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Category Archives: Space Station

BSU professor headed to International Space Station Tuesday

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by Jamie Grey

KTVB.COM

Posted on March 25, 2014 at 6:25 AM

Updated today at 7:03 AM

BOISE -- The countdown is on for Boise State University's Professor of the Practice and NASA astronaut Steve Swanson to launch into space.

Swanson will leave earth with two Russian cosmonauts on Tuesday around 3:15 p.m. MT. He is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) just after 9 p.m.

The students Swanson is working with, called the "Space Broncos," are eagerly awaiting his mission. They plan to use the project they've dubbed "Team Swanson" to make science accessible to everyone, by engaging students and the rest of the community.

Boise State University freshman mechanical engineering major Camille Eddy is one of the Space Broncos and hopes one day she'll be doing science in space.

"I've found that my passion is definitely research, like space science, anything like that, even going to space, I'm up for that," Eddy said.

Eddy and students from each of BSU's colleges will be working on a variety of projects that will incorporate Swanson's mission. Swanson will help the Space Broncos create two educational videos for college students and will participate in a live Q&A during a student-planned "Space Symposium" set for May 6.

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BSU professor headed to International Space Station Tuesday

Soyuz rocket ready to launch joint U.S.-Russian space crew

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A veteran Russian space station commander, a rookie cosmonaut and a NASA shuttle flier are set for launch aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry craft Tuesday, kicking off a four-orbit rendezvous with the International Space Station to boost the lab's crew back to six.

Steve Swanson, Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev will launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov Despite Russia's annexation of Crimea and escalating superpower tit-for-tat sanctions, U.S. and Russian space engineers are continuing to cooperate on the high frontier, jointly operating the most complex spacecraft ever built.

Three fresh crew members - Soyuz TMA-12M commander Alexander Skvortsov, flight engineer Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson -- are scheduled to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Tuesday at 5:17:23 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 3:17 a.m. Wednesday local time).

If all goes well, Skvortsov will oversee an automated docking at the station's upper Poisk module around 11:04 p.m. Tuesday. Standing by to welcome the trio aboard will be Expedition 39 commander Koichi Wakata, cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio.

Wakata and his two crewmates have had the station to themselves since March 11 when Soyuz TMA-10M commander Oleg Kotov, Sergey Ryazanskiy and Mike Hopkins returned to Earth. Wakata and his crewmates are scheduled to follow suit in their Soyuz TMA-11M ferry craft on May 13.

That will clear the way for launch of Soyuz TMA-13M commander Maxim Suraev, a Russian space veteran, and two rookies: European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.

In a March 18 interview in Houston, Suraev said escalating tension over Russia's actions in Ukraine, and the response of the United States and its allies, "is something for big bananas and some politician guys, not for us."

"We are just doing our job," he said, speaking in heavily accented English. "We are flying, we are studying, we are training, we are cosmonauts." Then, with a laugh, he added "for me personally, I'm not ready to answer this question, especially before my flight! Especially when I'm here in the U.S., especially when I'm interviewing U.S. media! Ask this of our politician guys."

Wiseman, a former Navy F-14 carrier pilot, was less reticent, saying "the politics starts to fall by the wayside" when working with Russian space engineers, flight controllers and cosmonauts on a daily basis.

"Working with my commander and all the Russian trainers over there, these people are not just my colleagues, they're all my friends," he said. "And so sure, we don't want to see political turmoil, and it could ultimately get in the way of our spaceflight.

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Soyuz rocket ready to launch joint U.S.-Russian space crew

WDRB speaks with upcoming International Space Station crew

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- On March 18, WDRB News got the opportunity to speak with three men who are preparing for an incredible voyage. On May 28 of this year, Reid Wiseman, Max Suraev and Alexander Gerst are expected to take off aboard Soyuz space capsule from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Their destination: 370 kilometers up to the International Space Station, where they'll be staying for six months with three additional crew members.

Wiseman, an American, Suraev, a Russian, and Gerst, a German, spoke with WDRB News by phone about their upcoming mission, what it means to the people of Kentuckiana, and the possibility that a certain Snow Fox could someday join the astronaut corps.

Here is some of what they had to say:

WDRB: Thanks for speaking with us! Our meteorologists are really good about letting our viewers in Kentucky and Indiana know about space station sighting opportunities, when they can see it from their back yards. What do you want the people of Kentucky and Indiana to be thinking about when they see the station pass over, during the six months you guys are up there? What does it represent?

REID WISEMAN: So first and foremost, I want them to come outside, and I want them to bring their kids outside, and just look up and watch this thing fly overhead. That's primary. And then, when they see this little tiny star, I want them then to just think in their heads that there are six little humans floating around in there, and they're going 18,000 miles an hour. That, to me, just sparks the imagination of, 'Wow. That's amazing.' We've got Russians. We've got a German. We've got Americans. We'll have a female Russian on the second half of the mission. So if they start to think about that personal side of humans up there...and what are they going through? They're floating. Are they eating right now? Are they having coffee? Is it morning up there or is it night? I think that kind of touches the individual really well.

Then if they make it beyond that point, then start thinking about, 'Alright, in my daily life, if I took gravity and removed it, what would happen to me?' And if they have a scientific mind, they'll start thinking about all the crazy science experiments that they can start to do, when you remove gravity, and see what happens to those science experiments. If they have the capacity to go that far, that would be fantastic. But really just to think about how crazy it is to live 250 miles up traveling this fast and floating around that's a great start.

MAXIM SURAEV: For me personally, you know, I wanted people, you know, to see, when they can see the space station in the sky that this is really human laboratory for science experiment. And the people, you knowactuallythe people right now who are flying and doing these experiments, they really want to make our lives better. To make our lives healthier. To make humans' bodies living more time and longer and to be in good shape as long as we can. We build this to help our human generationto be stronger, better and happier than we are right now.

ALEXANDER GERST: Well I think what's most amazing to me when I look up there is...on that little dot of light that travels over our heads, somebody lives in there, right? It looks like a satellite or a star that's moving a shooting star. The difference is that this object was built by us us humans. More than 100,000 people on 16 different nations built this place, and then there's six guys of us that live there. We sent them out there because we think it's important to have people in space as a first step: explorers who venture out there as a first step to reach our surroundings and the solar system...it's just amazing to think that this is possible, that we've done this, that we've achieved this."

WDRB: Will there be opportunities for you guys to be taking pictures of Kentucky, Indiana that area? Is that something that you'll be doing?

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WDRB speaks with upcoming International Space Station crew

SpaceX International Space Station Resupply Mission Set For March 30, NASA Confirms CRS-3 Launch

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The SpaceX International Space Station resupply mission is set for March 30. SpaceX

The SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-3) Mission was originally scheduled for March 16 and would deliver 4,959 pounds of supplies to the ISS. NASAsaysthe Dragon spacecraft will arrive at the ISS on April 2 at around 7 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft will stay attached to the space station for four weeks as crew members unload cargo and later refill the capsule with 3,578 pounds of supplies and scientific instruments.

According to SpaceX, the scientific instruments that will be delivered to the ISS include a prototype laser communication system, the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS); the Vegetable Production System (VEGGIE), which will produce salad-type vegetables in space; four cameras that will be secured to the exterior of the ISS to produce live streams of the planet as part of the High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) project; and the T-Cell Activation in Aging investigation to learn more about the depression in the immune system in microgravity. The Falcon 9 will also send five CubeSats, smaller satellites, into orbit, during the CRS-3 mission.

The cargo will also include crew supplies, ISS hardware, a spare spacesuit and a pair of legs for Robonaut 2.

Another interesting feature of the CRS-3 launch will be the recently attached set of landing legs on the Falcon 9. The legs are in the testing phase and the rocket will perform a splashdown in the ocean on Sunday, but its the first step toward SpaceXs goal of a reusable rocket that can land vertically.

The SpaceX CRS-3 launch is scheduled for Sunday at 10:50 p.m. EDT and marks the end of a busy week for the Expedition 39 crew. On Tuesday, three new Expedition 39 crew members, NASA Astronaut Steve Swanson and cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, will arrive at the ISS.

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SpaceX International Space Station Resupply Mission Set For March 30, NASA Confirms CRS-3 Launch

Golden Orb Near International Space Station, HD VIDEO, March 19, 2014, UFO Sighting Daily. – Video

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Golden Orb Near International Space Station, HD VIDEO, March 19, 2014, UFO Sighting Daily.
Date of sighting: March 19, 2014 (I #39;m in Taiwan so we r 12 hours in the future compared to say...California). Location of sighting: International Space Stati...

By: Scott Waring

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Golden Orb Near International Space Station, HD VIDEO, March 19, 2014, UFO Sighting Daily. - Video

Will U.S.-Russia tensions extend into space?

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As relations between the United States and Russia plummet over the latter's annexation of the Crimean peninsula, one of the unintended victims could be the International Space Station, where Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts currently share very close quarters, some 400 kilometers above the earth.

With a Russian Soyuz spacecraft due to blast off for the space station this week carrying one American and two Russians to join the Russian, American and Japanese astronauts who are already there - officials from both countries are downplaying the potential problems.

"We are confident that our two space agencies will continue to work closely, as they have throughout various ups and downs of the broader U.S.-Russia relationship," the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA said last week, in a statement quoted by Discovery News.

Nevertheless, concerns exist. The Pentagon last week instructed the U.S. Air Force to conduct a review of its use of the Russian-made RD-180 motor in the Atlas V rockets, which propel military satellites into space, in case Russia were to cut off supplies.

The retirement of the U.S. space shuttle program in 2011 left Americans without a vehicle for ferrying crew to low-earth orbit, and a commercial replacement is not expected to be up and running before 2017.

The U.S. needs Russia to transport astronauts to the space station, and currently pays an average of $70.7 million per seat, according to a NASA spokesman. Reliance on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft is a key reason why the United States cannot break off space ties.

"It is always in Russia's capability to cut off their service," said John Logsdon, a member of the NASA Advisory Council, estimating the likelihood of such an action at 20-25 percent. "It would be a catastrophe. There is mutual dependence and that provides a good motivation to isolate this from the broader issues."

American astronaut Mike Hopkins, who returned from the ISS earlier this month after a half-year stay, said he considered his Russian counterparts "close friends" and described cooperation as "very strong." Space officials from both countries seem to be counting on those personal bonds enduring.

Representatives from Russia, the U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe have lived continuously aboard the space station in rotating crews for more than 13 years, and the life of the station was recently extended to 2024.

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Will U.S.-Russia tensions extend into space?

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time – Nefarious Space Station – Infiltration of the Station – Video

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Ratchet Clank Future: A Crack In Time - Nefarious Space Station - Infiltration of the Station
Nefarious Space Station - Infiltration of the Station Ratchet Clank Future: A Crack In Time OST Music by Boris Salchow.

By: supersaiyan13100

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Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time - Nefarious Space Station - Infiltration of the Station - Video

Star Trek Micro Machines – Pewter Collectors Set – Television Series II – Unboxing & Review – Video

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Star Trek Micro Machines - Pewter Collectors Set - Television Series II - Unboxing Review
FINALLY we have the 3rd and final piece of the Pewter Star Trek Micro Machines collectors sets uploaded! In this video, we #39;re taking a look at the Television...

By: SoCalCoaster521

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Star Trek Micro Machines - Pewter Collectors Set - Television Series II - Unboxing & Review - Video

UFO Sighting Near NASA Space Station Reported This Week On March 19, 2014 – Video

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UFO Sighting Near NASA Space Station Reported This Week On March 19, 2014
http://RealUFO.tv UFO Sighting Near NASA Space Station Reported This Week On March 19, 2014 Today #39;s UFO Sighting : Credit to Scott Waringhttps://www.youtube....

By: RealUFOtv

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UFO Sighting Near NASA Space Station Reported This Week On March 19, 2014 - Video


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