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By Marcia Dunn The Associated Press October 27, 2014

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

The International Space Station sidestepped a piece of treacherous junk Monday just hours before the planned launch of a supply ship from Virginia.

NASA said debris from an old, wrecked Russian satellite would have come dangerously close to the orbiting lab just two-tenths of a mile if not for the move.

The space station was maneuvered well out of harm's way to keep the outpost and its six inhabitants safe.

Mission Control was informed of the space junk over the weekend. It is wreckage from a Kosmos satellite that was launched in 1993 and collided with an Iridium spacecraft in 2009.

Mission Control said the space station's relocation would not affect Monday evening's scheduled launch of a commercial supply ship.

Orbital Sciences Corp.'s unmanned Cygnus capsule holds 5,000 pounds of cargo for NASA, including 32 mini research satellites, a meteor tracker, and a tank of high-pressure nitrogen to replenish a vestibule used by spacewalking astronauts. Liftoff was scheduled for 6:45 p.m. from Wallops Island, Virginia.

The launch, coming a half-hour after sunset, should be visible along much of the Eastern Seaboard, from South Carolina to Connecticut and Massachusetts. As an added bonus, the space station was to pass overhead five minutes later, resembling a fast-moving star.

Traffic is heavy these days 260 miles up.

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Space station dodging junk from old satellite

4 hours ago by Marcia Dunn

The International Space Station sidestepped a piece of treacherous junk Monday just hours before the planned launch of a supply ship from Virginia.

NASA said debris from an old, wrecked Russian satellite would have come dangerously close to the orbiting lab if not for the move.

The space station was maneuvered well out of harm's way to keep the outpost and its six inhabitants safe.

Mission Control was informed of the space junk over the weekend. It is wreckage from a Kosmos satellite that was launched in 1993 and collided with an Iridium spacecraft in 2009.

Mission Control said the space station's relocation would not affect Monday evening's scheduled launch of a commercial supply ship.

Orbital Sciences Corp.'s unmanned Cygnus capsule holds 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of cargo for NASA, including 32 mini research satellites, a meteor tracker, and a tank of high-pressure nitrogen to replenish a vestibule used by spacewalking astronauts. Liftoff was scheduled for 6:45 p.m. from Wallops Island, Virginia.

The launch, coming a half-hour after sunset, should be visible along much of the Eastern Seaboard, from South Carolina to Connecticut and Massachusetts. As an added bonus, the space station was to pass overhead five minutes later, resembling a fast-moving star.

Traffic is heavy these days 260 miles (418 kilometers) up.

Just this past Saturday, a Dragon cargo ship supplied by the California-based SpaceX companyits fifthdeparted the space station after a monthlong visit and splashed into the Pacific with a load of precious science samples.

Originally posted here:
Space station dodges junk from old satellite (Update)

Orbital Sciences' third formal cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is set for launch early Monday evening, with the potential to provide people along the Eastern Seaboard with one part of a spectacular celestial show, weather permitting.

The launch is slated for 6:45 p.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia's Wallops Island. Forecasters anticipate a 98 percent chance that the weather will be just fine for the launch.

It's the first time I've ever seen a 98 percent chance of go from a forecaster, said former NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson Jr., now executive vice president and general manager of the company's advanced programs group, during a pre-launch briefing on Sunday.

Up and down the East Coast, forecasters are calling for partly cloudy or mostly clear skies, allowing people from the Carolinas to southeastern Massachusetts to see portions of the ascent of Orbital's Antares resupply rocket. About five minutes after Antares lifts off, the space station itself will become visible rising from the west-northwest to trace an easterly arc over a crescent moon, with Mars close on its heels as the moon and the red planet set.

Orbital's Cygnus cargo capsule is scheduled to rendezvous with the space station on Sunday.

Ordinarily, cargo missions that Orbital Sciences and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) loft for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration arrive at the station two to three days after launch. Cygnus, however, will have to loiter for several days some 370 to 740 miles behind the station a testament to how busy the space station has become.

On Saturday, SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule left the station for a Pacific splashdown after arriving at the station Sept. 23. A European cargo craft, an automated transfer vehicle (ATV), is berthed at the station. A Russian Progress resupply capsule was slated to leave the station Monday, with another scheduled to arrive Wednesday. And the station currently has two Russian Soyuz crew capsules docked to it.

At the moment, this is the closest that low-Earth orbit has to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

That's quite a bit of visiting-vehicle traffic, said Gerald Esquivel, NASA's visiting integration manager for the Orbital-ISS missions. Once the Progress capsule leaves on Wednesday, astronauts aboard the station will prepare for Cygnus' arrival.

Cygnus is carrying 2-1/2 tons of science experiments, crew supplies, and hardware to the station including a tank filled with pressurized nitrogen for the station's airlock system. Filled to a pressure of 6,000 pounds per square inch, the three-foot-long tank is the most highly pressurized tank that Cygnus has carried.

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How to watch Antares rocket launch tonight and also see space station

NASA astronaut and Boise State University Professor of the Practice Steve Swanson will share stories about his time aboard the International Space Station at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in the Student Union Simplot Ballroom on the BSU Campus.

The event is free and open to the public. Hourly parking is available in the Lincoln Avenue Garage.

Swanson spent six months in orbit on the ISS, from March to September 2014; in May he took over as commander of Expedition 40.

During a live downlink from space sponsored by the Space Broncos student group, Swanson spoke with Boise State students and the community -- and demonstrated some of the unusual aspects of living in microgravity. The downlink was part of Boise States Space Symposium, which included presentations by students and faculty engaged in NASA-related research and education programs.

Swanson will also present Boise State University with a ball cap he wore during that downlink from space at a special on-field recognition during the Nov. 15 football game against San Diego State in Albertsons Stadium.

While in Boise, Swanson will visit with engineering students and tour several research labs on campus.

Steve Swansons visit is a great boost for our students and faculty and it reminds us that NASA is an integral part of our community, said Barbara Morgan, former NASA astronaut and current distinguished educator in residence at Boise State. We are pleased to have several strong ties to NASA, including NASA-funded research programs, participation in the Microgravity University and Zero Robotics programs, student internships, the NASA Pre-Service Teacher Institute, the McNair Scholars Program, Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars and our own Space Broncos Team Swanson student organization.

Swanson, who has a Ph.D. in computer science, became an astronaut in 1998. His flight experience includes two space shuttle missions and one long-duration mission on the International Space Station. On the 2007 Atlantis shuttle mission, Swanson helped deliver, install and repair equipment and performed two spacewalks on the space station. On 2009s Discovery shuttle mission to the space station, Swanson again delivered and installed equipment and performed two spacewalks. As commander of the International Space Stations Expedition 40, he led the team of astronauts and cosmonauts and conducted science and technology experiments.

Swanson and his family live in Houston, Texas. His parents live in Eagle, Idaho.

Steve Swanson is one of five Boise State University Professors of the Practice.

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NASA International Space Station Commander to speak at BSU