Sunday: The Big Dipper will be visible in the northwest tonight and is one of the most recognizable star patterns in the night sky. This group of stars is also useful in finding other stars. Imagine the handle of the Dipper as forming part of an arc. Move along the arc to the bright star Arcturus, which the International Space Station passed by a few days ago. Arcturus is one of the brightest stars visible in the sky. From Arcturus, continue along the arc to another bright star known as Spica. The mnemonic device arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica will help in remembering these two bright stars names and locations.

Monday: The full moon occurs this afternoon at 1:10 p.m. The full moon of August is known as the Sturgeon Moon. This moon was named by fishing tribes because a large number of sturgeons were caught at this time. A partial eclipse of the moon occurs today as well, but will not be visible in the United States. Remember, though, in two weeks the total solar eclipse will occur.

Tuesday: Tonight the planet Jupiter is about 20 degrees above the south-southwest horizon. A telescope aimed at the giant will reveal its four brightest moons all on the western side of the planet. The moons appear as bright stars near the planet and their motion can be apparent when they are observed for several hours.

Wednesday: There are a number of bright passes by International Space Station the rest of the week. Tonight the space station first appears 10 degrees above the northwest horizon at 10:12 p.m. Three minutes later the space station reaches its highest point of 61 degrees above the northern horizon. The ISS will be located halfway between the North Star and the bright star Vega. Also at this point the space station slips into the Earths shadow and disappears.

Thursday: The International Space Station takes a bright northerly track through the sky tonight. The spacecraft starts off in the north-northeast at 9:20 p.m. By 9:23 p.m. the space station has reached its maximum altitude of 35 degrees above the northeast horizon. A minute and a half later the ISS disappears as it enters the shadow of the earth 20 degrees above the eastern horizon.

Friday: The Perseids meteor shower peaks tomorrow afternoon, so the next two nights will be the time to look for them. but the moon will provide some interference. The radiant, or point in the sky where the meteors originate, is in the northern sky in the constellation of Perseus. At 4 a.m. the radiant is 50 degrees above the north-northeast horizon. Since the moon will be out for much of the night, rates of about 40 meteors per hour might be expected.

Saturday: The brightest International Space Station pass was held for the end of the week. Tonight the ISS begins its journey across the sky at 9:11 p.m. 10 degrees above the northwest horizon. The space station then passes through the handle of the Big Dipper and by 9:14 p.m. is directly overhead. As the spacecraft continues across the sky, appearing brighter than any other object visible at this time, it eventually slips into the Earths shadow 20 degrees above the southeast horizon.

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Skywatch: Perseids meteor shower will occur this week - Tulsa World

The International Space Station is a unique scientific platform enabling researchers from around the world to develop experiments that could not be performed on Earth. A line of unpiloted resupply spacecraft keeps this work going, supporting efforts to enable future human and robotic exploration of destinations well beyond low-Earth orbit.

The next mission to the space station will be the 12th commercial resupply services flight for SpaceX. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 13 at approximately 12:56 p.m., from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This underscores the center's role as a premier, multi-user spaceport as this will be the ninth SpaceX rocket to take off from the launch pad, all this year. Pad 39A's history includes 11 Apollo flights, the launch of the Skylab space station in 1973, and 82 space shuttle missions.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will boost a Dragon spacecraft filled with almost 6,000 pounds of supplies. The payloads include crucial materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 52 and 53.

About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit and deploy its solar arrays. A carefully choreographed series of thruster firings are scheduled to allow the spacecraft to rendezvous with the space station.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli will grapple Dragon using the space station's robotic arm and install it on the station's Harmony module.

The station crew will unpack the Dragon and begin working with the experiments that include plant pillows containing seeds for NASA's Veggie plant growth system experiment. The plant pillows were prepared in Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility.

Veggie, like most of the research taking place on the space station, is demonstrating how the research benefits life on Earth as it advances NASA's plans to send humans to Mars.

The Dragon spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station. It will remain until mid-September when the spacecraft will return to Earth with results of earlier experiments, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.

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Dragon to be packed with new experiments for International Space Station - Space Daily

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) captured the crewed Soyuz spacecraft firing thrusters and spewing cryogenic snow into space as it docked with the ISS last week, a scene befitting of a Star Wars space maneuver.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik tweeted out a video of the July 28 event, which can be watched below. Bresnik praises the piloting of Russian Soyuz Commander Sergey Ryazanskiy, who carefully unites the pointed nose of the Soyuz spacecraft with the ISSs docking port.

Docking two spaceships is essentially an orbital ballet culminating in a collision, wrote Bresnik.

These docking maneuvers have become commonplace, but a screen full of blasting thrusters and chunks of cryogenic snow is a vivid reminder of how extreme the space procedure truly is. This docking occurred while both spacecraft were racing around Earth at 17,150 miles per hour.

Until SpaceX and Boeing complete their respective crew modules which are both slated to launch in 2018 the only way any human can travel into space is aboard the Soyuz spacecraft and accompanying rocket.

NASA currently pays Russia some $70 to $80 million per seat on the Soyuz. This might be costly, but it comes with an impeccable record of safety and success. Russian engineers designed and first launched the Soyuz in the mid-1960s. After two fatal incidents soon after its inception, the craft has performed safely for nearly 50 years, both launching astronauts into space and bringing them home.

When the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner come online next year, NASA estimates that the price per seat will be a bit cheaper than a trip upon a trusty Soyuz rocket, at $58 million.

For now, there is a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the ISS at all times to serve as a lifeboat. If the ISS experiences an emergency say the station gets pummeled by an unforeseen asteroid chunk or wayward satellite astronauts can flee from the station via the Soyuz.

Such a dramatic evacuation would likely be as Star Wars-like as the docking, complete with blasting thrusters and a violent descent to Earth.

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Astronauts Film 'Star Wars'-like Docking of Spaceship With Space Station - Inverse

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First African-American woman set to live long-term at International Space Station - New York Daily News

A monster typhoon has been swirling in the Northwest Pacific Ocean for over a week. On Sunday, it became the strongest storm on Earth so far this year, with 160-mph winds.

It seems inevitable, given the projections, that this storm will track over Japans southern prefectures of Okinawa and Kagoshima as a very strong typhoon. On Wednesday morning, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicted it would be near northern Okinawa on Saturday evening, Eastern Time, as the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.

Japan has already endured several spates of extreme weather this summer, the AP reports, with heavy rains triggering deadly landslides on Kyushu in June that killed 37 people and left six missing. Torrential rains in northern Japan flooded parts of northern Honshu island in late July.

Astronauts on the International Space Station fly over the Pacific Ocean several times per week. Every summer, they have the opportunity to see incredible storms like Typhoon Noru.

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Check out these incredible photos from the ISS of Earth's strongest storm in 2017 - Washington Post

Soon after the onset of nautical dusk on 2August, observers in the British Isles can see not only the 10-day-old waxing gibbous Moon within a low-power binocular field of the ringed planet, but the International Space Station makes a flypast too! Outshining the brightest stars, the ISS rises low in the west soon after 11:16pm. It passes a span of an outstretched hand at arms length above Saturn low in the south-southwest a few seconds before 11:20pm for skywatchers in the heart of the UK but dont leave it too long as the spacecraft fades from view into the Earths shadow around 11:20:30pm (all times British Summer Time). AN graphic by Ade Ashford.

If you see a bright star slowly crawling across the sky in an arc from west to east, an object that doesnt flash or possess red and green running lights like an aircraft, then you can be sure that youve spotted the International Space Station (ISS). The 400-tonne orbiting laboratory is so large 73 109 x 20 metres that it can be viewed with the unaided eye from the heart of the most light-polluted town or city. Fortunately, its current orbit carries it over the British Isles and Western Europe for the next few nights.

As an added bonus, the ISS passes close above an attractive conjunction of the 10-day-old Moon and Saturn late into the evening of Wednesday, 2August 2017 for observers in the British Isles. On this night the ringed planet and waxing gibbous Moon lie just 5degrees apart, so the pair will fit in the same field of view of a low-magnification binocular. As seen from the heart of the UK, the International Space Station passes just 18degrees the span of an outstretched hand at arms length above Saturn and the Moon a few seconds before 11:20pmBST.

If you have a clear quadrant of sky from the south to the west, look low in the western sky of the British Isles at 11:17pm for the spacecrafts ascent but be vigilant as the International Space Station is only in sunlight for a further 3minutes before fading into the Earths shadow in the south close to 11:20pm+30sec. BST.

Using Astronomy Nows Almanac to make ISS viewing predictions Many of you may have used our online Almanac to obtain information about lunar phases, or the rising and setting of the Sun, Moon and planets for wherever you may live, but the Almanac can also tell you when and where to see the International Space Station.

In the Almanac, select the closest city to your location from the Country and City pull-down menus before ensuring that the box beside AddISSpasses? has a tick in it and just as importantly the DaylightSavingsTime? box, if applicable to your time and location. The table underneath the months Moon phase data then shows current nighttime passes of the International Space Station over your chosen location during the next five days, if any.

For the given Date in year/month/day format, LocalTime is the instant the ISS first becomes visible and Duration indicates the length of the sighting in minutes. At the given LocalTime, look in the direction indicated by Approach and, weather permitting, you should see the ISS as a slowly moving, bright star. Max.elevation is how high the Station will get above your horizon (90 is overhead, while 20 is about the span of an outstretched hand at arms length) and Departure indicates where the ISS will be when it vanishes from sight. Sometimes an appearance or disappearance occurs well up in the sky when the Station emerges into sunlight or slips into the Earths shadow, respectively.

Here is an example from last year computed for the centre of the UK:In the example above, as seen from the heart of the BritishIsles on the evening of Tuesday, 2August 2016, the ISS first appeared 16 (a span and a half of a fist at arms length) above the west-southwest (WSW) horizon at 10:09pmBST in a viewing window lasting five minutes. It attained a peak altitude of 50 above the south-southwest (SSW) horizon before sinking down to 15 above the eastern (E) horizon at 10:14pmBST. One orbit later, the ISS rose again at 11:46pmBST.

Note: the actual times of events in the future will change as the orbit of the ISS varies over time; Almanac predictions made on the day are more accurate.

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See the International Space Station, Moon and Saturn in the UK sky ... - Astronomy Now Online

Welcome to Science in 60 Seconds

FLYING HIGH

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik a Marine pilot who was stationed at Miramar for many years has arrived at the International Space Station. Hes scheduled to spend six months at the orbiting outpost. Bresnik will help with several scientific experiments, including one involving potential therapies for Parkinsons disease.

This is Bresniks second trip into space. He earlier served on a space shuttle mission, and performed two spacewalks .

RIDE, SALLY, RIDE

The research vessel Sally Ride is leaving San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography this week to study the ecosystem of the California Current. The ship will be operating offshore, roughly between San Diego and Point Conception.

This is a return-to-service for the R/V Ride, which spent about three months undergoing repairs and upgrades.

The ship is named after former UC San Diego researcher Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel in space.

MONEY FLOWS TO SDSU

San Diego State University says that it raised more than $134 million in research funding during the fiscal year that ended on June 30. Thats one of the highest figures in campus history, but far from the $250 million it wishes to raise annually to evolve into one of Californias elite science centers.

The new money is being used for everything from heart studies to gauging the impact of smoking and air pollution in low income housing.

Twitter: @grobbins

gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com

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Science Updates: Bresnik reaches space station, Sally Ride heads ... - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Photonics.com Jul 2017 WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 2, 2017 An experiment that recently arrived at the International Space Station will test a new solar array design that rolls up to form a compact cylinder for launch with significantly less mass and volume, potentially offering substantial cost savings as well as an increase in power for satellites.

Smaller and lighter than traditional solar panels, the Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, consists of a center wing made of a flexible material containing photovoltaic cells to convert light into electricity. On either side of the wing is a narrow arm that extends the length of the wing to provide support, called a high strain composite boom. The booms are like split tubes made of a stiff composite material, flattened and rolled up lengthwise for launch. The array rolls or snaps open without a motor, using stored energy from the structure of the booms that is released as each boom transitions from a coil shape to a straight support arm.

ROSA can be easily adapted to different sizes, including very large arrays, to provide power for a variety of future spacecraft. It also has the potential to make solar arrays more compact and lighter weight for satellite radio and television, weather forecasting, GPS and other services used on Earth. In addition, the technology conceivably could be adapted to provide solar power in remote locations.

The technology of the booms has additional potential applications, such as for communications and radar antennas and other instruments. The ROSA investigation looks at how well this new type of solar panels deploys in the microgravity and extreme temperatures of space. The investigation also measures the array's strength and durability and how the structure responds to spacecraft maneuvers.

When the array is attached to a satellite, that spacecraft will need to maneuver, which creates torque and causes the wing, or blanket, to vibrate," said Jeremy Banik, principal investigator and senior research engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. "We need to know precisely when and how it vibrates so as not to lose control of the spacecraft. The only way to test that is in space."

The investigation will monitor the array deployed in full sun and full shade and collect data on how much it vibrates when moving from shade to light. This vibration, known as thermal snap, could present challenges in operating satellites with sensitive functions, and the researchers want to learn how to avoid those challenges with ROSA. The investigation will also measure power produced by the array to see how ROSA's thin, crystalline photovoltaic cells hold up during launch. In addition, researchers want to see how the array handles retraction.

"Recognize that we are trying to learn how it behaves this is an experiment and not a demonstration so we'll glean useful data even if it doesn't behave the ways we expect," Banik said.

ROSA was developed as part of the Solar Electric Propulsion project sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA tested the ROSA technology in vacuum chambers on Earth several years ago, and this is its first test in space. This solar array technology was developed to power large spacecraft using highly efficient electric propulsion on missions to deep space including Mars and the moon.

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NASA to Test New Solar Array on International Space Station - Photonics.com

The International Space Station is the size of a football field. But a stunning image by Spanish photographer Dani Caxete shows it as a tiny figure dwarfed by the moona jaw-dropping reminder of the magnificence of nature, and the persistence of human achievement.

The image is on the shortlist for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year, an annual contest run by Britains Royal Greenwich Observatory. Caxete writes:

The International Space Station (ISS) whizzes across the dusky face of the Earths natural satellite, the Moon, whilst photographed in broad daylight. Shining with a magnitude of -3.5, the ISS was illuminated by the Sun at a height of 9 on the horizon. Like the Moon, the ISS receives solar rays in a similar way during its 15 orbits of the Earth a day, making it possible to see it when the Sun is still up. This is a real shot, with no composite or clipping in the process.

The sight of the moonhumanitys first major conquest in spacealongside the space station makes one wonder where technology will take us next. Will we one day see spacecrafts orbiting the Earth the way we see commercials flights streak across the sky? Will a future settlement on the moon be visible from Earth?

Here are some other breathtaking shots from the contests finalists.

A stargazer observes the constellation of the Big Dipper perfectly aligned with the window of the entrance to a large glacier cave in Engadin, Switzerland. This is a panorama of two pictures, and each is a stack of another two pictures: one for the stars and another one for the foreground, but with no composing or time blending.

A large, searing hedgerow prominence extends from the surface of the Sun on 29 August 2016. There are a number of different prominence types that have been observed emanating from the Sun, and the hedgerow prominence is so called due the grouping of small prominences resembling rough and wild shrubbery.

The 7% waxing crescent Moon setting in the evening sky over the Needles Lighthouse at the western tip of the Isle of Wight. Despite the Moon being a thin crescent, the rest of its shape is defined by sunlight reflecting back from the Earths surface.

During an astrophotography tour of the Murmansk region with Stas Korotkiy, an amateur astronomer and popularizer of astronomy in Russia, the turquoise of the Aurora Borealis swirls above the snow covered trees. Illuminated by street lamps, the trees glow a vivid pink forming a contrasting frame for Natures greatest lightshow.

The Milky Way rises ominously above a small radio telescope from a large array at Miyun Station, National Astronomical Observatory of China, in the suburbs of Beijing. The image depicts the ever-growing light pollution we now experience, which together with electromagnetic noise has turned many optical and radio observatories near cities both blind and deaf a battle that inspired the photographers title of the shot. The image used a light pollution filter (iOptron L-Pro) and multiple frame stacking to get the most of the Milky Way out of the city light.

NGC 7331 is an unbarred spiral galaxy found some 40 million light years away from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus. Of the group of galaxies known as the Deer Lick Group, NGC 7331 is the largest, and can be seen dominating the image whilst the smaller galaxies NGC 7335, NGC 7336, NGC 7337, NGC 7338 and NGC 7340 drift above it.

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A perfectly-timed photo of the space station and the moon puts human achievements in perspective - Quartz

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched three veteran space travelers from the U.S., Russia and Italy into orbit Friday (July 28), kicking off a five-month mission tothe International Space Station.

The trio successfully launched at 11:41 a.m. EDT (1541 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which borders Russia in the north and west. It was 9:41 p.m. local time at the launch site.

The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft was helmed by experienced Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy,alongside Randy Bresnik (NASA) from California and Paolo Nespoli (European Space Agency) from Milan, Italy. After a 6-hour orbital chase, the Soyuz docked at the space station's Rassvet module at 5:54 p.m. EDT (2154 GMT).

The Soyuz MS-05 rocket carrying Expedition 52 flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA and flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency launches into space from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Friday, July 28, 2017.

Throughout the NASA launch broadcast, Public Affairs spokesperson Dan Huot said ground control in Houston and Moscow were"continuing to get good reports," and confirmed "we had a successful launch."

All three space travelers have been to space before. Cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy first trained for space flights as the commander of a crew during Russia's 105-dayMars500isolation experiment in 2009. He ultimately served as flight engineer aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft in 2013, and spent 166 days in space this will be his second launch and long-duration mission. Since last year, he has also served as the chairman for the youth organization Russian Movement of Schoolchildren.

Astronaut Randy Bresnik also experimented in simulation missions early in his career. He commanded the underwater NEEMO 19 mission(the name's short forNASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) in 2014. This will be his second spaceflight and his first long-duration mission: He flew to the space station aboard a NASA shuttle in 2009. In fact, Bresnik experienced some baby jitters when his daughter was scheduled to be born the day of his first spacewalk. In one bit of trivia, Bresnik's grandfather was the photographer for famed female pilot Amelia Earhart. For this flight, Bresnik told Space.com that he's looking forward toseeing the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse from the space station.

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli is heading to space for the third time: He flew for two weeks on the space shuttle in 2007 to help install a module of the space station, and he revisited the space station in 2010 for a 160-day mission. Nespoli is an Italian astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA). His science mission for ESA is called Vita (short for Vitality, Innovation, Technology and Ability) and was selected by Italy's ASI space agency. Vita is Italian for "life."

Expedition 52 flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA, top, flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), middle, and flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft for a launch to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on July 28, 2017.

The trio will join the Expedition 52 crew, which includes Peggy Whitson (NASA) of Iowa, Fyodor Yurchikhin (Roscosmos) from the country of Georgia and Jack Fischer (NASA) of Colorado. The latter three have been studying how microgravity impacts cancer therapies since April, and have been measuring the composition of meteors orbiting Earth's atmosphere.

The three new arrivals will participate in many research projects, including a phenomenon that is perhaps of special interest to the astronauts already in orbit: the "puffy face" appearance that astronauts have in microgravity. According to NASA's space station blog, one of the effects of living in space is a tendency of bodily fluids to move up toward the head, which may lead to vision damage.

They will also undertake research projects that pertain to biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. This new crew will remain at the space station until mid-December, according to NASA.

They will also undertake research projects that pertain to biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. This new crew will remain at the space station until mid-December, according to NASA.The three new arrivals will participate in many research projects, including a phenomenon that is perhaps of special interest to the astronauts already in orbit: the "puffy face" appearance that astronauts have in microgravity. According to NASA's space station blog, one of the effects of living in space is a tendency of bodily fluids to move up toward the head, which may lead to vision damage.

This story was updated at 6:15 p.m. EDT.

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

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Veteran 3-Man Crew Launches to International Space Station - Space.com

In Brief The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has sent a dual remote controlled/autonomous robot to the International Space Station. The robot will help crew members with various tasks by replacing the need for them to take pictures.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has sent a crew member to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX launched rocked. The Int-Ball, is a spherical camera droid that takes full advantage of the gravity deficiency on the space station to zip around unencumbered by wheels or arms attached to heavy machinery.

The robot has big, blue, owl-like eyes, making it reminiscent of the top portion of the Eve robot from Disneys Wall-E. Int-Ballspurpose is to provide crew members with a means of sending pictures and video back to Earth so experts on the ground can better assist with repairs and other tasks.

Before Int-Ballsarrival, the crew membersneeded to handle a camera to send this media back to Earth. The droid, which can be controlled remotely or autonomously, gives crew members back their full functionality by taking the camera out of their hands.

JAXA has released video of Int-Ball in action.

JAXA is committed to continuing improvements on Int-Ballscapabilities and functionality. Experiments like this will likely help space agencies and private companies to innovate new ways of incorporating both remote controlled and autonomous robots into their missions. Replacing astronauts with robots will help to further drive down the dwindlingcosts of space exploration and travel while allowing for exploration in ways that are beyond human capability.

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Japan Has Sent an Autonomous Drone Assistant to the International Space Station - Futurism

TOKYOThe International Space Station has a new resident, a Sony 7S II full-frame mirrorless camera. According to Sony, the 7S II is the first commercial camera to be mounted outside of the ISS and is being used to capture 4K video.

The 7S II was the camera of choice for the new exterior platform of the ISSs Japanese Experiment module KIBO. The camera launched on Dec. 9, 2016 and was installed on Feb. 8, 2017. The camera completes an orbit around the Earth every 90 minutes, recording 4K videos and still images.

The camera features high sensitivity up to ISO 409600, wide dynamic range; five-axis image stabilization; internal recording of 4K movies with full pixel readout and no pixel binning; and a 35mm full-frame Exmor CMOS image sensor packed into a compact body.

Footage capture from the camera of the east coast of the U.S. can be viewed below.

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Sony 7S II Camera Docks on the International Space Station - TV Technology

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A new crew arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, giving NASA for the first time four astronauts to boost U.S. research projects aboard the orbiting laboratory.

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three spaceflight veterans slipped into a docking port aboard the station at 5:54 p.m. EDT (2154 GMT) as the $100 billion research outpost sailed about 250 miles (400 km) over Germany, a NASA TV broadcast showed.

Strapped inside the capsule, which blasted off aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan six hours earlier, were Randy Bresnik, with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Sergey Ryazanskiy, with the Russian space agency Roscosmos; and Italy's Paolo Nespoli, with the European Space Agency.

The men will join two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut already aboard the station, a project of 15 nations.

Their arrival means the U.S. space agency now has four crew members instead of three available for medical experiments, technology demonstrations and other research aboard the station, the U.S. space agency said.

The extra astronaut will effectively double the amount of time for research, program manager Kirk Shireman said at a station conference last week.

NASA does not oversee the Russian staff, which was reduced to two in April until a long-delayed research module joins the station next year.

Previously, Russia flew three cosmonauts, with the remaining three positions filled by a combination of European, Japanese, Canadian and U.S. astronauts, who are trained and overseen by NASA.

By the end of next year, NASA intends to begin flying astronauts aboard space taxis under development by SpaceX and Boeing. Both spaceships have room for a fourth seat, bumping the stations overall crew size to seven once Russia returns to full staffing.

NASA is using the station to prepare for human missions to the moon and Mars and to stimulate commercial space transportation, pharmaceutical research, manufacturing and other businesses.

The agency also conducts physics, astronomy and Earth science investigations aboard the outpost, which has been staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since 2000.

Bresnik, 49, last flew on the space shuttle in 2009 during a space station assembly mission. Ryazanskiy, 42, spent five-and-a-half months aboard the station in 2013-2014. Nespoli, 60, is making his third space flight, having previously served on both space shuttle and space station crews.

The men are slated to return to Earth in December.

Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Tom Brown

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Three-man crew reaches space station as US boosts research - Reuters

You will once again be able to view the International Space Station (ISS) from Greater Manchester in over week or so.

Over the next few days it will be possible to spot the glowing space station as it passes above in the night sky.

The ISS, which appears as a bright glowing object, looks like a fast-moving plane or star moving across the horizon usually from the west.

The ISS is currently crewed by six astronauts and cosmonauts.

It orbits at a height of about 264 miles, traveling around the earth 15 times a day.

The ISS has been in space for around 6,700 days, during which time it has completed around 100,000 orbits of Earth, and has been continuously occupied for more than 13 years.

To see it look south or west at night at the time given below.

It pretty much looks like a bright star or fast-moving plane, usually from the west or south west.

It has no flashing lights and doesn't make a sound so that's how you can tell the difference between it and any aircraft in the sky.

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You can see the International Space Station above Greater Manchester this week - here's how - Manchester Evening News

After a picture-perfect launch from Kazakhstan and a problem-free rendezvous, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station Friday, boosting the lab's crew back to six and, for the first time, giving NASA and the European Space Agency four astronauts devoted to research in the U.S. segment of the complex.

With commander Sergey Ryazanskiy monitoring an automated approach, flanked on his left by NASA flight engineer Randy Bresnik and on the right by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft docked at the Earth-facing Rassvet module at 5:54 p.m. ET.

The linkup came about six hours after the crew blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 11:41:12 a.m., departing from the same pad that was used to launch Sputnik 60 years ago and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, in 1961.

Nearly two hours after docking, after verifying an airtight seal between the space station and the Soyuz, hatches were opened and Expedition 52 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, flight engineer Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson, NASA's most experienced astronaut, welcomed their new crewmates aboard with hugs and handshakes.

The station's expanded six-member crew. Front row, left to right: Paolo Nespoli, Soyuz MS-05 commander Sergey Ryazanskiy and NASA flight engineer Randy Bresnik. Back row, left to right: Peggy Whitson, station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Jack Fischer.

NASA

The six-member crew then floated into the Russian Zvezda module for a traditional post-docking video call to family and friends back at the launch site. NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, congratulated the crew on a spectacular launch and then passed the phone to the crew's families.

"Hi, Wyatt. What'd you think of that rocket launch?" Bresnik asked his young son.

"It was bright and loud. And interesting."

"Well, maybe someday you'll get a chance to ride on one," Bresnik replied.

"That would be nice," Wyatt said. "I just want to tell you I love you, and we'll miss you."

After speaking with daughter Abigail, who managed a shy "hi, poppa," and his father, Albert, Bresnik thanked his wife Rebecca for "the amazing love and support you've given me the last two years to get to this point. I hope we can make you proud while I'm up here."

He then took a moment to thank the Russian engineers who assembled the Soyuz rocket and spacecraft, saying "that was the most amazing, smooth rocket ride I've ever had. I would really like to say thanks on behalf of the three of us to our Russian colleagues and our Russian partners who made such a beautiful vehicle."

Bresnik, an F/A-18 TOPGUN pilot with more than 6,000 hours flying time in high-performance aircraft, spent 10 days in space as a shuttle crew member during a 2009 space station assembly mission.

Ryazanskiy, with a doctorate in biomedicine, is the first scientist-cosmonaut to serve as a Soyuz commander. He spent 166 days aboard the station in 2013-14 and commanded one of three international crews during a 500-day simulated Mars mission in 2009. Nespoli, making his third spaceflight, has logged 174 days in orbit.

They now join Yurchikhin, Fischer and Whitson, who have had the station to themselves since June 2 when Soyuz MS-03 commander Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet returned to Earth. With the arrival of the Soyuz MS-05 crew, an additional USOS crew member will be available to carry out research.

The expanded Expedition 52 crew will include four astronauts assigned to the U.S. segment of the station -- Fischer, Whitson, Bresnik and Nespoli -- and two in the Russian segment -- Yurchikhin and Ryazanskiy.

The station crew normally is evenly split between the Russians and the U.S. segment, which includes astronauts representing NASA, ESA, Japan and Canada. But the Russian space agency Roscosmos recently decided to reduce its crew complement to save money and that opened up additional Soyuz seats for U.S. orbital segment (USOS) astronauts.

Climbing into daylight, the Soyuz booster shed four liquid-fueled strap-on boosters as it continued its climb to space.

NASA/Roscosmos

With the arrival of the Soyuz MS-05 crew, an additional USOS crew member will be available to carry out research.

"The big thing is we're going to have four USOS crew members, and with over 330 possible experiments, of which 85 are new to the space station, there's a ton of science for us to do," Bresnik said in a pre-launch news conference.

"And with that extra crew member, we're going to have a lot more opportunity to not only do the science, we're also going to have the opportunity to do repairs on the station," Bresnik said. "So we think the productivity of this huge laboratory ... will really go up quite a bit having a fourth crew member."

Ryazanskiy, who will join Yurchikhin for a spacewalk Aug. 17, said having only two Russian crew members aboard will require some Russian research to be carried out in their spare time, but he does not anticipate any problems.

"We will be really busy because there will only be two of us," he said. "I have a lot of science that is now going on the task list so some experiments will be done in my free time aboard the station. But overall, for life support and technical issues, two Russian crew members will be enough."

Yurchikhin, Fischer and Whitson are scheduled to return to Earth Sept. 3. They will be replaced Sept. 13 by Soyuz MS-06 commander Alexander Misurkin, NASA flight engineer Mark Vande Hei and astronaut Joe Acaba. It will be the second expedition with four USOS crew members.

Ryazanskiy, Bresnik and Nespoli will return to Earth on Dec. 14. Between now and then, the overlapping station crews will carry out multiple spacewalks, help with the departure of one Soyuz and the arrival of another and unload four cargo ships -- one Russian Progress, two SpaceX Dragons and one Orbital ATK Cygnus.

And throughout it all, the station crew will carry out a full slate of scientific research.

"I am excited about having a full complement of people up here who can really utilize this amazing laboratory," Fischer said in a recent interview with CBS News.

"This will be the first time where we have four USOS, we're have three Americans and an Italian, Paolo, working on the U.S. segment on science. Four people. That's crazy talk!" Fischer added. "I'm super excited about how much science we're going to be able to get done with all four people. So, overall, it's awesome, I cannot wait ... for the discoveries that we make together."

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Soyuz rocket carries 3-man crew to space station - CBS News

Space

Jul.28.2017 / 10:34 AM ET

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Launch day is here for three new crew members of the International Space Station, and you can watch the liftoff live right here at 11:41 a.m. EDT (the live coverage is scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. EDT).

Aboard the Soyuz rocket will be NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, along with Russias Sergey Ryazanskiy and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency, NASA said in a statement posted on its website.

The rocket will lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the six-hour trip to the ISS, where the trio will be greeted by three crew members already aboard the ISS: NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fiischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

The six crew members will spend more than four months aboard the ISS conducting experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science.

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Watch Live as New Crew Blasts Off for Space Station - NBCNews.com

After taking usersto Peru's Machu Picchu and Game of Thronesfilming locations, Google Street View has recently introduced a new feature that allows its users to explore inside the International Space Station(ISS) and to see the Earth from on high.

Among the ISS locations on offer in the new featureare the CupolaObservational Module, from where users canlook at activity outside the station, the experimentalBigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), the unmanned SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule thattransports supplies to the ISS astronauts, and the US Lab Module that serves as the primary research laboratory.

Read also: Google lets you virtually explore 'Game of Thrones' filming locations

SpaceXs Dragon cargo craft is seen Feb. 23, 2017, during final approach to the International Space Station. (blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/02//File)

The ISS is a very interesting place with lots of high-tech equipment, Thomas Pesquet, theEuropean Space Agency (ESA)astronautwho was in charge of taking photos for the Google Street View, saidin a behind-the-scenesvideo.

[It's a very challenging task] since we dont have gravity in space, said Matthew Potter, who leads the technical photography operations for Google Street View, adding that they could not use a tripod in space, wherecamera stabilization tools were critical to their mission.

Floating 250 miles more than 400kilometers above the Earth, the ISS consists of 15 connected modules that facefour different directions in a cross-like formation. The space station serves as a scientific research hub to explore space, collect data from the atmosphere and Earth's surface,observe cyclones and other weather patterns, and conduct experiments, such as how a human body reacts tomicrogravity. (kes)

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Google Street View launches users to space station - Jakarta Post

Sonys lineup of full-frame mirrorless cameras is impressive, and have become a staple for videographers and photographers worldwide. But now, the a7S II has gone beyond just our world, capturing amazing 4K footage from outside the International Space Station.

The a7S II was mounted on the ISS on the KIBO Japanese Experiment Module created by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japans space agency, after the organization determined that it was durable and reliable enough to survive outer space conditions, including vacuum, radiation and extreme temperature swings of up to almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit depending on whether the camera is oriented towards the sun or not.

The surprising thing about the a7S IIs environmental resistance is that its basically unmodified JAXA says theres a radiator and a heater built in to its mounting hardware to help with the temperature variance, but that the cameras hardware itself is almost untouched.

JAXAs original plan was to use an a7S on the external mount, but they swapped in the a7S II in their plans in 2016 because of its ability to record 4K video internally. The high sensitivity full-frame sensor, which works great in low light situations, also makes possible excellent night shooting, whereas the system its replacing didnt work at all in nighttime conditions.

The camera will also be used to capture stills, which JAXA says will be better for applications like comparing changes in the color of oceans and forests over time because of its improved tone reproduction vs. video. But the video capture is super interesting for docking operations, or for recording mesmerizing clips like those above.

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Sony's a7S II stuns with 4K footage from outside the International Space Station - TechCrunch

Stargazers are in for a treat as the International Space Station is set to cross Lincolnshire's skies - and you don't need any equipment to see it.

The International Space Station (ISS) will be visible over Lincolnshire at various times between now and August 8 and 9.

And because of its enormous size you don't have to have a telescope to view it in the night sky as it'll be visible to the naked eye.

The ISS is more than 100m wide, over 70m long, and about 20m high. The orbital height (height above Earth) is just over 400km.

Get ready to see shooting stars! Delta Aquarid meteor shower will light up the skies this week

But you'll have to keep your eyes on the prize; the speed of orbit is so high 17,200mph that it will often only be visible for a few minutes at a time.

According to NASAs Spot The Station web site, the ISS looks like an airplane or a very bright star moving across the sky, except it doesnt have flashing lights or change direction. It will also be moving considerably faster than a typical airplane.

The station will be visible from all over Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire, including Lincoln, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Boston, Sleaford and Grantham, within a minute of the following dates and times:

July 28: 12.18am, 10.49pm

July 29: 12.25am, 9.57pm, 11.33pm

July 30: 1.10am, 10.41pm

July 31: 12.17am, 9.49pm, 11.25pm

August 1: 10.33pm

August 2: 12.09am, 9.40pm, 11.17pm

August 3: 10.24pm

August 4: 12.02am, 9.32pm, 11.09pm

August 5: 10.17pm

August 6: 9.24pm, 11.02pm

August 7: 10.08pm

August 8: 9.16pm

The International Space Station will always start passing from a westerly direction so keep your eyes peeled for it gliding across the sky.

Sometimes a pass can last as long as five minutes, but it looks like a bright, fast-moving star so be careful not to mistake it for a passing aircraft.

It takes 90 minutes to orbit so you may be able to catch it passing more than once if you dont mind spending a couple of hours outside at night.

For more information about the ISS, visit https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/home.cfm .

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Want to see the International Space Station over Lincolnshire? Here's everything you need to know - LincolnshireLive

Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

NanoRacks project manager Brock Howe uses a full-scale model to demonstrate how a commercial airlock system will work.

NanoRacks project manager Brock Howe uses a full-scale model to demonstrate how a commercial airlock system will work.

Brock Howe uses a model with an action figure to demonstrate how NanoRacks' commercial airlock system will work on the International Space Station.

Brock Howe uses a model with an action figure to demonstrate how NanoRacks' commercial airlock system will work on the International Space Station.

Webster's NanoRacks expands its role in commercial space

An airlock destined for the International Space Station sat near the bottom of a 40-foot pool as astronauts hoisted bulky suits around its curvatures. NASA was testing the station's first complex fixture - an element that could one day be attached to a commercial space station - that is privately owned.

"If we're going to see an economy develop in low-Earth orbit the commercial sector has got to be able to provide and operate things like this," said Mike Read, manager of the International Space Station's commercial space utilization office.

That's the goal of Webster-based NanoRacks, which has evolved from getting experiments on the space station to developing an airlock that will help deploy satellites. Ultimately, NanoRacks hopes its roughly $12 million airlock will be detached from the government-owned space station and reattached to one that is commercially owned and operated.

"The goal of this is to continue to build the marketplace so there's more commercial users of ISS," said Brock Howe, NanoRacks' project manager for the airlock. "And then, at the point when the government is ready to retire the big space station, there are a lot of people using it that can then justify the price of having a commercial space station."

Read said the test in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in late June was standard for any new element being attached to the space station. NASA astronauts were testing handrail placements to ensure they could maneuver around the airlock during spacewalks.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

This is just one of many tests the airlock will undergo before May 2019 when it's scheduled to hitch a ride to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Dragon.

"It's a big step for us to turn over operation of something as critical as an airlock," Read said.

NanoRacks and NASA signed a Space Act Agreement in May 2016 to begin development of the airlock. Nine months later, NanoRacks selected Boeing to develop the critical seal that connects the airlock to the space station. This device, called a Passive Common Berthing Mechanism, is essential for pressurizing the unit.

The airlock is about 8 feet in diameter and will be five times larger than the space station's existing airlock. The existing airlock, in the Japanese Experiment Module, has a door for loading satellites and another door for ejecting them into space. NanoRacks' airlock will have only one hatch.

Astronauts will go inside the NanoRacks airlock while it's pressurized and arrange satellites. Once they leave, air is sucked out and the space station's robotic arm disconnects the airlock from the space station. The airlock is positioned away from the station, and then satellites are deployed.

This design will allow NanoRacks to deploy larger satellites or several smaller satellites simultaneously. NASA will operate the robotic arm, and NanoRacks will deploy the satellites from its office in Webster.

'Precious resources'

"One of the big savings that NASA likes a lot is it will reduce crew time," Howe said. "Crew time is one of the most precious resources they have on station."

Payloads can also be attached to the airlock's exterior to hold experiments or cameras taking pictures of Earth.

Howe expects that the airlock will be used four to six times a year, though that could change depending on demand.

"It's really going to be governed by the commercial marketplace," Howe said. "So if people want to use it, and scientists and experimenters want to use it, I think we will be able to use it more often. Because that's what ISS is trying to do. They're trying to embrace users of the space station."

Marco Caceres, director of space studies for Teal Group, said the company found "novel ways to make money in space, to make use of an incredible asset." Some people believe the space station hasn't been used to its fullest potential, and companies like NanoRacks could help change that.

Yet most commercial space efforts aren't focused on the space station, he said. Companies are more focused on launch vehicles and satellites because those are more obvious money makers. The space station could have an advantage if it provides a cheaper avenue for deploying satellites, Caceres said.

Cheaper from space

NanoRacks has found it is cheaper from the space station because it costs less to ride on a rocket taking other cargo to the space station than on a rocket being launched solely for the satellites, Howe said.

NanoRacks must have 90 percent of the airlock's design completed by late October. It has already begun fabricating some parts, but that will pick up after October. NanoRacks is considering two vendors along the East Coast, and then those pieces will be shipped to Webster for assembly in NanoRacks' clean room.

"For NanoRacks to land that deal and to be able to accomplish what they've accomplished to date speaks volumes for this area and speak volumes for the commercial space industry," said Bob Mitchell, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.

Looking ahead, NanoRacks is part of a team studying if rocket upper stages could be converted into space habitats. An upper stage is part of the rocket engine that is discarded in space after all of the fuel has been used.

Using these rocket components could be a more affordable way to create a commercial space station compared with building modules on the ground and launching them into orbit.

Ultimately, Howe said, NanoRacks wants to be involved if a commercial space station comes to fruition.

"Building a commercial space station will not be easy," he said. "There's lots of challenges ahead of the team to get that done. And we will see if the space industry can rise to the occasion and make it happen."

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Webster's NanoRacks expands its role in commercial space - Houston Chronicle