NASA announced that Astronaut Jack Fischer and Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin are heading to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final preparations to join the International Space Station with an April 20 flight atop a Soyuz rocket.

US Astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin are heading to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final preparations to join the International Space Station with an April 20 flight atop a Soyuz rocket, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced in a press release on Tuesday.

"[The new] crew members... are in Russia finalizing their mission preparations," the release stated. "They will fly to Kazakhstan on Wednesday for ceremonial duties, check out their Soyuz MS-04 rocket and wrap up mission training."

Meanwhile, commander Shane Kimbrough and flight engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who have been living in space since October 19, will enter the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft on Monday to return to Earth, the release explained.

The departing crew is slated to land in Kazakhstan on Monday evening after 173 days in space, the release noted.

NASA's Whitson's Stay to be Extended at ISS by 3.5 Months - Roscosmos A question of extending the stay of NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson on board the International Space Station (ISS) for another 3.5 months is almost solved, Russia's space corporation Roscosmos head Igor Komarov told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"The question of Peggy Whitson's stay at the ISS for another 3.5 months is almost solved, only some technical matters and formalities remain," Komarov said on the sidelines of the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

Whitson, along with Russia's Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet, docked to the ISS at on November 20, 2016.

In the end of March, Whitson set a world record for the most spacewalks done by a female astronaut - she has performed eight, and the most accumulated time spent spacewalking - 53 hours and 22 minutes.

Source: Sputnik News

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US, Russian Astronauts Prepare for April Crew Swap on Space Station - Space Daily

Last week, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson set a new record for spacewalks by a female astronaut when she and International Space Station commander Shane Kimbrough floated outside the ISS. During the spacewalk, a thermal shield meant to be installed on the station got loose and floated away. Dutch astronomer Marco Langbroek managed to catch an impressive video of the shield cruising ahead of the ISS through space.

Langbroek posted the video on Wednesday. You can see the shield as a small streak of light cutting at an angle across the camera's view. The International Space Station follows its trajectory just under two minutes later and appears as a much larger ball of light.

The shield was one of four intended to protect the station's Tranquility module, which, among other things, houses control systems. The shields offer thermal protection and guard the module from micrometeoroids and debris in orbit. NASA notes the "loss posed no immediate danger to the astronauts."

The European Space Agency highlighted Langbroek's space-debris photography and says the shield should drop from orbit and burn up in Earth's atmosphere within a few months.

"The item poses very little risk to navigation, and an accidental release like this is not unexpected given the complexity and challenges of working outside during a spacewalk," said Holger Krag from the ESA's Space Debris Office.

Does the Mac still matter? Apple execs tell why the MacBook Pro was over four years in the making, and why we should care.

Solving for XX: The industry seeks to overcome outdated ideas about "women in tech."

10

Space cheese and 9 other weird items we've sent into orbit (pictures)

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See a lost thermal shield zip ahead of the space station - CNET

5573285

A space station could be circling the Red Planet by 2028 to serve as a Mars Base Camp for wayward explorers, according to plans published by a major NASA contractor.

Lockheed Martin plans to construct a 132-ton space station around Mars capable of hosting six astronauts for a year, according to plans released by the company Monday. For comparison, the International Space Station(ISS)weighs about 440 tons.

The six astronauts at the Lockheed station would remotely operate rovers, analyze samples of dirt and rock and even make short trips to Marss two moons. Having humans in an orbiting station would simplify rover operations and eliminate the delay of up to 24 minutes of sending a signal between Earth and Mars.

One scientist, however, is skeptical the stations benefits will be enough to justify building the station.

It might make sense to do a Mars orbital mission, or even a Mars flyby mission, before a Mars landing, to mature the flight technology, in the same sense that Apollo 8 was a useful prelude to the Moon landing, Dr. Robert Zubrin, who helped design plans for NASAs manned mission to Mars and wrote the The Case For Mars, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

But it does not make sense to devise a human Mars exploration program around basing humans in Mars orbit to operate rovers on the surface, Zubrin said. Human explorers are needed on the surface of Mars, not in orbit.

WATCH:

Lockheed Martin claims a space station around Mars would be affordable, but the company did not include any cost estimates for the program. The station could be reused and serve as a staging point to collect imagery and scientific data from multiple sites.

Zubrin told TheDCNF astronauts will be going to Mars in either a search for knowledge or as a prelude to eventual human settlement. Determining if Mars has or has had life would require a human astronaut on the surface, he said.

A human explorer on the surface of Mars can do a thousand times as much as a robotic rover, regardless of from where the rover is being controlled, Zubrin said. In short, if you want to go to Mars, you need to go to Mars. Hanging out in orbit doesnt cut it.

NASA plans to send astronauts on several missions to orbit the moon in the 2020s to help train astronauts for a manned mission to Mars. Zubrin previously told TheDCNF that if given proper direction by President Trump, NASA could probably send astronauts to Mars by the end of his second term, as opposed to 16 years in the future.

Trump vowed to unlock the mysteries of space in his inaugural address and has met with billionaire Elon Musk, who founded the private space company SpaceX.

Vice President Mike Pence met with Apollo 11 astronaut and Mars mission advocate Buzz Aldrin in March to talk about the future of U.S. space programs.

Trumps Mars and moon missions will likely utilize the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. President Barack Obama tried for years to eliminate the SLS, but Congress kept money flowing to the project.

Obama took money from space exploration programs to fund earth science and global warming programs. Trump could free up money for his space plans by slashing the more than $2 billion NASA spends on these programs.

The U.S. is better prepared to visit Mars than it was to visit the moon in the 1960s, according to a study by NASAs Johnson Space Center. Current plans to send astronauts to Mars are projected to cost about $35 billion by 2025 to arrive at the Red Planet in 2030.

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NASA Wants A Space Station Around Mars By 2028, But Major Scientists Aren't So Sure [VIDEO] - Daily Caller

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PERU, Ind. Students at Blair Pointe Elementary School in Peru got to speak with an astronaut from the International Space Station.

The discussion with ISS Commander Shane Kimbrough was part of a forum held at Peru High School Thursday.

Sixteen students were able to ask Kimbrough questions, like what happens when an astronaut gets sick in space? Do the astronauts get on each other's nerves? What would happen if the International space station were struck by debris?

The school was one of only 12 organizations around the world to speak with the astronaut in a 6-month period as part of a grant through Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, otherwise known as ARISS.A school in Greece spoke withKimbrough the day after.

Students have been preparing for the meeting throughout the school year by participating in several STEM activities.

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Astronaut answers local elementary school students' questions from space station - Fox 59

The International Space Station (ISS), photographed by an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Feb. 10, 2010.

NASA

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon host the coldest spot in the entire universe, if everything goes according to plan.

This August, NASA plans to launch to the ISS an experiment that willfreeze atoms to only one billionth of a degree above absolute zero-- more than 100 million times colder than the far reaches of deep space, agency officials said.

The instrument suite, which is about the size of an ice chest, is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL). It consists of lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic knife that together will slow down gas particles until they are almost motionless. (Remember that temperature is just a measurement of how fast atoms and molecules are moving.) [Watch a video about the CAL]

Artists illustration of an atom chip for use by NASAs Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), which will use lasers to cool atoms to ultracold temperatures. CAL is scheduled to launch to the space station in August 2017.

NASA

If successful, CAL could help unlock some of the universes deepest mysteries, project leaders said.

Studying these hypercold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity, Robert Thompson, a CAL project scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California,said in a statement. The experiments well do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy -- some of the most pervasive forces in the universe.

Attempts to create Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth have been only partially successful to date. Because everything on Earth is subject to the pull of gravity, atoms and molecules tend to move toward the ground. This means the effects can only be seen for fractions of a second. In space, where the ISS is in perpetual freefall, CAL could preserve these structures for 5 to 10 seconds, NASA officials said. (Future versions of CAL may be able to hold on for hundreds of seconds, if technology improves as expected, officials added.)

11 Photos

Stunning views of the distant solar system 40 light-years away that NASA announced Wednesday

The researchers hope CAL observations will lead to the improvement of several technologies, such as quantum computers, atomic clocks for spacecraft navigation and sensors of various types -- including some that could help detectdark energy. The current model of the universe suggests we can only see about 5 percent of whats out there. The remainder is split between dark matter (27 percent) and dark energy (68 percent).

This means that even with all of our current technologies, we are still blind to 95 percent of the universe, JPLs Kamal Oudrhiri, CAL deputy project manager, said in the same statement. Like a new lens in Galileos first telescope, the ultra-sensitive cold atoms in the Cold Atom Lab have the potential to unlock many mysteries beyond the frontiers of known physics.

CAL, which was developed at JPL, is scheduled to fly to the ISS this August aboard SpaceXs robotic Dragon cargo capsule. Final testing is underway ahead of CALs shipment to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA officials said.

Follow Elizabeth Howell@howellspace, or Space.com@Spacedotcom. Were also onFacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

Livescience.com. All rights reserved.

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International Space Station to host coldest spot in the universe - CBS News

The obvious promise of virtual reality is its ability to take you places you'd never actually be able to go. The International Space Station is a pretty great candidate for that, so it's fitting that Oculus teamed up with NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency to create a VR game based on an astronaut's life aboard the ISS. The best part, of course, is that the game is absolutely free.

The game, called Mission:ISS, is designed to be used with the Oculus Rift's Touch motion controllers, and you use both the VR headset and a pair of disembodied glowing hands to interact with the spacecraft and the objects within. As Oculus describes the experience on its store page, Mission:ISS features a number of "mission-critical tasks" to dutifully carry out in your role as a well-trained and totally not amateur space traveler. Those include things like walking around the outside of the space station and managing crates of cargo.

In a particularly hilarious twist, Oculus also just announced that it's sending one of its virtual reality headsets to the real International Space Station. The hope is that by having an astronaut strap the device to his noggin, they can "test the effects of zero-gravity on human spatial awareness and balance using software developed by the space agencies." If using a VR headset in zero gravity doesn't sound like a recipe for nausea I don't know what does.

As for Mission:ISS, the app will remain free to play for the foreseeable future, so if you've always dreamed of hanging out in space, this might be the closest you'll ever get.

This story originally appeared on BGR.

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This International Space Station simulator for VR will give you vertigo - Fox News

March 11, 2017 Dominating the night sky, Earths natural satellite is often the first target to catch the eye of budding astronomers, and now the moon's siren call is pulling the worlds leading space powers too.

The five space agencies responsible for building the International Space Station (ISS) met last month in Tsukuba, home to the Japanese space agency JAXA, to decide what comes after the aging ISS. Discussions advanced an evolving plan to build a lunar space station, settling on a tentative orbit and paving the way for finalized plans that may come in late 2017 or early 2018.

But friction remains around the ultimate goal of the station: Will the ISS successor be a truly lunar space station or a spaceport on the way to Mars?

With the ISSs decommissioning tentatively scheduled for 2024, the International Spacecraft Working Group (ISWG), composed of the American, Russian, Japanese, European, and Canadian space agencies, is looking ahead to the next phase of human space exploration.

This years meeting extends work done last year in Houston, when the team established a number of non-binding recommendations regarding technical details likely to serve as the foundation for future proposals.

Compared with the ISS, a space station orbiting the moon holds greater scientific potential and the opportunity to test technologies needed for deep space missions, but poses significant challenges.

Much of the research done aboard the current ISS focuses on microgravity (commonly, if mistakenly, known as "zero gravity"), which arises from the craft being in a constant state of freefall. A lunar station could carry out similar studies of microgravity phenomena and astronaut health, with the added benefit of lunar proximity making the moon an additional target of study.

Whats more, the station could play an essential role as a steppingstone to Mars, both as a physical spaceport accessible to NASAs upcoming Orion spacecraft, as well as a scientific testing ground for new deep-space technologies. Japanese- and European-built habitats featuring closed-loop life support systems could be one such development. The ISS currently relies on frequent shipments of water and oxygen from Earth, but a less accessible lunar station would likely have no such luxury. For a Mars mission, near-perfect recycling of these resources will be even more of a necessity.

Some wonder why not build a base on the moon itself, rather than a station in orbit. Its true that a base could be more easily shielded from harmful radiation by piling up yards of moondust over the habitats. But extensive lunar construction would require unproven technologies as opposed to the tried and true modular approach to space station building.

Moreover, escaping Earths gravitational pull takes fuel, and the same is true of the moon. Breaking free and staying in orbit, rather than making repeated visits to the surface, may be more efficient.

The ISWG has set the goal of developing common standards that will make it easy for various countries to develop plug and play parts to smooth the construction process. Current designs call for a Russian airlock, the Canadian robotic arm from the ISS, and US-built power and propulsion systems.

Still, the question looms, where is humanity headed next? Russia wants to return to the moons surface, which a station in a low lunar orbit would support. But a higher orbit lends itself to Mars access, an approach preferred by NASA, who reportedly proposed naming the station a "spaceport."

Last months conference seems to have broken NASAs way, with the consortium agreeing on a distant loop known as a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit. As the name suggests, this oval path bulges significantly.

At its closest approach, the craft would be only 900 miles from the moon, but its farthest reach would take it 43,000 miles from the surface, completing arevolution in one week. Thats 4 to 174 times higher from the lunar surface than the ISS sits above the Earths.

In addition to being convenient to Mars, this orbit features a number of advantages including constant sun for solar panels, good communication with Earth, and stability that reduces the need for expensive fuel-consuming height boosts.

Unfortunately, its not ideal for actually visiting the surface of the moon, prompting the Russians to continue their analysis of a lower orbit station.

But NASA may be open to compromiseand is reportedly considering designs for a station that could split in two, one part bound for Mars and one remaining to service lunar activity. Another alternative is to modify the orbit as needed for different missions.

The current timeline suggests construction throughout the 2020s in preparation for Mars- or asteroid-oriented expeditions in the 2030s, although the group's previous construction project suffered significant delays.

Any new ISS in lunar orbit may have company. Chinas nascent but booming space program recently announced plans for a 2036 crewed lunar mission, and private companies are targeting the satellite as well. Space habitat company Bigelow Aerospace envisions an inflatable space station orbiting the moon by 2020, and SpaceX harbors ambitions of an Apollo 8-style shot around the moon in the next couple of years.

Read the rest here:

ISS 2.0: Why the next space station could orbit the moon - Christian Science Monitor

A new virtual-reality simulation lets users explore the International Space Station, dock cargo capsules, go on spacewalks and perform other tasks high above Earth's surface.

The "Mission:ISS" simulation, released yesterday (March 9), is available for free. It works with the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset and the Oculus Touch motion controllers (reviewed on our sister site Tom's Hardware). Production company Magnopus made the simulation in collaboration with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, the Oculus team said in a blog post.

"Mission:ISS" models spacewalks and other space station tasks in 3D.

"Based on NASA Space Station models as well as discussions with multiple astronauts and the VR Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, 'Mission:ISS' recreates the International Space Station in painstaking detail," they wrote.

In addition to performing mission tasks using the Oculus Touch, users will learn about the space station's history and hear astronauts' stories through several included videos.

Users can also dock incoming cargo spacecraft using the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2.

The project also includes two very different types of outreach: A beta program will provide some high school students in the United States access to "Mission:ISS" and the necessary hardware, and the Rift will also be sent to space for astronauts to use on the orbiting lab.

"The Rift will be used for the first time in orbit by European astronaut Thomas Pesquet to test the effects of zero-gravity on human spatial awareness and balance using software developed by the space agencies," the Oculus team wrote. Space station astronauts have also worked with Microsoft's HoloLens headsets, which superimpose virtual-reality elements on the real world to be viewed through the headset, to test a system that guides technical procedures and repairs in orbit.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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'Mission:ISS' Lets You Explore Space Station & Spacewalk in Virtual Reality - Space.com

In a video uploaded to YouTube, a cigar-shaped object is seen above Earth, with two bright objects below it.

And the two smaller orbs appear to move towards the larger shape.

The, before the footage ends, the UFOs appear to suddenly disappear.

prolific UFO hunter Streetcap1 uploaded the video to YouTube.

STREETCAP!*YouTube

Fellow UFO chaser Tyler Glockner who another YouTube channel SecureTeam 10 said of the discovery: I have monitored hundreds, likely thousands, of hours of ISS live feed footage and I've seen UFOs, I've seen ice crystals, I've seen space debris and I've seen light reflections.

What we're seeing here looks like none of those.

And it would appear that shortly after these objects come into view, NASA either purposely or the UFOs do it on their own, but the objects quickly dim out.

NASA

1 of 14

ISS Nasa live cam cuts after 'suddenly locking on to mystery glowing UFO'

it would appear that shortly after these objects come into view, NASA either purposely or the UFOs do it on their own, but the objects quickly dim out.

Tyler Glockner

So we may have had NASA dimming the feed, messing with the contrast or the exposure to make these objects disappear from view."

Many viewers were not convinced by the theory.

One posted on YouTube: "probably an old satellite thats space debris.

Another added: Its obviously an airplane distorted the same way you see an image through a clear glass that is round.

There have been several similar claims of NASA shutting the feed when an alleged UFO came into view - but it turned out they were nothing more than light reflected of the ISS itself showing on the camera.

Scott Brando, who runs hoax-busting website ufoofinterest.org said the latest video was just another lens flare anomaly.

He also provided an example of a similar lens flare in another ISS video feed, uploaded by Streetcap1.

NASA denies it has ever seen any UFOs by the ISS, and says the camera only cuts out due to a technical glitch, or changing between different cameras.

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'Monster UFO' appears by International Space Station 'before NASA ... - Express.co.uk

In Brief

Aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow thinks space stations could be orbiting the Moon by 2020. However, he stresses, these giant refueling depots will only be possible by that time if the Trump administration prioritizes the national urgency and funding that such an initiative will need.

The key is going to be how fast the Trump administration can react, Bigelow told Space.com in a March 3 interview, adding that the administration would have to move quickly to energize funds and to galvanize the private sector.

Bigelow, who heads Bigelow Aerospace, understands the industry. His company has already launched three private inflatable space-habitat prototypes into orbit. The most recent is the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) project, which was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016 via a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. BEAM is the first inflatable room ever privately built and installed on the space station. It was created as part of a NASA future space habitats test, and thus far, Bigelow reports that it is performing well.

Space tourismis a hot topic for Bigelow and other space entrepreneurs.

On February 26, Elon Musk announcedthat SpaceX will launch a private flight to the Moon in 2018. The charter aboard the Dragon capsule already has two passengers who have made significant deposits. Those private citizens will have the opportunity to orbit the Moon after launching via SpaceXs Falcon Heavy rocket. Also with his eyes on the Moon is Jeff Bezos,who told The Washington Poston March 2 that his private space company, Blue Origin, is making its own plans for a Moon venture.

Habitats for the Moon and beyond and private space stations are goals for Bigelow and his company. He hopes to launch a colossal inflatable space habitat and free-flying private space station into orbit in 2020 and claims that Bigelow Aerospaceaims to provide habitats at a fraction of NASAs cost. As his company and others make space flight cheaper and more accessible, humanity will be able to extend its reach beyond our home planet, perhaps one day visiting and even colonizing new ones.

Read more here:

Within 3 Years, We Could Have Private Space Stations Orbiting the Moon - Futurism

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon host the coldest spot in the entire universe, if everything goes according to plan.

This August, NASA plans to launch to the ISS an experiment that will freeze atoms to less than 1 billionth of a degree above absolute zero more than 100 million times colder than the far reaches of deep space, agency officials said. (Earlier NASA statements put the experiment temperature at one ten billionth of a degree.)

The instrument suite, which is about the size of an ice chest, is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL). It consists of lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic "knife" that together will slow down gas particles until they are almost motionless. (Remember that temperature is just a measurement of how fast atoms and molecules are moving.) [Watch a video about the CAL]

If successful, CAL could help unlock some of the universe's deepest mysteries, project leaders said.

"Studying these hypercold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity," Robert Thompson, a CAL project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "The experiments we'll do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy some of the most pervasive forces in the universe."

Attempts to create Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth have been only partially successful to date. Because everything on Earth is subject to the pull of gravity, atoms and molecules tend to move toward the ground. This means the effects can only be seen for fractions of a second. In space, where the ISS is in perpetual freefall, CAL could preserve these structures for 5 to 10 seconds, NASA officials said. (Future versions of CAL may be able to hold on for hundreds of seconds, if technology improves as expected, officials added.)

The researchers hope CAL observations will lead to the improvement of several technologies, such as quantum computers, atomic clocks for spacecraft navigation and sensors of various types including some that could help detect dark energy. The current model of the universe suggests we can only see about 5 percent of what's out there. The remainder is split between dark matter (27 percent) and dark energy (68 percent).

"This means that even with all of our current technologies, we are still blind to 95 percent of the universe," JPL's Kamal Oudrhiri, CAL deputy project manager, said in the same statement. "Like a new lens in Galileo's first telescope, the ultra-sensitive cold atoms in the Cold Atom Lab have the potential to unlock many mysteries beyond the frontiers of known physics."

CAL, which was developed at JPL, is scheduled to fly to the ISS this August aboard SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule. Final testing is underway ahead of CAL's shipment to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA officials said.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace. Original article on Space.com.

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The International Space Station Will Soon Host the Coolest Spot in the Universe - Seeker

What happens when an astronaut gets sick in space? Do the astronauts get on each other's nerves? What would happen if the International Space Station were struck by debris?

These were a few of the questions students from Blair Pointe Elementary School asked Thursday when they spoke to ISS Commander Shane Kimbrough.

Blair Pointe Elementary is one of only 12 organizations around the world to speak with the ISS in a 6-month period as part of a grant through Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, otherwise known as ARISS.

Blair Pointe applied for the grant last year after Maconaquah Elementary was awarded it in 2015. Bill McAlpin, president of the Miami County Amateur Radio Club, assisted in the grant application and helped the school connect with the ISS Thursday morning.

The students were given approximately 11 minutes to speak with Kimbrough. The ISS moves so quickly that they had to connect as soon as it was within range of their radio set-up, and they lost contact as it passed over the Atlantic Ocean. Within those 11 minutes, the ISS traveled about 3,000 miles.

It was a tense few minutes when McAlpin began trying to contact Kimbrough.

November Alpha One Sierra Sierra, this is Whiskey Delta Nine Golf India Uniform, he said several times, followed only by static.

Finally, Kimbrough responded.

Fifteen students lined up to ask Kimbrough questions. One student asked how many people live on the ISS at one time. Kimbrough said only six, because the shuttle used to get to it can hold only three people.

Another student asked what happens when astronauts get sick in space. Kimbrough said they have a well-stocked supply of medicine and equipment.

But fortunately for us, nobodys gotten sick on our mission, he said.

Kimbrough provided several answers during the 11-minute contact with the school. He said he and the astronauts perform several kinds of experiments every day, and they have to exercise regularly to keep their bones from deteriorating in zero gravity.

He said the astronauts go through extensive training before going into space, but nothing prepared him for his first space walk, which he said is the hardest physical thing about his job.

You just cant train for that experience, he said.

Hannah Baker asked whether bones break differently in space than they do on Earth. Kimbrough said he wouldnt know for sure because none of his crew have broken bones while on the ISS. He speculated that bones would probably break in a similar way, though the healing process might be different.

It was amazing to get to talk to an astronaut, Baker said after the event.

A few other students asked questions that Kimbrough could only answer theoretically because they havent happened, such as what would happen if an astronaut became unhooked from the ISS or if the ISS were struck by debris. One student asked if he worried about the ISS traveling beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. Kimbrough said thankfully those situations have not happened, though they are trained for most emergency scenarios.

One student asked if the other astronauts ever get on Kimbrough's nerves. He answered by saying that it's always a possibility with six people in a small space disconnected from the rest of the world, but the astronauts are trained to be able to work well together.

Kimbrough will return to earth next month after having been in space for six months. He said hes looking forward to seeing his family, adding that if he could bring his family on the ISS with him, it would be a perfect set-up.

Terri McCain, a fifth-grade teacher at Blair Pointe, said she was grateful for the opportunity to speak with the ISS.

I thought the kids had wonderful questions, she said. I thought it was amazing.

The ISS's next contact is with a junior high school in Komotini, Greece.

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Call to space: Blair Pointe Elementary contacts the International ... - Kokomo Tribune

IANS | Washington March 11, 2017 Last Updated at 11:38 IST

The launch of Orbital ATKs seventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station has been delayed and it is now targetted for no earlier than March 21, NASA said.

The Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission was earlier scheduled for March 19.

Orbital ATK aims to launch the Cygnus spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket for delivery of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to astronauts aboard the space station.

During prelaunch testing on March 10, ULA discovered a booster hydraulic issue at the pad.

Both the cargo spacecraft and Atlas V rocket remain secure in their processing facilities, NASA said in a blog post on Friday.

The Cygnus spacecraft, packed with about 3,447 kgs of supplies and research for crew aboard the orbiting laboratory, will be launched atop the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

--IANS

gb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The launch of Orbital ATKs seventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station has been delayed and it is now targetted for no earlier than March 21, NASA said.

The Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission was earlier scheduled for March 19.

Orbital ATK aims to launch the Cygnus spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket for delivery of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to astronauts aboard the space station.

During prelaunch testing on March 10, ULA discovered a booster hydraulic issue at the pad.

Both the cargo spacecraft and Atlas V rocket remain secure in their processing facilities, NASA said in a blog post on Friday.

The Cygnus spacecraft, packed with about 3,447 kgs of supplies and research for crew aboard the orbiting laboratory, will be launched atop the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

--IANS

gb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

IANS

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Orbital ATK's 7th resupply mission to space station delayed - Business Standard

HOUSTON, March 9, 2017 When retired Army Col. Mark Vande Hei blasts off into space later this year for a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station, he'll be proud to play a part in helping advance the human race.

But what he really can't wait for, he said, is the stellar view from 200 miles above Earth, where the space station orbits the planet every 90 minutes.

In 2010, a cupola was installed on the station. It's a multi-windowed observatory module that offers 360-degree views of the blue planet. Inside, astronauts use various levers and controls to perform tasks like using the station's robotic arm to pull in routine supply loads launched into space.

They can also take time to reflect on the Earth's beauty.

"I'm actually looking forward to seeing what it's like to see the planet from a different perspective," said Vande Hei, 50, who retired last year from the Army where he served as a Ranger-tabbed combat engineer.

Orbiting the Earth

The sight of Earth is so breathtaking, it brought tears to the eyes of a fellow astronaut the first time he peered out of the cupola, Vande Hei said. Once he gets that chance, the former colonel believes, he will finally see Earth as it really is -- an island in the huge ocean of space.

"Hopefully, [I'll be] getting a better understanding of what it means to be a human being on planet Earth," he said.

But Vande Hei will be doing more than just sightseeing. With Russia choosing to send just one cosmonaut on the upcoming mission after deciding to reduce its footprint at the space station due to financial reasons, Vande Hei has taken on more duties. They include serving as the co-pilot of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that now ferries American astronauts into space since NASA's space shuttle program ended in 2011.

"Once we lost that other Russian, I had to jump into that co-pilot seat," Vande Hei said, adding that another NASA astronaut has also joined the mission. "Instead of being kind of a passenger, I'm really helping that commander fly that spacecraft. That is a huge change in responsibilities."

Vande Hei's mission was originally locked in for this March, but it had to be postponed to mid-September so he could train for a few months in Russia. That extra time also allowed him to learn more Russian, which will help him communicate with the spacecraft's Russian commander.

Tough Training

Like other astronauts preparing to go to space, Vande Hei must undergo an extensive training regimen. Last week, he spent a six-hour session submerged underwater at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The lab boasts one of the world's largest pools. At more than 200 feet long and 40 feet deep, it's big enough to hold a replica of the space station. Using a specialized spacesuit that simulates microgravity, Vande Hei floated around the mock station, practicing replacing large nickel hydrogen batteries with lithium-ion ones, a task he may have to perform as part of a spacewalk.

The next day, he trained on an advanced resistive exercise device, which astronauts use to prevent muscle loss while they're weightless in space. Astronauts can simulate free-weight exercises in normal gravity using the device's adjustable resistance piston-driven vacuum cylinders that provide a lift load of up to 600 pounds.

"It's vitally important. It's one of our biggest countermeasures on orbit to mitigate bone loss and muscle atrophy," said Staci Latham, an astronaut strength, conditioning and rehabilitation specialist who is helping train Vande Hei.

According to a NASA fact sheet, astronauts can lose up to 15 percent of their muscle volume if they don't exercise in space.

"They would start to degrade," Latham said, adding that muscle lost in space could be impossible to regain once back on Earth.

Before heading into space, astronauts will train with Latham 16 times in personal one-hour sessions to ensure they know how to use the machine. While in space, astronauts will typically spend 2.5 hours each day exercising for six days a week, she said.

Teamwork

Vande Hei plans to use his Army teamwork skills while he works as part of the six-person team tasked with maintaining the space station and conducting science experiments. After all, being stuck for months inside the station -- about the size of a six-bedroom home -- can present difficulties if people can't get along.

"You can drive each other crazy really easily," he said. "So it's really important that people who do this job are people who can have fun while isolated from the rest of humanity for an extended period of time."

That level of teamwork must also be reflected among the many employees at NASA and other agencies who work together to make space travel possible, Vande Hei said.

"No astronaut could have gotten to the moon without thousands of people working to make that spacecraft work properly," he said. "I feel honored to be in that position, but I also feel very humbled that I'm in a situation where I really could not be in without a lot of other people helping me out."

Upon his return to Earth, which is currently slated for late February 2018, Vande Hei said he hopes to work as a capsule communicator in mission control. It's a job he has done before, but this time he will be able to draw on his own experience to guide the astronauts who follow in his footsteps.

(Follow Sean Kimmons on Twitter: @KimmonsARNEWS)

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Retired Army Colonel Prepares for Space Station Mission > U.S. ... - Department of Defense

Mission: ISS lets you use Oculus Touch controllers to interact with a virtual-reality version of the International Space Station. (Oculus Rift Illustration)

Oculus has just launched Mission: ISS, a virtual-reality simulation that takes advantage of the companysheadset and handheld controllers tolet you explore the International Space Station and even perform a virtual spacewalk.

The computer-generated environment, designed for Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch, provides yet another hint at the shape of things to come at the intersection of virtual and augmented reality with space exploration.

For years, NASA and other space agencies have been closing in on the creation of real-life, 3-D environments that folks can experience through 360-degree video and VR devices as simpleas Google Cardboard. Heres a sampling:

Mission: ISS raises the bar another notch closer to that vision. The project is the result of a collaboration with NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency, plus the L.A.-based Magnopus studio. You can go through a simulated spacewalk, bring in a cargo capsule for a hookup and perform other mission-critical tasks. The package also includes several immersive videos in which astronauts tell their stories.

Oculus says its piloting a limited beta program to provide U.S. high school students with direct access to Mission: ISS. The company is also partnering with CNES, Frances space agency, to send an Oculus Rift VR system to the space station.

The Rift will be used for the first time in orbit by European astronaut Thomas Pesquet to test the effects of zero-gravity on human spatial awareness and balance using software developed by the space agencies, Oculus said today in a blog posting.

That experimentwill follow in the virtual footsteps ofProject Sidekick, which gave astronauts the chance to use Microsofts HoloLens headset to practice performing augmented-reality maintenance tasks on the space station (and fight off computer-generated space aliens).

Another company based in the Seattle area, Bellevue-based Valve, has been working on a Mars VR environment based on NASA imagery of the Red Planet.

The rest is here:

Oculus' 'Mission: ISS' takes one more step toward giant leap for virtual space station - GeekWire

What happens when an astronaut gets sick in space? Do the astronauts get on each other's nerves? What would happen if the International Space Station were struck by debris?

These were a few of the questions students from Blair Pointe Elementary School asked Thursday when they spoke to ISS Commander Shane Kimbrough.

Blair Pointe Elementary is one of only 12 organizations around the world to speak with the ISS in a 6-month period as part of a grant through Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, otherwise known as ARISS.

Blair Pointe applied for the grant last year after Maconaquah Elementary was awarded it in 2015. Bill McAlpin, president of the Miami County Amateur Radio Club, assisted in the grant application and helped the school connect with the ISS Thursday morning.

The students were given approximately 11 minutes to speak with Kimbrough. The ISS moves so quickly that they had to connect as soon as it was within range of their radio set-up, and they lost contact as it passed over the Atlantic Ocean. Within those 11 minutes, the ISS traveled about 3,000 miles.

It was a tense few minutes when McAlpin began trying to contact Kimbrough.

November Alpha One Sierra Sierra, this is Whiskey Delta Nine Golf India Uniform, he said several times, followed only by static.

Finally, Kimbrough responded.

Fifteen students lined up to ask Kimbrough questions. One student asked how many people live on the ISS at one time. Kimbrough said only six, because the shuttle used to get to it can hold only three people.

Another student asked what happens when astronauts get sick in space. Kimbrough said they have a well-stocked supply of medicine and equipment.

But fortunately for us, nobodys gotten sick on our mission, he said.

Kimbrough provided several answers during the 11-minute contact with the school. He said he and the astronauts perform several kinds of experiments every day, and they have to exercise regularly to keep their bones from deteriorating in zero gravity.

He said the astronauts go through extensive training before going into space, but nothing prepared him for his first space walk, which he said is the hardest physical thing about his job.

You just cant train for that experience, he said.

Hannah Baker asked whether bones break differently in space than they do on Earth. Kimbrough said he wouldnt know for sure because none of his crew have broken bones while on the ISS. He speculated that bones would probably break in a similar way, though the healing process might be different.

It was amazing to get to talk to an astronaut, Baker said after the event.

A few other students asked questions that Kimbrough could only answer theoretically because they havent happened, such as what would happen if an astronaut became unhooked from the ISS or if the ISS were struck by debris. One student asked if he worried about the ISS traveling beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. Kimbrough said thankfully those situations have not happened, though they are trained for most emergency scenarios.

One student asked if the other astronauts ever get on Kimbrough's nerves. He answered by saying that it's always a possibility with six people in a small space disconnected from the rest of the world, but the astronauts are trained to be able to work well together.

Kimbrough will return to earth next month after having been in space for six months. He said hes looking forward to seeing his family, adding that if he could bring his family on the ISS with him, it would be a perfect set-up.

Terri McCain, a fifth-grade teacher at Blair Pointe, said she was grateful for the opportunity to speak with the ISS.

I thought the kids had wonderful questions, she said. I thought it was amazing.

The ISS's next contact is with a junior high school in Komotini, Greece.

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Phone call to space: Blair Pointe Elementary contacts the International Space Station - Kokomo Tribune

In less than two weeks, California State University, Northridge and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will be waiting for a Morse code signal from the universitys first stellar explorer CSUNSat1, a cube-shaped satellite about the size of a backpack, signaling its successful venture out in space.

CSUN electrical and computer engineering professor Sharlene Katz said the satellite project is the first of its kind for the university.

Weve never done anything like this before, she said. The satellite hardware and software were designed and built from scratch. The ground station was done from scratch. We want to run the mission. Its time. We feel confident in it.

The satellite will launch into space on March 19 from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., propelled by an Atlas V rocket. It will head to the International Space Station, where it will be deployed into space in April next year. CSUNs ground station command and mission control, located in Jacaranda Hall, will communicate with it after its launch via radio.

One of the most challenging aspects of the mission will be switching the power source from a general standard battery to JPLs prototype, according to CSUN electrical and computer engineering professor James Flynn.

One of the key tests is that the experimental battery has to power the satellite itself, he said. Its like changing your brain without losing your mind. You are doing a transplant. The batteries are not equal; the characteristics are not the same. So, not only do we change the battery, but also how the battery is taken care of . . . all in 50 milliseconds.

JPL collaborator and CSUN computer engineering alumnus Carl Chesko agrees the most delicate task for the satellite will be the power source switchover. He has faith in it running smoothly.

This is something that is never done, like, ever. Part of the reason it is not done is because you never need to, he said. Why would you? You dont need to take the battery out of your phone. If you do, it dies. For this project, we need to continuously run without batteries for .05 of a second. But, at the core, this has been running for more than two years. The core of this works.

Flynn said one of the rewarding aspects of the mission for the students was learning the importance and value of the work they can do at CSUN.

CSUN computer engineering undergraduate Armen Arslanian was charged with creating the deployment code for the satellites four antennas. For him, the most challenging yet rewarding aspect of the project was learning to create a computer code that would communicate with the satellites code between the main satellite computer and the antennas computer.

The antenna has its own brain, he said. The satellites brain is talking to the antennas brain. The issues start there and you have to take care of everything. In this part of the mission, you cant do anything if something goes wrong. What you can do has to be taken care of now because nothing can be done from the ground if [the antennas do not deploy].

Katz lauded the students for their hard work on CSUNSat1.

This is a university; its about the experience, she said. We continue to find little things [to fix] on our list, but its really shrinking down. Weve invested so much in learning about [small satellites]. We didnt think anybody could do it as well as we could, honestly. Wed like to try it again.

Flynn added that while everyone is excited for the three-year project to come to a close, there will be some sad feelings when the satellite is dropped off at NASA.

I know whats going to happen, he said. Were going to take it to Houston. They are going to give us the pin [from inside the satellite that is pulled to arm the satellite] that is what you are left with. Then well have empty cradle syndrome. Well sit there and wonder what will we do now?

For now, the CSUNSat1 team will get to sit tight at the ground station and wait for that Morse code signal hailing it from space, informing it of a successful first mission.

For more information about CSUNSat1, please visit http://www.csun.edu/cubesat.

CSUNSat1, cubesat, Featured, International Space Station, JPL, NASA, satellite

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CSUNSat1 Slated to Launch to International Space Station in Less Than 2 Weeks - CSUN Today

The FOTON is a highly sensitive GPS receiver, designed to withstand the rigors of spaceflight while detecting subtle fluctuations in the signals from GPS satellites.

These fluctuations help us learn about the ionosphere in which the signals travel, says Powell, who returned to Ithaca in early March after spending six weeks in Alaska on a project to send two sounding rockets into the aurora borealis, also to study the ionosphere.

These fluctuations are typically filtered out by standard GPS receivers, he says, but they are the scientific gold nuggets in the data analysis process.

Powells experiment is one of a number of projects studying the Earths atmosphere and ionosphere. It shares a mounting palette on the outside of the ISS, receives power from large solar arrays, and uses the data communications system onboard the station to quickly distribute data back to Earth.

Powell and Hysell will collect data from the GROUP-C experiment.

GROUP-Cs position onboard the ISS will allow it to study the ionosphere at an edge-on perspective, Powell said, to measure variations in electron density. The Cornell teams GPS receiver and antenna actually a suite of three antennas, configured to maximize GPS signals and minimize unwanted reflections from the large metal portions of the ISS will focus on GPS satellites as they move across the sky and set behind the Earth.

As they set, Powell says, the radio signals travel through the ionosphere and are subtly delayed by the denser regions of the ionosphere. From that, we obtain a vertical profile of the electron density, he says.

This experiment builds on a short-duration NASA sounding-rocket mission Powell led in 2012, which was sent into the aurora to study the ionosphere at high latitudes, near the North Pole.

This experiment will allow us to study different, but equally interesting, effects in the ionosphere closer to the equator, where most of the worlds population lives, Powell says.

The Feb. 19 liftoff of the SpaceX rocket, and docking with the ISS four days later, was the culmination of a nearly four-year effort to get GROUP-C built.

It was extremely exciting and satisfying to see the GROUP-C experiment [launch], Powell says. Ive been involved in more than 50 space-based research efforts over a 30-year period, but most have been using suborbital NASA sounding rockets, with mission durations of just 10 to 30 minutes.

The GROUP-C experiment duration will last up to two years, he says, so the quantity of data and the potential for meaningful scientific discovery is huge.

Source: Cornell University

Link:

GPS Monitors Space Weather from Space Station - Controlled Environments Magazine

Giant space-station refueling depots could be orbiting the moon by 2020, but only if the Trump administration makes the funding and national drive needed for it to happen a priority, according to aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow.

Bigelow, whose company, Bigelow Aerospace, has launched three private space-habitat prototypes into orbit including the first inflatable space-station module, said that a commercial station in lunar orbit would be a vital destination for moon exploration.

"The key is going to be how fast the Trump administration can react," Bigelow said in an interview Friday (March 3). The administration would have to move quickly "to energize funds and to galvanize the private sector" to make a lunar depot by end of 2020 possible, he added. [Bigelow Aerospace's Inflatable Space Station Idea (Photos)]

A privately built space station could be in lunar orbit by 2020 to serve as a refueling depot for other spacecraft as depicted in this artist's illustration from space-habitat manufacturer Bigelow Aerospace.

Bigelow spoke with Space.com just days after the private spaceflight company SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, announced that it will launch a private flight around the moon in 2018. On Feb. 26, Musk told reporters SpaceX had "significant deposits" from two as-yet unnamed individuals for a private trip around the moon aboard the company's Dragon crew capsule. The flight will launch on SpaceX's new Falcon Heavy rocket, which is scheduled to make its first test flight later this year.

"SpaceX has indicated that they can provide transportation for a circumlunar flight by 2018," Bigelow said. "If the timeline is met, SpaceX would be in a position to offer commercial transportation to the moon by 2020."

Last week, another space entrepreneur Amazon's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos told the Washington Post that his private space company Blue Origin is eyeing its own plan for moon-bound spacecraft and a lunar lander.

This illustration depicts a Bigelow Aerospace BA-330 space habitat in orbit around the moon, where it could serve as a waystation for astronaut crews and a refueling depot for visiting spacecraft.

Bigelow himself has often said that private space stations and habitats for the moon and beyond have been goals for his Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace. Last Wednesday (March 1), Bigelow unveiled his company's concept images of a lunar depot on the way to the moon, and in lunar orbit.

Bigelow Aerospace launched two uncrewed prototype inflatable habitats, called Genesis I and Genesis II, in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Then in 2016, the company's Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (or BEAM) was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) on a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship as part of a NASA test for future space habitats. It is the first privately built and inflatable room ever installed on the space station. And so far, it's performed well, Bigelow said. [The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module in Pictures]

"We are pleased, so far, with the performance of the spacecraft," he added.

Bigelow Aerospace has also teamed up with the United Launch Alliance, a launch-providing partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to launch a colossal inflatable space habitat into orbit in 2020. That spacecraft, called the BA-330 for its 330 cubic meters (or about 11,650 cubic feet) of internal volume, would launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket and expand in orbit to serve as a free-flying private space station.

"The BA-330 is three times the size of anything on the ISS," Bigelow told Space.com, adding that the company aims to be able to provide the habitats at a fraction of NASA's cost.

This artist's illustration of a Bigelow Aerospace BA-330 habitat on the way to the moon, powered by two United Launch Alliance ACES rocket stages.

Bigelow said that a BA-330 habitat could potentially be placed into a low-lunar orbit using two of ULA's upgraded Centaur rocket stages, known as ACES (Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage). The space station would orbit somewhere between 100 and 150 kilometers above the moon, serving as a gateway for astronaut crews making their way to or from the lunar surface.

The BA-330 could also be a fueling station for other spacecraft operating near the moon, something that will be essential for the permanent settlement of the moon, Bigelow said.

"You'll be able to give the astronauts a waystation, a place where they can have the experience of being farther from Earth than anyone has been in the last 45 years," he added.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Private Space Stations Could Orbit the Moon by 2020, Robert Bigelow Says - Space.com

March 9, 2017 by Tom Fleischman Steven Powell, research engineer in the department of electrical and computer engineering, is pictured with the Cornell GPS antenna array in a clean room at the NASA/Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The array is currently mounted on the truss structure of the International Space Station. Credit: Zach Tejral, NASA Johnson Spaceflight Center/Provided

The weather here on Earth has been a little strange this winter 60-degree days, followed by blinding snow, only to be followed by 50s and rain but for Steven Powell, the weather he's interested in can't be felt by humans or measured by barometric pressure.

Powell, research support specialist in electrical and computer engineering, is concerned with "space weather" charged particles in the plasma of space, on the edge of the Earth's atmosphere. These particles affect the performance of communications and navigation satellites.

To study conditions in the ionosphere, a band between 50 and 600 miles above the Earth, Powell and others in the College of Engineering have developed the FOTON (Fast Orbital TEC for Orbit and Navigation) GPS receiver, which was built in a Rhodes Hall lab. Last month, the FOTON hitched a ride aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to begin a long-term project at the International Space Station.

The project, which could last two years, is called GROUP-C (GPS Radio Occultation and Ultraviolet Photometry-Colocated), and is headed by Scott Budzien of the Naval Research Laboratory. Powell is the Cornell principal investigator for the project; other Cornell contributors include Mark L. Psiaki, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering (retired); David Hysell, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences; Todd Humphreys, Ph.D. '08; and Brady O'Hanlon, Ph.D. '16.

Also contributing was the late electrical and computer engineering professor Paul Kintner, who died in November 2010. Kintner was responsible for the original ionospheric research that formed the scientific basis for GROUP-C, Powell said.

The FOTON is a highly sensitive GPS receiver, designed to withstand the rigors of spaceflight while detecting subtle fluctuations in the signals from GPS satellites.

"These fluctuations help us learn about the ionosphere in which the signals travel," said Powell, who returned to Ithaca in early March after spending six weeks in Alaska on a project to send two sounding rockets into the aurora borealis, also to study the ionosphere.

"These fluctuations are typically filtered out by standard GPS receivers," he said, "but they are the scientific 'gold nuggets' in the data analysis process."

Powell's experiment is one of a number of projects studying the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere. It shares a mounting palette on the outside of the ISS, receives power from large solar arrays, and uses the data communications system onboard the station to quickly distribute data back to Earth.

Powell and Hysell will collect data from the GROUP-C experiment.

GROUP-C's position onboard the ISS will allow it to study the ionosphere "at an edge-on perspective," Powell said, to measure variations in electron density. The Cornell team's GPS receiver and antenna actually a suite of three antennas, configured to maximize GPS signals and minimize unwanted reflections from the large metal portions of the ISS will focus on GPS satellites as they move across the sky and set behind the Earth.

As they set, Powell said, the radio signals travel through the ionosphere and are subtly delayed by the denser regions of the ionosphere. "From that, we obtain a vertical profile of the electron density," he said.

This experiment builds on a short-duration NASA sounding-rocket mission Powell led in 2012, which was sent into the aurora to study the ionosphere at high latitudes, near the North Pole.

"This experiment will allow us to study different, but equally interesting, effects in the ionosphere closer to the equator, where most of the world's population lives," Powell said.

The Feb. 19 liftoff of the SpaceX rocket, and docking with the ISS four days later, was the culmination of a nearly four-year effort to get GROUP-C built.

"It was extremely exciting and satisfying to see the GROUP-C experiment [launch]," Powell said. "I've been involved in more than 50 space-based research efforts over a 30-year period, but most have been using suborbital NASA sounding rockets, with mission durations of just 10 to 30 minutes.

"The GROUP-C experiment duration will last up to two years," he said, "so the quantity of data and the potential for meaningful scientific discovery is huge."

Explore further: Sounding rockets study how winds in space drive currents in the upper atmosphere

Some 50 miles up in the sky begins a dynamic region of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere. The region is filled with charged particles created by extreme ultraviolet radiation from the sun. At the base of the ionosphere, ...

Eruptions on the Sun's surface send clouds of electrically charged particles towards Earth, producing solar storms thatamong other thingscan trigger the beautiful Northern Lights over the Arctic regions.

On Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8:41 p.m. Alaska time, scientists launched a NASA sounding rocket from Poker Flat Research Range into a brilliant aurora display. The rocket mission, designed to gather information on space weather ...

Following the successful launch today, June 20, of a NASA Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket, launch teams are now preparing for a two-rocket salvo June 24 from the Wallops Flight Facility, Va.

Swirling through Earth's upper atmosphere is a layer of charged particles called the ionosphere. Constantly on the move, currents through the ionosphere can be much more complicated than winds at lower altitudes, because ...

Ball lightning? Spectral orbs? Swamp gas? Early this morning, May 7, these eerie glowing trails were seen in the sky above the Marshall Islands and were captured on camera by NASA photographer John Grant. Of course, if NASA's ...

On Feb. 22, astronomers announced that the ultra-cool dwarf star, TRAPPIST-1, hosts a total of seven Earth-size planets that are likely rocky, a discovery made by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in combination with ground-based ...

In two recently published scientific papers, an international team of astronomers has presented the detection of two new tidal disruption events (TDEs). Using the Palomar Observatory located near San Diego, California, the ...

SpaceX, the upstart company, and NASA, the government agency, both have plans to venture to Mars and orbit the moon. But that doesn't mean they've launched a new space race.

The bright central area of Ceres' Occator Crater, known as Cerealia Facula, is approximately 30 million years younger than the crater in which it lies, according to a new study in the Astronomical Journal. Scientists used ...

A team of astronomers has doubled the number of known young, compact radio galaxiesgalaxies powered by newly energized black holes. The improved tally will help astronomers understand the relationship between the size ...

A huge mass of glowing stardust in a galaxy seen shortly after the Universe's formation has been detected by a UCL-led team of astronomers, providing new insights into the birth and explosive deaths of the very first stars.

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Experiment aboard space station studies 'space weather' - Phys.Org