Category Archives: Space Station

The sensory experience of growing productive crops can also help mitigate the psychological effects of long-term space travel. Theres a certain emotional connection to food that doesnt come from a dehydrated space pantry. Spencer says the team cracked open the door of the APH every day to observe their vegetable companions with all the tenderness of home gardeners. When harvest day came, they batted their bounty around the ISS, taking selfies and delighting in watching the fruits pirouetting around the spacecraft. Even when the sharp heat of that first bite made them scrunch up their faces, the astronauts still reveled in the chiles, which they ate with fajita beef and rehydrated tomatoes and artichokes.

We were thinking no heat, so that [the peppers] wouldnt be dangerous, but maybe the astronauts need a little spice in their life, says Paul Bosland, who along with his colleagues at the Chile Pepper Institute genetically engineered the Espaola Improved chile pepper seeds grown in Plant Habitat-04. (They are the new extraterrestrial pride of New Mexico.)

Working with NASA, Bosland cultivated a variety that could accommodate both the nutritional needs of astronauts as well as the logistics of growing a plant in space. Boslands crosses are designed with Mars in mind: Bred to be early-maturing, compact, efficient under low light, resilient in low-pressure environments, and to pack three times the Vitamin C of an orange to prevent scurvy.

Every aspect of the plants growth cycle was mechanized. Seeds were planted along with a specially-developed fertilizer in a soil-less, arselite clay medium, and each quadrant was equipped with salt-absorbing wicks that protected the seedlings from scorching due to the saline residue of the fertilizer. Once they germinated, the astronauts thinned the plants until only four remained. The 180-plus sensors controlled every aspect of their growth conditions, including adjusting the colors of the lights to stunt their growth and keep them at a manageable two-foot height.

Despite the highly-controlled growing environment, microgravity affected the plants in some unforeseen ways. Without a gravitational tug, the flowers and their pollen-laden stamen grew facing upward. Ironically, that thwarted how the APH was supposed to pollinate themby using fans that pulsed soft bursts of air meant to mobilize pollen, the way a breeze would. Instead, astronauts had to fill in as knock-off bees, manually pollinating them one plant at a time.

Microgravity also posed challenges to watering. As demonstrated by the Canadian Space Agency, water behaves differently in microgravity than on Earth. Unable to fall, flow, or ascend, water creates an aqueous layer enveloping the surface of whatever it clings to. But clingy water can suffocate a plants roots; as Bosland notes, chile peppers dont like their feet wet.

This was one of the challenges APH engineer and Kennedy Space Center research scientist Oscar Monje had to solve. The system recycled water in a closed loop; the entire experiment used approximately the same amount of water as an office water cooler. Moisture sensors regulated the exact amount that adhered to a roots surface. Then any water unabsorbed by the plant would evaporate after humidity sensors created the arid environment peppers crave. Its not a technology thats ready to roll out on say, the moon or Mars. The APH uses a watering system that's not sustainable for crop production right now. But it's good enough for conducting space biology experiments, Monje says.

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Growing Peppers on the ISS Is Just the Start of Space Farming - WIRED

Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano wave goodbye before closing the Soyuz vehicles hatch. Credit: NASA TV

NASA will providelive coverage as Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin along with spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano begin their to return to Earth from the International Space Station.

The trio, concluding a nearly 12-day mission, has bid farewell to the Expedition 66 crew and closed the hatch to their Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft around 2:20 p.m. EST.

They will undock from the stations Poisk module at 6:50 p.m., heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 10:13 p.m. (9:13 a.m. Monday, Dec. 20, Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan.

Live coverageon NASA TV, the agencys website, and the NASA app will begin at 6:30 p.m. for undocking, with coverage of the Soyuz deorbit burn and landing beginning at 9 p.m.

Learn more about station activities by following thespace station blog,@space_stationand@ISS_Researchon Twitter, as well as theISS FacebookandISS Instagramaccounts.

Get weekly video highlights at:http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Visiting Trio Says Farewell to Station Crew Before Undocking - NASA

As the sky clears out over the next several hours, you have two great chances to see the International Space Station. Even better - both of these sightings are at fairly normal times of day, so you won't have to wake the kids up in the middle of the night or get up super early to see it.

The ISS will actually fly over our heads two times Monday morning, but because of its position relative to us, the first one will be hard to spot. The second one will be the one you look for! Just after 7 AM the International Space Station will become visible in our area for seven minutes.

Look toward the west for a bright light moving across the sky. The sky should be clear by that time as we watch the clouds fade overnight. At its highest, the space station will be 49 up in the sky. That's just a smidge more than halfway up, but the flyover on Tuesday will be higher in the sky.

Tuesday morning look for the space station at 6:22 in the southwestern sky. This will be a shorter sighting, but it should be easier to see since it will fly almost directly over our heads. 90 is straight up and this pass will reach a maximum elevation of 87.

The weather may not cooperate as well Tuesday morning, but it's a tough forecast. A few clouds or patchy fog (clouds that form at the ground) may pop up early Tuesday morning that could obscure your view, but those are more likely in Kentucky than in Indiana. Those clouds may also develop a few hours later giving you a great view as the space station flies over.

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Two Space Station Sightings Christmas Week | Weather Blog - WDRB

From 2003 to 2020, these types of measurements were acquired by the 990-pound (450-kilogram) Windsat instrument aboard the U.S. Department of Defenses Coriolis satellite. Windsat lasted well beyond its anticipated lifespan. If COWVR and TEMPEST prove theyre up to the task, they (and small instruments like them) will be able to take the place of larger, aging satellites without compromising on data quality.

They have the potential to improve storm forecasts.

COWVR and TEMPEST will be attached to the space station, which circles our planet in low-Earth orbit from west to east about 16 times per day. Because of the stations unique orbit, the two instruments will spend most of their time over the mid-latitudes and tropics areas prone to storms and revisit them more frequently than sensors in other orbits. The additional data will help scientists better understand storm formation and better track developing storm systems.

COWVR and TEMPEST will also be able to send the data back to Earth faster than some other instruments currently in use, enabling scientists and forecasters to monitor the rapid intensification many storms undergo in near real time. Most satellites communicate with just a few ground stations around the world, and that takes time, said Shannon Brown, principal investigator for COWVR based at JPL. The data could be a couple of hours old before its even on the ground, and then it still needs to be processed.

COWVR and TEMPEST will instead send their data back to Earth via NASAs tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) constellation. TDRS essentially provides a direct data stream. So, once the sensors pass over a big hurricane or cyclone, youre going to get that data instantly, Brown said. Itll be up-to-the-minute observations, which is something not usually available with the traditional approach and something that could save lives.

Their comprehensive data may improve weather and climate model predictions.

The frequency with which COWVR and TEMPEST will take measurements over areas within their orbit will allow them to collect more comprehensive data than other instruments data that is expected to reduce uncertainties in weather and climate models.

The current satellite sensors that measure wind speed and direction at the ocean surface are in Sun-synchronous orbits, meaning that they provide measurements at a given location only in the morning and in the evening, leaving gaps in between, said JPLs Tony Lee, co-lead of the missions science working group. The space stations orbit will allow COWVR and TEMPEST to take measurements across different times of day, reducing those gaps.

Weather and climate models use this type of data to make predictions. The more data that is available, the more accurate the models and the predictions based on them will be.

Theyll shed light on how air-sea interactions affect weather and climate.

The amount of heat and moisture released by the ocean influences atmospheric conditions; likewise, atmospheric conditions, such as wind, influence ocean currents and heat distribution. The more scientists learn about these interactions, the better theyll understand how they affect weather in the short term and climate in the long term.

Getting suitable data to study these interactions can be tricky, though.

The traditional way to study these interactions is by combining measurements from different satellites that have different sampling times of the ocean and the atmosphere, Lee said. This mismatch makes it more difficult for scientists to understand these interactions because we may be looking at wind in one part of the day and looking at rain and atmospheric water vapor at a different time of day.

If successful, COWVR and TEMPEST could change that. COWVRs main purpose is to measure the speed and direction of wind at the ocean surface, and TEMPESTs is to provide the atmospheric water vapor measurements. Since theyre flying together and taking measurements over the same areas, theyll be able to acquire this complementary data at the same time.

Simultaneous measurements of the different variables alleviate the difficulty associated with sampling time differences that come from mixing measurements from different satellites at different times, Lee said. It will also enable them to account for interactions that happen at shorter time scales wind gusts stirring up the ocean and causing it to lose heat to the atmosphere, for example.

Theyll pave the way for future satellite constellations.

If COWVR and TEMPEST perform well, theyll prove that comprehensive data vital to weather forecasting and a better understanding of climate can be obtained in a much smaller package with a much smaller price tag than previously thought.

Because the instruments are smaller and cheaper, organizations could launch three or four small satellites for the same cost as one of the larger variations. A constellation of these small satellites would be able to take measurements of a given area such as over a developing storm far more frequently than a corresponding single satellite could, resulting in even further refinement of weather models and forecasts.

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5 Things to Know About a Pair of Small But Mighty Weather Instruments - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Emulate, Inc., a leading provider of next-generation in vitro models, today announced that the Brain-Chip is being sent to the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory (ISS National Lab) to study the effects of microgravity on human brain physiology as part of the Tissue-Chips in Space initiative sponsored by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the International Space Station National Lab (ISS-NL). The ISS provides an environment where researchers can study human health in microgravity, allowing them to isolate the effects of gravity from other factors that can impact brain cell function.

The Emulate Brain-Chip is the most comprehensive in vitro model of the human neurovascular unit, including the blood-brain barrier (BBB), for preclinical research. It contains five cell types in a dynamic and tunable microenvironment, resulting in in vivo-like gene expression and phenotypic response. Each chip is about the size of a USB thumb drive and contains two fluidic channels separated by a porous membrane. The vascular channel is lined with brain microvascular endothelial cells, while the brain channel contains cortical neurons, astrocytes, pericytes, and microglia. This allows researchers to study BBB function, the ability of drugs to cross the BBB, and the complex cell-cell interactions involved in brain physiology, disease, and drug response.

All 12 chips will be situated in a shoebox-sized piece of instrumentation that was custom designed for spaceflight, which provides automated environmental control, perfusion, fluid sampling, dosing, and fixation as part of the experiment.

Emulates implementation partner, SpaceTango, has an agreement with NASA allowing them to manufacture and deploy commercial payloads to the space station for microgravity research and development. As such, SpaceTango has led the development of the instrumentation and is responsible for overseeing the logistics of sending the Brain-Chip to the ISS.

By comparing the human Brain-Chip response to an inflammatory stimulus under reduced gravity conditions versus its response back on Earth, we will be able to investigate differences in cytokine production, BBB permeability, and morphology, said Daniel Levner, Chief Technology Officer of Emulate. Previous studies, such as NASAs Functional Immune study, have shown changes in endothelial cell morphology in 2D cultures in space as well as many changes in astronaut immune function during spaceflight. Understanding how the immune system interacts with organ biology in microgravity will be important for future research, and we are honored to be a part of this project.

Earlier this year, the Emulate Brain-Chip was honored by The Scientist as one of the Top 10 Innovations of 2021. For more information on Emulate, please visit emulatebio.com.

Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number UG3TR002188. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

About Emulate, Inc.

Emulate is igniting a new era in human health with industry-leading Organ-on-a-Chip technology. The Human Emulation System provides a window into the inner workings of human biology and diseaseoffering researchers an innovative technology designed to predict human response with greater precision and detail than conventional cell culture or animal-based experimental testing. Pioneered at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and backed by Northpond Ventures, Founders Fund, and Perceptive Advisors, Organ-on-a-Chip technology is assisting researchers across academia, pharma, and government industries through its predictive power and ability to recreate true-to-life human biology. To learn more, visit emulatebio.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Emulate Brain-Chip to Study the Effects of Microgravity on Human Brain Physiology at the International Space Station - Business Wire

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SpaceX launched Christmas gifts, goodies and supplies to the International Space Station and got a present in return: the company's 100th successful rocket landing. The pre-dawn liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday was barely visible in the fog and clouds, as the Falcon rocket hoisted a Dragon capsule loaded with nearly 3000 kilograms of gear for the station's seven astronauts. Several minutes later, the first-stage booster landed upright on an ocean platform, six years to the day that Elon Musk's company accomplished its first booster touchdown in 2015. This particular booster was making its first flight. A few days ago, a SpaceX booster made its 11th flight. "It's critical to lower the cost of spaceflight to continue to reuse these boosters more and more times. A hundred is a big milestone, so we're excited about that," said SpaceX's Sarah Walker, a mission manager. "We're also excited to see how few new boosters we have to produce as the years go by." Among the items due to arrive at the space station Wednesday will be: Christmas presents from the astronauts' families, smoked fish and turkey, green beans and fruitcake for a holiday feast. NASA's space station program manager Joel Montalbano wouldn't divulge anything else. "I won't get in front of Santa Claus and tell you what's going to be sent up," he told reporters on the eve of launch. The delivery also includes a laundry detergent experiment. Station astronauts currently trash their dirty clothes; Procter & Gamble Co. is developing a fully degradable detergent for eventual use at the station, on the moon and beyond. SpaceX is ending the year with 31 launches, the most ever by the company. Australian Associated Press

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December 22 2021 - 4:56AM

SpaceX launched Christmas gifts, goodies and supplies to the International Space Station and got a present in return: the company's 100th successful rocket landing.

The pre-dawn liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday was barely visible in the fog and clouds, as the Falcon rocket hoisted a Dragon capsule loaded with nearly 3000 kilograms of gear for the station's seven astronauts.

Several minutes later, the first-stage booster landed upright on an ocean platform, six years to the day that Elon Musk's company accomplished its first booster touchdown in 2015.

This particular booster was making its first flight. A few days ago, a SpaceX booster made its 11th flight.

"It's critical to lower the cost of spaceflight to continue to reuse these boosters more and more times. A hundred is a big milestone, so we're excited about that," said SpaceX's Sarah Walker, a mission manager.

"We're also excited to see how few new boosters we have to produce as the years go by."

Among the items due to arrive at the space station Wednesday will be: Christmas presents from the astronauts' families, smoked fish and turkey, green beans and fruitcake for a holiday feast.

NASA's space station program manager Joel Montalbano wouldn't divulge anything else. "I won't get in front of Santa Claus and tell you what's going to be sent up," he told reporters on the eve of launch.

The delivery also includes a laundry detergent experiment. Station astronauts currently trash their dirty clothes; Procter & Gamble Co. is developing a fully degradable detergent for eventual use at the station, on the moon and beyond.

SpaceX is ending the year with 31 launches, the most ever by the company.

Australian Associated Press

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SpaceX to deliver Xmas to space station - The Inverell Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The next launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is slated for May 2022, company officials announced on Monday (Dec. 13). That is if everything goes as planned.

Teams from both Boeing and NASA have spent the last four months combing over data and inspecting valves on the Starliner spacecraft in an effort to figure out what caused several valves in its propulsion system to stick shut.

"NASA has been working side-by-side with Boeing on the service module valve investigation, including leveraging the agency's materials and propellants expertise to better characterize the potential causes of the issue," Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager said in an agency blog post.

Related: Boeing, NASA zero in on fix for Starliner capsule's valve problem

The agency announced on Monday that the team is aiming to relaunch the Starliner on its second orbital flight test (a mission called OFT-2) sometime in May 2022. At that time, the capsule will launch atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket on a mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

As its name suggests, the flight is a repeat of the company's Orbital Flight Test, which launched in December 2019. That flight didn't quite go as planned, with the craft failing to reach the ISS. (The failure resulted from several anomalies in the vehicle's software.)

Together with NASA, Boeing engineers worked to fix the issues and make sure the craft would be able to safely carry astronauts to and from the space station. To that end, Boeing intended to launch a second flight test in August 2021.

Leading up to that second test, the OFT-2 mission, an issue popped up with the craft's propulsion system: several of the fuel system valves were stuck shut.

After some troubleshooting, engineers were able to unstick nine of the 13 pesky valves, which control the flow of the oxidizer within the fuel system. The leading cause of the anomaly is moisture interactions with the oxidizer, resulting in corrosion that sealed the valves shut.

"Because of the combined work, we have a much better understanding of the contributors that led to the valve issues and ways to prevent it from happening in the future," Stich said. "Boeing remains diligent and driven by the data during its decision making, which is key to ensuring the Starliner system is ready when we fly our test missions in 2022."

To make sure the craft is able to move towards a 2022 launch date, the teams will switch out the service module with one from an upcoming flight. The service module originally planned for its Crew Flight Test (CFT), the first test flight with astronauts on board, will now be used for the OFT-2 mission, and the service module planned for the first operational mission (called Starliner 1) will be used for CFT, company representatives have said.

John Vollmer, Boeing's vice president and commercial crew program manager, explained that while teams were looking into what caused the stuck valves, they were also looking forward at the other service modules to see what they could do to prevent this from happening.

The team will work on the next steps as to how to replace the affected service module. The teams are also analyzing samples of the corrosion on the stuck valves and using specialized tools to see inside the valves.

Engineers are also trying to replicate the conditions both on the launch pad and inside the Atlas facilities at Space Launch Complex 40, which caused the excess moisture to seep into the valves.

NASA, Boeing and the Eastern Range are working together to determine potential launch windows for OFT-2. The first of which will open in May 2022, if the spacecraft is ready.

Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Boeing plans to launch its Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station in May 2022 - Space.com

Perhaps the most famous part of the International Space Station (ISS) is the Cupola, a seven-window observatory module offering panoramic views of Earth and space.

Many ISS astronauts like to spend their free time there, gazing dreamily out of the windows while capturing photos showcasing the beauty of our planet.

But the Cupola is much more than just a place for astronauts to kick back and relax during their downtime. Its also the perfect spot for Earth observation studies, and functions as a workstation for operating the facilitys robotic arm for spacewalks and spacecraft maneuvers.

The Cupola is 3 meters across and 1.5 meters high and weighs about 1.8 tons. It was built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and installed during a Space Shuttle Endeavour mission in 2010, a decade after the ISS went into operation.

This week current ISS inhabitant Matthias Maurer tweeted a shot from the Cupola that hints at the astonishing views that visitors to the space-based facility are able to enjoy.

There's always something to see from the Cupola An incredible view of the Earth, robotic activities of the @csa_asc #Canadarm2, arriving spacecraft & spacewalks. At the moment, you can also see part of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft & #Prichal behind me #CosmicKiss pic.twitter.com/RbydqGuEKO

— Matthias Maurer (@astro_matthias) December 15, 2021

Take note, though the windows arent as large as the photo appears to suggest, with the cameras wide-angle lens distorting the image somewhat. The video below offers a look inside the Cupola and gives a better idea of the true size of not only the windows, but of the module itself.

A little-known feature of the Cupola is its external shutter system that helps protect the windows from tiny meteoroids and orbital debris that could come its way. Closed when the module isnt in use, the shutters also prevent solar radiation from heating up the Cupola and stop internal heat from escaping, according to ESA. You can see the shutters in action in the video below.

ESA says the Cupola provides a shirtsleeve environment for up to two astronauts working in the module. Its internal layout is dominated by upper and lower handrails around the cabin, supporting most of the equipment, and by close-out panels, which cover the harness and cooling water lines.

To explore the Cupola for yourself, check out Google Earths wonderfully immersive feature that lets you view the module from every angle, and in great detail, too.

For more about day-to-day life on the International Space Station, take a look at these videos made by visiting astronauts over the years.

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The space stations window on the world looks huge in this photo - Digital Trends

US agency resumed flights to the ISS last year with its new Crew Dragon spacecraft. (Photo: SpaceX)

Moscow expects NASA to start taking cosmonauts to the International Space Station again and is hopeful that cooperation can resume next year, the head of the Russian space agency was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Russia has been the only country capable of delivering people to the ISS since 2011, when the US space agency retired its space shuttle and divert resources towards deeper space exploration.

But the US agency resumed flights to the ISS last year with its new Crew Dragon spacecraft, on which Moscow expects Washington to find berths for cosmonauts.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, said he and his US counterparts had discussed the issue, alongside extending Russia's participation in the space station's upkeep beyond 2025, according to an interview published by Interfax.

Strained relations between Washington and Moscow have extended into space, but Rogozin said the two agencies planned to finalise the Crew Dragon deal in the first half of 2022 when NASA chief Bill Nelson visited Moscow.

Earlier this month Rogozin mentioned Anna Kikina, the only female cosmonaut at Roscosmos, as a likely nominee for such a flight.

In November, US officials accused Russia of endangering the ISS after generating a debris field in low-Earth orbit that they said would pose a hazard to space activities for years.

In early December, Roscosmos said the ISS had performed a manoeuvre to temporarily swerve away from a fragment of a US launch vehicle.

Click here for IndiaToday.ins complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Moscow hopeful Nasa will take Russian cosmonauts to Space Station from 2022 - India Today

A recent New York Times article declared 2021 The Year Space Got Sexy All Over Again. Jeff Bezos has been flying celebrities out of the atmosphere, there are new stories of aliens and UFOs and in November, astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) almost had to evacuate when Russian space debris started heading their way.

Mark Vande Hei is one of those astronauts. He was raised in Minnesota and is set to break the record for the longest stay ever in the ISS. Host Cathy Wurzer connected with Vande Hei and his colleague Tom Marshburn live in space through NASA's communications team.

Watch part of the interview below:

Vande Hei said he actually enjoyed the adventure of preparing for the evacuation that never was. We got lots of experience closing and opening hatches, he said. He was even treated to a Russian breakfast by his Russian colleagues.

When Vande Hei was young, he thought he had about as much of a chance to become an astronaut as he did to become Spider-Man. He said hes still puzzled and pleasantly surprised to be in space today.

How does an astronaut handle staying in the ISS as long as Vande Hei? He said hes just trying to focus on the moment so that the length of the stay doesnt become overwhelming.

Host Cathy Wurzer interviews astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Tom Marshburn on the International Space Station for Minnesota Now on Wednesday.

Lindsay Guentzel

Vande Hei and Marshburn see potential in recent civilian trips to space by the wealthy. The more people that get up to see the Earth from space, the better off the Earth will be, Vande Hei said, because when people see the Earth from space, he says, they are confronted by the fragility of our planet. Vande Hei hopes the powerful people on these first space tourism flights will be changed, too.

Marshburn added that space travel by the wealthy is hopefully the first step to more affordable space travel in the future.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast onApple Podcasts,Google Podcasts,Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.

Correction (Dec. 15, 2021): A previous version of this copy misspelled Tom Marshburns last name. The above version is corrected and updated.

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This astronaut is from Minnesota and set to break a record in space - MPR News