Category Archives: Space Station

July 3, 2017 by Chris Gebhardt

After 30 days in space and 28 days berthed to the International Space Station, SpaceXs first ever reused Dragon capsule hasunberthed from the Station ahead of a Monday afternoon reentry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean for recovery. Over the course of its month-long stay, Dragon delivered several thousand pounds of scientific experiments and equipment to the Space Station some of which were so time sensitive that they had to be performed in the past 28 days so they could return with Dragon today.

Dragon departure and splashdown:

Originally scheduled to depart the ISS and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on Sunday, 2 July, Dragons homecoming was delayed one day due to unfavorable weather conditions in the Eastern Pacific.

Dragon has performed flawlessly during her mission while the three person ISS crew has spent the last 28 days unloading the capsule, performing the timesensitive experiments that are due to return on it, and removing external payloads for the Station from Dragons trunk toeither attachthem on ISS or to perform test objectives on them.

The mission holds a historic place for SpaceX being the first re-flight of a Dragon capsule that had already flown to space once prior.

Previously, the Dragon capsule used for CRS-11 had flown the CRS-4 mission in September-October 2014.

The reuse of this Dragon capsule marksthe first time a private spaceflight company has reused a spacecraft and also marked the first time that a reused spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.

With Dragons first reflight now set to conclude, the three person reduced crew aboard the International Space Station began robotic preparations for the vehicles released by grappling Dragon with the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (Station arm or SSRMS) over the weekend ahead of final hatch closer on Sunday.

Firmly held in the snares of the Latching End Effector (LEE) on the end of the SSRMS, bolts securely fastening Dragon to the nadir (Earth-facing) Common Berthing Mechanism of Node-2 Harmony were driven to the retract position, freeing Dragon from its berthing port on the Station.

The Station crew then maneuvered Dragon on the end of the SSRMS away from the main structure of the ISS to its release point 10 meters from the orbital lab.

With a release time of 02:41 EDT on Monday, 3 July, astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer working in the Cupola lab of the ISS commanded the release of the LEE snares holding Dragon.

The exact time of release was subject to change from the announced plan due to lighting conditions, communications coverage, and day-of timeline activities.

Once the LEE snares released, Whitson and Fischer backed the SSRMS away from Dragon as the craft held its position at the 10m mark.

Once the Stations arm was cleared to a safe distance, Dragon was conducted through a series of three small thruster firing departure burns that moved the capsule down the R-Bar (Radial Vector) and away from the International Space Station toward Earth (when viewed in relation to ISS orientation and Dragon movements with respect to Earth).

During the initial stage of departure, Dragon was under the control of its own computer programming, with Whitson and Fischer aboard the International Space Station and controllers at Mission Control Houston in Texas for NASA having primary control over the spacecraft.

As Dragon pushed down the R-Bar, the largest of the three thruster departure burns imparted enough Delta Velocity (Delta-V) change to Dragon to push it outside of the approach ellipsoid.

The approach ellipsoid is a 4 km by 2 km oval-shaped region around the International Space Station that extends 2 km in front of and 2 kilometers behind the ISS along the velocity vector (V-Bar) and 1 km above and 1 km below the Station along the R-Bar.

Once Dragon cleared the approach ellipsoid 1 km below the ISS, primary control of the vehicle shifted from NASA to SpaceX controllers in Hawthorne, California.

Dragon will perform roughly five hours of free flight activities as controllers at Mission Control SpaceX prepare the vehicle for the end of its mission.

Roughly five hours after departing the Space Station, the Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) bay door on Dragon will be closed, creatinga perfect thermal protection seal around the entirety of Dragon for entry.

At the appropriate time, Dragons Draco thrusters will begin a 10-minute firing sequence known as the deorbit burn to slow thecapsule and place it on to the proper heading for entry into Earths atmosphere.

Following the deorbit burn, the umbilicals between Dragon and her external payload trunk will be severed ahead of the trunks separation from Dragon itself.

Dragon will then reorient, with its heat shield out in front in preparation for Entry Interface (EI) the moment Dragon reaches the first traces of Earths upper atmosphere.

Once EI occurs, Dragons Thermal Protection System (TPS) will protect it from the searing hot temperatures of reentry formed as the air molecules around Dragon are instantly heated and turned to plasma under the friction created by Dragons high velocity.

Dragons primary heat shield, called PICA-X, is based on a proprietary variant of NASAs Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) material and is designed to protect Dragon during atmospheric re-entry.

PICA-X is robust enough to protect Dragon not only during ISS return missions but also during high velocity returns from Lunar and Martian destinations.

Unlike the Dragon capsule, the Dragon trunk will destructively burn up in Earths atmosphere.

Once safely through the plasma stage of reentry, Dragons drogue parachutes will deploy, followed by the main chutes designed to ease the vehicle to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean for recovery.

Recovery will be attained by three main recovery vessels which will be positioned near Dragons return location.

Fast recovery vessels will be deployed to begin collecting Dragons parachutes as recovery of the capsule itself is conducted by the primary recovery assets.

Once safely aboard the recovery vessel, Dragon will be transported to the Port of Los Angeles and then shipped to Texas for cargo removal.

Currently, Dragon is the only resupply vessel capable of returning experiments and equipment from the International Space Station as the three other in-service resupply vehicles (Progress, Cygnus, and the H-II Transfer Vehicle) all perform destructive reentries into Earths atmosphere.

Under the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contract award, Sierra Nevadas Dream Chaser spaceplane will join Dragon as only the second uncrewed vehicle capable of returning equipment and experiments from the Station.

With the conclusion of CRS-11, NASAs next commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station will be SpaceXs CRS-12 flight, which is currently targeting liftoff from SLC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center on 10 August 2017 at 14:07 EDT.

The science of CRS-11:

In addition to the 524 kg (1,155 lb) of crew supplies, vehicle hardware, spacewalk equipment, and computer resources aboard Dragon, the craft delivered a crucial 1,069 kg (2,356.7 lb) of internal science experiments to the Station.

Among these experiments were some that had to be performed/started quickly when Dragon arrived at the Station, as those experiments had to return aboard Dragon for landing Monday.

Specifically, two of the experiments are related to the biological sciences, one using fruit flies and one using mice.

Fruit Fly Lab:

Fruit Fly Lab-02 (FFL-02) follows three previous fruit fly experiments: Fungal Pathogenesis, Tumorigenesis, and Effects of Host Immunity in Space, which flew aboard Shuttle Discovery on the STS-121 second Return To Flight mission in 2006; NanoRacks-HEART FLIES, which was launched on SpaceX CRS-3 in 2014; and Fruit Fly Lab-01 (FFL-01), which launched to the Station on CRS-5 in 2015.

Specifically for FFL-02, the experiment studies the underlying mechanisms responsible for adverse effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity on the heart.

To this end, theexperiment usesfruit flies (scientifically known as Drosophila melanogaster), as their well-known genetic make-up and very rapid aging make them good models for studying heart function.

According to NASA, a fruit flys heart develops and functions in a fashion remarkably similar to that of the human heart, and is an excellent model to study the molecular-genetic basis of cardiac development as the underlying molecular pathways and cellular functions are fundamentally conserved even to humans.

Moreover, fruit fly hearts have been used to determine fundamental causes of cardiac dysfunction, such as arrhythmias (a group of conditions in which the heartbeat is irregular, too fast, or too slow) and cardiomyopathies (diseases of the heart muscles), which can lead to heart failure and death in humans.

For FFL-02, the development of a microgravity heart model in the fruit fly, which is more genetically tractable and faster aging than vertebrate hearts, could represent a potentially significant advancement in the study of how spaceflight affects the cardiovascular system and may facilitate the development of countermeasures to prevent the adverse effects of microgravity in astronauts.

To this end, FFL-02 is comprised of six Vented Fly Boxes, each containing triplicate samples of five different fruit fly strains.

Once Dragon was launched into space, the ground-born flies developed to adulthood and reproduced.

The space-born flies then went through their life cycle the formative parts of which all took placed in microgravity before coming back on Dragon, at which point the space-born fruit fly hearts are compared to control ground-born fruit fly hearts.

Furthermore, the effects of microgravity are compared between samples composed of control fly strains and those composed of mutant flies that are genetically predisposed to two types of heart dysfunction: arrhythmia and cardiac dilation.

Direct application of this experiment for astronauts and future spaceflights include the development of a microgravity heart model which could significantly advance the study of spaceflight effects on the cardiovascular system and facilitate the development of measures to prevent the adverse effects of space travel on astronauts.

Ground-based applications for those of us not lucky enough to fly into space of FFL-02 include additions to the growing body of research on fruit flies as models for human heart health and improving efforts to use fly studies to develop new cardio therapies.

Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for Osteoporosis Rodent Research 5:

Rodent Research 5 (RR-5) continues the study of bone density loss (osteoporosis) in space while also testing new applications and drugs that can rebuild bone and prevent further bone loss on orbit.

In short, RR-5 is an experiment to study the potential for a new drug, NELL-1, to slow and/or reverse bone loss during spaceflight.

According toNASAs coverage of the experiment, exposure to the spaceflight environment results in significant and rapid effects on the skeletal system, similar to what occurs in certain bone wasting diseases, as well as aging, on earth.

Studying accelerated bone loss in space provides insight into disease mechanisms, confirms potential new drug targets, and enables the preclinical evaluation of a candidate therapeutic targeted to such disease.

To carry out RR-5, 40 mice all females between the ages of 30-40 weeks, with 32 week old female mice being preferred were launched in the CRS-11 Dragon.

When Dragon berthed to the ISS on 5 June, the mice were transferred to Rodent Habitats aboard the Station.

There, they were divided into two groups: control (vehicle only injection and bone marker) and experimental (NELL1 injection and bone marker).

The first round of injections occurred at Launch +1 (L+1) week, with the 20 control mice receiving vehicle injections and the 20 experimental mice receiving NELL1.

After this first round, dual-energy X-ray Analysis (DXA) scans were performed on all of the mice.

From this point, a subsequent injection series occurred at L+3 weeks ( 1 day).

This weekend, just prior to hatch closure and Dragon departure, 10 control mice and 10 experimental mice were randomly chosen for Live Animal Return (LAR) and were transported back into Dragon for a return trip to Earth.

The remaining 20 mice (10 control and 10 experimental) will now remain aboardthe ISS, receiving a third and fourth round of injections at L+5 weeks and L+7 weeks.

At L+9 weeks, a third DXA scan will be performed (the second having occurred at L+5 weeks).

At this point, the final blood samples will be obtained from all the remaining mice, and those blood samples will then be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored at -80C or colder until return on CRS-12.

The RR-5 investigations are expected to increase understanding of ground-based diseases, disorders, and injuries affecting millions of people globally and aid in the development of new therapeutics and strategies to treat such conditions.

Specifically, this research holds the potential to lead to new treatments for bone loss associated with immobilization, stroke, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, and jaw resorption after tooth loss.

Other major science experiments on CRS-11:

In addition to FFL-02 and RR-5, numerous other experiments launched aboard CRS-11, including: Microbial Tracking-2, Seedling Growth-3, Advanced Plant Experiments -02-2, and Advanced Colloids Experiment Temperature -6.

Microbial Tracking-2:

Microbial Tracking-2 (MT-2) is part of a Microbial Tracking series that seeks to better characterize the microbial communities present on the Station using cutting edge molecular analysis techniques.

Specifically, MT-2 will study how microbial communities on the ISS and short-living viruses in a closed habitat have an adverse influence on crew health.

MT-2 will help fully characterize microbes and viruses present on three different crew members and in the environment during consecutive expeditions.

To accomplish this, crew members will take saliva, mouth, and body samples at various points in the consecutive expeditions so their respective microbiomes can be fully assessed and compared to ground baseline samples from before and after their flights.

Additionally, crew members will obtain air and surface microbial samples from inside U.S. modules.

In this manner, MT-2 will not only describe the microbial and viral communities of the Station and the crew, but will also seek to distinguish whether these biological signatures are of any concern to crew health and engineering systems.

According to NASA, All microbial and viral data generated by the investigation will be hosted by GeneLab and will be available to the scientific community and NASA to compare population dynamics to baseline standards and enable more accurate assessments of crew health associated with a given mission and future mission planning.

Seedling Growth-2 and Advanced Plant Experiments -02-2:

Seedling Growth-3 (SG-3) is the third of the Seedling Growth Experiment series and uses the plant Arabidopsis thaliana (more commonly known as the thale cress or mouse-ear cress).

SG-3 specifically investigates the effects of gravity on the cellular signaling mechanisms of light sensing in plants (phototropism) and investigates cell growth and proliferation responses to light stimulation under microgravity conditions.

The results could provide improvements in agricultural biotechnology and can contribute to increased production, lessened environmental impact, and sustainability of agricultural production.

The European Space Agency (ESA) leads this experiment, which will be performed in the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) in the Columbus Module.

Separately, the Advanced Plant Experiments -02-2 (APEX 02-2) will collect quantitative measurements of radiation damage to yeast DNA exposed to space radiation.

APEX 02-2 will represent the first time a highly powered genome-wide analysis of mechanisms of radiation damage in space can be conducted made possible bystate of the art technologies.

Specifically, APEX 02-2 uses a genome-wide series of deletion clones of Bakers Yeast to determine the quantity of radiation damage during spaceflight in comparison to ground controls.

While performed on the ISS, APEX-02-2 holds both space-based and ground-based applications providing potential simple approaches to enhancing space-based and clinical radiation damage.

Advanced Colloids Experiment Temperature -6:

Advanced Colloids Experiment Temperature -6 (ACE T-6) is an investigation which aims to study the microscopic behavior of colloids in gels and creams.

Colloids are suspensions of microscopic particles in a liquid commonly found in products ranging from milk to fabric softener.

Consumer products often use colloidal gels to distribute specialized ingredients throughout a liquid or semi-liquid medium.

However, these gels must serve two opposite purposes: disperse the active ingredient and maintain an even distribution so the product does not spoil.

To this end, coarsening (to make or become rough) is an issue with colloids that can limit the shelf life of many products that use them.

As such, ACE T-6 seeks to provide new insight into colloid coarsening in an effort to better understand the mechanism behind it with an aim toward improving shelf life in consumer products.

(Images: NASA, SpaceX, andL2 artist Nathan Koga The full gallery of Nathans (SpaceX Dragon to MCT, SLS, Commercial Crew and more) L2 images can be *found here*)

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Reused Dragon departs Space Station after month-long science bonanza - NASASpaceflight.com

Countdown to failure

Xinhua News Agency/REX/Shutterstock

By Timothy Revell

Chinas latest space launch has ended in failure. The Long March 5 rocketsuccessfully took off at 11.23am GMT on Sunday from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in China, but after an hour came tumbling back down to Earth due to an abnormality.

Once in the air, mission control in Beijing tried to save the rocket by changing its flight plans, but those attempts were unsuccessful. The rocket, along with the experimental communications satellite it was carrying, crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly afterwards.

The cause of the failure is still being investigated, but is likely to cause delays for future launch plans. This is the second Long March failure in two weeks, with a television satellite failing to hitch a ride into space on June 19. At the moment, its not clear if there is a connection between the two incidents.

China had planned to launch a rover into space by the end of this year, destined for the dark side of the moon, with the hope of bringing rock and soil samples back to Earth. But the mission relies on hitching a ride aboard a Long March 5 rocket, so may be delayed if the causes of the latest failures take a while to find and rectify.

Delays are possible. The rocket cannot fly until we find out the problem and solve it, and that will take time, said Wang Jianyu, the commander in chief of Chinas quantum satellite project who is also involved in the moon missions.

China also has plans to complete the construction of a space station, as well as landing humans and building a settlement on the moon. These missions will rely on Long March 5 rockets, so finding the points of failure is crucial to avoid lengthy delays.

Read more: China has had a telescope on the moon for the past two years

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Rocket failure may delay China's space station and moon missions - New Scientist

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will depart the International Space Station July 2, bringing more than 4,100 lbs. of cargo back to Earth.

UPDATED 7/1 8:52 p.m. EDT: Due to weather conditions in the Pacific Ocean splashdown zone, the Dragon spacecraft's release will be delayed until Monday, July 3 at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT).

On Monday (July 3), the crew of the International Space Station will bid farewell to a Dragon cargo spacecraft, which will head back to Earth with more than 4,100 lbs. (1,900 kilograms) of returning cargo in tow. It's this specific spacecraft's second splashdown: It brought cargo to the space station and safely returned to Earth in 2014 as well.

When the cargo craft launched to the space station in June on SpaceX's Falcon 9 spacecraft, it was the first-ever relaunch of a previously used Dragon.

Departure coverage will begin at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT), and you canwatch it here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. Flight controllers will detach the spacecraft using Canadarm2, the space station's robotic arm, and then NASA astronauts Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson will command the arm to let go, NASA officials said in a statement.

The spacecraft will move away from the space station and then head out of orbit, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after a 5.5 hour journey. The deorbit burn and splashdown won't be shown on NASA TV.

The spacecraft brought close to 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kg) of supplies, equipment and research experiments to the station. Its cargo included the Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) and the experimental Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA). After ROSA's experiment completed, the array was jettisoned from the space station because the ground team was unable to roll it back up to stow.

When Dragon splashes back down, SpaceX personnel will travel two days by sea with the spacecraft to return it to Southern California. From there, the craft's cargo will be shipped back to Houston, NASA officials said in a blog post.

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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Dragon Spacecraft's Historic Second Return to Earth: How to Watch ... - Space.com

Chinas Long March 5 rocket ran into troublesoonafterblasting off at 1123 GMT (7:23 a.m. EDT) Sunday from the Wenchang space base in southern China. Check back shortly for a full report on todays launch failure.

Live video coverage provided by Chinas Xinhua news agency.

Chinas Long March 5 rocket is counting down to liftoff Sunday from the countrys tropical island space center with a high-power, electrically-propelled communications satellite.

The heavy-lifter is scheduled to blast off from the Wenchang launch base on Hainan Island at around 1120 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT; 7:20 p.m. Beijing time) Sunday, heading for an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit with the Shijian 18 communications satellite, the first in a new series of modern Chinese high-capacity relay stations.

Sundays launch will be the second flight of a Long March 5 rocket, Chinas most powerful launcher, which made a successful maiden mission in November 2016.

Chinese space officials will closely watch the performance of the Long March 5 rocket Sunday as engineers prepare to send Chinas Change 5 sample return mission to the moon in November on the third launch of the heavy-lifter.

Ten engines on the Long March 5s first stage and four strap-on boosters will send the launcher skyward on 2.4 million pounds of thrust. The 187-foot-tall (57-meter) Long March 5 will head east from the Hainan Island launch base, which will host its fourth launch Sunday after entering service last year.

Ground crews at Wenchang rolled the Long March 5 to its launch pad Monday.

Riding on a vertical launch table, the Long March 5 completed the trip in about two-and-a-half hours, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Swing arms on the seaside launch pads 300-foot-tall (92-meter) service gantry enclosed the Long March 5 for final launch preparations.

Chinas state-run media has not said if they plan any live coverage of the launch.

The Long March 5s maiden test flight last year deployed an experimental satellite named Shijian 17 to test electric thrusters, technology that could give Chinese spacecraft improved maneuverability between different types of orbits around Earth.

The Shijian 18 satellite aboard Sundays flight is the first in an upgraded series of Chinese spacecraft called the DFH-5 platform. Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, the DFH-5 design is bigger and more capable than Chinas existing satellites, providing more power for communications payloads and additional data throughput for Internet providers, television broadcasters and data networks.

Shijian 18 also hosts a laser communications instrument for even higher-speed data links, and ion thrusters will keep the spacecraft in geostationary orbit, a perch more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator.

China hopes to sell communications satellites based on the new DFH-5 design to international governments and commercial customers.

Ground controllers will run the Shijian 18 satellite through extensive testing to verify the new satellite design works as expected.

Chinese officials say the Long March 5 is a centerpiece of the countrys long-term space ambitions, allowing China to dispatch satellites to space that are twice as heavy as payloads that can fit on earlier Long March rockets.

The heavy-duty rocket can haul about the same amount of weight into space as United Launch Alliances Delta 4-Heavy, the worlds other leader in space lift capability. The Long March 5 bests the capacity of the European Ariane 5 and Russian Proton launchers.

The Long March 5 is one of three new launch vehicles China has debuted in the last two years.

The Long March 6 is the smallest of the three, tailored to deliver small satellites into low-altitude orbits. The medium-lift Long March 7 is designed to carry resupply ships, and eventually crews, to Chinas future space station.

The Long March 5 will haul three 20-ton modules to low Earth orbit for the Chinese space station, beginning next year with the launch of the Tianhe 1 core module. The Long March 5 is also slated to launch the robotic Change 5 mission to the moon later this year to scoop up surface samples for return to Earth, and Chinas first Mars rover will ride a Long March 5 rocket when it blasts off in mid-2020.

The new family of launchers will eventually replace Chinas Long March 2, 3 and 4 rockets, which burn toxic liquid propellants and launch from inland space centers, requiring them to drop spent stages on land.

The Long March 5 rocket, when flown from Wenchang, jettisons its boosters over the South China Sea. Its engines also consume a more environmentally-friendly mixture of liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and kerosene.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Chinese media report Long March 5 rocket failed soon after launch - Spaceflight Now

arrived at the station June 5

After delivering about 6,000 pounds of cargo, a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is set to leave the International Space Station on Sunday, July 2. (NASA image)

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA After delivering about 6,000 pounds of cargo, a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is set to leave the International Space Station on Sunday, July 2.

Space Coast Daily TVwill provide live coverage via NASA of Dragons departure beginning at 11:15 a.m. EDT.

Flight controllers will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the Dragon capsule, which arrived at the station June 5, from the Earth-facing side of the stations Harmony module.

After they maneuver Dragon into place, Expedition 52 Flight Engineers Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson of NASA will command release of the spacecraft at 11:38 a.m.

Dragons thrusters will be fired to move the spacecraft a safe distance from the station before SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, command its deorbit burn.

The capsule will splash down about 5:16 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean.

Recovery forces will retrieve the capsule and its more than 4,100 pounds of returning cargo, including science samples from human and animal research, biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities.

NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the nonprofit organization that manages research aboard the U.S. national laboratory portion of the space station, will receive and process research samples, ensuring they are distributed to the appropriate facilities within 48 hours of splashdown.

In the event of adverse weather conditions in the Pacific, the backup departure date is Monday, July 3.

Dragon, the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact, launched June 3 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, for the companys 11th NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission to the station.

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SpaceX Dragon Cargo Spacecraft Set To Depart International Space Station Sunday - SpaceCoastDaily.com

Oklahoma native and Country Music Hall of Famer Garth Brooks has achieved another first: performing a serenade for a fan currently located in outer space.

In a special episode of his Facebook Live video series, "Inside Studio G," Brooks on Thursday visited Mission Control Center at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he chatted via satellite video with astronaut Jack Fischer and his crew mate, astronaut Dr. Peggy Whitson, who are on the International Space Station.

Fisher is a devoted Brooks fan who picked the country music superstar's hit "The River" as the first tune on his pre-launch playlist back in April when he embarked on his first trip into space. He said on Twitter when he revealed his playlist that "The River" is his favorite song.

The astronaut likened the Songwriters Hall of Famer to Shakespeare and thanked him for being an inspiration, noting that "The River" has been his anthem for nearly three decades.

"I think that you have so many great songs and so many great messages. But it's the heart that you put into every performance and the soul that you put into all those songs that make them so impactful," Fisher said.

His praise moved Brooks to tears.

"Thank you very much for letting the music be part of your life," Brooks said.

With his wife, fellow country music star and Food Network personality Trisha Yearwood, on harmony vocals, Brooks sang a verse of "The River" to Fisher and Whitson.

"Awesome. I got goose bumps everywhere," Fisher exclaimed.

Brooks also surprised Fischer with a visit from his wife, Elizabeth, and their daughter, Sariah, who joined him at the center, while Yearwood, naturally, asked the astronauts about the food. The best-selling cookbook author offered to fix them their favorite terrestrial meals upon their return to Earth.

According to People, Brooks is the first celebrity to go live on Facebook from Mission Control while speaking to an astronaut in orbit.

Your life is full of amazing moments andIjust got to have one, the singer-songwriter told People. WhatI love is social media allows you to take that journey to actually see these guys and do this. In all honesty,I totally forgot that we were on Facebook Live becauseI was so involved talking [to them].

Brooks and Yearwood even posed for a selfie with the astronauts' onscreen images, which Garth posted on Twitter with the caption "Could this be the longest distance selfie EVER?"

From Houston, Brooks and Yearwood are performing in concert at 7 tonight and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana. As previously reported,Brooks next will play four home-state shows in two days next month at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena: 7 and 10:30 p.m. July 14 and 3 and 7:30 p.m. July 15. For tickets and information, go towww.chesapeakearena.com.

-BAM

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Video: Garth Brooks serenades astronauts on International Space Station from Mission Control in Houston - NewsOK.com

For NASA and its astronauts, keeping tabs on microorganisms living inside the International Space Station is essential.

Traditionally, astronauts have helped NASA scientists track microbes for health and safety reasons. But more recently, astronauts and scientists are analyzing space-based microbes for a variety of scientific reasons.

Since 2013, researchers have been monitoring how space-travel impacts the makeup of microbial communities, or the microbiome, inside astronauts' digestive systems. A growing body of research has highlighted the important role the gastrointestinal microbiome plays in human health.

Researchers are also generally curious about the effects of microgravity on different bacterial strains.

But health and safety remains the number one priority for NASA.

"We should be investigating new and different ways of monitoring spacecraft for microorganisms," Mark Ott, a microbiologist at Johnson Space Center, said in a news release this week. "But we must be careful when we interpret the results. NASA has and continues to closely monitor the International Space Station to ensure it provides a safe and healthy environment for our astronauts."

The space station is thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis, and everything arriving at the space station has been disinfected. Astronauts enter quarantine for several days prior to their departure from Earth.

Still, microorganisms grow inside ISS. Most microbes are harmless, however, and astronauts regularly sample and sequence microbes to make sure nothing dangerous is growing. Astronauts also regularly test their drinking water.

Only rarely do astronauts identify a potentially harmful bacteria strain. And often, what appears to be dangerous at first, is found to be a harmless relative upon closer examination.

"It may be something typically found in a bathroom, for example, but that you wouldn't want in an office space," Ott said.

While astronauts continue to ensure their environs are safe and clean, researchers will continue to study how microbial communities colonize and adapt to foreign environs.

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An artist's rendering of a deep space gateway that would orbit the moon and provide a launching point for human missions to Mars.

NASA is salvaging technology developed under a canceled asteroid rendezvous and relocation mission for a new initiative to build a lunar orbiting base. The base would eventually serve as a hangar for assembling spacecraft heading to Mars.

The lunar-orbiting outpost, called the Deep Space Gateway, has replaced the Obama administration's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM)as an interim step in NASAs long-term goal to sendastronauts to Mars. ARM would have sent a robotic spacecraft to an asteroid to grab a large boulder and relocate it into a high lunar orbit for eventual visits by U.S. astronauts.

The controversial ARM program officially died with President Donald Trump's proposed budget request for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. But NASA is salvaging ARM's key technologies, including high-powered solar-electric propulsion, to use for the gateway and other projects, agency officials and other experts said at a hearing for the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology yesterday (June 29). [NASA's Mars Plan May Include Yearlong Mission to the Moon]

"Electric propulsion can offer the ability to move large masses through space with minimum fuel usage," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations. "It has significant advantages over other forms of propulsion, most notably efficiency."

In addition, fuel used in an electric power system is storable, doesn't boil away and can be easily resupplied, Gerstenmaier said.

Dozens of commercial and military satellites, as well as NASA's Dawn science probe to the asteroid belt, use electric propulsion today, but the power generated for their maneuvering thrusters is low, according to the panel of experts who spoke at the hearing. The majority of spacecraft utilize chemical propulsion systems, which add a significant amount of mass for fuel tanks. Electric propulsion systems are far lighter to launch.

NASA is aiming to develop 12.5-kilowatt electric thrusters for the multipurpose Deep Space Gateway, a combination research station, lunar operations base and assembly outpost for Mars-bound spacecraft. That's about 40 percent more powerful that currently available systems, Gerstenmaier said.

"With advanced electric propulsion, we will have the ability to move habitat systems to various orbits around the moon," he said. "We can support crewed science operations from the module in various lunar orbits. The module is not stuck in one place."

Electric propulsion systems in the 50- to 100-kilowatt level may be needed to get crews to Mars faster than is possible with conventional chemical propulsion. This would shorten the amount of time astronauts are exposed to dangerous radiation and the amount of food and other supplies they would need for the trip, according to the panel members.

Electric propulsion has already proven its worth on commercial satellites, culminating in the 2015 launch of the world's first all-electric spacecraft, said Mitchell Walker, chairman of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Electric Propulsion Technical Committee, who also presented testimony during the hearing.

"The enormous propellant-mass savings achieved with electric propulsion allows two all-electric satellites to launch on one smaller, less expensive launch vehicle," Walker said.

This year, India and China launched their first electrically propelled satellites, and Japan is scheduled to fly its first all-electric spacecraft in 2021, Walker said, adding that Europe and Russia are investing in the technology as well.

Industry projects show 50 to 75 percent of all future geostationary spacecraft are expected to use electric propulsion, he said.

Irene Klotz can be reached on Twitter at @free_space. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Moon Station Could Use Tech from Scrapped Asteroid Mission, NASA Says - Space.com

A very bright International Space Station will pass over Perth and South-West Western Australia tonight just after 6pm.

If you look up and the sky is clear as forecast, Perths 2 million inhabitants will be able to view the ISS for around 6-minutes, as it passes from north-west to south-est.

If you look up around 6.04pm youll see it appear to the north-west of the city, as it travels over the Indian Ocean.

By 6.07pm the ISS will be directly over Perth city, with a -3.2 magnitude brightness, meaning the Space Station will be quite clearly visible.

The ISS has been circling our planet for nearly 20-years, but rarely does it pass right over the city at such a convenient time for us.

We were alerted to the Passover by Space enthusiast Ingnazio Magnani, who is often confused by media as an actual ISS astronaut.

When, where and what are we looking at?

Look up at 6.04pm (maybe go outside a few minutes earlier to adjust your eyes)

Look about 10 degrees above the horizon to the north-west, itll appear to be moving at speed toward Perth, flying over about 50km to the north-east of the Perth CBD at 6.07pm, at 75 degrees above the horizon.

The Passover should be visible right up to 6.10pm as the ISS moves to the SE.

Live Video: ISS over the Earth HD Video Viewing Experiment

Perth from Space

What Perth looks like from the ISS while it passes over Perth. Photo from NASA taken by Astronauts in the ISS. Western Australia as seen from Space

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Space Nerd Alert: Very Bright Pass of International Space Station Over Perth Tonight - So Perth (blog)

New York: Scientists at NASA keeps a close watch and checks regularly to ensure that the International Space Station (ISS) is free from bacteria and other micro-organisms and has one of the cleanest living environments.

Mark Ott, a microbiologist at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said in a statement,"Once every three months, we sample from two locations in each module of the US segment of the station."

Samples collected from surfaces and from the air are cultured on plates containing a growth medium, one specific for bacteria and the other for fungi. Those plates return to the ground and scientists identify each organism that grows on them.

The study has identified 11 strains of bacterium belonging to what microbiologists call the Bacillus anthracis, cereus, thuringiensis group, or Bacillus cereus group.

Scientists said, while this large family of microbes includes some bad bugs, Bacillus is extremely common on the Earth and around humans, so finding this type of bacteria on the space station is not unusual.

Using DNA hybridisation, researchers identified individual species in the samples and, while some were a close match to Bacillus anthracis type strains, they did not have the physical characteristics or the toxin-producing plasmids required to consider them a potential risk.

Further, drinking water on the ISS is treated similarly to the water we drink on earth to kill and keep micro-organisms from growing with regular monitoring on the station's drinking water systems.

Ott said,"The astronauts' drinking water is, microbiologically speaking, cleaner than just about anything they drink on earth."

In addition, the medical staff keeps a particularly sharp eye out for micro-organisms that pose a risk to the health of astronauts and when any turn up, the space station gets a more-thorough-than-usual cleaning.

Ott added,"We should be investigating new and different ways of monitoring spacecraft for micro-organisms but we must be careful when we interpret the results."

Scientists said, continued research is being done to understand what organisms grow on the space station and how they affect an astronaut's health.

The study was published in the journal of Microbiome.

(With IANS inputs)

Continued here:
NASA keeps a close check for bag bugs on space station to ensure clean living environments - Zee News