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Category Archives: Space Station

After 17 years in orbit, how durable is the International …

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FILE- In this April 20, 2014, image made from a frame grabbed from NASA-TV, the SpaceX Dragon resupply capsule begins the process of being berthed on to the ISS.(AP Photo/NASA-TV, File)

Even though the ammonia leak that forced a partial evacuation of the International Space Stations U.S. section on Wednesday proved to be a false alarm, the news did raise questions on the stations durability.

Since the stations inception in 1998, the habitable satellite has endured a multitude of maintenance issues, from pump failures to damaged panels. Weve had other, what have turned out to be more serious, problems on the space station, NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz told FoxNews.com. For example, there was an actual ammonia pump failure [in 2010], and so it had to be replaced and required space walks. The actions we took [Wednesday] were for a worst-case scenario like that.

The now 17 year-old International Space Station (ISS) has been occupied for 5,187 days and circled the Earth 92,357 times, so a little wear-and-tear would seem unavoidable. While the station has been in orbit since 1998, it actually wasnt completed until recently.

The first piece of the space station was put in orbit [in 1998], but the assembly actually took quite a bit of time, and wasnt completed until 2011, Schierholz said. We were using the space shuttle to complete the building of the ISS, because we would bring pieces of the station up in the space shuttle, so every time we brought up a new piece itd change the configuration. So the building of the space station took quite a bit of time.

The road to the stations assembly saw more than its fair share of bumps along the way. Following the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, there was a two-and-a-half year suspension of the U.S. shuttle program, leading to a large waste accumulation aboard the ISS that held up operations in 2004. A computer failure in 2007 left the station temporarily without thrusters and oxygen generation, followed by a torn solar panel that same year which required astronaut Scott Parazynski to make a daring impromptu spacewalk on the end of the space shuttles OBSS inspection arm. In 2010 there was the aforementioned ammonia pump failure, which, according to Schierholz, would be the top [maintenance issue that has come up] from an unexpected work/volume of work-required [standpoint]. The interesting thing about all these [problems] is that theyre anticipated failures -- we train the astronauts for them. We do plan space walks to replace parts that we expect or are at the end of their life cycle. This failed sooner than we expected it to.

The following year saw the station almost collide with what is becoming a rapidly rising threat: orbital debris. With more and more dead satellites in orbit, the possibility of one of them hitting the ISS is a growing one. These satellites sometimes slam into one another, the ensuing blast creating thousands of pieces of orbital debris.

They are an issue, Schierholz said, because if something were to hit the space station - the ISS is traveling at 17,500 mph, a piece of debris could be travelling at the same speed, and theres going to be some damage thats caused as a result of that. The U.S. Air Force tracks any piece of debris thats bigger than a golf ball, and theres a certain amount of protection from micrometeroid debris, which is natural stuff in the universe that is too small to cause any real problems. But any debris that was put there as a result of an accident is a concern to us, especially because we have people on board. To avoid disaster, thrusters are fired to adjust the stations orbit out of harms way.

So after 17 years of dodging space junk and enduring technical problems, the question remains: how much longer can the ISS stay operational? According to NASA, for as long as the U.S. and its international partners pay to maintain it.

The space station is certified for a particular lifetime, Schierholz said. So thats how we assess the future lifespan of the space station."

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After 17 years in orbit, how durable is the International ...

What's Inside an Astronaut's Care Package

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Astronauts at the International Space Station were treated to some Earthly pleasures this weekend when they cracked open their care packages from home.

The SpaceX Dragon arrived at the ISS last week bearing belated holiday presents and groceries for the astronauts, who have been cooped up in the station in low-earth orbit for months.

U.S. astronaut Terry Virts smiled with Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti as they posed with fresh apples floating in the zero-gravity environment.

"A real treat to have fresh fruit!" he tweeted.

Cmdr. Butch Wilmore looked pleased with his gifts, which included a back-scratcher and a few bottles of mustard to spice up his space cuisine.

Also on the SpaceX Dragon were parts for the space station and science experiments, marking the private company's fifth resupply mission to the International Space Station.

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What's Inside an Astronaut's Care Package

StarMade: Creative Space – "FGHTR-15" (Ship Build & Combat Testing) – Video

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StarMade: Creative Space - "FGHTR-15" (Ship Build Combat Testing)
CREATIVE SPACE is a new BUILD SERIES. Every episode we will be building something in a Creative World, and if it is a ship... we put it to the test! StarMade is an open-universe space simulation...

By: jacemachine

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StarMade: Creative Space - "FGHTR-15" (Ship Build & Combat Testing) - Video

ThirdPhaseOfMoon Caught Faking UFO Videos Again! "ISS Flying Saucer Visits ISS" January 2015 – Video

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ThirdPhaseOfMoon Caught Faking UFO Videos Again! "ISS Flying Saucer Visits ISS" January 2015
Not only is this footage years old/// but once again ThirdPhaseOfMoon attempt to con their viewers and subscribers that a real UFO intercepts the International Space Station, when in reality...

By: LostTreasure.Com.AU

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ThirdPhaseOfMoon Caught Faking UFO Videos Again! "ISS Flying Saucer Visits ISS" January 2015 - Video

Earth From Space – HD Views of Earth from the International Space Station ISS – Video

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Earth From Space - HD Views of Earth from the International Space Station ISS
Earth From Space - Views of Earth from the International Space Station ISS Pre-recorded footage from the ISS , watch the earth roll by.

By: Amazing Space - Astounding Images and Videos

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Earth From Space - HD Views of Earth from the International Space Station ISS - Video

Let’s Play Star Wars: The Old Republic | Ep.32 | Cat’s Got Claws – Video

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Let #39;s Play Star Wars: The Old Republic | Ep.32 | Cat #39;s Got Claws
Finding our target Admiral, we discover the true identity of the Major #39;s Cathar companion and finally leave Balmorra to attack a Hutt space station. Subscribe for more Wretch Plays! ...

By: Wretch Plays

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Let's Play Star Wars: The Old Republic | Ep.32 | Cat's Got Claws - Video

Sunrise over Nova Scotia from the International Space Station @ 17,000 MPH – Video

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Sunrise over Nova Scotia from the International Space Station @ 17,000 MPH
Sunrise over Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, as seen from the International Space Station @17000 MPH. HDEV Stream sites: http://columbuseye.uni-bonn.de/ ...

By: Bobpoblo

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Sunrise over Nova Scotia from the International Space Station @ 17,000 MPH - Video

Best Space Stories of the Week – Jan. 18, 2015

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From a false alarm on the International Space Station, to finding a long-lost lander on Mars, this has been a big week for news. Here are Space.com's picks for the biggest space stories of the week:

The European Space Agency's long-lost lander Beagle 2 was found on Mars after it lost contact with Earth in 2003. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted the probe from its place in orbit around the Red Planet. [Full Story: UK's Lost Beagle 2 Mars Lander, Missing Since 2003, Found in NASA Photos]

NASA's New Horizons probe has started observing Pluto as it approaches the dwarf planet. The spacecraft is scheduled to make its much-anticipated flyby of Pluto on July 14, potentially revealing new findings about the small cosmic body. [Full Story: NASA Pluto Probe Begins Science Observations Ahead of Epic Flyby]

The huge asteroid 2004 BL86 will make its close flyby of Earth on Jan. 26. The space rock will be about 745,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers), from the planet when it passes by, marking the asteroid's closest approach to Earth fro the next 200 years. [Full Story: Big Asteroid to Zoom by Earth on Jan. 26]

Officials from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency are now saying that many of the UFO spotted by people in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States were actually high-flying space planes. [Full Story: CIA About UFOs of the 1950s and '60s: 'It Was Us']

China's first moon lander called Chang'e 3 is still operational on the lunar surface. The probe has captured a nice picture of the Pinwheel Galaxy after more than a year on the moon. [Full Story: Chinese Moon Lander Spots Pinwheel Galaxy from Lunar Surface (Photo)]

SpaceX's fifth Dragon cargo ship made it to the International Space Station on Monday (Jan. 12) in the early morning. The spacecraft carried tons of supplies under a contract with NASA. [Full Story: SpaceX Dragon Capsule Delivers Fresh Supplies to Space Station]

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter currently orbiting the Red Planet captures an image of a relatively new crater created on Mars in the last few years. [Full Story: Fresh Crater on Mars Spied by NASA Spacecraft (Photo)]

The sun shot out its first significant solar flare of 2015 on Monday night (Jan. 12). NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an amazing image of the M-class solar flare. [Full Story: Sun Fires Off First Strong Solar Flare of 2015 (Video)]

Crewmembers on the International Space Station had a scare when an alarm that sometimes indicates an ammonia leak sounded on the orbiting outpost Wednesday (Jan. 14). It turned out to be a false alarm, but astronauts on the U.S. side of the station did evacuate to the Russian side as a precaution. [Full Story: Space Station Astronauts Return to US Side After Leak False Alarm]

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Best Space Stories of the Week - Jan. 18, 2015

After 17 years in orbit, how durable is the International Space Station?

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FILE- In this April 20, 2014, image made from a frame grabbed from NASA-TV, the SpaceX Dragon resupply capsule begins the process of being berthed on to the ISS.(AP Photo/NASA-TV, File)

Even though the ammonia leak that forced a partial evacuation of the International Space Stations U.S. section on Wednesday proved to be a false alarm, the news did raise questions on the stations durability.

Since the stations inception in 1998, the habitable satellite has endured a multitude of maintenance issues, from pump failures to damaged panels. Weve had other, what have turned out to be more serious, problems on the space station, NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz told FoxNews.com. For example, there was an actual ammonia pump failure [in 2010], and so it had to be replaced and required space walks. The actions we took [Wednesday] were for a worst-case scenario like that.

The now 17 year-old International Space Station (ISS) has been occupied for 5,187 days and circled the Earth 92,357 times, so a little wear-and-tear would seem unavoidable. While the station has been in orbit since 1998, it actually wasnt completed until recently.

The first piece of the space station was put in orbit [in 1998], but the assembly actually took quite a bit of time, and wasnt completed until 2011, Schierholz said. We were using the space shuttle to complete the building of the ISS, because we would bring pieces of the station up in the space shuttle, so every time we brought up a new piece itd change the configuration. So the building of the space station took quite a bit of time.

The road to the stations assembly saw more than its fair share of bumps along the way. Following the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, there was a two-and-a-half year suspension of the U.S. shuttle program, leading to a large waste accumulation aboard the ISS that held up operations in 2004. A computer failure in 2007 left the station temporarily without thrusters and oxygen generation, followed by a torn solar panel that same year which required astronaut Scott Parazynski to make a daring impromptu spacewalk on the end of the space shuttles OBSS inspection arm. In 2010 there was the aforementioned ammonia pump failure, which, according to Schierholz, would be the top [maintenance issue that has come up] from an unexpected work/volume of work-required [standpoint]. The interesting thing about all these [problems] is that theyre anticipated failures -- we train the astronauts for them. We do plan space walks to replace parts that we expect or are at the end of their life cycle. This failed sooner than we expected it to.

The following year saw the station almost collide with what is becoming a rapidly rising threat: orbital debris. With more and more dead satellites in orbit, the possibility of one of them hitting the ISS is a growing one. These satellites sometimes slam into one another, the ensuing blast creating thousands of pieces of orbital debris.

They are an issue, Schierholz said, because if something were to hit the space station - the ISS is traveling at 17,500 mph, a piece of debris could be travelling at the same speed, and theres going to be some damage thats caused as a result of that. The U.S. Air Force tracks any piece of debris thats bigger than a golf ball, and theres a certain amount of protection from micrometeroid debris, which is natural stuff in the universe that is too small to cause any real problems. But any debris that was put there as a result of an accident is a concern to us, especially because we have people on board. To avoid disaster, thrusters are fired to adjust the stations orbit out of harms way.

So after 17 years of dodging space junk and enduring technical problems, the question remains: how much longer can the ISS stay operational? According to NASA, for as long as the U.S. and its international partners pay to maintain it.

The space station is certified for a particular lifetime, Schierholz said. So thats how we assess the future lifespan of the space station."

See the article here:

After 17 years in orbit, how durable is the International Space Station?

America’s Forum | Robert Walker discusses the rumor that Senator Ted Cruz will be chairman of the Se – Video

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America #39;s Forum | Robert Walker discusses the rumor that Senator Ted Cruz will be chairman of the Se
Robert Walker: Former Congressman and chair of the Committee on Science and Technology talks about the earlier mishap with the Space Station, the rumor that Senator Ted Cruz will be chairman...

By: NewsmaxTV

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America's Forum | Robert Walker discusses the rumor that Senator Ted Cruz will be chairman of the Se - Video


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