Category Archives: Transhuman News

International Space Station from Lugano
GoPro shows ISS setting on the horizon while I take a long exposure photograph of its transit.

By: Paolo Attivissimo

Read the original here:
International Space Station from Lugano - Video

Elite: Dangerous, Flight Assist Off Shenanigans in the Oculus Rift
This is me having a bit of fun in Elite with Flight Assist Off around a Coriolis Space station. I use a dual joystick setup + pedals to get the best 3D thruster control. A pic of my setup:...

By: DarkSideofOZ

View post:
Elite: Dangerous, Flight Assist Off Shenanigans in the Oculus Rift - Video

Space Station Live: A View from Aloft
NASA Commentator Dan Huot talks with Dr. Lisa Vanderbloemen, the manager of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, about the Crew Earth ...

By: ReelNASA

Read the original here:
Space Station Live: A View from Aloft - Video

Cargo Vehicle Ground Processing
B-roll of cargo vehicle processing for the International Space Station. Image credit: Courtesy NASA.

By: ReelNASA

Visit link:
Cargo Vehicle Ground Processing - Video

The astronauts aboard the International Space Station usually receive packages from Earth, but things are the other way around this week: A shipment of parts 3-D printed in orbit has made its way back to the surface for testing. The ISS 3-D printer has been active for a few months, putting out small pieces and complete tools, and now the items need to be examined closely to see whether they came out right. NASA's Quincy Bean is in charge of the printer project, and got to unbox the carefully packaged pieces, which were sent back to Earth in February aboard SpaceX's fifth contracted resupply mission to the ISS. You can watch him do the honors in this video uploaded Tuesday:

One piece he shows off is a complete ratchet, which was designed on Earth and then "beamed up" to the station, where it was actually printed in November. Previously the printer had made a spare part for itself, and since then has made all manner of small pieces that will help the investigators understand how microgravity affects the printing process.

Once the details are worked out, the ISS crew will know what parts and tools can be reliably replaced by printed versions, removing the need to send up more via rocket. You can keep up with the latest news from the project at NASA's 3-D Printing site.

First published April 7 2015, 1:26 PM

Visit link:
Space Station Sends 3-D-Printed Parts Back to Earth

April 7, 2015

The first items ever manufactured in space with a 3-D printer were unboxed on April 6, 2015 in the Additive Manufacturing Laboratory at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The parts were made on the International Space Station and returned to Earth for testing at Marshall. (Credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given)

Provided by Tracy McMahan, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Engineers atNASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, unboxed some special cargo from theInternational Space Station on April 6: the first items manufactured in space with a 3-D printer.

The items were manufactured as part of the3-D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration on the space station to show that additive manufacturing can make a variety of parts and tools in space. These early in-space 3-D printing demonstrations are the first steps toward realizing an additive manufacturing, print-on-demand machine shop for long-duration missions and sustaining human exploration of other planets, where there is extremely limited ability and availability of Earth-based resupply and logistics support. In-space manufacturing technologies like 3-D printing will help NASA explore Mars, asteroids, and other locations.

A cool plate on the inside of the Made In Space 3D printer. If you know code, you may be able to translate what all those 1's and 0's mean. But if not, according to Made In Space, they say, "Make it so," which was one of Jean Luc Picard's catchphrases in "Star Trek". (Credit: redOrbit)

The technology demonstration got underway when NASA astronaut Barry Butch Wilmore installed the printer in the stationsMicrogravity Science Glovebox in November 2014. Before the end of the year, the crew manufactured 21 items including awrench, the first tool built in space. To make the items, the printer heated a relatively low-temperature plastic filament to build parts, layer on top of layer, in designs supplied to the machine. The printer remains on aboard the station for continued use later this year. The station provides a one-of-a-kind laboratory for demonstrating additive manufacturing in the microgravity environment where NASA wants to use the technology.

The aforementioned wrench. (Credit: redOrbit)

The printer used 14 different designs and built a total of 21 items and some calibration coupons. The parts returned to Earth in February on the SpaceX Dragon. They were then delivered to Marshall where the testing to compare the ground controls to the flight parts will be conducted. Before the printer was launched to the space station, it made an identical set of parts. Now, materials engineers will put both the space samples and ground control samples literally under a microscope and through a series of tests. Project engineers will perform durability, strength and structural tests on both sets of printed items and even put them under an electron microscope to scan for differences in the objects.

To build and operate the printer, NASA worked with Made In Space Inc., a northern California company that is building anAdditive Manufacturing Facility the next-generation printer that will be operated on the station. This printer will be available to both commercial and government users, including NASA, through theCenter for the Advancement of Science In Space, or CASIS.

Read more here:
3D-printed objects arrive from ISS

The sixth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract is scheduled to launch on Monday, April 13, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Television coverage of the launch begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

The company's Falcon 9 rocket will lift off at 4:33 p.m., carrying its Dragon cargo spacecraft. Dragon is filled with more than 4,300 pounds of supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support about 40 of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 43 and 44.

In addition to launch coverage, NASA also will host a series of prelaunch news conferences on Sunday, April 12, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All briefings, which are subject to a change in time, will air live on NASA TV and the agency's website.

During panel discussions Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., scientists and researchers will discuss the onboard science and research studies. The series of briefings will conclude with a prelaunch news conference at 5 p.m. A post-launch briefing will be held approximately 90 minutes after liftoff Monday.

Science payloads will study new ways to possibly counteract the microgravity-induced cell damage seen during spaceflight, the effects of microgravity on the most common cells in bones, gather new insight that could lead to treatments for osteoporosis and muscle wasting conditions, continue studies into astronaut vision changes and test a new material that could one day be used as a synthetic muscle for robotics explorers of the future.

A Monday launch will result in the Dragon spacecraft arriving at the space station Wednesday, April 15. Expedition 43 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) will use the station's 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and capture Dragon at approximately 7 a.m.Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA will support Cristoforetti as they operate from the station's cupola. NASA TV coverage of grapple will begin at 5 a.m.Coverage of Dragon's installation to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module will begin at 9:15 a.m.

If the launch does not occur on Monday, the next launch opportunity would beat approximately 4:10 p.m.Tuesday, April 14.

After about five weeks at the space station, Dragon will return to Earth filled with more than 3,000 pounds of cargo including crew supplies, hardware and computer resources, science experiments, and space station hardware.

Media may request accreditation to attend the prelaunch news conferences, events and launch online at:https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

The deadline for U.S. media to apply for accreditation is noon on April 9. The application deadline has passed for international media. Media credentials will be valid for mission activities from launch through splashdown at Kennedy and at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Link:
NASA TV Coverage Set for Sixth SpaceX Resupply Mission to Space Station