1. Space Station

Category Archives: Space Station

Cockeysville native returning from space Sunday night

Posted on by

Cockeysville native Reid Wiseman has spent the past five months sharing awe-inspiring views of Earth from more than 200 miles above, but in a recent tweet, he said he's ready for the opposite view of the International Space Station, distant and zipping through the night sky.

He'll have the chance soon, as he's scheduled to return from the space station Sunday night. The NASA astronaut and two crew mates, a German astronaut and Russian cosmonaut, are expected to land in the steppe of central Kazakhstan about 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

But the station won't go long without a Marylander aboard Columbia native Terry Virts is scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan in two weeks, and he said he is looking forward to following in Wiseman's footsteps.

Wiseman's time in space included shoutouts to his alma mater, Dulaney High School, and to fellow Orioles fans. He gained more than 300,000 Twitter followers with frequent images of Earth from space he shared.

"I've got some big shoes to fill," Virts said in an interview from Russia. "I'll do my best to try and keep up with Reid. It'll be tough."

Wiseman launched to the space station May 28 after 21/2 years of preparation. Over the summer and fall, he and crew mates maintained the station and conducted science experiments.

He embarked on two space walks last month, spending more than 12 hours in a spacesuit tethered to the station while installing and repairing equipment on its exterior.

But the 41st expedition to the space station will come to an end when Wiseman, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst and Russian cosmonaut Maksim Surayev depart aboard a Soyuz spacecraft about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, tumbling back to Earth less than four hours later. Wiseman tweeted Friday that the crew successfully test-fired the spacecraft's thrusters.

"Everything worked flawlessly ready for a Sunday departure," he wrote.

Wiseman's parents, Bill and Judy Wiseman of Cockeysville, are ready, too.

See more here:

Cockeysville native returning from space Sunday night

ISS performs emergency maneuver to avoid space junk impact

Posted on by

The International Space Station (ISS) isnt designed to move around on its own, which presents a problem when a bit ofspace debris is threatening to smack into the station. Thats exactly what happened a few days ago, but the ESAs Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) happened to be docked at the station with enough fuel to save the day.

Even small objects can be extremely dangerous in orbit. Even a paint chip can cause damage to a spacecraft when it impacts traveling at almost 30,000 km/h. Its enough of a problem that astronauts aboard the ISS have emergency protocols to follow when space junk threatens the station. These objects can be almost anything parts from rocket engines, screws from derelict satellites, or even tools lost by astronauts. Theyre all moving very fast and are very dangerous. Scary stuff.

Scientists have been musing on ways to clear some of this debris from orbit with everything from giant nets to lasers. In fact, objects of this size are one of the main targets of such research as they can go unnoticed by radar until shortly before impact. One Australian company says it will be able to blast junk of this size out of the sky with lasers in 10 to 20 years, but until then we need to be able to get out of the way.

Prior to 2012, they would huddle inside the stations Soyuz escape ship and hope the station wasnt hit. In the last few years it has been possible to sue Russias Progress supply ship to move the ISS out of harms way, but that craft wasnt docked when the most recent scare happened. Luckily, the ATV-5 was connected and flight engineers took a chance.

The threat turned out to be a piece of Russias Cosmos-2251 satellite, which broke up after colliding with a second satellite in 2009. The bit of debris was about the size of your hand, but that could easily blow a hole in the stations hull if it were to hit. The calculated path of the object was within 4 km of the station, which is close enough that action needed to be taken.

ATV Georges Lematre had docked several days previously to deliver 6.6 tons of supplies to the ISS. This is a non-reusable vehicle. After making the delivery, it is dropped into the atmosphere to burn up. However, it still had enough fuel in its tanks to change the stations trajectory to avoid the satellite debris. ATV mission control did the necessary calculations and managed to fire the ATVs thrusters for a boost of of 1.8 km/h. This increased the stations altitude by 1 km, which took it well outside of the danger zone.

The ESAs ATV spacecrafts have proven to be a robust and reliable way of moving cargo in low-Earth orbit, but thats just the beginning. NASAs next-generation Orion crew transport vehicle will use an ATV-based service module for power and propulsion (seen above), making it a critical part of future manned missions. Design work on this version of the ATV capsule is expected to be completed around 2017.

Now read:Antares rocket explodes on liftoff to resupply International Space Station

View post:

ISS performs emergency maneuver to avoid space junk impact

Star Wars Republic at War as Confederacy Part 6 Space Station Stronk – Video

Posted on by


Star Wars Republic at War as Confederacy Part 6 Space Station Stronk
Well we got lucky with that one land battle and space station are strong Republic at War is a total conversion modification for Star Wars Empire at War Forces of Corruption. The mod replaces...

By: MasterofRoflness

See original here:

Star Wars Republic at War as Confederacy Part 6 Space Station Stronk - Video

Mind Blowing: ISS astronauts put camera inside bubble, show zero-G tricks – Video

Posted on by


Mind Blowing: ISS astronauts put camera inside bubble, show zero-G tricks
NASA astronauts Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman along with European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst filmed #39;surreal #39; footage #39;implanting #39; a GoPro camera inside a floating ball of water...

By: RT

Continued here:

Mind Blowing: ISS astronauts put camera inside bubble, show zero-G tricks - Video

Tomorrow Daily – 081: A 3D video from the ISS, E.T. landfill cartridges hit eBay, and more – Video

Posted on by


Tomorrow Daily - 081: A 3D video from the ISS, E.T. landfill cartridges hit eBay, and more
Read the CNET blog post: http://cnet.co/1tMok8y On today #39;s show, we check out a water sphere floating in microgravity (courtesy of the astronauts onboard the International Space Station), debate...

By: CNET

See the article here:

Tomorrow Daily - 081: A 3D video from the ISS, E.T. landfill cartridges hit eBay, and more - Video

What happens when you submerge GoPro in water…while in orbit?

Posted on by

A video of a GoPro camera inside a free-floating bubble of water in outer space looks as cool as it sounds. And exploring the phenomenon of water surface tension in microgravity is actually more fun than it sounds.

In a video postedon NASA's YouTube account this week,astronauts aboard the International Space Station during this summer submerged a sealed GoPro camera into a floating ball of water roughly the size of a volleyball and recorded the activity .

It gets better:They uploaded the video again, in 3D.

The video alternates shots from a camera filming the submerging process with those from the GoPro once it's inside the bubble.

NASA astronauts Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman, and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, appear just as thrilled as their Earthbound audience practically squealing as the camera floats around in the globulous H2 O.

"That's wild," one observes before they all wave to the GoPro staring out from the bubble at them.

When one astronaut's hand gets stuck in the bubble it appears to move like an amoeba (or silly putty?) up his hand another exclaims: "You're being assimilated!"

Without Earth's gravity to pull water down into the shape of whatever container it's in, surface tension will shape water into spheres. Magnetic-like molecules on waters surface make like an elastic skin as each molecule is pulled with equal tension by its neighbors.

The video is part of NASA's effort to bring a realistic representation of living and working on the International Space Station "and other fascinating images from the nation's space program" to the home computer, says a NASA statement.

"Delivering images from these new and exciting locations is how we share our accomplishments with the world," said Rodney Grubbs, program manager for NASA's Imagery Experts Program at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "As the industry made advances in technology, from film to digital cameras and then cameras with better resolutions, we all benefited by seeing sharper and cleaner images from space."

Originally posted here:

What happens when you submerge GoPro in water...while in orbit?

Tech and Web Firms Vying in the Conquest of Space

Posted on by

Bigelow Aerospace has developed a new modular space station, which is expected to be taken up on the Dragon rocket manufactured by SpaceX. Meanwhile Elon Musks company plans to start running commercial space flights in the next few years.

During the Cold War the space race between the two superpowers was a major theme, as both a symbol of power and a means of intimidation. Sputnik 1, launched by the USSR in 1957, was the first satellite to go into orbit around Earth, firing the starting gun for the race to conquer space. Four years later, the Russian Yuri Gagarin was the first man to fly in space. The United States repeated the exploit with Explorer 1, and ran the Apollo programmes from 1961 to 1975, culminating in the iconic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which put the first man on the moon. During that era, space was very much the exclusive preserve of governments and state organs. However, space missions are now finally moving into the private sphere, and the tech and web giants are looking to grab a slice of the action. When it comes to innovation, space would appear to be the last frontier. However, companies high-flying ambitions vary radically. While Elon Musk is planning to go all the way into deep space, offering commercial flights to Mars within a few decades, others are looking to use high-altitude aircraft to provide unlimited connectivity between objects and devices here on Earth.

In a recent interview, Elon Musk explained his belief that there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary in order to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen. Musk believes that the Internet and space are now the key areas in the transition from the 20th century to the 21st. Having made his fortune by selling online payment platform PayPal, which he co-founded, to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion, the South African entrepreneur then embarked on his space adventure, founding SpaceX that same year. The companys stated mission is to make space transport technology available at low cost. Musk reckons his company could be in a position to take people to Mars during his lifetime.

Meanwhile Google and Facebook have shown interest in aerospace, but their aim is to continue expanding the ecosystem around their services rather than arranging commercial space flights. While taking an interest in space-based solutions, both web-and-data giants are focusing on improving connectivity on Earth. Google acquired Titan Aerospace, which makes solar-powered drones, in February this year. These unmanned aircraft can fly continuously at a height of 20 kilometres for five years, bringing the Internet to far-flung places with poor connections. Mark Zuckerberg officially launched his Connectivity Lab recently with a similar aim. The Connectivity Lab employs specialist aeronautics engineers, notably a team from Ascenta, a newly-acquired UK company which specialises in designing high altitude aeroplanes, plus two experts from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and National Optical Astronomy Laboratory. The company is also working on a laser technology designed to connect up different pieces of space equipment.

The web giants are building their capabilities in this kind of advanced technology as a means of connecting up the world and at the same time finding new outlets for their array of services. This future connectivity may be about as far as they can go in practical terms. However, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is now using technology developed by Google under its Tango project for flying robots known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES), which are designed to search out and feed vital real-time information to astronauts in flight. Meanwhile the fact that SpaceX is teaming up with NASA demonstrates that Musks vision is no mere Hollywood science fantasy. In September this year, NASA awarded contracts to SpaceX (and aerospace pioneer Boeing) to develop commercial systems for space crew transportation to the International Space Station (ISS). Not to be outdone, Virgin Galactic, spearheaded by iconic UK entrepreneur Richard Branson, aims to make space flights available to ordinary people with the SpaceShipTwo shuttle, which has already been cleared by NASA to transport payloads.

See the article here:

Tech and Web Firms Vying in the Conquest of Space

ISS executes emergency maneuver as orbital debris threatens station crew

Posted on by

The International Space Station (ISS) has been forced to fire the thrusters of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) in order to maneuver the station and its crew out of the way of potentially harmful debris. Such instances are rare, making a catastrophic scenario highly unlikely. However, with each passing year, the amount of orbital debris increases, heightening the risks of a collision for mankind's only manned outpost among the stars.

There is currently estimated to be around 21,000 pieces of debris exceeding 10 cm (3.9 in) in size currently existing in low-Earth orbit (within 2,000 km or 1,243 miles of the Earth's surface). Whilst the majority of the debris is very small, some pieces travel at velocities of up to 15 km per second (9.32 miles p/s), meaning that despite their diminutive size, any impact with the ISS would impart a devastating amount of kinetic force.

Because of the potentially disastrous ramifications of an impact, orbital debris is constantly monitored from ground stations spread across the globe, and whilst potential impact events are very rare, collisions do happen. This is evidenced by the event that created the debris prompting the emergency maneuver of Oct. 27.

ATV Georges Lematre, photographed on its approach to the ISS (Photo: ESA/NASA)

The debris emanated from a 2009 collision between Russian satellite Cosmos-2251 and the US-made Iridium 33. The impact resulted in a vast cloud of debris, which included the roughly hand-sized object that would pass within 4 km (2.5 miles) of the ISS, threatening both the station and her crew of six.

A mere six hours prior to the potential impact, the five space agencies tasked with administering the station agreed to undertake an emergency burn to lift the ISS out of danger. Ordinarily, in a scenario where there is less than 24 hours warning prior to a possible impact, the station would be shunted out of harm's way by the thrusters of a Russian progress spaceship used to bring supplies and science to the station, docked to the Zvezda service module. However at the time of the emergency, no such spaceship was present.

Therefore the task fell to the European-made ATV Georges Lematre. At 18:42 CET the ATV executed a four-minute burn, successfully raising the orbit of the 420-tonne (463-ton) station by 1 km (0.6 miles). Having rescued the ISS and her crew, the spacecraft is due to be released from the station in February, burning up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere a short time later.

Source: ESA

Original post:

ISS executes emergency maneuver as orbital debris threatens station crew

ISS Avoids a Near Shave With Space Junk

Posted on by

The ESA's ATV supply ship last week boosted the space station to a higher orbit to avoid a potential collision.

As in the movie "Gravity," the International Space Station (ISS) recently faced a threat from deadly debris hurtling through space on a collision course with the orbiting laboratory. Unlike in the Hollywood version, the ISS was boosted out of harm's way thanks to a concerted effort by the five space agencies responsible for the space station.

On Oct. 27, ground stations which track space debris determined that a small piece of Russia's Cosmos-2251 satellite "around the size of a hand" was going to pass within 4 kilometers of the ISS in a matter of hours, or "too close for comfort," the European Space Agency (ESA) reported this week.

With six hours to spare before the potential impact, the five space agencies agreed to "an emergency maneuver" using the ESA's expendable Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to lift the ISS to a higher orbit.

"The ATV Control Center team in Toulouse, France triggered a boost of 1.8 km/h, enough to raise the 420-ton Station by 1 km and out of harm's way," the ESA said.

Just a few years ago, with a collision threat that imminent, the six crew members aboard the ISS would have been preparing to evacuate the space station, per protocol. But in 2012, a new procedure was put in place to fire up one of Russia's Progress resupply capsules to move the space station to a different orbit with less than 24 hours warning, the ESA noted.

For last week's close call, however, no Progress spacecraft was docked with the ISS. Instead, the responsible space agencies opted to the ATV Georges Lematre, the first time the ESA's own supply craft has been tasked with such a maneuver. Unlike the reusable Progress and cargo pods built by NASA contractor SpaceX, the ESA's ATVs are designed to burn up in the atmosphere once they undock and depart from the ISS.

The Georges Lematre is in the process of delivering more than 14,500 pounds of supplies, fuel, and gases to the ISS and is set to depart in February, the ESA said.

Cosmos-2251 collided with another satellite in 2009 and broke apart, leaving bits of debris which, as "Gravity" fans know, can pose a grave danger to other orbiting objects, even when very small.

"Ground stations continuously track space junkleftover hardware from defunct satellitesfor potentially life-threatening collisions. A fleck of paint can cause major damage travelling at 28,800 km/h," the ESA noted.

Visit link:

ISS Avoids a Near Shave With Space Junk

Satellite Debris Forces Space Station To Evade Threat Hours Before Collision Risk

Posted on by

The International Space Station as seen by the departing STS-134 crew on May 29, 2011. Credit: NASA

A spacecraft attached to the International Space Station did an emergency maneuver to push the complex, which now houses six people, away from a threatening piece of space debris Oct. 27, the European Space Agency said in a statement.

A hand-sized shard of the Russian Cosmos-2251 satellite, which collided with a U.S. Iridium satellite in 2009, would have come within at least four kilometers (2.5 miles) of the orbiting outpost. This was close enough for the space station partners to agree to a move six hours before the potential impact.

This is the first time the stations international partners have avoided space debris with such urgency, the European Space Agency wrote. The push to a safer orbit took place using the agencys automated transfer vehicle Georges Lematre, which docked with the space station in August.

The International Space Station in October 2014, with the European automated transfer vehicle Georges Lematre attached. Credit: Alexander Gerst/ESA/NASA

While many collision threats are spotted at least days before impact, occasionally ground networks arent able to see a piece until 24 hours or less before the potential impact. Since 2012, the space station has normally done last-minute maneuvers using Russian cargo Progress vehicles, but this time around none were docked there. This is where the ATV came in.

Controllers at the ATV control center in France then did a four-minute preprogrammed move that raised the stations orbit by one kilometer (0.6 miles), enough to get out of the way.

The ATV is expected to remain at the station until February, when it will undock and burn up in the atmosphere. This is the last of the series of ATVs that Europe agreed to make as a part of its space station agreement.

Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.

See the original post here:

Satellite Debris Forces Space Station To Evade Threat Hours Before Collision Risk


  1. Space Station