Category Archives: Space Station

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is proving quite the gardener in space.

Over the weekend, he tweeted out an image of what he described as the first flower grown in space.

It may not match the exploits of astronaut Mark Watney, the Matt Damon character in the movie The Martian who survives on Mars in part by growing potatoes. But nonetheless, it is a small step towards NASA's goal of one day developing bioregenerative food production systems for the space station and long-duration exploration missions.

And it comes after several setbacks to the Veggie plant growth facility, which was installed on the orbiting laboratory in early May of 2014.

Relevant: International Space Station celebrates 15th birthday

While the plants havent grown perfectly, Gioia Massa, NASA science team lead for Veggie, said in a statement. I think we have gained a lot from this, and we are learning both more about plants and fluids and also how better to operate between ground and station. Regardless of final flowering outcome we will have gained a lot.

The first crop Outredgrous red romaine lettuce was activated for growth. But things didnt get off to a great start.

Related: Space Station astronauts make history, eat first space-grown veggies

We lost two plants due to drought stress in the first grow out and thus were very vigilant with respect to the second crop, Trent Smith, Veggie project manager, said in a statement.

The second crop of the same lettuce was activated in early July by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, and thanks to lessons learned from the first run, adjustments to watering and collecting imagery of the plants were made. The leafy greens grew according to schedule, with only one plant pillow not producing. The crew even ate the lettuce.

The next crop on the docket was a batch of zinnia flowers.

The zinnia plant is very different from lettuce, Smith said. It is more sensitive to environmental parameters and light characteristics. It has a longer growth duration between 60 and 80 days. Thus, it is a more difficult plant to grow, and allowing it to flower, along with the longer growth duration, makes it a good precursor to a tomato plant.

The zinnia plant, though, showed signs of stress early on - possibly due to high humidity or water engulfing some of the plants. When you have high humidity and wet surfaces, Smith said, leaves start dying, and become prime real estate for mold to grow.

Related: NASA wants to put rodents on space station

Kelly, who took over garden duties after NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren returned to Earth on Dec. 18, cut away the affected, moldy plant tissue. The plant surfaces and plant pillow surfaces were sanitized with cleaning wipes, and the fans continued at a high speed in hopes of keeping the Veggie chamber dried out and mold growth abated.

By Christmas Eve, though, Kelly called down to say the high fan speed was drying out the crop too much. But the next scheduled watering was not until Dec. 27.

I think that would be too late, Kelly told the ground team. You know, I think if were going to Mars, and we were growing stuff, we would be responsible for deciding when the stuff needed water. Kind of like in my backyard, I look at it and say Oh, maybe I should water the grass today. I think this is how this should be handled.

The team on the ground gave Kelly the green light to take on the role of autonomous gardener.

This is perfect he has the helm, Smith said. We turned over care to Scott. Hes seen the lettuce, hes got all the tools he needs, so we just provided him quick guidelines to understand the zinnias.

Two of the plants that displayed stress died off but two remaining plants have continued to thrive with petals in January even beginning to sprout buds.

Some of my space flowers are on the rebound! No longer looking sad! Kelly tweeted on Jan. 8.

The flowers weren't expected to bloom for another seven to 10 days. But it seems they couldn't wait to add a little color to the space station.

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Flower blooms on international space station for first ...

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Just before ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti left the International Space Station after 199 days, she took up to 15 pictures inside each module. Now, the images have been stitched together to create this interactive panorama.

These panoramas offer a snapshot of the International Space Station as it was in June 2015, after moving the Leonardo storage module to a new location

Explore the modules and zoom in to see more detail. Use the map or the arrow icons by the module hatches to go to another section.

You can explore every part of the Space Station and click on the play icons to watch an astronaut explain or demonstrate an item, and click on the text icons for web articles.

We recommend exploring in a full screen to do justice to this immersive interactive panorama.

The tour was improved with the assistance of Thomas Rauscher in Vienna, Austria, who helped to stitch the images together for some modules.

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International Space Station panoramic tour / Highlights ...

Astronauts Tim Kopra and Tim Peake work on U.S. spacesuits inside the Quest airlock where spacewalks are staged. Credit: NASA TV

Two astronauts are preparing a pair of U.S. spacesuits to get ready for next weeks spacewalk to continue the maintenance of the International Space Station. In the midst of those preparations, the six-member Expedition 46 crew is proceeding with ongoing space science to improve life on Earth and benefit future astronauts.

Tim Kopra from NASA and Tim Peake from the European Space Agency will be the spacewalkers on Jan. 15. They will work outside for about six-hours and 30-minutes to replace a failed voltage regulator, rig cables for future International Docking Adapters and perform other maintenance tasks.

The station residents also worked throughout the day on a variety of experiments exploring human research, physics and other advanced subjects.

Commander Scott Kelly joined cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko for the Fluid Shifts study. That experiment observes how microgravity increases brain pressure which may push back on a crew members eyes, resulting in changes to their vision. Peake and Kopra also participated in life science experiments exploring heart function during long-term space missions and the efficacy of medications in space.

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra is seen floating during a spacewalk on Dec. 21, 2015.

Astronauts Tim Peake and Tim Kopra are getting ready for a spacewalk next week to replace a failed voltage regulator. The duo are scheduled to work outside for 6.5 hours on Jan. 15 for the replacement work and other tasks.

In preparation, Kopra worked on the U.S. spacesuits today that he and Peake will wear next week. Peake, a British astronaut with the European Space Agency, began collecting and configuring their spacewalk tools.

The Expedition 46 crew also continued more advanced space science research onboard the International Space Station. Commander Scott Kelly joined his fellow One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko for the Fluid Shifts study. That experiment explores how microgravity increases brain pressure which pushes back on a crew members eyes,resulting in changes to their vision.

Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov studied radiation exposure, how international crews relate during missions and worked on maintenance tasks. His fellow cosmonaut and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko looked at magnetic fields and coulomb crystals and transferred cargo from the newest Progress 62 cargo craft.

Tropical Cyclone Ula, a category 3 storm at the time this image was captured, is seen from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

The Expedition 46 crew begins its first full week of the New Year planning for a spacewalk scheduled for Jan. 15. The orbiting residents are also busy with numerous science experiments benefitting life on Earth and future astronauts.

A pair of spacewalkers will replace a failed voltage regulator to return power to one of eight power channels next Friday. Two crew members will exit the Quest airlock and work outside for 6.5 hours for the replacement work. They will also rig cables for the future installation of docking adapters that will enable commercial crew vehicles to dock at the International Space Station. Final spacewalking roles will be confirmed following spacesuit hardware checkouts taking place today.

NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Commander Scott Kelly collected and stowed blood and urine samples this morning for the Fluid Shifts study. That experiment observes the headward fluid shift caused by microgravity that increases brain pressure and pushes back on the eye. British astronaut Tim Peake also explored particles suspended in fluids, or colloids, which could benefit the design of advanced materials on Earth.

Engineering video from a camera on the Progress 62 spacecraft shows the docking target on the Pirs docking compartment.

Traveling about 253 miles over western Mongolia, the unpiloted ISS Progress 62 Russian cargo ship docked automatically with the Pirs docking compartment of the International Space Station at 5:27 a.m. EST today. Progress is delivering 2.8 tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the crew aboard the station.

The spacecraft launched Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Following a by-the-book rendezvous and docking with the Progress upgraded Kurs automated system, hooks formed a hard mate between the spacecraft and the Pirs docking compartment. Once the crew completes leak checks, the hatches will open, allowing the crew to unload the cargo.

The Progress spacecraft will remain docked until early July 2016.

For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station.

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra is seen floating during a spacewalk on Dec. 21, 2015.

A pair of spacewalkers are cleaning up and reporting back to ground controllers after a short spacewalk Monday morning. A Christmas delivery is also due at the International Space Station Wednesday at 5:31 a.m. EST/10:31 a.m. UTC.

Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Tim Kopra quickly prepared over the weekend for the spacewalk to release a stalled robotic transporter. As the pair suited up in the Quest airlock Monday, a Progress 62 (62P) cargo spaceship launched on a two-day trip to deliver 2.8 tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 46 crew.

The stalled robotic transporter needed to be moved then latched to its worksite ahead of the Progress arrival triggering Mondays spacewalk. The Progress is a modified design and Russian mission controllers are testing its upgraded software and telemetry systems during its flight to the Pirs docking compartment.

Cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov are preparing for the Progress arrival by testing the TORU tele-robotic rendezvous system. The TORU system would be used in the unlikely event it would be necessary to manually guide the vehicle to a docking.

The crew also had time set aside for advanced space science today. The orbiting lab residents explored plant growth and life science as humans learn to live longer and farther in space.

Spacewalkers Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra work to move stalled robotic transporter before moving on to get-ahead tasks. Credit: NASA TV

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra ended their spacewalk at 11:01 a.m. EST with the repressurization of the U.S. Quest airlock after accomplishing all objectives. They released brake handles on crew equipment carts on either side of the space stations mobile transporter rail car so it could be latched in place ahead of Wednesdays docking of a Russian cargo resupply spacecraft. The ISS Progress 62 resupply mission launched at 3:44 a.m. EST this morning (2:44 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After quickly completing their primary objective for the spacewalk, Kelly and Kopra tackled several get-ahead tasks. Kelly routed a second pair of cables in preparation for International Docking Adapter installment work to support U.S. commercial crew vehicles, continuing work he began during a November spacewalk. Kopra routed an Ethernet cable that ultimately will connect to a Russian laboratory module. They also retrieved tools that had been in a toolbox on the outside of the station, so they can be used for future work.

The three-hour and 16-minute spacewalk was the third for Kelly, who is nine months into a yearlong mission and the second for Kopra, who arrived to the station Dec. 15. It was the 191st in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Crew members have now spent a total of 1,195 hours and 20 minutes working outside the orbital laboratory.

Stay up-to-date on the latest ISS news at: http://www.nasa.gov/station.

Spacewalkers Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra.

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra switched their spacesuits to battery power at 7:45 a.m. EST, signifying the start of todays spacewalk, planned for about three hours.

Kelly is wearing a spacesuit with red stripes and is designated EV1. His helmet camera displays the number 18. Kopra is wearing a spacesuit with no stripes and is designated EV2. His helmet camera displays the number 17.

The astronauts are embarking on the 191st spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance to move the space stations mobile transporter rail car a few inches from its stalled position so it can be latched in place ahead of Wednesdays docking of a Russian cargo resupply spacecraft.

If the primary task of moving the transporter to its worksite is completed quickly, Kelly and Kopra may press on to a few get-ahead tasks that include the routing of cables in advance of International Docking Adapter installment work to support U.S. commercial crew vehicles, and opening a door housing power distribution system relay boxes just above the worksite to facilitate the future robotic replacement of modular components.

NASA Television is broadcasting the spacewalk at http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

Follow @Space_Station and #spacewalk on Twitter to join the conversation online.

The Progress 62 rocket launches from Kazakhstan on a two-day trip to the International Space Station: Credit: NASA TV

Carrying more than 2.8 tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the International Space Station crew, the unpiloted ISS Progress 62 cargo craft launched at 3:44 a.m. EST (2:44 p.m. local time in Baikonur) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Less than 10 minutes after launch, the resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned.The Russian cargo craft will make 34 orbits of Earth during the next two days before docking to the orbiting laboratory at 5:31 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23.

At 8:10 a.m. EST, Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA will exit the stations U.S. Quest airlock to conduct a previously unplanned spacewalk to help move the stations mobile transporter rail car so it can be latched in place prior to arrival of the Progress spacecraft. NASA TV coverage of the planned three-hour spacewalk will begin at 6:30 a.m.

Watch live on NASA TV and online at http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

NASA Television will provide live coverage of Progress 62s arrival to the space stations Pirs docking compartment beginning at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

To join the online conversation on Twitter, follow @Space_Station. To learn more about all the ways to connect and collaborate with NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/connect.

The Progress 62 Rocket stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: RSC Energia

Beginning Monday, Dec. 21 at 3:30 a.m. EST, NASA Television will provide live coverage of the launch of a Russian Progress spacecraft carrying more than three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 46 crew aboard the International Space Station. Launch of ISS Progress 62 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is planned for 3:44 a.m. (2:44 p.m. local time in Baikonur).

Watch the launch live on NASA TV or at http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Following a 34-orbit, two-day trip, Progress 62 is scheduled to arrive at the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station at 5:31 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 23. The two-day rendezvous was deliberately planned to enable Russian flight controllers to test new software and communications equipment on the vehicle that will be standard for future Progress and piloted Soyuz spacecraft. The Expedition 46 crew will monitor key events during Progress 62s automated rendezvous and docking.

The Progress will spend more than six months at the station before departing in early July 2016.

To join the online conversation on Twitter, follow @Space_Station. To learn more about all the ways to connect and collaborate with NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/connect.

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra will conduct a spacewalk Monday morning. Credit: NASA

The International Space Station Mission Management Team met Sunday and gave its approval to proceed with a spacewalk Monday out of the Quest airlock by Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA to assist in moving the Mobile Transporter rail car a few inches to a worksite on the stations truss where it can be latched in place and electrically mated to the complex. The green light for the unplanned spacewalk to take place Monday came three days after the Mobile Transporter stalled just four inches away from its embarkation point at worksite 4 near the center of the stations truss as it began to move to another worksite to support robotic payload operations with its attached Canadarm2 robotic arm and the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (Dextre).

Station managers ordered the spacewalk to latch down the transporter as a cautionary measure in advance of the scheduled docking of the new unpiloted ISS Progress 62 cargo ship on Wednesday that will link up to the Pirs Docking Compartment. The Progress is on track for launch from the Site 31 launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Monday at 2:44 a.m. Central time (2:44 p.m. Baikonur time).

The planned 3 to 3 hour spacewalk is scheduled to begin Monday at 7:10 a.m. Central time. The start time for the spacewalk is variable since Kopra will be conducting a fit check of his U.S. spacesuit in parallel with other spacewalk preparations. NASA TV coverage will begin at 5:30 a.m. Central time.

Kelly, who will be making his third spacewalk, will be extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) wearing the U.S. spacesuit bearing the red stripes. Kopra, who arrived on the station on Dec. 15, will be making the second spacewalk of his career as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) wearing the suit with no stripes. It will be the 191st spacewalk in support of station assembly and maintenance and the seventh spacewalk of the year by station crew members.

Kelly and Kopra will float out of the Quest airlock to the area where the Mobile Transporter has stalled to check out the position of its brake handles and other mechanisms to make sure the rail car can be commanded to move back to worksite 4 by robotic flight controllers at Mission Control, Houston. It is suspected that a brake handle on an equipment cart attached to the starboard side of the transporter may have inadvertently engaged, which if correct, should easily be released to allow for the transporter to be moved into place for its latching.

If the primary task of moving the transporter to its worksite is completed quickly, Kelly and Kopra may press on to a few get-ahead tasks that include the routing of cables in advance of International Docking Adapter installment work to support U.S. commercial crew vehicles, and opening a door housing power distribution system relay boxes just above the worksite to facilitate the future robotic replacement of modular components.

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Space Station - NASA Blogs

We have only existed a short time on this planet, and we know other species, such as the dinosaurs, did not survive due to planetary changes. That makes the study of other planets, and the ability to travel to them, crucial to the future of human existence.

How far are we from developing fully self-sufficient space stations? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling que...

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Let's get this over with once and for all: We are going to Mars. The only questions are: When? Who? How? Which way? And, of course, why?

Rick Tumlinson

Founder - New Worlds Institute, EarthLight Foundation, SpaceDiver Inc., Co-Founder, Deep Space Industries, Space Frontier Foundation, Orbital Outfitters Inc.

The F-35 joint strike fighter, the United States' most expensive warplane to date, was supposed to cost $1.5 trillion over 50 years. The current contract is seven years behind schedule and $163 billion over budget. Here are four other things the US could have bought with the waste from the program.

Where are the neighbors? Where are the schools and community organizations? Who reaches out to see what the problem is? Does anyone see this child/youth desperately in need of help and hope? Who listens or offers a helping hand amidst the violence and despair they face daily?

Becoming detached from the International Space Station (ISS) during an EVA (spacewalk) is a low probability occurrence. While not likely to happen, since it is possible, astronauts prepare for it.

Quora

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A rocket can be fixed. A mindset has to be changed or those holding it made irrelevant.

Rick Tumlinson

Founder - New Worlds Institute, EarthLight Foundation, SpaceDiver Inc., Co-Founder, Deep Space Industries, Space Frontier Foundation, Orbital Outfitters Inc.

Almost 100 years ago, on November 25, 1915, Albert Einstein presented to the Prussian Academy of Sciences the final version of his general theory of relativity, which also became the standard theory of gravity.

Hanoch Gutfreund

Former president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and academic director of the Albert Einstein Archives.

We don't know the answer to that. But every crew that resides on the International Space Station provides us information that we use to adjust our protocols and that extends that period of time.

Quora

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Let's ignore the technologies that might be impossible (e.g. warp drive, dilithium crystals, and transporters). Let's ignore the technologies that we have no idea how to reproduce in a similar way (artificial gravity). Let's just focus on trying to build a space-worthy scale replica of the USS Enterprise that uses existing structural and propulsion capabilities.

Quora

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Yes, I know the current push by our Federal Space Agency on social media is #JourneytoMars, but are we ready? Really ready? Nope, I don't think we're even close.

Clayton Anderson

U.S. Astronaut (Ret.); Author of The Ordinary Spaceman; ISS and Space Shuttle spacewalker; Aquanaut

Navigation requires a reference frame. We need reference frames to tell us where we are with respect to other objects and we need reference frames to tell us how we are oriented with respect to other objects. There is no single universal frame that is used for all operations.

Quora

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Move over, stiff neck; there's a new spinal problem to reckon with. Doctors are seeing some patients with "text neck"--pain caused by inclining one's head for long periods of time while staring at a smartphone, thus putting extra stress on the spine.

I took off my helmet and it felt like I was holding the anchor of the U.S.S. Nimitz in my hand. Oh great, I thought, how am I ever going to brush my teeth -- the brush will be too heavy!

Quora

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SpaceX has an impressive half dozen commercial launches to its name and a manifest of launch orders from domestic and international clients stretching into the future. They've managed to do this the old fashioned way, by being cheaper, faster and more reliable.

Greg Autry

Assistant Prof. of Clinical Entrepreneurship at USC, Economist with the Coalition for a Prosperous American; Co-author 'Death by China'

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International Space Station: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

An artificial structure in space, where people live and work. Unlike the Cool Starship, the Space Station is usually fixed in orbit around a planet or at a particular point in space. It also allows for the construction of a standing studio set and avoids expensive location shoots. Real-world space stations have existed since 1971 (Salyut 1) and 4 of themthe International Space Station, the Chinese Tiangong-1, and Genesis I & II (both unmanned)are currently in orbit. These are all much smaller than what one is used to in sci-fi shows. The list for the interested can be seen below. Space stations in fiction have a tendency to be very large, sometimes housing an entire city. Many have adopted a wheel design for a centrifuge-based system of gravity (unless Artificial Gravity is employed), but this is not obligatory. If sufficiently large to support a sizable permanent population, a space-station may be referred to as an "orbital habitat" or "space colony". Don't drop it! The problem of gas exchange and food production is often solved by incorporating a closed ecosystem and green plants onboard, sometimes in dirt, sometimes hydroponics, sometimes algae aquaculture. Fictional examples:

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Space Station - TV Tropes

In the exploration of the western frontier of the Unites States, pioneers had forts or staging points where they departed to venture into the unexplored territories. Similarly, in the early 20th century, pioneering space scientists, such as Hermann Oberth, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Hermann Noordung and Wehrner von Braun, dreamed of vast space stations orbiting the Earth. Like forts in the western frontier, these scientists envisioned space stations as staging points for the exploration of outer space.

Wehrner von Braun, the architect of the American space program, integrated space stations into his long-term vision of U.S. space exploration. To accompany von Braun's numerous space articles in popular magazines, artists drew concepts of space stations. These articles and drawings helped fuel public imagination and interest in space exploration, which was essential to establishing the U.S. space program (for more, see How the Space Race Worked).

In these space station concepts, people lived and worked in outer space. Most of the stations were wheel-like structures that rotated to provide artificial gravity. Like any port, ships traveled to and from the station. The ships carried cargo, passengers, and supplies from Earth. The departing flights went to Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond. As you know, this general concept is no longer merely a vision of scientists, artists and science fiction authors. But what steps have been taken to build such orbiting structures? While mankind has not yet realized the full visions of von Braun and others, there have been significant strides in building space stations.

The United States and Russia have had orbiting space stations since 1971. The first space stations were the Russian Salyut program, the U.S. Skylab program and the Russian Mir program. And since 1998, the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Canada, Japan and other countries have been building and operating the International Space Station (ISS) in Earth orbit. With the ISS, humans have been living and working in outer space for more than 10 years.

In this article, we'll examine the early space station programs, the uses of space stations, and the future role of space stations in the exploration of outer space. But first, let's consider more fully why many people think we should be building space stations.

Continued here:
How Space Stations Work - HowStuffWorks

Mary Helen Berg, for USA TODAY NASA Special Edition 3:45 p.m. EDT October 2, 2015

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren corrals the supply of fresh fruit that arrived August 25, 2015 on the Kounotori 5 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-5.) Visiting cargo ships often carry a small cache of fresh food for crew members aboard the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA(Photo: NASA)

Astronauts aboard the international Space Station (ISS) live a life experienced by only 218 people in the world. Though part of their daily routine is familiar to all of us, even mundane tasks become extraordinary when your home is a high-tech microgravity lab hurtling through space at 5 miles per second, 250 miles above your home planet.

Orbiting Outhouse

For instance, imagine trying to do your business in zero gravity and floating away from the throne. Or worse.

You do occasionally get what we call a brown trout, where the fish get away and you have to corral them with a wet wipe and put them back where they need to go, revealed Barry Butch Wilmore, who served as ISS commander from November 2014 to March 2015.

The ISS toilet is much like a standard commode with a lid and seat, but since theres no gravity, crewmembers use various restraints and handles to keep themselves in the correct position.

Astronauts use a waste collection system, which includes a hose device to vacuum urine away from the body and keep solid waste in place as it is deposited into an individual plastic bag in the toilet can. Liquid waste is filtered, purified and recycled for use as drinking water.

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly take their first bites of red romaine lettuce that was grown on the International Space Station.(Photo: NASA)

Soups On

Sit-down dinners are for earthlings.

Meals on the ISS look more like space take-out, and dining is designed so feasts dont float away. Astronauts gather for meals but usually hover near each other and dip long-handled spoons into individually portioned pouches of pre-made food, Wilmore said.

Cooking consists of heating food packets in a briefcase-like apparatus fitted with a hot plate and springs to hold the package in place. The station also stocks dehydrated meals that are lighter to ship and stay preserved longer than military-style Meals Ready to Eat (MREs). Salt and pepper in liquid form help spice things up.

You can eat anything with the right condiments, said Wilmore, a fan of ISS meatloaf and chicken with peanut sauce.

An astronauts diet must prevent weight loss, which can damage bones and muscles and cause cardiovascular stress and other health complications, explained Scott Smith, lead scientist in the Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Crewmembers also take vitamin D supplements to offset months without sunlight and drink plenty of water to compensate for the stations dry environment, Smith said.

Since 2009, the ISS has processed condensation from the stations air and recycled astronauts urine to provide drinking water.

It is the best water I have ever tasted, Wilmore claimed. Its fantastic.

International Space Station Expedition 42 Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore shows off a ratchet made with a 3-D printer aboard the vessel.(Photo: NASA)

Weightless Workout

Astronauts on the ISS barely break a sweat performing triple flips mid-air, but the weightless environment requires strenuous daily workouts to stay strong.

Without gravity to provide resistance, astronauts risk losing endurance, strength, power, coordination, balance and agility. Weakness and bone loss are equivalent to being in bed for six months, said Mark Guilliams, a NASA strength, conditioning and rehabilitation specialist.

Astronauts lose 1 percent to 2 percent of their bone mass during flight and can lose more than 10 percent of muscle strength during a six-month space station expedition.

To counteract these side effects, crewmembers follow strength training and cardiovascular protocols two hours a day, six days a week.

Their gym consists of three machines scattered amid the stations scientific experiments: a treadmill fitted with a harness and bungee cords to keep the user in place; a stationary bicycle that can be ridden without a seat or handlebars; and a type of weight resistance machine called the aRED, or advanced Resistive Exercise Device.

Astronaut Sunita Williams shook up her workout by running the Boston Marathon on the ISS treadmill in 2007 (unofficial time: 4:24) and completing the first space triathlon in 2012 (unofficial time: 1:48:33), using all three exercise devices to simulate the race.

Goodnight Moon

Sweet dreams can be elusive, especially when your head floats above your pillow and the sun rises every 45 minutes.

Astronauts often suffer insomnia as they adjust to strange light cycles, body fluid shifts and zero gravity, said Dr. Smith Johnston, who leads NASAs fatigue management program at the Johnson Space Center.

ISS astronauts sleep in small pods about the size of a phone booth that contain a sleeping bag and personal belongings. At bedtime, they crawl into their bag and float with their hands and head bobbing.

Sleep deprivation is a serious health concern. ISS astronauts average only about six hours of sleep even fewer during busy periods, such as when the shuttle docks, Johnston said.

Next year, NASA plans to replace the stations fluorescent lights with LEDs programmed to produce light that will help the astronauts bodies differentiate day from night.

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Astronauts Adapt to Life on Board the Space Station

A Russian Progress cargo ship carrying 3.1 tons of supplies and equipment, visible at left, moves in for docking at the aft port of the International Space Station's Zvezda command module. Visible in the foreground are another Progress supply ship and the Soyuz TMA-17M crew ferry craft.

NASA TV

An automated Russian Progress supply ship docked at the International Space Station Thursday evening six hours after launch from Kazakhstan, bringing 3.1 tons of supplies and equipment to the outpost after a problem-free rendezvous.

"A flawless journey of six hours three minutes for the Progress 61 cargo craft," reported Rob Navias, NASA's mission control commentator. "All the pre-programmed engine firings to increase its altitude and to begin the journey to catch up to the International Space Station went by the book, with no issues whatsoever."

The mission began at 12:49:40 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 10:49 p.m. local time) when the cargo ship's Soyuz booster roared to life and climbed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, two minutes after the space station passed overhead.

Lighting up the night sky, the rocket quickly arced away to the east, flying directly into the plane of the station's orbit to kick off a four-orbit rendezvous.

Just under nine minutes after liftoff, the Progress M-29M/61P spacecraft separated from the booster's upper stage and a few seconds after that, it's two solar panels and navigation antennas unfolded and locked in place as planned.

The Progress M-29M/61P cargo ship takes off atop a Soyuz booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

NASA TV

Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko were standing by at a work station inside Zvezda, ready to take over by remote control if necessary. But there were no problems, and the cargo craft moved in for docking as planned at 6:52 p.m. as the two spacecraft sailed 252 miles above the north Atlantic Ocean.

The M-29M/61P vehicle is a welcome addition to the station, bringing 6,373 pounds of equipment and supplies to the lab complex: 1,940 pounds of propellant, 926 pounds of water, 110 pounds of oxygen and 3,397 pounds of dry cargo, including spare parts, crew supplies and other gear.

The station's six-man crew -- Expedition 45 commander Scott Kelly, cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindren, Volkov and Kononenko -- plan to open hatches and start unloading the spacecraft Friday.

NASA and its partners like to maintain a six-month reserve of critical supplies aboard the lab complex to protect against the possibility of a launch failure or some other mishap that might disrupt the supply train.

In a dramatic reversal of fortune, a Progress supply ship was lost in a launch failure last April followed by a SpaceX resupply mishap in June. Those back-to-back failures, along with the loss of an Orbital Science Cygnus cargo ship late last year, reduced the station's reserves to well under four months.

But NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, appear to be well on the road to recovery.

Since the SpaceX failure in June, the Russians successfully launched a Progress mission in July and Japan sent up its fifth HTV cargo ship in August. With the arrival of the M-29M/61P supply craft, another Progress scheduled for launch Nov. 21 and an Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo ship set for launch Dec. 3, the station's reserves should be back to near-normal levels by the end of the year.

The next SpaceX station resupply mission is targeted for launch Jan. 3.

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Russia launches Progress supply ship to space station ...

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'The Martian' Cast's Q&A With Space Station Crew | Video

Soon it'll be possible to (almost) indulge this fantasy without leaving Earth.

A hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, has just unveiled a new suite kitted out to look like the inside of a space station.

Grand Kameha's Space Suite comes equipped with a "zero gravity" bed -- built to look like it's floating above the ground -- and steam bath designed to simulate a view into the universe.

With Ridley Scott's "The Martian" hitting cinemas this month, It could be an ideal escape for someone inspired to seek interstellar isolation.

The suite was designed by German artist Michael Najjar, who for the last three years has been training for a civilian journey to space on board Virgin Galactic, and often uses it as inspiration for his work.

However, those who simply seek a restful place to lay their head at the end of the day might want to stay away.

"The intention was not at all to create a comfortable bedroom," says Najjar.

"It's more about creating an immersive environment which makes the hotel guest feel like living on a space station."

The "zero gravity" bed is designed to appear as if it is floating.

The artist was allowed to let his imagination run riot when designing the room, with the only caveat being that it had to have a bed and a toilet.

It features a two-screen video installation visualizing space debris in Earth's orbit, spotlights inspired by rocket engines, and a shelf shaped like a space glove to hold phones or key cards. The room also has a library of books, audiobooks and films related to space travel, with an automated female voice inspired by John Carpenter's science fiction film "Dark Star" welcoming the guests.

"They will forget that they are staying in a hotel room -- they will feel like being on board a space station," says Najjar.

While in most hotels guests can take a pick of rolling news channels, the Space Suite gets a live stream from the International Space Station and a direct link to NASA TV.

"Space is the final frontier for humankind," says Najjar. ''Current developments in space travel and exploration will have a huge impact on our life on earth in the future. One day we will see hotels floating in space. What we did here is a space station floating in a hotel."

With a price tag of nearly $2,000 a night and an unorthodox concept, who is the Space Suite designed to appeal to?

"A guest who is art loving, a collector, a visitor of Art Basel or someone who would like to have an overall art experience," says Carsten K. Rath, CEO of Kameha.

Patrons will also get to spend an hour in an Airbus A320 flight simulator and try body flying, a training technique used by skydivers which sees them suspended in a vertical wind tunnel.

And if they're curious to meet the man behind the design, they'll be given an opportunity to visit Michael Najjar's Berlin studio and see him there.

Kameha Grand Zurich offers the galaxy getaway two-night package from 1845 CHF ($1,890) per night. This includes bed and breakfast accommodation in the space suite, space amenities on arrival, 1.5 hours body flying /1 hour flight simulation in an A320, a signed book of Michael Najjar's work, a designer art gift, and an invitation to meet Najjar in his Berlin studio.

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Hotel offers $2,000-a-night 'space station' experience ...