tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66082122346849517562024-03-12T17:46:08.359-05:00Orbital Velocity<center>A Space Station Odyssey</center>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-83510178023308152822016-08-24T07:00:00.000-05:002016-08-24T07:00:39.376-05:00New websiteThe was the original blog or Orbital Velocity. It now exists for archive purposes. To view the brand new Orbital Velocity website, visit <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/">www.orbital-velocity.com</a>!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-34432324420998129842016-04-12T22:54:00.000-05:002016-04-12T22:54:07.106-05:00First commercial space station to launch in only four years<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1RUzkwEopR8/Vw3BBD-6YpI/AAAAAAAAX8s/mGgSlo4N54Q2A2v8wF4J4hsamL20LQixACLcB/s1600/150312-ba330_6c08e517718e4cdb2bbd1b76a8d456c3.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1RUzkwEopR8/Vw3BBD-6YpI/AAAAAAAAX8s/mGgSlo4N54Q2A2v8wF4J4hsamL20LQixACLcB/s400/150312-ba330_6c08e517718e4cdb2bbd1b76a8d456c3.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image Credit: Bigelow Aerospace</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bigelow Aerospace <a href="http://www.ulalaunch.com/bigelow-aerospace-and-ula-join-forces.aspx" target="_blank">partnered</a> with the United Launch Alliance to launch their 330-cubic-meter expandable space habitat—the <a href="http://bigelowaerospace.com/b330/" target="_blank">B330</a>—using ULA's Atlas V rocket in the 2019-2020 time frame.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“We could not be more pleased than to partner with Bigelow Aerospace and reserve a launch slot on our manifest for this revolutionary mission,” Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO, said in a news release. “This innovative and game-changing advance will dramatically increase opportunities for space research in fields like materials, medicine and biology. And it enables destinations in space for countries, corporations and even individuals far beyond what is available today, effectively democratizing space. We can’t begin to imagine the future potential of affordable real estate in space.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The announcement is a first-of-its-kind partnership of two commercial space companies—one a launch provider and the other a space habitat company—working to develop human infrastructure in low-Earth orbit without the aid of any government. That isn't to say that the companies don't want to do business with governments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The B330 is designed to be a completely self-contained space station. But, according to Robert Bigelow, the CEO of Bigelow Aerospace, he would like to see one attached to the International Space Station.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"We are trying to acquire permission from NASA to be able to locate a B330 on [the ISS]," Bigelow said, "If we're able to do that and have [a B330] be there, we are asking, also, that we be given consideration to be able to commercialize time and volume."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bigelow said this would be no different than having a 30-story building and trying to lease a number of floors. He continued the analogy by stating that maybe NASA could be an anchor tenant to this first B330 at the International Space Station.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This module, if attached to ISS, would increase the station's volume by 30 percent. The craft will support research in microgravity including, but not limited to, scientific missions and manufacturing processes. Bigelow also hopes that the module, and other free-flying versions of it, will support space tourism and be able to be used on missions that go beyond LEO to the Moon or Mars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Transportation to these modules, be it at ISS or elsewhere, will be done by NASA's current crop of commercial crew providers. Bigelow believes that there is enough of a market to support four commercial transportation companies. He cited Boeing's CST-100, SpaceX's Crew Dragon, Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser and Blue Origin's yet-to-be-unveiled orbital spacecraft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The B330 is currently being developed. The companies will work together to develop the business construct, commercial product offerings and marketing plans. Only when the spacecraft design is proven and a market shown to exist will additional habitats be deployed in other locations.</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-47504230624982671822016-04-10T16:29:00.000-05:002016-04-10T19:27:10.302-05:00SpaceX: launching, landing and berthing into history<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches the CRS-8 Dragon to the International Space Station. The <br />first stage of the booster would land on an ocean-going platform only nine minutes <br />later. Photo Credit: SpaceX</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the last few days, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket, delivered a Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station and, as a bonus, successfully landed the first stage of the booster on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean. It's safe to say that this was one of the best weeks in the NewSpace company's history.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On April 8 at 4:43 p.m. EST (20:43 GMT), the Falcon 9 rocket soared into the late afternoon skies at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It carried the CRS-8 Dragon capsule—the first to launch since the ill-fated CRS-7 mission. It was a textbook launch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A little over two minutes into flight, the booster's first stage had finished it's job and detached from the second stage, which fired and continued on to orbit. Then, the rocket did something the company has been trying for a while now: it turned around and slowed itself for a soft touchdown on an ocean-going platform.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <i>Of Course I Still Love You</i> Automated Spaceport Droneship carried the first stage<br />back to Cape Canaveral on Sunday, April 10. Photo Credit: SpaceX</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was the fifth attempt at landing on an Automated Spaceport Drone Ship. All the others failed in some way (although one attempt only failed because a landing leg didn't lock into place). This flight, however, succeeded. It was a long time coming for SpaceX, as they had been testing and refining this process for the better part of two years now—not including the Grasshopper tests in Texas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The atmosphere at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, was electric. This was the second time one of their first stage boosters was successfully recovered—the first at sea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">SpaceX has said they need to be able to land on both solid ground and the drone ships because of the high energy launch requirements on some payloads, such as those heading to geostationary transfer orbit or escape velocity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Elon Musk, the company's founder said the firm hopes to re-certify and reuse the booster on a flight as early as June.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As if that accomplishment wasn't enough, SpaceX still had a mission to complete: sending the Dragon cargo ship to the space station. Right about the time of the first stage landing, the second stage had made it to orbit and released the space freighter.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dragon approaches the International Space Station. Photo Credit: Tim Peake / NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the next two days, Dragon caught up with the space station. Finally, early Sunday morning, the capsule conducted its final approach to the orbiting laboratory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Capture by the space station’s robotic <i>Canadarm2</i> took place at 7:23 a.m. EDT (11:23 GMT) April 10 about 250 miles (402 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean just west of Hawaii. Controlling the arm was Expedition 47 Flight Engineer and European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake. He, along with NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, monitored the approaching vessel from the Cupola window.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“It looks like we caught a Dragon,” Peake said after capture.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dragon, upper left, is berthed to the orbiting laboratory. Cygnus is seen on the lower <br />right attached to the <i>Unity</i> Module. This is the first time two commercial vehicles were<br />at the station at the same time. Photo Credit: NASA TV</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then, over the next two hours, ground teams controlled the arm to move Dragon from its capture point just 33 feet (10 meters) below the station to the Earth facing port of the <i>Harmony</i> module.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The command to automatically drive four bolts in the Common Berthing Mechanism connecting Dragon and <i>Harmony</i> was given at about 8:55 a.m. CDT (13:55 GMT). The stations computer rejected the command at first, but upon trying a second time, it accepted and the spacecraft was officially berthed to the ISS at 8:57 a.m. CDT (13:57 GMT)—some 40 feet (12 meters) from the OA-6 Cygnus cargo ship attached to the <i>Unity</i> module. This marked the first time two commercial vehicles were at the station at the same time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The arrival of Dragon also marked only the second time in space station program history that six vehicles were docked or berthed to the outpost. The last time was in 2011 when Space Shuttle <i>Discovery</i> was docked with the complex on mission STS-133—that orbiter’s final flight. That was also the only time all of the originally planned government-owned vehicles (Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Progress, Japanese HTV, and the European Space Agency’s ATV) were at the station at the same time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the eighth Dragon to visit the space station. It is also the 84th uncrewed cargo ship and 170th overall mission to reach the orbiting laboratory. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The hatch between the cargo ship and space station will be opened early Monday morning. In the next three weeks, Dragon’s 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) of food, supplies, and experiments will be unloaded and dispersed throughout ISS. Additionally, the vessel will be reloaded with trash and unneeded equipment to be returned to Earth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On April 16, CRS-8’s most notable cargo, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will be robotically removed from the unpressurized trunk of the spacecraft and attached to the aft port of the <i>Tranquility</i> module. It will be expanded sometime in late May. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dragon is expected to remain attached to the space station until May 1 of this year (2016).
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-54862262801065767382016-04-04T07:00:00.000-05:002016-04-04T07:00:05.479-05:00Experimental feature: Liquid crystals in space<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dTfBfRmawVw/VwH3fyT86yI/AAAAAAAAX3g/G-RfQqG2gPsA3pS97dIXSdqYLkOwvxIOw/s1600/lc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dTfBfRmawVw/VwH3fyT86yI/AAAAAAAAX3g/G-RfQqG2gPsA3pS97dIXSdqYLkOwvxIOw/s400/lc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Microscopic detail of liquid crystal islands tethered like necklaces when an external<br />electric field is applied near the very thin film surface. Caption and Image Credit:<br />Liquid Crystal Physics Group / University of Colorado Boulder</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The crew aboard the International Space Station perform hundreds of experiments each year in nearly all fields of science. There is so much that goes un-reported in mainstream news. Because of this, <i>Orbital Velocity</i> makes an attempt to feature some of these studies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Since liquid crystals are used in display screens on TVs, clocks and laptops, scientists want to understand how microgravity affects these crystals' ability to appear as both a liquid and a solid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Liquid crystals flow like a liquid, but contain molecules that are arranged in a specific pattern—like a crystal.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In addition to being used in LCDs, they form in</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> naturally occurring things, such as soap bubbles. The <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/773.html" target="_blank">OASIS</a> experiment looks at these bubbles</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra works to install the OASIS experiment in the <br />Microgravity Science Glovebox. Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When you look at bubble, you usually see iridescent colors on its surface. This layer of color—liquid crystals—has a thickness that varies and changes when water flows back and forth over the surface. It is the thicker place on the bubble that scientists are looking at. They look like islands and are referred to as smectic islands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On ISS, the experiment will produce these smectic islands on bubbles. The thickness could be as thin as 6 nanometers. For comparison, the thickness of human hair is 60,000 nanometers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In normal gravity, when the islands become larger, they slide to the bottom of the bubble and "layer" up. But that doesn't happen in space.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgGTRm01xLU/VwH3f3stzYI/AAAAAAAAX3o/8hTJIVxv4uEiH3GFWWNxTRmSGQnAvDQew/s1600/OASIS8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgGTRm01xLU/VwH3f3stzYI/AAAAAAAAX3o/8hTJIVxv4uEiH3GFWWNxTRmSGQnAvDQew/s400/OASIS8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A detailed look at the OASIS Experiment Module. Image Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the first experiment of its kind done in microgravity. Investigators hope to use the information found to make better displays in space—potentially using the technology as a heads-up display in spacesuit helmets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">By better understanding the physics behind these liquid crystals, improvements can be made on Earth-bound LCD screens. Such improvements include improved color contrasts and response times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This experiment was sent to ISS on April 14, 2015 aboard a SpaceX <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/dragon.html" target="_blank">Dragon</a> cargo ship. Crews conduct the study inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox, which is located inside the U.S. <i>Destiny</i> laboratory. The study is being lead by the University of Colorado Boulder.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-24208503382433281212016-03-31T12:08:00.001-05:002016-03-31T12:08:30.115-05:00Progress heads for the International Space Station<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vl4bGYMaHVI/Vv1X6sm5UII/AAAAAAAAXxA/ltEprxXY6gMkXmRgBOAnLxd8M7ITDQ39g/s1600/Ce4_r00WwAAtepn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vl4bGYMaHVI/Vv1X6sm5UII/AAAAAAAAXxA/ltEprxXY6gMkXmRgBOAnLxd8M7ITDQ39g/s400/Ce4_r00WwAAtepn.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Progress MS-2 lifts off the pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A Soyuz rocket lofted a Russian cargo ship with 5,300 pounds of fuel, water and supplies bound for the International Space Station.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The craft, dubbed <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/progress.html" target="_blank">Progress</a> MS-2, lifted off the pad at 10:44 p.m. local Kazakhstan time (16:23 GMT) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Nearly nine minutes later, the spacecraft was in orbit gearing up for a two-day trek to the orbiting laboratory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The capsule will automatically dock with the rear port of the <i>Zvezda</i> service module around 1:01 p.m. CST (18:01 GMT) on April 2. It is packed with 5,346 pounds of fuel, air, water and equipment to support the Expedition 47 crew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Progress MS-2 will join two crewed <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/soyuz.html" target="_blank">Soyuz</a> vehicles and another Progress attached to the Russian Orbital Segment of the ISS. Additionally, an <a href="http://www.orbitalatk.com/" target="_blank">Orbital ATK</a> Cygnus recently berthed on the U.S. Segment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To make room for the new spacecraft, Progress M-29M was loaded with trash and undocked on Wednesday. It will remain in orbit until April 8 when it will be commanded to de-orbit over the South Pacific Ocean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the second cargo ship in as many weeks to arrive at the orbiting outpost. The next cargo ship, a <a href="http://www.spacex.com/" target="_blank">SpaceX</a> <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/dragon.html" target="_blank">Dragon</a>, will launch on April 8 and berth with the ISS on April 10.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-25441172770099391332016-03-30T23:00:00.000-05:002016-03-31T01:49:46.879-05:00China's first space station falls silent<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QakrrmWsnZo/VvzFwO_43LI/AAAAAAAAXwo/DoMRYlbwUFEl4MNAUOL-R29Q7Ww_nRhbA/s1600/278462.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QakrrmWsnZo/VvzFwO_43LI/AAAAAAAAXwo/DoMRYlbwUFEl4MNAUOL-R29Q7Ww_nRhbA/s400/278462.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An artist's rendition of Tiangong 1, left, being visited by a Shenzhou. Three of these <br />spacecraft visited the space station over the course of two years. Image Credit: China <br />National Space Administration</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">China has officially shut down the country's first space station, Tiangong 1, according to a story by the <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/21/c_135209671.htm" target="_blank">Xinhua News Agency</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was reported last week that the China National Space Administration terminated the Tiangong 1 data service after an extended operating period of two and a half years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tiangong 1, which means "heavenly palace 1," was lofted into space by China's Long March 2F/G rocket in September 2011. It was designed as a test article to support the rendezvous and docking of crewed and autonomous spacecraft, as well as house crews for an extended period.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It only had one docking port, so it could not be serviced by cargo ships. The station saw three vehicles</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4cda8a63-cb6d-169a-13e1-00f927221980"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span></span>one autonomous and two crewed<span id="docs-internal-guid-4cda8a63-cb6d-169a-13e1-00f927221980"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">dock with the module over two years. The last crew left in the summer of 2013, and it has remained unoccupied since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The decommissioned laboratory remains safely in its designated orbit, but it will eventually succumb to the effects of atmospheric drag and burn up once it falls low enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The station has helped Chinese scientists understand the construction and management of a space laboratory and paved the way for the next version, Tiangong 2.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tiangong 2 is <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-02/28/c_135137534.htm" target="_blank">scheduled</a> to launch in the third quarter of this year. It will sport two docking ports in order to be serviced in orbit. The first crewed mission to the outpost will be Shenzhou 11, which will carry two taikonauts (Chinese astronauts).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A new cargo ship, dubbed Tianzhou, will launch and automatically dock to the new outpost in early 2017.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Both Tiangong 1 and 2 aim to help China develop the required skills and technology needed to <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/07/c_135164574.htm" target="_blank">build</a> a 60-ton multi-module space station by the early 2020s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Video courtesy of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxKAgjstT5Qx9htrpSDJwBQ" target="_blank">Space Animation</a></i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-11252509803817447972016-03-27T18:00:00.000-05:002016-03-28T11:53:15.267-05:00Cygnus arrives at, berthed to International Space Station<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_9BPRp0X0o/VvleSW7PWUI/AAAAAAAAXvE/IiuUXbTKlpQd-quQDcaSxVSjAOevhidHQ/s1600/CeeMUkFW8AA__i7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_9BPRp0X0o/VvleSW7PWUI/AAAAAAAAXvE/IiuUXbTKlpQd-quQDcaSxVSjAOevhidHQ/s400/CeeMUkFW8AA__i7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The S.S. Rick Husband approaches the capture position below the International Space <br />Station. Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After three days of travel to the International Space Station, the fifth </span><a href="http://www.orbitalatk.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Orbital ATK</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Cygnus spacecraft to visit the outpost was captured and berthed to the station early Saturday morning, March 26, delivering 7,756 pounds (3,518 kilograms) of food, supplies, and experiments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once the spacecraft was about 33 feet (10 meters) below the station, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, the commander of the orbiting laboratory, took control of the space station’s robotic arm to move in and grab the free-flying Cygnus. Capture took place at 5:51 a.m. CDT (10:51 GMT) when the cargo freighter and ISS were about 250 miles (402 kilometers) over the south Indian Ocean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“We’re really honored to bring aboard the <i>S.S. Rick Husband</i> to the International Space Station,” said Kopra. “It recognizes a personal hero of so many of us and this will be the first Cygnus honoree who was directly involved with the construction of this great station.”</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1LwdLkSOlGY/VvleXL2Yr4I/AAAAAAAAXvQ/RbkFjg2XT_sWpi1XUXsQwYfu2O5qKhRmg/s1600/CeeMUt_XEAAe2_x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1LwdLkSOlGY/VvleXL2Yr4I/AAAAAAAAXvQ/RbkFjg2XT_sWpi1XUXsQwYfu2O5qKhRmg/s400/CeeMUt_XEAAe2_x.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tim Kopra and Tim Peake work in the Cupola module to grab the free-flying Cygnus<br />from space. Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After capture, ground teams spent the next two hours maneuvering the spacecraft to just below the <i>Unity</i> module of the orbiting lab. Once Cygnus was only inches away from the Earth-facing Common Berthing Mechanism, fine-tuning of the alignment began.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Getting the spacecraft below the CBM into the Ready To Latch position took a little longer than usual. Ground teams told the crew that because the robotic arm was fully stretched out, the procedure had to take place a little slower.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">During final RTL alignments, the space station’s ground track took it away from video downlink. This caused the operators on the ground controlling the robotic arm to pause for about 30 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">About an hour behind the timeline, berthing finally took place at 9:52 a.m. CDT (14:52 GMT) while the station was flying over the Pacific Ocean just west of Mexico.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The hatch between the station and Cygnus was opened the next day on Sunday. The crew will now begin the long process of unloading the thousands of pounds of cargo on board the spacecraft.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--EWB4NIodOo/VvleX1FlB5I/AAAAAAAAXvQ/imZmqWXjcFkf5uFUkysUKR4GOdFl2Mk_w/s1600/24106397360_c3fc871c00_k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--EWB4NIodOo/VvleX1FlB5I/AAAAAAAAXvQ/imZmqWXjcFkf5uFUkysUKR4GOdFl2Mk_w/s400/24106397360_c3fc871c00_k.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">File photo of the Previous Cygnus berthed. This photo was taken during a space walk <br />earlier in the year. Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“As we accomplish our fifth Cygnus berthing to the ISS, we celebrate the completion of a primary mission objective for OA-6,” said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group via a company-issued release. “Our flexible Cygnus spacecraft has a lot of work left to do. Following its stay at the ISS, and for the first time, we will undertake three experiments [on board] the unmanned spacecraft.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The vehicle is expected to remain attached to ISS for about two months (55 days) before being loaded with trash and unberthed on May 20. After departing the vicinity of the outpost, Cygnus will remain in orbit for eight more days to conduct the Saffire experiment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Saffire will help scientists and engineers understand how fires spread in large areas on certain materials.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cygnus was the first of three planned cargo ship arrivals in the next two weeks. A new Russian <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/progress.html" target="_blank">Progress</a> spacecraft will launch on March 31 and is scheduled to dock on April 2. Then a SpaceX <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/dragon.html" target="_blank">Dragon</a> will fly atop a “full thrust” Falcon 9 on April 8, before being berthed to the <i>Harmony</i> module on April 10.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Together, some 12 tons (10.8 metric tons) of cargo will be delivered in arguably the busiest time in the space station program’s history.
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Video courtesy of NASA TV</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Time lapse by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC0rGexBDCH_7uw-vFJmmzA" target="_blank">Trent Faust</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Read more work by Derek Richardson and others at <i><a href="http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/" target="_blank">Spaceflight Insider</a></i>.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-62219046932262733372016-03-23T03:00:00.000-05:002016-03-24T14:30:00.059-05:00Cygnus cargo ship heading to International Space Station<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GOgCbtp2Kxk/VvQ-A2ZSGKI/AAAAAAAAXuM/OPamrV_EIjgT8IhnDYs568Z4SDyuvviPg/s1600/oa6_launch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GOgCbtp2Kxk/VvQ-A2ZSGKI/AAAAAAAAXuM/OPamrV_EIjgT8IhnDYs568Z4SDyuvviPg/s400/oa6_launch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft launches atop a United Launch Alliance<br />Atlas V rocket from Florida. Caption and Photo Credit: NASA TV</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fifth </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.orbitalatk.com/" target="_blank">Orbital ATK</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cygnus cargo ship blasted into orbit atop an Atlas V rocket on Tuesday evening on a path to rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station during the early morning hours of March 26.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This spacecraft, dubbed <i>S.S. Rick Husband</i>, is carrying 7,756 pounds (3,518 kilograms) of cargo bound for the orbiting outpost. It was launched at 11:05 p.m. EDT into near perfect weather conditions on March 22 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41. The Atlas V rocket was in the 401 configuration: a four meter faring, zero solid rocket boosters and a single engine Centaur upper stage.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Video courtesy of NASA TV</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Flying with the thousands of pounds of food, supplies and equipment is the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-pursues-burning-desire-to-study-fire-safety-in-space" target="_blank">Saffire-1</a> experiment. It's goal is to test the spread of fire on certain materials. The setup is contained in it's own compartment and will only be tested once the cargo ship safely leaves the ISS some 55 days from now. It will be the largest purposely-set fire in space. The goal is to understand the spread of flames in microgravity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two more Saffire experiments will fly on subsequent Cygnus cargo ships.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cygnus will arrive at the ISS on the morning of March 26. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/ntv" target="_blank">NASA TV</a> will cover the rendezvous and berthing operations live at 5:30 a.m. EDT.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A file photo of the previous Cygnus to visit the International Space Station.<br />Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-45149299183259075952016-03-02T06:00:00.000-06:002016-03-24T14:29:46.733-05:00Yearlong crew returns to Earth<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jYgkP3rNXJo/VvQ1EvnWqnI/AAAAAAAAXtw/CTBPROEERlctB2k0RqCZcWY7isosqbjqw/s1600/NHQ201603020005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jYgkP3rNXJo/VvQ1EvnWqnI/AAAAAAAAXtw/CTBPROEERlctB2k0RqCZcWY7isosqbjqw/s400/NHQ201603020005.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Scott Kelly gives a "thumbs up" just minutes after being extracted from </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">the Soyuz </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">capsule. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blazing through the atmosphere and landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko returned to Earth on the morning of March 2, 2016, after spending nearly a year at the International Space Station. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kelly and Korniyenko returned in the <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/soyuz.html" target="_blank">Soyuz</a> TMA-18M with Sergey Volkov, who launched to the orbiting laboratory back in September and spent 181 days in space. The one-year duo were launched to the ISS on March 27, 2015 in Soyuz TMA-16M and subsequently spent 340 days in space—the longest single flight for an American and longest mission in the history of the ISS program. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the course of their stay, they orbited Earth over 5,440 times and traveled more than 143 million miles (230 million kilometers). Additionally, nearly 400 experiments were performed in areas ranging from life sciences, robotics, biology and more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kelly, who had been the commander of the space station since Sept. 5, 2015, relinquished his post to fellow NASA astronaut Tim Kopra on Feb. 29. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“It’s kind of hard to believe that we’ve been here for two and a half months and it’s only a portion of Scott and [Mikhail’s] time here,” Kopra said after Kelly handed over command. “Special thank you to Scott. Thank you for your leadership. You’ve been such a great role model to us in every aspect—as a crew member and as a space station commander—so we’re very, very grateful.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Expedition 46 officially ended and Expedition 47 began when the Soyuz undocked at 7:02 p.m. CST on March 1 (00:10 GMT on March 2) from the Poisk module. Hatches between the spacecraft had been closed a few hours prior at 3:43 p.m. CST (21:43 GMT). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Remaining on board the space station are Commander Kopra and Flight Engineers Tim Peake, from the European Space Agency (ESA), and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. All three have been in space for more than 77 days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“We are very grateful to this crew, to you [Mikhail] and to you Scott,” Malenchenko said before hatch closure. “Thank you to the mission control centers in Moscow and Houston. Good luck guys and we’ll see you soon on the ground.” </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo Credit: Scott Kelly / NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After pulling away from the station, the first separation burn occurred when the Soyuz was 66 feet (20 meters) away. The spacecraft fired its thrusters again for a second burn just 90 seconds later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">About two and a half hours after undocking at 9:32 p.m. CST (3:32 GMT), while 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) from the ISS, the crew commanded the Soyuz’s SKD engine to fire for four minutes and 49 seconds, slowing the spacecraft down by about 420 feet (128 meters) per second. With that, the vehicle and crew were on an intercept course with the upper atmosphere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shortly before Entry Interface, 27 minutes after the de-orbit burn, the three modules of the Soyuz—the Orbital Module, Descent Module and the Service Module—separated. Only the Descent Module with crew is intended to return to Earth safely. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Soyuz began to skirt the atmosphere just after 10 p.m. CST (4:00 GMT) going 4.73 miles (7.62 kilometers) per second. They were about 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the Arabian peninsula. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just under seven minutes later, slowing down to 1.41 miles (2.28 kilometers) per second while still 20.7 miles (33.4 kilometers) high, the crew experienced their maximum gravity load of about 4.57 times the force of Earth’s gravity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Doing OK, feeling the pressure, feeling the G’s,” Volkov said during descent. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The spacecraft soared through the atmosphere, creating a trail of super-heated plasma around the capsule for nearly 10 minutes before slowing down enough for the first set of parachutes to deploy.
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That deployment came with the release of pilot chutes to pull the drogue chute out. The spacecraft and crew were just over 6 miles (10 kilometers) in altitude at this point, still going 695 feet (212 meters) per second. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The drogue slowed the capsule to only 262 feet (80 meters) per second before the main parachute deployed. It’s surface area of 10,764 square feet (1,000 square meters) slowed the vehicle to about 21 feet (6.5 meters) per second. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This slow descent lasted for about 10 minutes while the spacecraft and crew began to prepare for touchdown. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, the heat shield was jettisoned, which revealed the Soft Landing engines. Next, the cabin pressure was equalized with the outside. Finally, the crew seats, called Kazbek, were moved slightly upward relative to the horizon in order to absorb the shock of landing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As the spacecraft descended, the recovery team began to locate and track the capsule. Once the main parachute deployed, helicopters began a wide circle around the landing area. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">About one second before touchdown, the Soft Landing engines ignited in a momentary burst to cushion the final three feet (about one meter) of the crew’s journey. The official landing time was 10:26 p.m. CST (10:26 a.m. local Kazakh time, 4:26 GMT). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The spacecraft landed upright. To prevent the parachute from dragging the capsule around, the line connecting the two was automatically cut, as planned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once confirmation of touchdown occurred, the helicopters landed, and nearby all-terrain vehicles rushed to the capsule to begin the careful extraction of the crew. The first thing the search and rescue teams did was erect a ladder around the module. Then they opened the hatch at the top of the vehicle.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Korniyenko, left, Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, center, <br />and Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly rest in chairs outside of the Soyuz <br />TMA-18M spacecraft just minutes after they landed in a romote area near the town<br />of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, March 2, 2016.<br />Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first to be extracted was Volkov, then Kelly and Korniyenko. They were individually lowered and moved to lawn-chair like couches nearby and given a blanket. Temperatures at the landing area were around 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“The air feels great out here,” Kelly said, “I don’t know why you guys are all bundled up.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kelly, who last flew in space five years ago as part of the Expedition 25/26 increment in 2010 and 2011, told a medical officer that he didn’t feel much different than he did when he landed then. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the medical evaluations were complete, the crew was flown to nearby city Dzhezkazgan, where Kelly parted ways with Korniyenko and Volkov, before flying to their corresponding space agency's headquarters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Video courtesy of NASA TV</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Read more work by Derek Richardson at <a href="http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/" target="_blank">Spaceflight Insider</a>.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-42218057640351772172016-02-01T12:00:00.000-06:002016-02-01T12:00:00.187-06:00Forever remembered: the crew of STS-107<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q87wcxj61xE/Vq79AsP9a5I/AAAAAAAAXY8/m22_TzuJkuQ/s1600/columbia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q87wcxj61xE/Vq79AsP9a5I/AAAAAAAAXY8/m22_TzuJkuQ/s400/columbia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">The crew of STS-107. Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This post will be rather quick. Over the last week, NASA held a number of remembrance events for the three biggest tragedies in the US space program's history: Apollo 1 in 1967, <i>Challenger</i> STS-51L in 1986 and <i>Columbia</i> STS-107 in 2003.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am 27 years old. I wasn't alive when <i>Challenger</i> exploded, but I was for <i>Columbia</i>. Next to 9/11, it was the biggest news event of my life. I will never forget where I was when I learned of the break up of the Space Shuttle over Texas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I had been interested in space since 1998 when I watched <i>Discovery</i> send John Glenn back to space. I watched it on TV, but the energy of that launch came through the set and into my soul. I loved it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But for the next four-and-a-half years, it was just another interest. I liked dinosaurs, Titanic, and architecture too. <i>Columbia</i>, however, did something to me that would change me forever. I realized that this was something that people were willing to die for. From that point on, I knew that whatever I did in my life, it would revolve around space in some way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The legacy of the crew of <i>Columbia</i> is many things -- friendship, faith, comradery, science, exploration -- but I think their biggest legacy is the change in trajectory that ultimately happened at NASA. The agency, while it still has many flaws, is pushing outward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love the International Space Station. It is one of the greatest projects ever attempted. But, because of the end of the Shuttle program and the push for an exploration class rocket, the station has become more than just a research lab in low Earth orbit. It is a testing ground for long-duration missions. It is a place where private companies can do business, and it is our way-station to deep space.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I do believe these things would have eventually happened, with or without ISS or a tragic accident, but because of the crew of <i>Columbia</i> and their sacrifice, their memories will be honored by continuing to push the limits of the frontier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">May humanity never forget Rick Husband, William McCool, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon. Hail <i>Columbia</i> and her final crew.</span><br />
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<i>Video Courtesy of NASA</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-2436308565843760132016-02-01T00:14:00.000-06:002016-02-01T00:14:31.086-06:00Welcome to 2016<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bFzLfrNr-z0/Vq7zVfCNEHI/AAAAAAAAXYQ/P11CtnMo7Cc/s1600/12484580_3145587157348_211238086307724364_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bFzLfrNr-z0/Vq7zVfCNEHI/AAAAAAAAXYQ/P11CtnMo7Cc/s320/12484580_3145587157348_211238086307724364_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The view of the main pressurized modules of </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">ISS from</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> the astronauts during US EVA-35. Credit: NASA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Welcome to 2016. I know it is already February. It has been a busy last couple of months. I plan to expand the website this year, and get into better posting habits. But for now, here is my outlook on what to expect at our favorite palace in space.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This year, the International Space Station turns 16 years old—at least some of the pieces. This was the year that ISS program was originally supposed to end. In 2010, all five space station partner agencies decided to delay that to 2020. Even now, talks are underway to continue the life of the outpost to 2024.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Had the decision held to end the program, it is arguable that the burgeoning commercial cargo and crew industries would still be a decade or more away. Instead, today, active private cargo ships are routinely delivering supplies to the station. Next year, commercial crews will begin visiting the outpost. This year, Bigelow Aerospace, a company that develops expandable space habitats, will have it's first module attached to the ISS, and there are talks of a private airlock being added to ISS by 2018.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instead of planning for the disposal the 400 ton satellite into the Pacific Ocean this year, mission planners are busy working on "traffic jams" of visiting vehicles constantly coming and going to and from the station. They do this all while working on training for more than a half-dozen spacewalks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This year promises to be one of the busiest at the outpost. Starting in March, the first of up to five SpaceX Dragon cargo ships will be launched to resupply the orbiting lab. Commercial Resupply Service 8 will be a return to flight for SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship after a launch mishap in June of last year during the CRS-7 mission. The company already returned the Falcon 9 booster to flight in December.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdFMO6fI48E/Vq70NOWTLtI/AAAAAAAAXYY/5KgZ6DQp8C8/s1600/BEAM1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdFMO6fI48E/Vq70NOWTLtI/AAAAAAAAXYY/5KgZ6DQp8C8/s320/BEAM1-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">BEAM seen attached to Tranquility's aft port. <br />Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">CRS-8 will haul with it the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM). Once the capsule berths to the Harmony node, the BEAM will then be pulled out of the "trunk" of Dragon by the space station's robotic arm and be attached to the aft port of the Tranquility module.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">BEAM is a small test module that will study the structural integrity, leakage, radiation exposure and more, during its two year stay on the outpost. Afterwords, it will be removed and allowed to burn up in the atmosphere. Bigelow Aerospace intends to use a similar design for an airlock on it's eventual private space stations sometime in the 2020s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">SpaceX will launch International Docking Adapter 2 in March on CRS-9. This will be attached to Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 on forward end of Harmony. IDA-1 was originally supposed to be attached there, however, it was lost during CRS-7.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A replacement, IDA-3, will be launched on a future SpaceX Dragon flight. It will be attached to PMA-3. To prepare for that, it will be moved from it's current location (port side of Tranquility) to the zenith port of Harmony.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cygnus OA-4 as seen from the ISS crew below<br />the station moments before being captured by the <br />space stations robotic arm. <br />Photo Credit NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The other company delivering cargo, Orbital ATK, recently returned it's Cygnus cargo ship to flight. This year, the company plans to launch three times. As early as late May, the OA-5 Cygnus mission should see the return to flight of the Antares rocket, which exploded shortly after liftoff in October 2014.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If the schedule holds, SpaceX and Orbital ATK should both have cargo ships berthed to the space station at the same time in late spring or early summer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While commercial resupply is poised to have it's biggest year yet, the Russian's plan to continue their steady supply of Progress spacecraft. Three are scheduled to launch this year - all of which are of the new modernized MS variant. Additionally, Japan will launch it's HTV-6 cargo ship in October. In all, up to 12 resupply ships could reach the station in 2016.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In March, the first one-year crew members on the ISS are scheduled to return to Earth. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko launched in late March 2015 and are scheduled to return to Earth on March 3, 2016. Also leaving with them will be Sergey Volkov, who launched in September 2015.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Launching a couple of weeks later, Soyuz TMA-20M will take Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka as well as NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams. They will stay aboard as part of Expedition 47 and 48 and return to Earth in September. This will put Williams about 14 days ahead of Kelly as the most experienced U.S. astronaut with a cumulative 534 days over four missions.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gxD1a9pS_JE/Vq713KPj6eI/AAAAAAAAXYs/Pg9K2qQMiT4/s1600/ISS-43_Soyuz_TMA_16M_approaches_the_ISS_%2528a%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gxD1a9pS_JE/Vq713KPj6eI/AAAAAAAAXYs/Pg9K2qQMiT4/s320/ISS-43_Soyuz_TMA_16M_approaches_the_ISS_%2528a%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">A new Soyuz model, called MS, will replace the<br />TMA-M series currently serving the space station.<br />Photo Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Following the departure of TMA-19M in June with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and astronauts Timothy Peake and Timothy Kopra of ESA and NASA respectively, Expedition 48 will begin. Joining the expedition a couple weeks later will be the crew of a brand new Soyuz: Soyuz MS-1. Aboard will be NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins, Russian cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. They will stay in space till November.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Launching on Soyuz MS-2 in September to be part of Expedition 49 will be NASA astronaut Robert Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Andrei Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov. They will land in March 2017.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, in November, the 50th expedition to the orbiting outpost will launch. Soyuz MS-3 will carry NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Tomas Pesquet. They will stay in space till May 2017.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So far in 2016, the ISS has seen one extravehicular activity. US EVA-35 saw astronauts Tim Kopra and Tim Peake step outside to fix a failed power regulator. The Sequential Shunt Unit, as it is called, failed in November and needed to be replaced at the earliest convenience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The SSU was fixed, and other tasks completed as well, however, only a few hours into the spacewalk, water was discovered in Kopra's helmet forcing a "termination" of the EVA. The suit will be evaluated before used further.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This month, the ISS should see a Russian EVA, as well as the departure of the Cygnus currently berthed at the Earth facing port of Node 1.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A highlight video of EVA-35, which occurred on Jan. 15.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Video courtesy of NASA.</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-36161185794489865222015-12-16T15:08:00.000-06:002015-12-16T15:08:46.532-06:00Ocular Health Study<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0StcoExCuVU/VnHQ_D7rpFI/AAAAAAAAXKI/j_p7b9Og7yA/s1600/OHS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0StcoExCuVU/VnHQ_D7rpFI/AAAAAAAAXKI/j_p7b9Og7yA/s320/OHS.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly assists Japanese astronaut </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Kimya Yui with the Ocular Health study. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: NASA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It has been a few weeks since the last "experiment of the week," so it is about time for another one. This week, it's the Ocular Health study.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are hundreds of experiments ongoing on the International Space Station. One of the most prominent is the Prospective Observational Study of Ocular Health in ISS Crews. The main goal is to gather data on crew members' visual health during and after long-duration space station mission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In space, fluids in the body shift toward the head. On Earth, gravity pulls fluids down, so the heart and other muscles have to work harder to push fluid up. In space, the muscles work just has hard, so the body's fluid distribution is altered. This is why astronauts typically have "fat heads" and "chicken legs" while floating in the space station.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some astronauts have noticed their vision blur slightly while on longer space mission. It is believed this is due to extra intracranial pressure from the upward fluid shift pushing on the eye. I can be so bad, that some astronauts wear special "space glasses" after a while.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--D62ktPodmQ/VnHR_TseQKI/AAAAAAAAXKQ/rlmaTpNETe0/s1600/OHS2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--D62ktPodmQ/VnHR_TseQKI/AAAAAAAAXKQ/rlmaTpNETe0/s320/OHS2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A close up of the device used to gather eye data. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: NASA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />The investigation looks at who is most effected by the change and how long it persists after crews return to Earth. It is possible, that prolonged pressure could permanently damage vision, and even cause blindness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Data is still being gathered, but NASA wants to solve this problem before astronauts and cosmonauts head off to deep space destinations, such as Mars. Nobody wants astronauts on Mars to go blind in the middle of a flight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Additionally, it is hoped that research into this problem will help with terrestrial eye problems, such as glaucoma.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For more information, NASA has a fact sheet <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/204.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Video courtesy of NASA</span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-29178226068968734942015-11-28T01:58:00.000-06:002015-11-28T10:58:27.427-06:00Experiment of the Week: Haptics-1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcS-7R1ZfYs/VllayzrERPI/AAAAAAAAXDQ/yDF20Ku6irI/s1600/EOVest-Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcS-7R1ZfYs/VllayzrERPI/AAAAAAAAXDQ/yDF20Ku6irI/s320/EOVest-Front.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A ground concept of a haptic input device. </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Haptic </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">experiments on ISS will one day allow for </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">astronauts </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">control </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">robots on the surface of a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">planet </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">or moon </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">remotely </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">from </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">orbit. Photo Credit: ESA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Starting with this post, I will aim to write about one experiment or science rack each week. This week's experiment is the Haptics-1 experiment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, what is "haptics?" Haptics is any form of touch sensation, in particular, relating to perception and manipulation of objects using senses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Haptics-1 is a European Space Agency (ESA) investigation into remote-controlled robotic operation and how to make human operators "feel" what a robot "feels." According to ESA, future human exploration of planets will almost certainly involve robots controlled by humans. Robots can do specialized tasks in harsh environments, while humans are more fragile. Humans are unrivaled, however, at adaptive quick-thinking - robots are not. Telerobotics allow for a "best of both words" situation where humans can control a robot in near real time. But in order to control something efficiently, feedback is required.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A cell phone has haptic feedback. When you press a button on your on-screen keyboard, the phone usually vibrates to signal that you have pressed something. Robots being controlled from orbit above Mars will need similar feedback for the controller. With the proper feedback, an astronaut could use a robot to adjudge the force needed to grip a rock or tool the right amount.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While work like this could be done on Earth, one major unknown is how astronauts experience haptic feedback in the microgravity environment of space.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">NASA astronaut Barry Willmore operates the </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Haptics-1 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">joystick. The simple-looking lever is </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">connected </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">to a </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">servomotor that can withstand </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">any force an astronaut </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">might </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">unleash on it. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Photo Credit: NASA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Haptics-1 aims to answer that question by astronauts using a joystick to control games, and simple tasks. By studying how the astronaut reacts to the feedback, engineers can design systems tailored to future astronauts on journeys to Mars.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The joystick is highly advanced. It can sense motion that humans cannot feel and can withstand an astronauts kick and still function properly. It is strapped to the waist of an astronaut as to not push the astronaut away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Haptics-1 was the first haptic telerobotics experiment done in space. It was launched on the final <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/atv.html" target="_blank">Automated Transfer Vehicle</a>, ATV-5, in August 2014. Since then, Haptics-2 and "Interact" have launched. They are a bit more evolved and all three are still being used aboard ISS. Whereas Haptics-1 is more about real-time force feedback, Haptics-2 "extends" the human arm from space to ground. By controlling a lever on ISS, it moves one on Earth. A person on the ground can move that same lever and effectively "shake hands" with the astronaut. Interact goes a step further by allowing the astronaut to control basic functions of a robot on the surface of Earth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All three are part of the METERON project. METERON stands for Multi-Purpose End to End Robotics Operations Network. The goal is to "test the waters" on human operation of robots from space - something that, until now, has never been done. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Teleoperating robots requires the Internet to send commands and receive information. Because distances in space are so vast, signal times can take anywhere from seconds (at the Moon) to upwards of 45 minutes (at Mars). The creation of a new network protocol called the Disruption Tolerant Network assures correct operation, even if signal is lost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For more information visit ESA's <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_Station/Meteron" target="_blank">METERON</a> page. Learn about the three flight experiments <a href="http://www.esa-telerobotics.net/meteron/flight-experiments" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fFLwpfifIao/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fFLwpfifIao?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Andreas Mogensen teleoperates the Interact rover from space.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Video courtesy of ESA</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-88826281992288464722015-10-03T22:52:00.001-05:002015-10-03T22:54:04.715-05:00New directions for my life<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1tlCHAYUi9o/VhCgw-fjq6I/AAAAAAAAW28/Q8EMocE9JZQ/s1600/55f0924f815d3.image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1tlCHAYUi9o/VhCgw-fjq6I/AAAAAAAAW28/Q8EMocE9JZQ/s320/55f0924f815d3.image.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">An Atlas V 551 launches with the Navy's fourth Mobile User</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> Objective System on Sept. 2, 2015. Photo by me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This won't be one of my usual blog posts. It's more of a status update for what has been going on in my life.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am a college student studying mass media at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. School is in full swing at the moment and, while I'm trying to insure that I get decent grades, I am a managing editor for the school newspaper, the <a href="http://www.washburnreview.org/" target="_blank">Washburn Review</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">These two things, alone, take up the vast majority of my time. I have been studying and running a student newspaper. But, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I still believe there should be a source for all things International Space Station.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It gets more complicated though. Right when school started, I got selected by the United Launch Alliance to go down to Florida to be part of their ULASocial to view the launch of an Atlas V 551 rocket. The rocket was launching the fourth Mobile User Objective System for the U.S. Navy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mjmT9xRs_NU/VhChKR7MeqI/AAAAAAAAW3E/ITTPC3S-mok/s1600/55f093c1c8549.image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mjmT9xRs_NU/VhChKR7MeqI/AAAAAAAAW3E/ITTPC3S-mok/s320/55f093c1c8549.image.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Because the Atlas V launch was during</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> twilight before dawn, the conditions</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> were just right for this beautiful contrail</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> formation to occur. Photo by me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While I was down there I met Jason Rhian, who is the founder of <a href="http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/" target="_blank">SpaceFlight Insider</a>. He offered me a freelance writing gig. Since then I have written seven articles for them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So now I am doing school, running a student newspaper and writing (as well as editing) for SpaceFlight Insider. I am extremely busy. But I still have a strong passion for ISS and I plan to keep going strong on the blogs and the videos.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Because I have been getting into the role of a managing editor for the Washburn Review, I have had literally zero time for making videos about the history of ISS. I have notes for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project, but no script. As it is fall break, I anticipate that I will have a little bit more time to work on the videos.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the mean time, I do plan on posting more blog entry's here. I will be focusing more on the science going onboard ISS, and, when I post something on SpaceFlight Insider, I will repost them here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I hope you all understand and will continue to read this blog. Please follow this blog and tell your friends and, as always, if you or someone you know is interesting in helping, email me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ad Astra!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HXjkR-FHRok/VhChos20i4I/AAAAAAAAW3M/rlKRpfEseSo/s1600/55f08c7d124a1.image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HXjkR-FHRok/VhChos20i4I/AAAAAAAAW3M/rlKRpfEseSo/s400/55f08c7d124a1.image.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A writer's job never stops. While I was in Florida waiting for the Atlas V to launch, <br />
I still had to help my team in Kansas finish production of the weekly newspaper! <br />
Photo courtesy of Reuben Worthington</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-74126260130914834272015-08-04T12:31:00.001-05:002015-08-04T12:31:52.292-05:00The Chinese are going to the International Space Station, sort of...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ch9kaFuDeY0/VcD1NgO-1PI/AAAAAAAAV78/MH37Q9BQPKU/s1600/nanoracks-logo-250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ch9kaFuDeY0/VcD1NgO-1PI/AAAAAAAAV78/MH37Q9BQPKU/s1600/nanoracks-logo-250.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">Credit: NanoRacks</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">For the first time, a Chinese experiment will be headed to the International Space Station, albeit through a commercial agreement with Houston-based <a href="http://nanoracks.com/" target="_blank">NanoRacks LLC</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The agreement works around a law from the United States Congress that forbids NASA from working in any way with the Chinese. The fear is that China could potentially steal information and/or hardware and use it for their own purposes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because NanoRacks, not NASA, is dealing with the Chinese, who are paying $200,000, nobody is breaking the law.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jeff Manber, who founded NanoRacks, agreed to take a DNA experiment to the ISS next year on board a SpaceX <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/dragon.html" target="_blank">Dragon</a> capsule. The experiment is lead by Professor Deng Yulin of the Beijing Institute of Technology. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">According to <a href="http://nasawatch.com/archives/2015/08/commercial-payl.html" target="_blank">NASA Watch</a>, a NanoRacks source said the company worked to assure compliance with a 2011 spending bill Amendment which restricts formal NASA cooperation with the Chinese Space Program.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">NanoRacks assures that the money flows from China to the U.S. and no hardware or technology flows to China, except the return of data and experiment samples. Manber said the deal is purely commercial and was negotiated with NASAs blessing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because of the law forbidding NASA to work with the Chinese in space, China isn't allowed to be part of the ISS program. NASA administrator Charles Bolden thinks the restrictions are too strict and NASA should at least be able to communicate with Chinese officials.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since NanoRacks flies via the SpaceX Dragon capsule, it is unclear exactly when the Chinese experiment will fly. The Falcon 9 rocket, which carries the Dragon, is currently grounded till at least late September due to a mishap during the June 28, 2015 launch when the second stage over-pressurized causing a <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/2015/06/falcon-9-rocket-fails-during-launch-of.html" target="_blank">rapid unplanned disassembly</a>.</span></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-42579212563875676962015-08-03T09:00:00.000-05:002015-08-03T10:58:20.852-05:00Booze in space<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qioOjxbZVn8/Vb7-GkcYBBI/AAAAAAAAV50/kHwEjdBOIyk/s1600/whiskey3n-1-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qioOjxbZVn8/Vb7-GkcYBBI/AAAAAAAAV50/kHwEjdBOIyk/s320/whiskey3n-1-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The Suntory space samples - Credit: Suntory</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The "best whisky in the world" is getting ready to be launched to the International Space Station.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.suntory.com/" target="_blank">Suntory</a>, a brewing and distillery company based out of Tokyo, announced they will be sending samples of their whisky - named the best whisky in the world by Jim Murray's Whisky Bible - to the ISS on the next launch of the Japanese cargo ship, the H-II Transfer Vehicle, on August 16, 2015.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These samples, however, are not for the astronauts and cosmonauts. They are for an experiment to test the effects of zero-gravity on the aging process. Their will be six samples of the whisky, in addition to other types of alcohol to learn how the space environment can effect how alcohol ages. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The samples will be stored on the Japanese Kibo module on the ISS. One group of samples will be returned to earth in about a year, while the rest will stay in space for at least two years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This isn't the first alcohol to be sent to the ISS. The <a href="http://www.ninkasibrewing.com/blogs/press-blog/2015/03/17/ninkasi-brewing-company-introduces-ground-control/" target="_blank">Ninkasi Brewing Company</a> sent yeast to the station earlier this year to try to brew a craft beer they are calling Ground Control Stout. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Learning about how alcohol reacts and brews in space is one thing, drinking it is another.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alcoholic beverages have never officially be part of any American astronauts' space diet. It has, however, been part of Russian cosmonauts' diet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">According to an <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/alcohol-space-da-f6C10403671" target="_blank">article</a> written in 2010 by Alan Boyle for NBC news, retired cosmonaut, Alexander Lazutkin said Russian doctors have sent alcoholic beverages to space with the space flyers to help neutralize tension.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">During Lazutkin's stay aboard the Mir space station in 1997, a <a href="http://www.orbital-velocity.com/p/progress.html" target="_blank">Progress</a> cargo ship collided with the station, causing a leak that nearly forced an evacuation. Lazutkin said he and his crew mates definitely had something to drink right after that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While adult beverages have been drank on past space stations, and potentially occurs on the ISS too, beer isn't one of those.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beer is carbonated. Because there is no gravity, there is no buoyant force pushing the gas bubbles upward. This not only effects the taste of the beverage, it makes drinking it somewhat uncomfortable since the bubbles stagnate inside the beverage even when inside an astronauts stomach. Because of that, astronauts can't burp out the excess gas from the carbonation. And when they are able to, the burp can be uncomfortably wet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Japanese HTV launches at 8:01 a.m. CDT (1301 GMT) on August 16, 2015. In addition to the samples of whisky, it will carry much needed equipment and supplies to the ISS.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-80389059719326840492015-07-31T12:46:00.001-05:002015-07-31T12:46:58.795-05:00Expedition 44 fully staffed, Russia commits to station to 2024<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ugITjSDtPSY/VbuyAHfzUXI/AAAAAAAAV4I/_qkQzBDm80g/s1600/ISS_Expedition_44_Patch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ugITjSDtPSY/VbuyAHfzUXI/AAAAAAAAV4I/_qkQzBDm80g/s320/ISS_Expedition_44_Patch.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Expedition 44 crew patch - Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The crew of Expedition 44 became fully staffed at six people when the Soyuz TMA-17M docked with the Russian Rassvet module of the International Space Station.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Launch occurred at 21:02 UTC (4:02 p.m. CDT) on 22 July 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Onboard were NASAs Kjell Lindgren, Russia's Oleg Kononenko and Japan's Kimiya Yui.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hatches were opened just under eight hours later at 4:56 UTC (11:56 p.m. CDT). Kononenko was the first to enter the space station to join the three currently residing onboard: Russia's Gannady Padalka and Mikhail Korniyenko and NASAs Scott Kelly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kelly and Korniyenko are scheduled to be on the ISS till March 2016.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A little over a week later, Russia formally notified ISS partners that they will continue the partnership at least to 2024.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The United States and the Canadian Space Agency have already committed to 2024 leaving only the European space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency as the only partners yet to make a decision. ESA is expected to do so in late 2016.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Assessments of each of the components of the ISS show that the station could remain operational without any major funding increase for repairs to at least 2028.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-19891278966253880362015-07-01T12:59:00.000-05:002015-07-01T12:59:15.066-05:00Orbital Velocity's History of the ISS begins production<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">After a couple of months of set-up and research, Orbital Velocity's History of the International Space Station is being filmed. Ideally there will be a video every week regarding that series. Eventually, smaller videos on particular space station parts and experiments will be created. The goal is to create a database of information where people can find out about their International Space Station.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The following is a playlist for the history series, alternatively, you can find it in the menu above under "ISS History." </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLbkDkmLO8zBIuL5bvW5h0EsSJGLyJKukg" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Feel free to subscribe to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/OrbitalVelocityISS" target="_blank">Youtube</a> page, and follow Orbital Velocity on <a href="https://twitter.com/OrbitalVel" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/OrbitalVelocityISS" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-89391442292157827602015-06-29T14:40:00.001-05:002015-06-29T14:49:24.600-05:00Falcon 9 rocket fails during launch of Dragon supply ship<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhhvdEyJwQA/VZGcCHpL_OI/AAAAAAAAVsY/aALYGZHoVxE/s1600/SpaceX_CRS-7_launch_failure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhhvdEyJwQA/VZGcCHpL_OI/AAAAAAAAVsY/aALYGZHoVxE/s320/SpaceX_CRS-7_launch_failure.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">Falcon 9 breaks apart mid-flight. Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday, Space Exploration Technologies' seventh resupply flight carrying the <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/dragon.html" target="_blank">Dragon</a> cargo ship bound for the International Space Station ended in failure about two minutes 19 seconds into flight.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Falcon 9 rocket launched on June 28, 2015 at 9:21 CDT at Cape Canaveral. Everything happened normally in flight all the way to, and through, Max Q, the time in the launch where aerodynamic stress loads on the rocket are at a maximum. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Shortly after that, a small plum appeared near the top of the second stage of the rocket, and quickly engulfed the whole rocket. Moments later, the rocket disintegrated. This was the Falcon 9s first launch failure, and SpaceXs first complete loss of mission since 2008.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: small;">NASA TV coverage of the SpaceX launch</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before first stage shutdown. Will provide more info as soon as we review the data," said Elon Musk, the chief executive officer and founder of SpaceX, in a twitter post.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A few minutes later on twitter, he reported there was an "overpressure event" in the second stages liquid oxygen tank. He said the data suggests a counter-intuitive cause.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The second stage engine was in the process of getting ready to take over within the next minute of flight, but before staging could occur, the anomaly happened.</span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oFmzy6SgqzU/VZGcCL5Q9TI/AAAAAAAAVsk/aeuWGBBZvak/s1600/IDA-1_top-angle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oFmzy6SgqzU/VZGcCL5Q9TI/AAAAAAAAVsk/aeuWGBBZvak/s320/IDA-1_top-angle.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">International Docking Adapter 1 at the payload processing<br />
facility. A second one was scheduled to launch later<br />
this year. Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Dragon capsule riding on top of the Falcon 9 was carrying a multitude of cargo for the orbiting outpost. The biggest loss was the International Docking Adapter, one of two adapters that will be used to support commercial crew dockings to the ISS.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This was the third space station cargo ship to fail in eight months. On October 28, 2014, Orbital Sciences Antares rocket failed seconds after liftoff, destroying the Cygnus Capsule. The Russian <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/progress.html" target="_blank">Progress</a> cargo ship, launched by a Soyuz rocket, failed shortly after orbital insertion on April 28, 2015. Shortly after it was discovered that the ship was spinning out of control, and would not be able to dock to the station. It later reentered the atmosphere.</span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e21u4vlrR4A/VZGcCAE5OAI/AAAAAAAAVsg/bs6EKwfFlrg/s1600/nasa-conf-press_NASA%253AGlenn%2BBenson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e21u4vlrR4A/VZGcCAE5OAI/AAAAAAAAVsg/bs6EKwfFlrg/s320/nasa-conf-press_NASA%253AGlenn%2BBenson.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">The CRS-7 contingency press conference. <br />
Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">During a press conference a few hours later, William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said the station crew in orbit would be fine for the time being.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are enough supplies to support the crew, which will increase to six in July, though October. However, a number of supply ships will soon be launching, including the a re-flight of the Russian Progress ship. Additionally, a Japanese HTV cargo ship will be launching in august.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gerstenmaier said that NASA was working with Orbital Sciences to move up the next launch of their Cygnus spacecraft, which will launch on an Atlas 5 rocket, from December to as soon as October.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Michael Suffredini, space station program manager, said there are parts for a third IDA; the second one will fly on a future SpaceX launch as soon as flight resume.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said she expects the accident investigation to last between four and six months.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">More information will be posted on this blog as it becomes available. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-91716754142269901412015-03-27T15:02:00.002-05:002015-03-27T15:02:51.300-05:00Soyuz TMA-16M launches Scott Kelly to space station<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cDDv072R0V4/VRW3SbtGJtI/AAAAAAAAT2g/sZdsf4RfWLk/s1600/soyuz-liftoff-0327.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cDDv072R0V4/VRW3SbtGJtI/AAAAAAAAT2g/sZdsf4RfWLk/s1600/soyuz-liftoff-0327.png" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TMA-16M launches! - Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it begins. Scott Kelly, Mikhail Korniyenko and Gennady Padalka are on their way to the International Space Station. Launch was at 2:42 p.m. CDT, but it was 1:42 a.m. in Kazakhstan. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The night sky was clear with the only light, besides the stars, was coming from the launchpad lights. As soon as the rocket engines ignited, night was no more. The Soyuz rocket began to rise, and soon, it was well on its way to orbit.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The crew is on a "fast track" to the station and will arrive in about six hours after four orbits, as opposed to a two day trek to the station.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How exactly does the <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/soyuz.html" target="_blank">Soyuz</a> get to the station? The YouTube channel SmarterEveryday did a great interview with Scott Kelly, and Reid Wiseman to find out exactly that. You can watch the video below.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Docking is scheduled for 8:36 p.m. CDT tonight. They will dock to the space facing Poisk module.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the course of the yearlong mission, two major anniversaries will pass. The first is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz test project, the first joint mission between American and Russia (then the USSR). The second is the 15th anniversary of continuous crew operations at ISS. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To follow the research being done on ISS while Kelly is on orbit visit </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/iss_research">https://twitter.com/iss_research</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To see what Kelly is tweeting, follow <a href="https://twitter.com/stationcdrkelly" target="_blank">@stationCDRKelly</a>. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-37050525210782773282015-03-27T10:44:00.001-05:002015-03-27T10:45:35.160-05:00Launch today, kelly patch history<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xs3boL0nv_E/VRV5zbio1KI/AAAAAAAAT2Q/p0ih4oibQ6U/s1600/16287343943_3daed1009a_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xs3boL0nv_E/VRV5zbio1KI/AAAAAAAAT2Q/p0ih4oibQ6U/s1600/16287343943_3daed1009a_z.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly, left, Padalka, middle, and Korniyenko looking <br />
at their launch vehicle. - Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today is the day! Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko will be launching to space for one year. Actually, to be more precise, it will be 342 days. Watch on <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html" target="_blank">NASA TV</a> (coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. CDT) or follow <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YearInSpace?src=hash" target="_blank">#YearInSpace</a> on twitter to keep up to date. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The launch is scheduled at 2:42 p.m. with docking at the International Space Station scheduled for 8:36 p.m.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the hours before the launch of Kelly, Korniyenko and Gennady Padalka on <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/soyuz.html" target="_blank">Soyuz</a> TMA-16M, it might be worth to note that Kelly is the NASA astronaut with the most patches with his name on it for a mission. </span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HaeFljflEHI/VRV32zbCBwI/AAAAAAAAT2E/oHGkVqpZpfc/s1600/news-032415a-lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HaeFljflEHI/VRV32zbCBwI/AAAAAAAAT2E/oHGkVqpZpfc/s1600/news-032415a-lg.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly with his one year patch.<br />
- Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact, in a story by Robert Pearlman of CollectSpace, Pearlman writes about a particular name patch that was supposed to launch to orbit back in late October 2014 aboard the Cygnus cargo capsule. The rocket carrying it exploded seconds after liftoff.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Apparently those patches survived unscathed, and Kelly will be taking them on his launch today as a memento of good luck. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kelly has a number of other patches associated with him. In total, he has 11 patches with his name on it. This doesn't include honorary patches and patches that had to be changed. The person with the most space mission patches is Gennady Padalka, with 13 patches.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://collectspace.com/news/news-032415a-scott-kelly-yearlong-mission-patches.html" target="_blank">Read the CollectSpace article here</a>.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-30154682914515870452015-03-23T13:04:00.000-05:002015-03-23T13:11:36.081-05:00Kelly launches soon, SpaceX too<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6_1FfUmpI70/VRBQIpc9L7I/AAAAAAAAT1c/-JJ63RxxYWw/s1600/ISS_Yearlong_mission_patch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6_1FfUmpI70/VRBQIpc9L7I/AAAAAAAAT1c/-JJ63RxxYWw/s1600/ISS_Yearlong_mission_patch.png" height="265" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly and Korniyenko's one year mission patch. <br />
- Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is T minus 5 days till Scott Kelly, along with Mikhail Korniyenko and Gennady Padalka launch to the ISS. Kelly and Korniyenko will be staying aboard for a whole year before returning to earth in March of 2016.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Liftoff is scheduled for 27 March 2015 at 2:42 p.m. CDT in Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan aboard <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/soyuz.html" target="_blank">Soyuz</a> TMA-16M. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kelly has been tweeting regularly about his preparations to launch, and he plans to continue tweeting regularly in space, something that has become common of most American astronauts.</span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ez9rLyJJ3lo/VRBN2D9XcSI/AAAAAAAAT1Q/On35EOSvpvg/s1600/Kelly3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ez9rLyJJ3lo/VRBN2D9XcSI/AAAAAAAAT1Q/On35EOSvpvg/s1600/Kelly3.jpeg" height="236" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I'm thinking this is about to get real. #YearInSpace"<br />
- Credit: <a href="https://twitter.com/stationcdrkelly" target="_blank">@StationCDRKelly</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The 51 year old Kelly has spent more than 180 days in space to date on two space shuttle missions and aboard the ISS on the expedition 25/26 crew increment. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">On this mission, NASA has the opportunity to compare how his body reacts to being in space for a year with his identical twin brother, Mark, who will stay on Earth.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mark was also an astronaut and spent over 54 days in space on four shuttle missions. He is currently retired. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The purpose of the year long mission is to better understand how the human body reacts to longer missions, such as a mission to mars, which will be on the order of 30 or more months long. One of the main focuses will be on the human eye. It has been found that microgravity effects astronauts' vision. It is believed to be caused by the swelling of tissue at the back of the eye due to fluid flow. This distorts the eye's shape. It can cause near sightedness and farsightedness.</span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jH1xpYJOjdA/VRBTJuCDEhI/AAAAAAAAT1o/GSSAEJuXI-0/s1600/spacex6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jH1xpYJOjdA/VRBTJuCDEhI/AAAAAAAAT1o/GSSAEJuXI-0/s1600/spacex6.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A photo of a CRS-3 at the launch pad in April 2014.<br />
- Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Two weeks after Kelly and crew launch to the station, SpaceX will be in the spotlight launching its next <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/dragon.html" target="_blank">Dragon</a> capsule to ISS.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">SpX-6 or CRS-6 will launch on April 10 at 4:42 p.m. CDT. This comes after a delay with another Falcon 9 rocket that was to launch a European-built communications satellite for the government of Turkmenistan. SpaceX decided to flip the order of launches as to keep the flow going, and not cause large delays with the overall manifest.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This Falcon 9 rocket will have landing legs affixed to it's first stage and will attempt to land on the company's Automated Spaceport Drone Ship known as "Just Read The Instructions."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If the landing is successful, it will be the first time SpaceX has recovered a booster stage, and the first time a flown orbital class rocket has landed on an ocean going platform.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">SpaceX intends to use the first recovered stage as a test article in New Mexico to determine hardware limits, such as how many times the stage can be reused. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-63328861038277375542015-03-12T15:06:00.000-05:002015-03-12T15:11:10.803-05:00Station trio comes home<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oQ78bJEUu4/VQHsZAwvezI/AAAAAAAAT0k/EjSqcyZNPgs/s1600/tma-14m-landing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oQ78bJEUu4/VQHsZAwvezI/AAAAAAAAT0k/EjSqcyZNPgs/s1600/tma-14m-landing.jpg" height="230" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">TMA-14M above fog before landing. Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Three people fell back to earth on March 11, 2015 in their <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/soyuz.html" target="_blank">Soyuz</a> TMA-14M spacecraft after spending 167 days in space.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore, and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Yelena Serova undocked their Soyuz from the International Space Station</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> earlier that day </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yelena Serova was only the fourth Russian woman to fly in space.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Berry "Butch" Wilmore participated in three spacewalks to help prepare the space station for future commercial crew vehicles, as well as other various maintenance.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Their mission into space started off with a little concern, as one of the two solar panels of the Soyuz did not deploy. But upon docking, enough vibration caused the panel to shake open.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">During landing procedures, there was a longer than normal communications blackout, which caused some to be concerned, but communications was eventually reestablished. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Landing occurred in the southeast of Dzhezkazgan, but touchdown took extra time to confirm because of a low cloud deck with heavy fog.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The next crew to go to the station will launch abourd Soyuz TMA-16M on March 27, 2015 at 2:42 p.m. CDT. That crew will include Gannady Padalka on his fifth flight to space, as well as two crew members that will stay on ISS for a whole year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenkio, on their fourth and second flights respectively, will stay in space till March 2016.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-74895249284577051172015-03-04T16:59:00.001-06:002015-03-04T16:59:32.329-06:00Three spacewalks in eight days<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oLHtfouNQ7A/VPeMAIgopaI/AAAAAAAATzk/aRoEbSUJKhs/s1600/16439524338_4bd0ec8497_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oLHtfouNQ7A/VPeMAIgopaI/AAAAAAAATzk/aRoEbSUJKhs/s1600/16439524338_4bd0ec8497_z.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Two astronauts conducted three spacewalks in eight days to prepare the outpost for module relocations and future commercial vehicles.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">On Feb. 21, 2015, Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts put on space suits and left the Quest airlock for the first Extravehicular Activity of Expedition 42. Their goal was to reroute power and data cables from the stations forward docking port called Pressurized Mating Adapter Two. PMA-2 was the docking port that hosted the space shuttles during most of the construction period of the space station and hasn't been used since the space shuttle Atlantis undocked in July of 2011.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">These cable reroutes are part of a bigger plan to add an International Docking Adapter to both PMA-2, and PMA-3. Later this year, astronauts will relocate the Leonardo Permanent Logistics Module. The PMM will be moved from its current location, below the Unity node, to the forward port of the Tranquility node. Additionally, PMA-3, currently at the port side of Tranquility, will be moved to the Nadir, or top part of Harmony.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CEd2NmQDmIk/VPeCifwWAZI/AAAAAAAATzI/LgJN3NaV0BM/s1600/B7m6E6TCEAAx8Uh.png_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CEd2NmQDmIk/VPeCifwWAZI/AAAAAAAATzI/LgJN3NaV0BM/s1600/B7m6E6TCEAAx8Uh.png_large.png" height="227" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In this graphic, the PMM, left picture, is moved from its original location, blue, to its new location.<br />while PMA-3 is moved from its original location to its new location. Credit: NASA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This module relocation allows for two visiting vehicles to be berthed, and two to be docked on the United States side of the space station at the same. But before commercial vehicles can dock to ISS, two IDAs must be attached to the PMAs.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yPZceWP_YGY/VPeJfh2aJPI/AAAAAAAATzY/YKvqFh9ziSg/s1600/IDAs_on_ISS_(2015).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yPZceWP_YGY/VPeJfh2aJPI/AAAAAAAATzY/YKvqFh9ziSg/s1600/IDAs_on_ISS_(2015).png" height="152" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IDA locations. Credit: NASA</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">SpaceX is currently scheduled to deliver IDA-1 in June of this year. It will be attached to the front of PMA-2 by two astronauts on a spacewalk. IDA-2 will be sent up early next year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">At the end of the second spacewalk, during depressurization of the Quest airlock, Terry Virts noticed water buildup in his suit. This brought back memories of a couple years ago, when Luca Parmitano noticed water in his spacesuit while actually on the spacewalk. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So much water collected inside his helmet that water started blocking his vision as it flowed around to his face. There was a real risk of drowning. In the end, he made it back into ISS to take off his helmet. That suit has since been returned to earth for inspection.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Engineers ruled that Virts water buildup was far less than what had occurred with Parmitano: only 15 milliliters of liquid was collected. NASA concluded that the water condensed inside his suit when repressurization began and there was no risk to his life. NASA said water condensation was somewhat rare, but not unheard of for their spacesuits.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Despite the water, NASA gave the "go" for the third EVA on March 1, 2015 to finish up work started in the first two EVAs and to install a new communications system for future commercial vehicles. ISS is now set up for moving modules to pave the way for commercial crew.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04754910471556343015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608212234684951756.post-81662810195821322302015-02-28T23:01:00.000-06:002015-02-28T23:16:15.488-06:00Comings and Goings<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-767XBliAIjU/VPKVemHrpwI/AAAAAAAATyc/n5AVtGW9_Vk/s1600/zu4rscK.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-767XBliAIjU/VPKVemHrpwI/AAAAAAAATyc/n5AVtGW9_Vk/s1600/zu4rscK.gif" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"George Lemaitre" departing the ISS</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The month of February saw two visiting vehicles leave and one arrive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SpaceX's <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/dragon.html" target="_blank">Dragon</a> spacecraft was unberthed from the Harmony module on 11 February 2015. It was deorbited and recovered in the Pacific after spending a month in space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Also leaving was Europe's <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/atv.html" target="_blank">Automated Transfer Vehicle</a>. ATV-5 undocked from the Zvezda module on 15 February 2015. This was the last ATV to fly, but the design will live on in the form of the service module for NASA's Orion spacecraft program.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Just two days later, Russia's <a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/progress.html" target="_blank">Progress</a> M-26M spacecraft launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 17 February 2015. It was put on a fast six hour rendezvous profile, and docked with the Zvezda module, replacing the ATV-5.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Progress M-26M carried food, fuel and experimental hardware for members of Expedition 42. It is scheduled to remain docked to Zvezda for six months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In blog news, a new page has been created. You can find the "<a href="http://orbital-velocity.blogspot.com/p/visiting-vehicles.html">Visiting Vehicles</a>" page in the navigation bar at the top of the page. As of this post, the page only has Soyuz, Progress, ATV and Dragon. In the coming weeks, more will be added.</span></div>
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