Category Archives: Space Station

NASA Antares Rocket Explosion [HD] [FULL]
A rocket exploded just after it launched from a NASA launchpad on Virginia #39;s eastern shore bound Tuesday evening on a supply mission to the International Space Station. Scientists were scrambling...

By: Chuck Norris

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NASA Antares Rocket Explosion [HD] [FULL] - Video

Explosion Destroys Antares Rocket Bound for Space Station | NASA | Video
More space news and info at: http://www.coconutsciencelab.com - an unmanned Orbital Sciences Antares rocket loaded with supplies for the International Space ...

By: CoconutScienceLab

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Explosion Destroys Antares Rocket Bound for Space Station | NASA | Video - Video

NASA Holds News Conference Following Orbital Launch Mishap
NASA held a news conference Tuesday October 28 following the mishap that occurred at NASA #39;s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during the attempted launch of Orbital Sciences Corp #39;s Antares...

By: NASA

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NASA Holds News Conference Following Orbital Launch Mishap - Video

Libertarian Rocket Fail
Libertarians attempt to add credibility to their movement by attempting to send supplies to the International Space Station.

By: Charles Topher - Ifyouonlynews.com

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Libertarian Rocket Fail - Video

Aurora over New Zealand
This timelapse video was taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst as he flew over New Zealand on the International Space Station at around 400 km altitude. The nighttime video shows an aurora...

By: European Space Agency, ESA

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Aurora over New Zealand - Video

Aurora, Flyover in High Definition, International Space Station
Aurora australis and aurora borealis as viewed from the International Space Station. Auroras are caused by charged particles entering the atmosphere from above causing ionisation and excitation...

By: Selmesfilms

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Aurora, Flyover in High Definition, International Space Station - Video

Astronaut Megan McArthur in the suit-up facility about four hours from launch, 11 May 2009. Image by Michael Soluri

Its a beautiful October morning in Houston, but I am grumpy and bleary-eyed as I make my way into Mission Control. Ive just come off a string of Orbit 1 shifts (midnight to 0800) working as CAPCOM in the International Space Station Mission Control Center. (CAPCOM is the call sign for the astronaut on the ground who speaks to the crews that are in space.) Now Ive slam-shifted back to daylight hours to work as CAPCOM during a simulation of the rendezvous planned for an upcoming shuttle mission.

I see my friend Ray J in the parking lot, and he waves me over. Ray J is a pilot in the astronaut class ahead of mine. Weve flown dozens of training flights together in the T-38, and he is a good friend and mentor. And he is always smiling, even at 0645. We chat for a minute, which mainly involves me complaining about my schedule, and then he asks, So, have you talked to Scooter lately? I raise my eyebrows at him. Scooter is way senior to me, a flown guy, a space shuttle commander. Of course I havent talked to Scooter. Scooter sometimes stops by the office I share with Mike Massimino because they flew on the last Hubble mission together, but its not like hes coming there to shoot the breeze with me. So I say, No. Why do you ask? Oh, says Ray J nonchalantly, I was just wondering how hes doing.

That was weird, I think as I head into Mission Control. But then I forget all about it and spend the next ten hours working the simulation. That evening, as Im propped up on the couch at home trying to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime, my phone rings. Its Steve Lindsey, the chief of the Astronaut Office. This is definitely weird. Why is he calling me at home? This cant be good.

He says to me, Ive been trying to reach you, but you havent been at your desk for the last four days. Feeling a little indignant, I mention that Ive been living inside Mission Control all week. Well, he says, how would you like to be the flight engineer and robotic arm operator for the final Hubble mission? And then I just start laughing. Chalk it up to sleep deprivation, or maybe sheer giddiness at finally getting a flight assignment after six years in the Astronaut Office, but I couldnt help it. Steve says, I guess thats a yes! and proceeds to tell me who else is on the crew. Scooter is the commander, of course; Ray J is the pilot; Mike Massimino and John Grunsfeld are the two veteran spacewalkers; and two of my classmates, Drew Feustel and Mike Good, round out the spacewalking team. And then there is me, the last to know. But thats okayIm not complaining!

The next week NASA makes the big announcement. Our crew (now Im on a crew!) gathers around the television in Scooters office to watch. Previously, the final servicing mission to the HST had been canceled, but now Mike Griffin, our NASA administrator at the time, details his reasons for adding the mission back to the flight manifest, and then proceeds to introduce the crew. He reads a brief but glowing bio for each crew member, but by the end he has run out of steam. Megan McArthur will be the robotic arm operator and will, um, perform other tasks as needed. Oh boy. Just call me other tasks as needed. But Im still not complaining. Formerly an oceanographer, I am now the flight engineer and robotic arm operator on the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescopea telescope that has forever altered mankinds view of the universe and our place within it. I am thrilled.

May 2009: Release of the Hubble for the last time from the cargo bay of a space shuttle. Image by Michael Soluri

After all these years, training for an actual mission is incredible. And what a mission: launch in a space shuttle, rendezvous with another free-flying spacecraft in orbit around the Earth, grab that spacecraft and load it into the space shuttles payload bay, conduct five space walks in five days, let the spacecraft go, come home. I can hardly believe I get to be a part of all this. I can hardly believe Im the one who has to capture the telescope! Its not like Im the first person to ever grab the Hubble. But it will still be the first time Ive done it, right?

Well, yes and no. A large part of my training is spent learning how to capture the HST in every scenario my instructor, Linda Snider, can imagine. The telescope attitude control might be broken, so the telescope is spinning rather than stable. The robotic arm might be partially broken, so it can only move a single joint at a time. So many things can go wrong, and I have to learn how to respond to all of them. The first time I sit down with Linda to grab the telescope, we use a desktop simulator. I break into a cold sweat and squeeze the hand controllers so hard its a wonder that I dont crush them. When I finally get a capture, I look at Linda and say with a grimace, Well, that was fun. And she dryly replies, And thats as easy as its ever going to be.

Linda and I spend hundreds of hours in a simulator we call the Dome, where we simulate the rendezvous-and-capture portion of our flight. The Dome consists of a mock-up of the rear portion of the shuttle flight deck and a large curved screen (hence the name). As you look out the rear and overhead windows of the shuttle mock-up, you see an image projected onto the curved screen that represents what you would see out the real orbiters windows during flight. Think of the space shuttle as an extended-cab pickup truck. Take the backseats out of the cab and look out the rear windows into the bed of the truck and youll get an idea of the setup. By the time I get through eighteen months of training, Ive captured hundreds of virtual Hubble Space Telescopes with the virtual robotic arm and placed them in the virtual bed of our space pickup truck. Telescope upside down or spinning, robotic arm bustedyou name it, and thanks to Linda, I can do it.

Continued here:
What It Was Like to Capture the Hubble Space Telescope

TheInternational Space Station, co-managed bythe U.S. andRussia, was awarded Germany's Peace ofWestphalia Prize onSaturday forfacilitating cooperation between theonce-bitter adversaries.

Theprize takes its name fromthe landmark 1648 Treaty ofWestphalia, which ended decades ofwar between theEuropean powers anddefined thenation state as asovereign entity, laying thegroundwork forthe international system as we understand it today.

Other notable winners ofthe prize include former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan andformer German chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

"The success ofthis 'outpost ofhumanity' inspace proves that peaceful international cooperation bypartners fromdifferent cultures is possible," theprize's German award group said ina statement.

TheInternational Space Station program, which coordinates the15 partner space agencies that support thespace station andpay forthe $160 billion thestation has cost so far, was up forbut did not win the2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

TheISS has weathered aseries ofpolitical storms inits 14 years ofexistence, earning aspot foritself as one ofthe most productive partnerships ever established between theU.S. andRussia.

Men andwomen who were enemies during theCold War "now live andwork together inclose quarters," thestatement said.

However, thecrisis inUkraine has tested theresolve ofthe space station partners. With diplomatic ties fraying atall levels as Russia andthe West butt heads over Ukraine, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin inMay said that Russia may not be interested inremaining inthe program beyond 2020.

Forthe moment, NASA andits Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, have successfully warded off any further political encroachments ontheir work.

Theleaders ofthe space agencies involved inthe ISS program will hold their annual meeting inParis next week todiscuss thestate ofthe program andits future.

Originally posted here:
Space Station Wins Prize for Work Toward International Cooperation

Space station astronaut Reid Wiseman, preparing to return to Earth this weekend after 165 days in orbit, said Monday commercial spaceflight represents the "next breakthrough" in aerospace technology, and that he hopes Virgin Galactic can ultimately turn that dream into reality despite the fatal crash of the company's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane Friday.

In an interview with CBS News, Wiseman reflected on the SpaceShipTwo mishap and the loss of a space station cargo ship three days earlier, saying "it's tough to watch anything like that."

"I have friends at both of those companies that are working on this, and that touches me pretty closely," he said. "A couple of them are test pilots that I've worked with in the past and I've gotten to know pretty well. So for us personally, it's always tough to see that sort of thing.

"The great part about this industry is, it will be better at the end for both of these mistakes, or mishaps, and we'll pull through. ... We'll figure out what happened, and if it's the correct time we'll fly again, both of these vehicles, and if they determine that they can't, then we'll look for other options down the road. This is a setback that happens in this industry, and there will be recovery, there will be healing, and then there will be success down the road."

But Wiseman said space travel will never be completely safe, "especially not in the launch and landing industry."

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Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two, designed to carry tourists into space, crashed in California's Mojave Desert Friday. The cause of the crash is s...

"But every time you get in your car and drive down the highway there is always a chance, or get in an airplane or even just a thunderstorm passes by and knocks a tree over," he said. "That's part of life, and there's always risk with everything we do. And to me, sometimes the risk is definitely worth the reward. And up here, the reward, at least to me, is huge. So it's worth it."

Virgin Galactic had hoped to begin commercial flights with SpaceShipTwo starting next spring. Designed to carry a crew of two and up to six passengers at a time, the spaceplane is dropped from a carrier jet and then uses a hybrid rocket motor to climb out of the dense lower atmosphere, providing a few minutes of weightlessness -- and an out-of-this-world view -- before gliding back to Earth. Hundreds of would-be astronauts have signed up to fly, paying up to $250,000 a ticket.

But during a test flight Friday, SpaceShipTwo was destroyed a few seconds after its rocket motor ignited high above the Mojave Desert. Pilot Peter Siebold managed to get out of the disintegrating aircraft for a parachute descent to Earth. Co-pilot Michael Alsbury was killed.

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NASA astronaut supports commercial spaceflight

WATCH LIVE: Antares Rocket Explodes Shortly After Lift-Off From Virginia Launch Site
Private Contractor Rocket Explodes After Takeoff NASA: Antares rocket explosion debris hazardous NASA Rocket Explodes on Launch Rocket Explosion: #39;Hazardous Materials #39; Warning Video: US ...

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WATCH LIVE: Antares Rocket Explodes Shortly After Lift-Off From Virginia Launch Site - Video