Category Archives: Space Station

Former astronaut Leroy Chiao's astronaut class took a photo in front of a T-38 jet after their selection in 1990.

Leroy Chiao is the CEO and co-founder of OneOrbit LLC, a motivational, training and education company. He served as a NASA astronaut from 1990-2005 and flew four missions into space aboard three space shuttles and once as the co-pilot of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. On that flight, he served as the commander of Expedition 10, a 6.5-month mission. Chiao has performed six spacewalks, in both U.S. and Russian spacesuits, and has logged 229 days in space. You can read more of Chiao's Expert Voices Op-Eds and film reviews on his Space.com landing page. Chiao contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Recently, NASA announced its newest class of astronauts: Twelve were chosen from a record-setting pool of over 18,000 applicants to form Group 22. As you would imagine, these 12 are quite accomplished and talented individuals, who are walking on air. It brought me back to my own selection as part of Group 13 back in 1990. What an exciting time!

I had wanted to be an astronaut from a young age. Growing up in the 1960s, I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by airplanes and rockets. I followed the early missions when I was old enough to understand space exploration, but it was the Apollo 11 moon landing that captured my imagination and started my dream of becoming an astronaut myself. I remember looking at the moon as an 8-year-old and marveling that there were two astronauts in a lander on the surface, getting ready to go out and actually walk. That settled it for me: I knew I was going to at least try to become an astronaut. I wanted to be like those guys. [Astronauts Record Awesome Welcome Video for NASA's 2017 Recruits]

Studying engineering was natural for me; I was always interested in technology and building things. As a university sophomore, I signed up for the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) intending to become a fighter pilot and, hopefully, an astronaut. Just a few months in, however, I discovered that my left eye had slipped a bit from 20/20. My military pilot plans were dashed. I had not yet reached the point of becoming a contract cadet, so I was able to leave AFROTC, but it was disappointing, to say the least. I did go on to be a pilot, and have been flying airplanes now for almost 33 years.

Just a year later, the Space Shuttle Columbia made its maiden flight. I watched the television intently as Columbia executed a perfect landing in the Mojave Desert. The space shuttle program re-opened the gates for me, since NASA had begun to select more civilian scientists and engineers as astronauts. I was back in the game!

After earning my university degrees and working for a few years, I wrote to NASA to request an application package. Seven months later, after I applied, I received a call inviting me to Houston to interview. That itself was thrilling; it meant that I was one of the 100 or so who would be interviewed, chosen from several thousand applicants. Several months afterward, I received that life-changing phone call, and reported for duty just six months later.

Most NASA astronaut class photos have been shot in the studio. These new astronaut candidates had their photo taken in front of a NASA T-38 jet, just as we did 27 years earlier. That's what first caught my eye when they were announced. Over the next two years, these 12 new astronaut candidates (ASCANS) will train together as a class. Yes, they really are called ASCANS, just like it's spelled, with a bit more than a hint of derision. That is how it's always been.

The 2017 NASA Astronaut Class: (from left) Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Robb Kulin, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, Raji Chari, Loral O'Hara and Jessica Watkins.

As with any new group of highly skilled and motivated individuals from different backgrounds, strong friendships and rivalries will form among the new astronaut class. They will be expected to do things as pledges in this fraternity that they perhaps didn't anticipate. They will perform skits for the astronaut office holiday parties, plan the astronaut reunions and do more menial and grunt work than they might have imagined. It's all part of the process and experience, the rite of passage. [What It's Like to Become a NASA Astronaut: 10 Surprising Facts]

The ASCANS will learn about the International Space Station and its systems, participate in simulator sessions and train on robotics and spacewalks, called extravehicular activity (EVA). They will learn the Russian language, and work out in the astronaut gym. They will travel as a class to the NASA field centers and be trained in aircraft egress, as well as land and sea survival. They will fly T-38 jets civilians are trained to be co-pilots and go out on public affairs trips to talk to the public about NASA and space exploration.

After their initial training, the ASCANS will shed this somewhat ignoble title, graduate and receive their silver astronaut pins. It will be a great day for them. They will wear this pin exactly once, as they move one step closer to realizing the dream of wearing one made of gold.

Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates and become part of the discussion on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (lower right) photobombs a "selfie" image from the company's Falcon 9 rocket second stage during a June 3, 2017, launch of NASA cargo to the International Space Station.

It's official: SpaceX's rockets and spaceships have caught the selfie bug in the final frontier.

When SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station this month, the spacecraft popped up in a "selfie" taken by the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched the ship into orbit.

"Dragon photobombs stage 2 before heading to @Space_Station earlier this month," SpaceX representatives wrote in a Twitter post late Monday (June 19). In the photo, the Dragon spacecraft appears as a distant interloper in an otherwise picturesque scene of the Earth and Falcon 9 second stage engine on June 3.

In this photo, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket second stage (upper right) returns the photobomb favor to its Dragon spacecraft. One of the Dragon's solar arrays is seen deployed in this image taken by an onboard camera on June 3, 2017.

But the photo fun doesn't stop there. The Falcon 9 booster also made its own photobomb in a photo taken from the Dragon spacecraft. [Launch Photos: SpaceX's 1st Reused Dragon Spacecraft]

"Stage 2 returns the favor," SpaceX tweeted with the image, which shows the Falcon 9 second stage backlit by a dazzling blue Earth as seen by a camera on Dragon. One of the space capsule's solar arrays is also visible.

The first stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets can return to Earth and land, but the second stages currently cannot at least, not yet. Earlier this year, on March 30, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hinted that the company was studying ways to make Falcon 9 completely reusable.

SpaceX is pursuing reusable rocket technology to lower the costs of spaceflight. The company has already reused one Falcon 9 rocket booster this year, and has said it hopes to reuse another on Friday (June 23) when SpaceX will launch a Bulgarian communications satellite into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In fact, even the Dragon used in the June 3 launch was reused. It first flew to the International Space Station in 2014. After launch, the spacecraft rendezvoused with the station to deliver about 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kilograms) of fresh NASA supplies for the orbiting lab's crew.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him@tariqjmalikandGoogle+.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

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Moon, Venus and Sun Rise in New Space Station Video

Photo: Kathleen O'Rourke / King School

After 228 days in space, Conn. astronaut retires

After 228 days in space on three space shuttle missions and one long stay at the International Space Station, Connecticuts astronaut has retired.

Rick Mastracchio, 57, a University of Connecticut graduate and Waterbury native, retired from NASA on Friday.

Rick is a classmate and a friend and he has done great work for NASA, both in space and on the ground, Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester said in a release announcing the veteran spacemans retirement.

Forrester, who was selected as an astronaut in the same class as Mastracchio, said his breadth of experience over three decades in human spaceflight will serve him well as he moves on to his next endeavor.

During his four spaceflights, Mastracchio took photos of his native Connecticut from high above. He used social media to post photos and send greetings to Nutmeg State residents on Earth. His most recent mission ended in May 2014 after he spent 188 days aboard the International Space Station.

Some of the photos are so detailed, you can even see Charles Island in Milford, Interstate 95 and major southwest Connecticut cities.

Touched down in Stamford

In 2014, Mastracchio and colleague Steve Swanson did a live question-and-answer session from the space station with children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which had a new building since the December 2012 shooting that killed 26 people.

Last March, Mastracchio visited King School in Stamford where he told students of his time in space.

My first mission, I would float upside down and hang from the ceiling eating my lunch, for no really good reason other than I can float upside down and eat my lunch, Mastracchio said. Its really neat.

Mastracchio, who made nine spacewalks since 1996, told students that weird things happen in space aside from the challenges of simple-on-Earth tasks like showering and shoe-tying.

The lack of gravity causes astronauts to lose the calluses they have on the bottoms of their feet and develop new ones on top. While orbiting Earth, they experience 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. Six people sharing the same filtered air gives the International Space Station a unique smell.

Weightlessness also causes fluid retention.

You get this puffy head and you feel warm like maybe you have a bit of a fever, Mastracchio said. You see some astronauts and its really, really obvious. Your body goes through a lot of changes in both directions.

But nothing beats floating.

Its really cool, he said. Its like youre Superman.

From UConn to space

In 1982, Mastracchio was awarded a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Connecticut, and two master of science degrees in electrical engineering and physical science, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and University of Houston-Clear Lake, respectively.

In 2014, he delivered the graduation address to UConns school of engineering. His recorded address was shown on the video boards at Gampel Pavilion to about 5,000 people, including more than 400 graduating seniors and their families, and several members of Mastracchios family, including his wife, Candi.

Beginning in 1987, Mastracchio worked first with Hamilton Standard and then with Rockwell Shuttle Operations Co. before coming to NASA in 1990 as an engineer. He worked in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory on space shuttle flight software, and in the Astronaut Office on ascent and abort procedures for crew members. From there, he became a Guidance and Procedures Officer flight controller, working in mission control for space shuttle ascents and entries, before being selected as an astronaut in 1996.

The missions

His first flight, STS-106, came in 2000, on board space shuttle Atlantis, when he and his crewmates worked to prepare the space station for its first expedition crew. He returned aboard space shuttle Endeavour for STS-118 in 2007, when as lead spacewalker, he participated in three spacewalks to install a new truss segment, a new gyroscope and a new spare parts platform on the space stations exterior.

In 2010, Mastracchio was part of the STS-131 crew of space shuttle Discovery. He performed another three spacewalks and helped deliver 27,000 pounds of hardware, including three experiment racks and new sleeping quarters for the space station. He was then able to put the hardware to use in 2014, when he spent 188 days in space as part of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. During that stay, he performed three more spacewalks, leaving him with a total of 53 hours spent outside the space station on nine spacewalks.

Earlier reporting by Liz Skalka was used in this story.

Originally posted here:
After 228 days in space, Conn. astronaut retires - CT Post

June 21, 2017 12:00 ET | Source: Center for the Advancement of Science in Space

Kennedy Space Center, FL, June 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced five grants have been awarded in response to afunding opportunityfocused on human physiology and disease onboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory. Data from this research which will feature tissue chips (or organs-on-chips) will help scientists develop and advance novel technologies to improve human health here on Earth. These initial five projects are part of a four-year collaboration through which NCATS will provide two-years of initial funding of approximately $6 million, to use tissue chip technology for translational research onboard the ISS National Laboratory. Awardees will be eligible for a subsequent two years of funding, pending availability of funds, based upon performance and achieving milestones for each project.

The opportunity to partner with CASIS to perform tissue chip science on the International Space Station is a remarkable opportunity to understand disease and improve human health, said NCATS Director Christopher P. Austin, M.D. Physiological functions in the microgravity of the International Space Station will provide insights that will increase translational effectiveness on earth, including identifying novel targets for drug discovery and development.

The NCATS grants will support the following research projects:

Lung Host Defense in Microgravity

George Worthen, M.D. and Dan Huh, M.D, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (PA)

Implementation Partners: Space Technology and Advanced Research Systems (STaARS) and SpacePharma Inc

There is a link between infections and the health of our immune system. Infections are commonly reported onboard spacecraft where exposure to microgravity negatively affects immune system function, but the mechanisms responsible are not well understood. The goals of this project are to test engineered microphysiological systems that model the airway and bone marrow; and to combine the models to emulate and understand the integrated immune responses of the human respiratory system in microgravity.

Organs-on-Chips as a Platform for Studying Effects of Microgravity on Human Physiology: Blood-Brain Barrier-Chip in Health and Disease

Christopher Hinojosa, M.S. and Katia Karalis, D.S., M.D, Emulate, Boston (MA)

Implementation Partner: SpaceTango

The objective of this project is to validate, optimize and further develop Emulates proprietary Organs-On-Chips technology platform for experimentation with human cells in space. The intent is to develop an automated platform and software to accelerate experimentation in space that will become available to the broader scientific community for studies in human physiology and disease in space. The scientific findings will provide new advancements for Earth studies in human disease and drug discovery. The Brain-Chip to be studied in microgravity is a prototype for an organ system centrally positioned in homeostasis and thus, involved in the pathogenesis of multiple types of disease including neurodegeneration, traumatic injury, and cancer.

Cartilage-Bone-Synovium Microphysiological System: Musculoskeletal Disease Biology in Space

Alan Grodzinsky, Sc.D., M.S and Murat Cirit, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (MA)

Implementation Partner: Techshot

This research focuses on a cartilage-bone-synovium joint tissue chip model to study the effects of space flight on musculoskeletal disease biology, motivated by post-traumatic osteoarthritis and bone loss. The effects of pharmacological agents to ameliorate bone and cartilage degeneration will be tested on earth and in the International Space Station, using a quantitative and high-content experimental and computational approach.

Microgravity as Model for Immunological Senescence and its Impact on Tissue Stem Cells and Regeneration

Sonja Schrepfer, M.D., Ph.D., Tobias Deuse, M.D., and Heath J. Mills, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco (CA)

Implementation Partner: Space Technology Advanced Research Systems (STaARS)

Many space-related physiological changes resemble those observed during cellular aging, including defects in bone healing, loss of cardiovascular and neurological capacity, and altered immune function. This project aims to investigate the relationship between an individuals immune aging and healing outcomes, and to investigate the biology of aging from two directionsnot only during its development in microgravity conditions but also during recovery after return to earths environment.

Effects of Microgravity on the Structure and Function of Proximal and Distal Tubule Microphysiological System

Jonathan Himmelfarb, M.D., and Ed Kelly, M.S, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle (WA)

Implementation Partner: BioServe Space Technologies

When healthy, your two kidneys work together filter about 110 to 140 liters of blood to produce about 1 to 2 liters of urine every day. Dehydration or diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure impair kidney function and result in serious medical conditions including protein in the urine and kidney stones. Like osteoporosis, these conditions are even more common and follow an accelerated time-course in people living in microgravity. This project will send a kidney model to the International Space Station in order to understand how microgravity and other factors affect kidney function, and to use these discoveries to design better treatments for proteinuria, osteoporosis, and kidney stones on earth.

Our partnership with NCATS builds upon dramatic results fostered by public and private investment in organ-on-chip research and enables these pioneering researchers the opportunity to leverage the ISS National Laboratory to further advance an integral and burgeoning area of medical discovery to improve human health on Earth, said CASIS Deputy Chief Scientist Dr. Michael Roberts. Additionally, through these creative and collaborative partnerships with established granting agencies like the NCATS, the ISS National Lab demonstrates that research in microgravity is a viable setting to push beyond the terrestrial limits of scientific discovery and opportunity.

All grants and subsequent flight opportunities are contingent on final contract agreements between the award recipients, NCATS and CASIS.

For more information on the NCATS Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Program, including Tissue Chips in Space, please visit https://ncats.nih.gov/tissuechip.

To learn more about the on-orbit capabilities of the ISS National Lab, including past research initiatives and available facilities, visitwww.spacestationresearch.com.

# # #

About CASIS: The Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is the non-profit organization selected to manage the ISS National Laboratory with a focus on enabling a new era of space research to improve life onEarth. In this innovative role, CASIS promotes and brokers a diverse range of research inlife sciences,physical sciences,remote sensing,technology development,andeducation.

Since 2011, the ISS National Lab portfolio has included hundreds of novel research projects spanning multiple scientific disciplines, all with the intention of benefitting life on Earth. Working together with NASA, CASIS aims to advance the nations leadership in commercial space, pursue groundbreaking science not possible on Earth, and leverage the space station to inspire the next generation.

About the ISS National Laboratory:In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the International Space Station as the nation's newest national laboratory to maximize its use for improving life on Earth, promoting collaboration among diverse users, and advancing STEM education. This unique laboratory environment is available for use by other U.S. government agencies and by academic and private institutions, providing access to the permanent microgravity setting, vantage point in low Earth orbit, and varied environments of space.

# # #

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/87bf4685-0ff3-4650-98dc-6ba3709e125a

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4efb40f5-4081-428a-8548-9602bcb08511

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Artists concept of a pulsar (blue-white disk in center) pulling in matter from a nearby star (red disk at upper right). The stellar material forms a disk around the pulsar (multicolored ring) before falling on to the surface at the magnetic poles. The pulsars intense magnetic field is represented by faint blue outlines surrounding the pulsar. Credit: NASA

A NASA instrument built to help astronomers learn about the structure and behavior of neutron stars, super-dense stellar skeletons left behind by massive explosions, has been mounted to an observation post outside the International Space Station after delivery aboard a SpaceX supply ship earlier this month.

Since its arrival inside the trunk of SpaceXs Dragon cargo capsule, the X-ray astronomy experiment has been transferred from the spacecrafts unpressurized carrier to a platform on the space-facing side of the space stations starboard truss backbone, powered up and checked to ensure it can point at stellar targets as the research outpost orbits around Earth.

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, is now going through alignment checks and test scans, allowing scientists to fine-tune the instrument. The calibrations should be complete next month, and NICERs ground team has penciled in July 13 as the first day of the instruments 18-month science mission.

NICERs developers at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center crammed 56 individual X-ray mirrors inside the instruments shell, with matching silicon detectors that will register individual photons of X-ray light, measuring their energies and times of arrival.

NASA says NICER is the first mission dedicated to neutron star research. Astronomers discovered neutron stars in 1967, decades after scientists first predicted their existence.

Neutron stars are left behind after lower-mass stars exploded in violent supernovas at the ends of their lives. The material from the star ends up crammed into an object the size of a city, and astronomers say one of the densest stable forms of matter in the universe resides in the deep interiors of neutron stars.

Scientists compare the density of a neutron star to packing the mass Mount Everest into a sugar cube. One teaspoon of neutron star matter would weight a billion tons on Earth, according to NASA.

NICER flew to the space station inside the rear trunk of a SpaceX Dragon supply ship, which launched June 3 from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida and berthed with the orbiting outpost June 5.

The stations Canadian-built robotic arm extracted the NICER experiment from the Dragon spacecraft June 11, and the instrument rode to its mounting location on an external platform EXPRESS Logistics Carrier-2 on a mobile rail car down the stations truss.

Mission controllers in Houston commanded and monitored the multi-day transfer from the ground, with the help of the stations two-armed Dextre robot.

The space stations robotic arm installed NICER on its mounting plate June 13, and controllers powered up the instruments electronics the next day, verifying all systems were OK. Range of motion tests were completed Friday after engineers needed extra time to release troublesome launch restraint bolts.

NICER rode to the space station with two other experiments in Dragons trunk.

One of the payloads, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory, will test a new solar array design could be used on future commercial satellites, making the power generators 20 percent lighter and able to fit into a launch package four times smaller than conventional fold-out solar panels.

A commercial Earth-imaging platform developed by Teledyne Brown was also stowed in Dragons trunk. TheMultiple User System for Earth Sensing, or MUSES, can host high-definition and hyperspectral cameras for Earth-viewing.

The MUSES payload was robotically moved to its new home on the space station before NICER, and the solar array testbed was unfurled for seven days of testing this week.

The installation of NICER clears the way for nearly a month of calibrations before it can start regular science observations.

Neutron stars are fantastical stars that are extraordinary in many ways, said Zaven Arzoumanian, NICERs deputy principal investigator and science lead at Goddard. They are the densest objects in the universe, they are the fastest-spinning objects known, they are the most strongly magnetic objects known.

The NICER science team wants to know the structure and composition of neutron stars, which are so extreme that normal atoms are pulverized, freeing subatomic particles like neutrons, protons and electrons.

As soon as you go below the surface of a neutron star, the pressures and densities rise extremely rapidly, and soon youre in an environment that you cant produce in any lab on Earth, said Slavko Bogdanov, a research scientist at Columbia University who leads the NICER light curve modeling group.

Unlike black holes, which develop from explosions of stars more than 20 times the mass of the sun, neutron stars can be directly observed.

A partnership between NASA, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Naval Research Laboratory, NICER should give scientists their first measurements of the size of a neutron star.

They emit light all across the spectrum, from radio waves to visible light up to X-rays and gamma rays, primarily in narrow beams from their magnetic poles, Arzoumanian said. Just like the Earth, the magnetic poles on a neutron star are not necessarily aligned with the spin of the star, so you can get narrow beams that sweep as the star spins, just like a lighthouse.

And if we happen to be in the path of the sweep we see a flash everytime one of these beams go by and the stars from a distance appear to be pulsing, so theyre called pulsars, Arzoumanian said.

Scientists will also demonstrate the potential of using the timing of pulses from neutron stars for deep space navigation.

Were going to look at a subset of pulsars in the sky called millisecond pulsars, said Keith Gendreau, NICERs principal investigator at Goddard. In some of these millisecond pulsars, the pulses that we see are so regular that they remind us of atomic clocks.

Atomic clocks are the basis of the Global Positioning System satellites, according to Gendreau.

NASA calls the navigation demonstration the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT.

Jason Mitchell, SEXTANTs project manager at Goddard, said his team aims to use predictable pulsar signals to locate the space station with a precision of 6 miles, or 10 kilometers, without the aid of GPS satellites or on-board navigation solutions.

Thats a small step compared to GPS, but its a giant step for using only pulsar measurements, and that will help us get into deep space, Mitchell said.

Our goal is to turn the G in GPS into galactic, and make it a Galactic Positioning System, he said.

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Experiment devoted to neutron star research installed on space ... - Spaceflight Now

By Crystal Maynard U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command

FORT DETRICK, Md., June 21, 2017 Scientists at the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research here are hoping to determine how bones heal in microgravity, based on an experiment that launched to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX in February and returned to earth aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft in March.

Through the Department of Defense Space Test Program, the USACEHR Integrative Systems Biology group and their partners at the Indiana University School of Medicine collaborated with NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to have the scientists aboard the International Space Station conduct the experiment for a month.

The primary goal of this research project is to translate new discoveries in bone regeneration for osteoporosis, fracture healing and other bone disorders. Between 2002 and 2009, extremity injury accounted for up to 79 percent of reported trauma cases from combat theaters. Improvised explosive devices and high-energy explosions can cause extremity trauma so severe that often amputation is the only treatment.

Bone Healing

"We're trying to understand what happens in the body as the bones start healing," said Dr. Rasha Hammamieh, director of Integrative Systems Biology at the USACEHR and the study's lead scientist. "Understanding of bone healing is a mission critical subject for both the military and astronaut community."

The researchers carried out systems biology studies to understand the physiological events associated with wound healing mechanisms when subjected to gravitational forces and to identify potential signatures to predict the healing outcomes. USACEHR hopes that the results will provide a new understanding of the biological reasons behind healing mechanisms, as well as show the efficacy of the osteoinductive drugs at stressed conditions and their susceptibility to gravity.

According to Hammamieh, 40 mice were segregated into a specially-designed habitat under different treatment regimens for a month aboard the International Space Station. While in space, the mice were cared for and monitored by astronauts while the USACEHR and University of Indiana School of Medicine team monitored their progress daily via video. Following the completion of the testing, the mice were shipped back to Earth for comparison with a control group that remained on the ground.

Continued here:
Army Scientists Hope Space Experiment Unlocks Clues to Bone Healing - Department of Defense

NASA's new compact high-power solar array made its debut on the International Space Station Sunday (June 18), allowing astronauts to test the technology's durability for deep-space missions.

The Roll Out Solar Array(ROSA) is incredibly lightweight and flexible, meaning that it can easily be packed into a rocket for launch. ROSA is a collaboration between NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and two private companies, including Deployable Space Systems (DSS) of Santa Barbara, California, and Space Systems Loral (SSL) of Palo Alto, California.

ROSA is designed to power missions using solar-electric propulsion spacecraft. The solar array wing technology is expected save on storage space and cut costs for long-distance trips beyond Earth, according to a statement from NASA. [Beaming Solar Power From Space (Video)]

The Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) experiment is seen deployed on the International Space Station at the end of the outpost's Canadarm 2 robotic arm on June 18, 2017. The flexible solar wing could be used to power future spacecraft.

This past weekend, engineers on the ground remotely rolled out the solar arrayusing the space station's Canadarm2. The array will remain attached to the robotic arm for seven days. This experiment will test the overall effectiveness of the advanced solar wing. ROSA was delivered to the orbiting lab on June 5 aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.

"We want to show that we can pull the wing back in in a predictable way," Jeremy Banik, the experiment's principal investigator and a senior research engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico,said in a statement. "A practical reason is that we have to pull it back for stowage after this investigation, but it will be good to know it can be done for future applications, potentially for a highly maneuverable spacecraft."

This time-lapse animation shows the novel Roll Out Solar Array experiment in action on the International Space Station on June 18, 2017. The ROSA experiment is aimed at testing new solar wing technology that rolls out an array like a party favor.

If successful, ROSA could help make NASA's robotic and human journeys to Mars and beyond possible. Incorporating the ROSA technology into Martian rovers, for example, would allow space vehicles to travel the planet's rugged surface more efficiently, since the solar arrays could be rolled up and stowed away when not in use, NASA officials have said.

"We get more power by using larger solar arrays. But efficiently packaging them for launch and then deploying those big arrays by a spacecraft has been the challenge," Al Tadros, SSL vice president of Civil and Department of Defense Business,said in a June 8 statement. "What the work on ROSA has done is develop a technique to deploy very large surface areas of flexible solar arrays, doing that efficiently with low risk. It's more power without increasing the mass dramatically."

Not only does the ROSA technology further NASA's deep-space exploration initiatives, it also benefits the commercial communications satellite industry which provides direct-to-home TV, satellite radio, broadband internet and various other services to those on the ground, according to the statement.

An artist's impression of the Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) technology being used for deep space missions, such as NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission.

Previously, NASA has tested other solar array technology that folds and unfolds like origami to save space. But ROSA is made from lightweight mesh material that can be rolled up around a spindle and stowed in a more compact cylinder form.

ROSA is also scalable, which means it can be configured to work with other ROSAs to produce high-power levels, and can easily be deployed in a simple, yet reliable, two-stage process that takes about 10 minutes, Michael Ragsdale, research and development project manager at SSL, said in the statement from NASA.

"It's very unique and innovative, different than anything that's been done before," said Brian Spence, president of DSS, which is helping SSL incorporate the technology into its SSL 1300series platform of high-power satellites. "However, it's also extremely simple. That aspect of the technology really lends itself well to being accepted by end users, like SSL."

Editor's note: Video produced by Space.com's Steve Spaleta.

Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us @Spacedotcom,Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Link:
NASA Tests Flexible Roll-Out Solar Array on Space Station (Video) - Space.com

NEW FILMS

Life

Everybody Loves Somebody

Wilson

Railroad Tigers

Altitude

TELEVISION

Colony: Season Two

Incorporated: Season One

This Beautiful Fantastic

Workaholics: The Final Season

The sci-fi action film Life, directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House), is set on the International Space Station. After a probe digs up a sample of Mars for analysis, theres excitement about the possibility that this may be the first evidence of life beyond Earth.

So its no surprise that they do find life there wouldnt be a movie otherwise but this isnt E.T. What ensues takes us into Alien horror territory.

Life has a solid cast, led by Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson, and some nifty special effects. It even has a few interesting ideas involving the freaky possibilities of extraterrestrial life, but ultimately the film looks more familiar than wondrous.

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There are horrors on the space station in 'Life,' now on DVD - LA Daily News