Category Archives: Space Station

An artist's impression of the Restore-L craft, a space-based refueling station that will give new life to old satellites.

Landsat-7 is in trouble. Some 438 miles above, the minivan-sized craft zips around Earth every 16 days. And for over 18 years, the satellite has captured pictures of our ever-changing planet. But Landsat-7 is running out of fuel.

If it were an Earth-bound craft, this wouldnt be an issue. We refuel everythingplanes, trains and automobiles. But up in space, its a different story. Satellites toil away hundreds or even thousands of miles from Earth, speeding along at thousands of miles per hour. This speed and distance leaves ground operators largely helpless if anything goes awry. That includes refueling: Once satellites run out of gas, theyre given up for dead. The only exceptions are Hubble and the International Space Station, both of which are in low enough orbit to be reached via shuttle and worthsending people for servicing.

But with the average price tag of satellites topping a billion dollars, ditching the crafts once they hit empty is costly. It also contributes to the ever-growing space junk problem: These once-useful man-made objects become potentially deadly hazards in space. We don't do it because we like throwing things away, we do it because there isn't any other option, says Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager for NASAs Satellite Servicing Projects Division, a group determined to change the way researchers view satellites.

Housed in a warehouse at Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt Maryland, the Satellite Servicing Projects Division is working toward revolutionary new technologies that would make it possible to repair, refuel and upgrade satellites while in orbit. Until now, computing power and robotics technology havent been sophisticated enough to make this tricky endeavour possible.

The walls of the cavernous epicenter of SSPD, as Reed calls it, are draped in black cloth to mimic the darkness of space during simulation runs. Robotic arms, each five or more feet long, are attached at various angles at every work station in the room. A life-size replica of Landsat-7 sits by the door, and two arms point in opposite directions, frozen mid-gesture in front of the craft.

These arms are part of the development stage for a project dubbed Restore-La craft intended to launch into space in the summer of 2020, designed to refuel satellites running on empty. Its first target: Landsat-7.

Refueling in space, however, is far more complicated than you might think. First, the craft has to catch up with the satellite, precisely matching its speed. One mile per hour slower and [Restore-L] will never catch it; one mile per hour faster, bad things [happen], says Reed, knocking his fists together to demonstrate the destruction that would ensue.

Directing such an endeavor from the ground would be nearly impossible. Any slight communication delays from ground-based operators could result in catastrophe. So Restore-L needs a brain of its own to track and calculate its trajectory to attach to the satellite.

Enter Raven. Slightly smaller than a milk crate, this device has three optical instruments: visible light, infrared and whats known as LIDAR, which sends out lasers and collects the scattered light. The device rode up to the International Space Station this past February and has since been attached to the outside of the station, tracking the movement of any incoming and outgoing spacecraft. The three sensors allow it to monitor these objects under all light conditions, explains Ross Henry, the lead investigator for the Raven project.

Raven is essentially helping the team develop an autopilot system, says Henry. It can spotincoming spacecraft at almost 17 miles awaythey show up as a single pixel in an image. Raventhen uses its sensors to tracks the crafts movement. Based on an internal algorithm, Raven can spit out coordinates that detailthe incoming bodys position in space and its orientation. Eventually sensors similar to Ravens will be incorporated into Restore-L.

During its mission, these sensors will get Restore-L near to the satellite in need. In the case of the Landsat-7 repair, Restore-Ls robotic arms would then come into play, latching onto a metal ring on the bottom of the satellite, which was originally used to secure Landsat-7 to the top of its launch rocket.

Like your arm, the robot arms have three main points of motiona shoulder, elbow and wrist, explains Reed. A camera located at its wrist helps it track its position relative to the satellite and respond to tiny changes as the pair speed through space together at thousands of miles per hour.

Thats what we practice back here, says Reed, gesturing to another replica of the bottom of a satellite sitting in the far corner of the warehouse. The satellites bottom ring sits exposed and another robotic arm stands motionless in front of the device. To practice the maneuver, a second robot makes the satellite bottom bob and weave while the robotic arm nabs it, continuing to track its movement.

Nowand I'm not joking when I say thiscomes the easy part, says Reed. And that's the actual refueling.

For this easy part of the mission, Restore-L will use five specially designed tools to gain access to the fuel valve. It must cut away insulation, remove a lock wire over the top cap and unscrew three different leak-proof caps. Two more specially designed tools will then be used to thread the fueling arm onto the nozzle, pump in fuel under 250 pounds per square inch of pressure, and re-insulate the port. Once fueling is complete the front half of the nozzle separates from the retracting arm. Left behind is a new fueling port that only requires the use of two tools to complete the maneuver, simplifying all future refueling missions.

SSPDs goal is to work with other satellite designers to help make all future satellites capable of refueling by incorporating the new fueling port design.Now that we've reached the point when fueling can be discussed with a straight face, why not build our satellites to be cooperative, say Reed. Such satellite tune-ups are the future of the industry, he says. It is clear that most companies recognize this and are already interested in cooperative servicing.

The team is also considering loading future refueling crafts with enough fuel to service multiple satellites, like a mobile gas station in space. If you can get up there and restore the life of one of these billion-dollar satellites another five or ten years, you've immediately recouped your money, says Henry. If you can do five of them, you've got yourself a game changer.

In the future, the team hopes that other crafts like Restore-L can help upgrade or service other satellites. They are working towards whats sometimes known as the five Rs, says Reed: remote inspection, relocation, refueling, repair and replacement.

One day, throw-away satellites will be a thing of the past. Junking satelliteswas once a necessity, says Reed, but now, modern systems are up to the task. The satellite industry isn't broken, he says. We are humbly suggesting to the satellite world, it could be better.

Reed and Henry will be presenting on a panel at Future Con, a three-day science, technology, and entertainment celebration inside Awesome Con on June 16-18, 2017 in Washington, D.C.Attend to learn more about robots in space, but also dinosaurs in the Antarctic, nanotechnology at work, and the multiverse!

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NASA Is Sending a Robotic Fueling Station to Space - Smithsonian

BBC News

Space station pictured crossing sun from Guernsey - BBC News BBC News David Le Conte took five photos in 1.3 seconds as the International Space Station crossed the sun. Incredible image shows International Space Station passing in front ...Telegraph.co.uk all 2 news articles »

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Space station pictured crossing sun from Guernsey - BBC News - BBC News

At 9:43 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2017 the ISS will fly over Asheville, and if you know where to look, you can see it fly by. It will look like a bright, fast-moving star. (Image credit: MGN)

At 9:43 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2017 the ISS will fly over Asheville, and if you know where to look, you can see it fly by.

It will look like a bright, fast-moving star.

If skies are clear in your area, look northwest at 9:43 and wait for the ISS to clear the horizon. This pass will move out of sight into the southeast, and the ISS will be visible for about three minutes.

The ISS travels at about 17,150 mph as it flies by, and you can view how many people are aboard it right here.

You can track where the ISS is here. There's even a livecam on the ISS, and you can see what the international astronauts are seeing here.

(If you're seeing this story ahead of the flyover, a good way to remember to watch the ISS is to set an alarm on your cell phone.)

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LOOK UP! The International Space Station flies over Asheville Monday night - WLOS

GREENVILLE, S.C.

If you look up at the right time tonight, youll be able to see the International Space Station fly over.

The space station will be visible starting at 9:43 p.m. in Greenville and Asheville and the surrounding areas. Weather permitting, it will be visible in the northwest sky for about three minutes.

It will move across the sky and pass out of sight at 9:47 p.m.

The space station will look like a small, bright star moving across the sky. It is traveling at more than 17,000 mph as it passes by. It only takes 90 minutes for the laboratory to make a complete circuit of Earth. Astronauts working and living on the station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.

The Expedition 52 crew of two NASA astronauts and one cosmonaut from Russia's space corporation, Roscosmos, is in its second week aboard the International Space Station.

To track the International Space Station, click here.

The tracker, developed by the European Space Agency, shows where the space station is right now and its path 90 minutes ago and 90 minutes ahead. Because of the Earth's rotation the space station appears to travel from west to east.

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Space station flyover visible from Greenville, Asheville tonight - WYFF Greenville

Carol Vaughn, cvaughn@delmarvanow.com Published 5:56 p.m. ET June 12, 2017 | Updated 2 hours ago

Wallops executives give an update concerning Antares and Cygnus missions. Produced by Ralph Musthaler

Dan Givens, Anteres Field Site Manager, speaks to the media during a press event at the Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)Buy Photo

Orbital ATK's next cargo supply mission to the International Space Station, OA-8, is set to launch from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in September, officials said at a briefing thereMonday.

Another mission, OA-9, is slated for later this year, likely in November.

Orbital ATK currently has contracts with NASA for a total of 10 cargo missions, all of which are set to be launched from Wallops.

"Right now, all the missions we have on the schedule are intended to go on the Antares (rocket) and go out of the Wallops Flight Facility," said Frank Culbertson, Orbital ATK Space Systems Group president.

Orbital ATK's most recent cargo supply mission, OA-7, was launched from Florida in April.

The Wallops facility is one of two spaceports in the United States from which the commercial cargo supply missions are launched, along with Cape Canaveral in Florida.

READ MORE: NASA Wallops: Predawn sounding rocket launch a success

The date set for the launch of the OA-8 mission is Sept. 12, but the rocket could be ready for launch earlier than that if NASA needs to bump up the date, said Kurt Eberly, Orbital ATK Antares vice president.

The last mission to the International Space Station launched from Wallops was OA-5 in October 2016.

That mission was the first to the space station launched from Wallops since an Antares rocket exploded shortly after liftoff on Oct. 28, 2014, after amotor malfunction happenedas the spacecraft began to clear the launchpad. After that, Orbital ATK replaced the first-stage engines on the rocket.

Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space, speaks to the media in front of a launch pad on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017.(Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)

"Wallops continues to be a neat place where we do a wide variety of things for both commercial and government customers," said Bill Wrobel, NASA Wallops Flight Facility director.

The facility "at any given time (has) about 50 different missions" in the works, ranging from balloon missions to sounding rocket launches, among others.

Wrobel called Orbital ATK "a strong partner with us here for a number of years now," noting the company, in addition to the more widely publicized missions to the International Space Station, also handles the sounding rocket and balloon programs at Wallops.

Wrobel also noted the first small satellite built at Wallops recently was deployed off the International Space Station.

"We look forward to a lot more of these things coming up in the future," Wrobel said of the upcoming cargo mission.

"It is a real pleasure to be back here at Wallops ... It's a great place to be," Culbertson said.

The company is "very much committed to completing our CRS-1 contract," Culbertson said, noting there are four more flights to be completed under that contract.

Additionally, six flights are slated to happen under the CRS-2 contract with the first of those planned for 2019.

A view of the inside of the Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)

The company in that second phase will be able to carry more cargo on each mission, he said. "That's going to really help ... keep things here at Wallops moving," Culbertson said.

The Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island currently holds two Antares rockets slated for the OA-8 and OA-9 missions.

Orbital's plan is "to build two at a time, basically, and we plan to have them ready in advance of when they are needed," Eberly said.

The rocket for the OA-8 mission is ready for the Cygnus cargo module to be installed, putting it at about the three-week mark from readiness for launch.

"We're at that milestone now, so we'll be ready for September; we'll even be ready a little earlier if they need us in the August time frame," he said.

Data from the last ISS mission launched from Wallops in October the first mission using the Antares' new stage one engines has been analyzed and the verdict is "it was a very clean mission," Eberly said.

The engines have 13 percent higher thrust than the ones formerly used on Antares and they come with 10 seconds of additional specific impulse a measure of how efficiently the propellants are burned.

The improved performance will allow each future mission to carry more cargo the next two missions are each scheduled to carry 3,350 kilograms of cargo and by the OA-11 mission, the goal is to carry 3,500 kilograms.

In addition to the cargo supply missions, the company is hoping Antares will be on track to perform other NASA missions in the future, Eberly said.

Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space, said the launch pad for OA-8 should be in launch configuration by the end of July.

"The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport ... is ready to support the upcoming OA-8 mission," said Nash.

READ MORE:1st in flight: Va. governor opens Wallops drone facility

Launch pad O-A, the pad used for the Antares launches, after the last mission in October, "came through that very well," Nash said, adding, "There's always some wear and tear as you come through the mission, but it came through in remarkably good shape."

Among reasons for the good result is that with the new, more powerful engines, the rocket got off the launch pad "very fast the faster it can get off, the less damage you have," Nash said.

Additionally, the spaceport goes through a thorough analysis after each launch, including looking at where the pad was damaged, and "we harden the launch pad."

The spaceport advertises that it can support a 30-day turnaround between launches from both launchpads it operates one for liquid-fueled rockets like Antares and the other for solid-fueled rockets.

"We probably could have done it quicker on the last one," Nash said.

The spaceport is at the point now where it has proven performance under its belt.

Nash mentioned by way of example two successful high-profile missions launched there within days of each other in September 2013.

"We have already proven that we can launch off launchpad A to the International Space Station and then, 12 days later, launch a mission to the moon off launchpad B."

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Next Wallops mission to International Space Station set for September - Delmarva Daily Times

Sometimes the stars align just right and for Graham Truelove, a fan of both music and the International Space Station, this week is one of those times.

By happenstance, the ISS will be traveling above Chattanooga every night of Riverbend, meaning fans watching the show can look to the heavens at just the right time to see the ship fly over, weather permitting, of course. It will happentonightat9:42and will be visable for four minutes. There will be another good opportunityon Wednesday.

"We saw iton Fridayduring Boz Scaggs," Truelove said.

"I told everyone around us and they didn't believe me, but they were impressed. People like science I guess."

Tonight, the ISS will come from the north traveling towards the east. Riverbend moves to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevardtonight, so you will have to turn around to see it. "When the music is on the Coke Stage, you just have to look up," Truelove said.

Normally, the ISS is viewable a couple a nights a month. It's rare to see it this many days in a row, Truelove says.

"It's just an accident of science that it is viewable during the entire Riverbend festival."

He said his family has been following the ISS for 25 years. You can check for information and the station's path atspotthestation.nasa.gov.

Link:
View the International Space Station during Riverbend - Chattanooga Times Free Press

China will open its space station to scientists worldwide after the station is completed around 2022, according to a Chinese space expert.

Wei Chuanfeng, a researcher at the Institute of Manned Space System Engineering under the China Academy of Space Technology, said the China Manned Space Engineering Office has drafted a strategic framework with United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to offer opportunities on the application of Chinese space station to members of United Nations.

Wei made the remarks on Thursday at the 2017 Global Space Exploration Conference, which was held in Beijing.

Under the framework, China will open its experimental resources on the Chinese space station to serve payloads from other countries. UN members, especially developing countries, could conduct scientific and technological experiment on Chinese space station, Wei said.

China's first astronaut Yang Liwei, who is also deputy director of China Manned Space Engineering Office, said the nation would launch the first core module of the space station in 2019, followed by two experiment modules. The space station will enable astronauts to stay in space for up to six months.

At the conference, the designers behind the Chinese space station proposed possible technical approaches that could help scientists from other countries utilize and perform experiments on the space station. China will also help astronauts and payloads specialists from developing countries to enter into space, Wei said.

The Chinese space station will be composed of three modules, including a core module and two experiment modules. The space station will have three docking sites, enabling the dock and berth of the "Shenzhou" manned spacecraft, the "Tianzhou" cargo spacecraft and other vehicles, according to Wei.

Source: Xinhua News

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China to open space station to scientists worldwide - Space Daily - Space Daily

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket arrives at Launch Pad No. 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday. Credit: Roscosmos

Russian launch crews stood up a Soyuz rocket Sunday on its launch mount in Kazakhstan for a scheduled liftoff Wednesday with approximately 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of supplies, experiments, fuel and several small satellites to be released by spacewalking cosmonauts at the International Space Station later this year.

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket emerged from an assembly building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome around sunrise Sunday, then trekked on a specialized train car to Launch Pad No. 31 at the historic space base, where technicians hydraulically hoisted the booster vertical. Access platforms raised into position around the Soyuz rocket for final launch preparations.

The launcher is topped with the Progress MS-06 supply ship, an unpiloted logistics freighter heading on a two-day voyage to the International Space Station.

Liftoff is set for 0920:13 GMT (5:20:13 a.m. EDT) Wednesday, or 3:20 p.m. local time at Baikonur.

The modernized Soyuz-2.1a booster, featuring redesigned third stage propellant tanks and a digital flight control computer, will deliver the Progress MS-06 spaceship to orbit less than nine minutes later. Immediately after separating from the Soyuz third stage, the resupply craft will extend its power-generating solar arrays and navigation antennas, kicking off a series of thruster burns to rendezvous with the space station.

Docking with the space stations Zvezda service module is scheduled for 1142 GMT (7:42 a.m. EDT) Friday after a radar-guided automated final approach.

Designated Progress 67P in the space stations sequence of crew and cargo vehicles, the upcoming Russian resupply mission will reach the research outpost nearly halfway through the visit of a SpaceX Dragon capsule that delivered nearly 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of experiments and equipment June 5.

The Progress MS-06 spaceship will carry around 2.5 metric tons (5,500 pounds) of cargo and supplies to the space station, according to a statement released by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

The supplies include dry cargo inside the ships pressurized compartment, fuel to refill the stations propulsion system, potable water, and high-pressure gases to replenish the research labs breathable atmosphere, Roscosmos said.

Four small satellites are set to launch inside the Progress MS-06 spacecrafts cabin for release by cosmonauts on a spacewalk later this year.

The Progress MS-06 supply ship will remain at the space station until December, when it will undock with a load of trash and re-enter the atmosphere for a destructive plunge over the South Pacific Ocean.

More photos of Sundays Soyuz rocket rollout are posted below.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Soyuz booster rolls out for launch with space station cargo freighter - Spaceflight Now

China will develop and launch a two-meter-caliber space telescope, which will share the same orbit with the country's future space station, said Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Agency.

The telescope will dock with the co-orbital space station for refueling as well as maintenance and exchange, Yang revealed at the ongoing Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2017) which began Tuesday in Beijing.

Used for large-scale, multi-color imaging and seamless spectroscope surveying, the space telescope is expected to provide observation data for astronomical and physical studies, said Yang, who is also China's first astronaut.

China will launch the core module of the country's manned space station in 2019 as the first step in completing the country's first space outpost.

The station, expected to begin operation by 2022 and orbit for at least 10 years, will be composed of three modules: core module, experiment module I and experiment module II. Each module will weigh more than 20 tonnes and together the three will be structured in a T shape, with the core module in the middle and an experiment module on each side.

The three modules will be equipped with advanced multipurpose facilities for scientific experiments in many fields, including space life science and biotechnology, microgravity fluid physics and combustion, and material science in space, Yang said.

With the International Space Station set to retire in 2024, the Chinese space station will offer a promising alternative, and China will be the only country with a permanent space station.

The station, orbiting 340 to 450 kilometers above the Earth's surface, will usually accommodate three crew members, with a maximum crew capacity up to six during rotations, Yang said.

The crew will be transported to the station by Shenzhou spaceships, and airtight cargo, large extravehicular payloads and experiment platform will be delivered by cargo ships, he said.

China sent its first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into space in April. Cargo ships will be sent to help maintain a space station.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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China's space station to help maintain co-orbital telescope - Space Daily

SpaceX is scheduled to launch its Dragon spacecraft for its eleventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station June 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39A. Dragon will lift into orbit atop the Falcon 9 rocket carrying crew supplies, equipment and scientific research to crew members living aboard the station. The flight will deliver investigations and facilities that study neutron stars, osteoporosis, solar panels, tools for Earth-observation, and more.

New solar panels test concept for more efficient power source

Solar panels are an efficient way to generate power, but they can be delicate and large when used to power a spacecraft or satellites. They are often tightly stowed for launch and then must be unfolded when the spacecraft reaches orbit. The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA), is a solar panel concept that is lighter and stores more compactly for launch than the rigid solar panels currently in use. ROSA has solar cells on a flexible blanket and a framework that rolls out like a tape measure. The technology for ROSA is one of two new solar panel concepts that were developed by the Solar Electric Propulsion project, sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.

The new solar panel concepts are intended to provide power to electric thrusters for use on NASA's future space vehicles for operations near the Moon and for missions to Mars and beyond. They might also be used to power future satellites in Earth orbit, including more powerful commercial communications satellites. The demonstration of the deployment of ROSA on the space station is sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Investigation studies composition of neutron stars

Neutron stars, the glowing cinders left behind when massive stars explode as supernovas, are the densest objects in the universe, and contain exotic states of matter that are impossible to replicate in any ground lab. These stars are called "pulsars" because of the unique way they emit light - in a beam similar to a lighthouse beacon. As the star spins, the light sweeps past us, making it appear as if the star is pulsing. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload, affixed to the exterior of the space station, studies the physics of these stars, providing new insight into their nature and behavior.

Neutron stars emit X-ray radiation, enabling the NICER technology to observe and record information about its structure, dynamics and energetics. In addition to studying the matter within the neutron stars, the payload also includes a technology demonstration called the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT), which will help researchers to develop a pulsar-based, space navigation system. Pulsar navigation could work similarly to GPS on Earth, providing precise position for spacecraft throughout the solar system.

Investigation studies effect of new drug on osteoporosis

When people and animals spend extended periods of time in space, they experience bone density loss, or osteoporosis. In-flight countermeasures, such as exercise, prevent it from getting worse, but there isn't a therapy on Earth or in space that can restore bone that is already lost. The Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for osteoporosis (Rodent Research-5) investigation tests a new drug that can both rebuild bone and block further bone loss, improving health for crew members.

Exposure to microgravity creates a rapid change in bone health, similar to what happens in certain bone-wasting diseases, during extended bed rest and during the normal aging process. The results from this ISS National Laboratory-sponsored investigation build on previous research also supported by the National Institutes for Health and could lead to new drugs for treating bone density loss in millions of people on Earth.

Research seeks to understand the heart of the matter

Exposure to reduced gravity environments can result in cardiovascular changes such as fluid shifts, changes in total blood volume, heartbeat and heart rhythm irregularities, and diminished aerobic capacity. The Fruit Fly Lab-02 study will use the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to better understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the adverse effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity on the heart. Flies are smaller, with a well-known genetic make-up, and very rapid aging that make them good models for studying heart function. This experiment will help to develop a microgravity heart model in the fruit fly. Such a model could significantly advance the study of spaceflight effects on the cardiovascular system and facilitate the development of countermeasures to prevent the adverse effects of space travel on astronauts.

Investigation shapes the way humans survive in space

Currently, the life-support systems aboard the space station require special equipment to separate liquids and gases. This technology utilizes rotating and moving parts that, if broken or otherwise compromised, could cause contamination aboard the station. The Capillary Structures investigation studies a new method of water recycling and carbon dioxide removal using structures designed in specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures. As opposed to the expensive, machine-based processes currently in use aboard the station, the Capillary Structures equipment is made up of small, 3-D printed geometric shapes of varying sizes that clip into place.

Using time lapse photography, on-ground research teams will observe how liquids evaporate from these capillary structures, testing the effectiveness of the varying parameters. Results from the investigation could lead to the development of new processes that are simple, trustworthy, and highly reliable in the case of an electrical failure or other malfunction.

Facility provides platform for Earth-observation tools

Orbiting approximately 250 miles above the Earth's surface, the space station provides views of the Earth below like no other location can provide. The Multiple User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) facility, developed by Teledyne Brown Engineering, hosts Earth-viewing instruments such as high-resolution digital cameras, hyperspectral imagers, and provides precision pointing and other accommodations.

This National Lab-sponsored investigation can produce data to be used for maritime domain awareness, agricultural awareness, food security, disaster response, air quality, oil and gas exploration and fire detection.

These investigations will join many other investigations currently happening aboard the space station. Follow @ISS_Research for more information about the science happening on station.

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NASA: SpaceX Dragon to Deliver Ground-Breaking Science Research to Space Station --"Neutron Stars to Human ... - The Daily Galaxy (blog)