the initial commercial cargo agreements by about three years. Soon after that, NASA's Commercial Crew Program was created to shepherd human-rating requirements into existence and certify designs of spacecraft, launch pads and ground systems. The aerospace companies NASA partnered with during the commercial crew and cargo development phases have infused expertise and innovation into the marketplace. These capabilities have set a foundation of new space-related industries with specialties in everything from engines and life support systems to complete spacecraft designs. “With cargo, we wanted the capability to cost-effectively deliver research experiments, hardware and supplies to the space station. With crew, we needed continued U.S. human access to low-Earth orbit,” said Phil McAlister, director of NASA's Commercial Spaceflight Development Division. “But another one of the rationales was to stimulate new markets. Seeing that emerge has been really gratifying." Today, Boeing and SpaceX are deep into final testing and manufacturing of independent spacecraft and launch systems that will carry astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing's CST-100 Starliner will fly into space on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. SpaceX is building the Crew Dragon spacecraft to launch on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. Both spacecraft are designed to take up to four astronauts on NASA missions, a number that will give the station a full-time crew of seven, ensuring maximum research time aboard the orbiting laboratory. Through a combination of funded and unfunded space act agreements, NASA continues to provide its expertise to help advance the burgeoning commercial human space transportation industry. Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada Corporation, partners with NASA since 2010, continue to develop and refine their respective crew spacecraft and launch systems. Under these agreements, NASA provides expertise and insight into their spaceflight designs. The benefits to NASA include a more diverse market of competition and capability. Blue Origin and NASA worked together on the testing of the company’s BE-3 thrust chamber, Space Vehicle spacecraft and subsystems of the New Shepard rocket. The BE-3 has powered several flights of a prototype New Shepard rocket designed to loft its spacecraft on suborbital missions. Later rockets are designed to be more powerful to launch satellites and its Space Vehicle spacecraft into orbit. For Sierra Nevada Corporation, NASA provides assistance as the company refines its Dream Chaser spacecraft for future human spaceflight missions. SNC currently is developing its Dream Chaser Cargo System to fulfill a NASA contract to carry supplies to the space station and return them to Earth beginning in 2019. The winged spacecraft is designed to launch inside a payload fairing on an Atlas V rocket and at the end of the mission will glide back to Earth and land on a runway. "We have a massive wealth of knowledge about human spaceflight, some of it gained with great sacrifice, so we set out to create a framework that could leverage that experience while allowing the companies to be innovative in developing their systems,” McAlister said. “Then we built in a way to give industry the incentives to produce reliable and cost effective vehicles that could be used by private citizens as well as government astronauts." https://www.nasa.gov/feature/a-new-market-emerges ---------------------------- March 19, 2017: International Space Station Configuration.Three spacecraft are at the station including the Progress 66 cargo craft and the Soyuz MS-02 and MS-03 crew vehicles. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/visiting-vehicle-launches-arrivals-and-departures ------------------------------ Streaking Star Trails And Streetlights Seen From Orbit Thomas Pesquet: Another long exposure picture: Our vehicles are unmoved by the passing city lights and star trails. ESA/NASA http://spaceref.com/onorbit/streaking-star-trails-and-streetlights-seen-from-orbit.html Jim K and Emn1ty 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 29, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 29, 2017 NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 27 March 2017 - Getting Ready for the New International Docking Adapter-3 In this photo, Thomas is working on the Canadian robotic arm. Standing on a foot restraint, he is using a lubrication tool (it resembles a selfie stick) to oil Dextre. Credit: ESA/NASA. Quote The Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) was robotically removed Sunday from the Tranquility module and attached to the Harmony module after being prepared during a successful spacewalk Friday. A second spacewalk is scheduled for Thursday at 8 a.m. EDT to finalize the PMA-3 cable connections on Harmony. Commander Shane Kimbrough disconnected cables from PMA-3 while still attached to Tranquility during a spacewalk on Friday. That work allowed ground controllers to use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to remotely grapple and remove PMA-3 from Tranquility and attach it to Harmony. The relocation readies the PMA-3 for the future installation of the new International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3) set to be delivered on a future cargo mission. The IDA-3 will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings and provide the pressurized interface between the station and the adapter. Thursday's spacewalk will see Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson complete the PMA-3 attachment work on the Harmony's space-facing port. The duo will also install computer relay boxes containing software upgrades to enable future commercial crew vehicle dockings at the International Space Station. Quote Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)3 Relocation: Yesterday, Robotics Ground Controllers utilized the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to grapple and relocate PMA3 from Node3 Port to Node2 Zenith. After the relocation, they ungrappled PMA3 and maneuvered the SSRMS in position ready to provide viewing support for EVA 41 (Enhanced Processor Integrated Communications (EPIC) External Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) Shields), scheduled for March 30th. The PMA3 relocation was needed to configure Node2 Zenith as a future visiting vehicle docking port. emoving the substance. On Sunday, the crew attempted to clean some of the affected hardware with tape and lint free wipes. Ground teams met today to discuss the result of this activity. U.S. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #41 EPIC Shields Preparations: In preparation for this Thursday's planned EVA, the crew performed a procedures review followed by a conference with ground teams. Topics covered included: Detailed timeline Briefing package Tool config summary Get-ahead plan Following the conference, the crew configured the required tools to be used during the EVA. Quote Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Nominal System Commanding Three-Day Look Ahead: Tuesday, 03/28: Fine Motor Skills, Body Measures, EVA prep Wednesday, 03/29: Crew departure prep, Dose Tracker, EVA prep Thursday, 03/30: EVA #41 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 - Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) - Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) - ReProcess Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab - Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 - Full Up http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/nasa-space-station-on-orbit-status-27-march-2017---spacewalk-hi-res-video-available.html ---------------------------- Fluid Physics and Human Research Before Second Spacewalk The Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 is in the grip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm during its relocation and attachment to the Harmony module on March 26,2017. Quote The crew researched the effects of living in space and set up a specialized microscope for a physics experiment today. Two astronauts are also getting ready for a Thursday spacewalk to continue setting up the International Space Station for commercial crew vehicles. Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet used a tape measure this morning and measured their arms, legs, hips, waist and chest. Researchers are studying how microgravity impacts body size and shape and are comparing crew measurements before, during and after a space mission. Whitson later began setting up gear for the ACE-T-1 (Advanced Colloids Experiment Temperature Control-1) physics study. She opened up the Fluids Integrated Rack and reconfigured the Light Microscopy Module to research tiny suspended particles designed by scientists and observe how they form organized structures within water. Commander Shane Kimbrough is getting ready for another spacewalk on Thursday at 8 a.m. EDT. This time he’ll go outside with Whitson to finish cable connections at the Harmony module where the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) was robotically attached on Sunday. The PMA-3 relocation gets the adapter ready for the new International Docking Adapter-3 set to be delivered on a future cargo mission. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/28/fluid-physics-and-human-research-before-second-spacewalk/ -------------------------------- NASA Unveils New Searchable Video, Audio and Imagery Library for the Public Quote NASA officially has launched a new resource to help the public search and download out-of-this-world images, videos and audio files by keyword and metadata searches from NASA.gov. The NASA Image and Video Library website consolidates imagery spread across more than 60 collections into one searchable location. https://images.nasa.gov NASA Image and Video Library allows users to search, discover and download a treasure trove of more than 140,000 NASA images, videos and audio files from across the agency’s many missions in aeronautics, astrophysics, Earth science, human spaceflight, and more. Users now can embed content in their own sites and choose from multiple resolutions to download. The website also displays the metadata associated with images. Users can browse the agency’s most recently uploaded files, as well as discover historic and the most popularly searched images, audio files and videos. Other features include: Automatically scales the interface for mobile phones and tablets. Displays the EXIF/camera data that includes exposure, lens used, and other information, when available from the original image. Allows for easy public access to high resolution files. All video includes a downloadable caption file. NASA Image and Video Library’s Application Programmers Interface (API) allows automation of imagery uploads for NASA, and gives members of the public the ability to embed content in their own sites and applications. This public site runs on NASA’s cloud native “infrastructure-as-a-code” technology enabling on-demand use in the cloud. The library is not comprehensive, but rather provides the best of what NASA makes publicly available from a single point of presence on the web. Additionally, it is a living website, where new and archival images, video and audio files continually will be added. For more information about NASA’s activities, visit: http://www.nasa.gov // end // http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=50665 ---------------------------- SpaceX Founder Elon Musk Keynote Speaker at 2017 International Space Station Research and Development Conference Quote Press Release From: Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) Posted: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 The International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSR&D) today announced that Elon Musk, CEO and lead designer at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at its 6th annual meeting at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. from July 17-20, 2017. The ISSR&D Conference was created to connect commercial and academic communities involved in new innovations, breakthroughs, and discoveries onboard humankind’s unique orbiting laboratory. This event is held in coordination with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). more at the link... http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=50666 -------------------------------- image link Orbital View As Tropical Cyclone Debbie Makes Landfall in Queensland Cyclone Debbie NASA Quote Tropical Cyclone Debbie made landfall in Queensland bringing heavy rainfall, hurricane-force winds, rough seas, and flooding. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible look at the storm from space while NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed cloud temperatures to determine the location of the strongest storms within. Before Debbie made landfall, NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed the temperatures in the storm on Mar. 27 at 0347 UTC (Mar. 26 at 11:47 pm. EST). The infrared imagery showed a large area of cloud top temperatures in thunderstorms around Debbie's eye as cold as near minus 63.1 degrees Celsius or minus 81.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Cloud top temperatures that cold have been shown to produce heavy rainfall. Cyclone Debbie made landfall north of Proserpine at Airlie Beach on March 28, shortly after noon AEST/Queensland local time (0200 UTC/March 27 at 10 p.m. EST). The Australian Bureau of Meteorology noted wind gusts stronger than 160 mph (260 kph) were recorded near landfall. The strong winds downed trees and powerlines. Power losses occurred in a large area between the towns of Bowen and Mackay, according to Ergon Energy. The Townsville airport and ocean ports were closed. Shortly after Debbie's 30-mile-wide (50 km) eye made landfall, the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of the storm at 03:42 UTC (1:42 p.m. AEST Queensland local time /Mar. 27 at 11:42 p.m. EST). The image showed a thick band of powerful thunderstorms wrapped around the cloud-filled eye. http://spaceref.com/onorbit/orbital-view-as-tropical-cyclone-debbie-makes-landfall-in-queensland.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted March 30, 2017 Author Veteran Share Posted March 30, 2017 ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/28/2017 Quote Advanced Colloids Experiment Temperature Control -1 (ACE-T-1) Module Installation: The crew reconfigured the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) Light Microscopy Module (LMM) for the ACE-T-1 experiment. ACE-T-1 studies tiny suspended particles which have been designed by scientists to connect themselves in a specific way to form organized structures in water. The particles that were flown on HTV-6 are cylindrical in shape versus bullet-shaped that the previous ACE-T-1 module investigated. Materials having complex structures and unique properties potentially can be made with additional knowledge of how these particles are joined together and the conditions which control their behaviors. FIR is a complementary fluid physics research facility designed to host investigations in areas such as colloids, gels, bubbles, wetting and capillary action, and phase changes including boiling and cooling. Environmental Health System (EHS) Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion Products (CSA-CP) Maintenance: The crew completed this regularly scheduled maintenance to replace the battery packs and zero calibrate all CSA-CPs. U.S. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #41 Preparations: In preparation for this Thursday’s planned EVA, the crew performed the following: Configured tools required for the EVA. Inspected all safety, waist tethers and D-ring extenders for structural integrity. Installed Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly (REBA) in EMUs 3006 and 3008. Configured Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics (DOUG) to receive and display real-time Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) joint angle telemetry from a Portable Computer System (PCS) laptop. Also start and configure DOUG without real-time SSRMS joint angle telemetry. Quote Completed Task List Items Replace KTO Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Nominal System Commanding Three-Day Look Ahead: Wednesday, 03/29: Crew departure prep, Dose Tracker, EVA prep Thursday, 03/30: EVA #41 Friday, 03/31: Crew departure prep, EVA debrief/cleanup https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2017/03/28/iss-daily-summary-report-3282017/ -------------------------- Astronaut Peggy Whitson Set to Break Spacewalk Record Thursday Astronaut Peggy Whitson was pictured during her seventh spacewalk which took place Jan. 6, 2017. Quote Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson is set to go on her eighth spacewalk Thursday morning and surpass astronaut Suni Williams’ record for the most spacewalks by a female astronaut. Whitson’s last spacewalk was on Jan. 6 with Commander Shane Kimbrough when she hooked up new lithium-ion batteries and inspected the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Thursday’s spacewalk will see Whitson and Kimbrough finish cable connections at the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 just recently attached to the Harmony module’s space-facing port. The PMA-3 relocation gets the station ready for the new International Docking Adapter-3 set to be delivered on a future SpaceX Dragon cargo mission. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who conducted last week’s spacewalk with Kimbrough, will assist the duo in and out of their spacesuits and monitor the activities from inside the station. The spacewalkers are scheduled to exit the Quest airlock Thursday at 8 a.m. EST for 6.5 hours of station maintenance work. NASA TV will cover all the spacewalk activities beginning at 6:30 a.m. https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/29/astronaut-peggy-whitson-set-to-break-spacewalk-record-thursday/ NASA TV ----------------------------- NASA assigns astronauts to future space station missions Astronauts Ricky Arnold (left) and Joe Acaba (right) aboard the space shuttle Discovery in March 2009. Credit: NASA Quote NASA has announced that veteran astronauts Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold will launch on nearly six-month expeditions aboard the International Space Station starting in September and in March 2018, filling seats aboard Russian Soyuz spaceships recently acquired in a commercial arrangement with Boeing. Acaba is set to launch first, riding to the space station inside the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in September with Russian commander Alexander Misurkin and NASA flight engineer Mark Vande Hei. That trio will be part of the station’s Expedition 53 and 54 crews, returning to Earth next February. The mission will be Acaba’s third spaceflight since his selection as a NASA astronaut in 2004. The California native first flew in space aboard the shuttle Discovery on the STS-119 mission in March 2009, then spent four months in orbit on the International Space Station in 2012. Acaba has logged nearly 138 days in space on his two previous flights. It will be Vande Hei’s first space mission, and the second for Misurkin. Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, NASA astronaut Scott Tingle and Japanese flight engineer Norishige Kanai are set to launch on the next Soyuz flight no sooner than late December. Those crew members were already assigned to the mission. Astronaut Ricky Arnold will join NASA’s Drew Feustel and a Russian cosmonaut on a Soyuz launch in March 2018 as part of the station’s Expedition 55 and 56 crews. Born in Maryland, Arnold previously flew in space as a crewmate of Acaba on Discovery’s STS-119 mission, accumulating nearly 13 days in space. more at the link... https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/03/29/nasa-assigns-astronauts-to-future-space-station-missions/ ----------------------------- Cygnus mission delayed to mid-April Quote WASHINGTON — A Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station delayed because of booster problems will not fly until at least the middle of April, a NASA official said March 28. In a presentation to the NASA Advisory Council’s Human Exploration and Operations Committee here, Robyn Gatens, deputy director of the ISS division at NASA Headquarters, said the delay will also push back a spacewalk planned to take place on the station next week. The Orbital ATK Cygnus, on a mission designated OA-7, was scheduled to launch in mid-March on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5, but was delayed several days, first by a hydraulics issue with the rocket’s first stage and later by a problem with ground support equipment. ULA announced March 22 that the launch would be postponed again, this time because of “a different issue with a booster hydraulic line,” according to a company statement. No new launch date was announced. Gatens said NASA was now expecting the Cygnus to launch to the station no earlier than the middle of April. “The Orbital launch, the next launch, has slipped due to an investigation of a hydraulic leak in the booster engine compartment that’s in work,” she said. “There are some components being replaced. The investigation is going on and we’re currently targeting no earlier than, probably, a mid-April launch.” ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said March 28 that a new launch date has not been set yet for the mission. “Additional information will be provided once testing to resolve the booster hydraulic issue is complete,” she said. more at the link... http://spacenews.com/cygnus-mission-delayed-to-mid-april/ --------------------------------- International Space Station Calendar Quote March 30, 2017 USOS EVA-41 – PMA-3 Outfitting, MDM (Kimbrough, Whitson) April 2017 Cygnus OA-7 Launch atop Atlas V April 2017 Cygnus OA-7 Rendezvous, Capture, Berthing April 5, 2017 ISS Reboost April 6, 2017 USOS EVA-42 – AMS-2, ELC-4 (Whitson, Pesquet) April 10, 2017 Soyuz MS-02 Undocking & Landing April 20, 2017 Soyuz MS-04 Launch and Docking (Yurchikhin, Fisher) April/May 2017 QB-50 CubeSat Deployment NET May 2017 Dragon SpX-11 http://spaceflight101.com/iss/iss-calendar/ --------------------------- --------------------------------- image link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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