Category Archives: Space Station

UFO spotted in NASA video of astronauts International Space Station - UFO Caught on Camera!
UFO spotted in NASA video of astronauts International Space Station - UFO Caught on Camera! UFO appears very briefly during NASA YouTube video uploaded last week Shot during a spacewalk...

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UFO spotted in NASA video of astronauts International Space Station - UFO Caught on Camera! - Video

Space Station Spacewalk
Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 41 Commander Max Suraev and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency conducted a spacewalk on Oct. 22 to ...

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Space Station Spacewalk - Video

Two Russian astronauts wrapped up a speedy, 3 -1/2-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace science experiments and jettison two unneeded antennas. Station commander Maxim Suraev and flight engineer Alexander Samokutyaev quickly completed the first task on their to-do list, removing and jettisoning a defunct science experiment known as Radiometriya. The device, installed in 2011, was used to track seismic activity on Earth. Suraev and Samokutyaev then removed a protective cover from a European science experiment that exposes seeds, bacteria spores, fungi, ferns and other samples to the harsh environment of space. The cosmonauts cut cables, removed bolts and tossed away two obsolete antennas from the Poisk mini-research module. The antennas, used to guide visiting spacecraft to docking ports, will remain in orbit for up to a year before Earths gravity tugs them back into the atmosphere, where they will incinerate. Suraev and Samokutyaev also took samples from a window and photographed the outside of the Russian part of the station for an engineering analysis.

The spacewalk, originally planned for six hours, was finished in 3 hours and 38 minutes. The spacewalk was the third in three weeks and the seventh and last outing planned for this year. Next year, NASA plans up to 10 spacewalks to reconfigure the station for the arrival of commercial space taxis, which are expected to begin flying crews to the outpost in 2017.

First published October 22 2014, 1:35 PM

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Space Station Cosmonauts Breeze Through Spacewalk

Have you ever wondered where astronauts train before heading into space? They actually travel in the opposite direction of the International Space Station: they go underwater.

Since 2001, NASA has sent astronauts-in-training to take part in the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) program, alongside astronauts from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. So far, theyve completed 19 missions, each of which comprises a six- to ten-day stay in the habitat.

I had the rare opportunity to join a group of NASA astronauts-in-training underwater at the Aquarius base off of Key Largo, Florida, located 63 feet underwater. The base offers the would-be space-faring candidates the most extraterrestrial experience available while still on Earth. The lab also hosts other underwater adventurers from time to time, and made headlines over the summer when Fabien Cousteau grandson of the renowned explorer Jacques Yves-Cousteau spent 31 days living there underwater with a team of researchers.

While the training program takes place under the waves, an extensive team topside makes it all happen. I first met up with Jesse Buffington, who is the Exploration Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) Tools Development project manager with NASAs Johnson Space Center, in the NASA control room which is an hour (by boat) from the astronauts underwater base. Jesse said that NEEMO has built confidence and self-reliance in trainees while also facilitating hardware development for the NASA technical team. The extreme circumstances and varying landscapes work well to simulate isolated conditions similar to space. We have significantly more confidence and more foundation to make decisions, says Buffington.

Participating astronauts agree. Nicole Stott, who was part of the crew aboard the shuttle Discovery in 2009 and 2011, took part in NEEMO 9, on an 18-day mission, which is the longest NEEMO to date. She says the underwater training really helps prepare astronauts "to live and work in space in an equivocally real experience. The situational awareness is the same, she says. For example, with the nature of the Aquarius extreme environment, you cant just swim to the surface.

Working with the NEEMO program fits in with the goals of Florida International University (FIU), which operates the lab. According to Aquarius Reef Base director Thomas Potts, "FIU's mission is to leverage the unique capabilities of Aquarius to address real-world problems and inspire the next generation of explorers."

It takes about 30 people topside from NASA, FIU and often the Navy to support four astronauts in the aquatic training program. The trainees live in the depths of the ocean, in a space thats not much larger than a small bus, measuring 43 feet by 9 feet, with capabilities of sleeping six persons. Not surprisingly, there is little space for privacy. A full control room monitors the trainees every move through Outland POV hardwired cameras, which stream video back to the base.

To maximize time spent underwater, the divers live in the facility for about a week and do two underwater dives per day, totaling around eight hours of dive time. Sleep is imperative for those in training, and a minimum of eight hours per night is recommended. For nourishment, the trainees live on ready-to-eat packaged foods used by backpackers and campers.

Each NEEMO mission supports a different theme or purpose, and past trips have included training activities like robotic surgery and telemedicine; examining how rovers work in harsh landscapes; researching the physiological and psychological impact of an extreme environment with limited contact; developing hardware, such as biometric monitoring; methods of exercise in an extreme environment; nutrition; the impact of gravity on bones; how space impacts digestion; asteroid mining; and examining different methods for removing samples during a spacewalk.

Currently, only 40 individuals are training as astronauts with NASA, although not all of them will have the chance to participate in NEEMO. Though who have participated get the bragging rights of being an aquastronaut a combination of astronaut and aquanaut,which means theyve spent 24 hours underwater. To put the rarity of those accomplishments in perspective, there are more climbers who have summited Mt. Everest than there are aquanauts. There are even fewer aquastronauts.

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'Aquastronauts' Go Below the Waves to Train for Space

A no-longer-operational experiment package drifts away from the International Space Station after it was released and dropped overboard Wednesday by two Russian spacewalkers. NASA TV

Two cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station Wednesday, jettisoning three no-longer-needed components and carrying out a photo survey of the Russian segment of the lab complex in the seventh and final spacewalk planned by the station crew this year. They completed it all much faster than expected.

Expedition 41 commander Maxim Suraev and flight engineer Alexander Samokutyaev opened the hatch of the Pirs airlock compartment at 9:28 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) to officially begin the excursion, making their way to the top of the Zvezda command module to detach the Radiometriya experiment package.

The no-longer-operational experiment, designed to monitor seismic activity, was released from a work platform and carefully pushed away into space by Suraev. The 207-pound component could be seen slowly departing in the wake of the station, disappearing from view a few moments later.

The cosmonauts then removed a cover from a materials science space exposure experiment package, stowed it in the Pirs airlock and made their way to the Poisk module atop Zvezda where the Soyuz TMA-14M ferry craft is docked.

When the Poisk module was launched to the station in 2009, it carried out an autonomous rendezvous and docking using a Russian navigation system that included a pair of dish-shaped KURS antennas on the forward end of the compartment. Those antennas have not been needed since then and the cosmonauts removed them Wednesday, cutting through cables and unbolting the fasteners holding them to the hull.

Samokutyaev, assisted by Suraev, then jettisoned the antennas one at a time, releasing them to the right rear of the station's long axis. NASA trajectory analysts said none of the components would pose any threat to the station between now and when they eventually fall back into the atmosphere.

Throughout the spacewalk, the cosmonauts used still and GoPro video cameras to document the condition of various components on the Russian segment of the space station. They also collected particulate samples from a window in the Pirs compartment as part of an ongoing study to learn more about how rocket plumes affect various surfaces.

Reid Wiseman, inside the station, did his own photo documentation, snapping pictures of the spacewalkers.

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Russian cosmonauts race through spacewalk

How do space agencies keep the International Space Station from smelling like a sweaty locker room? NASA engineer Robert Frost and retired astronaut Clayton C. Anderson reveal a few secrets.

Retired astronaut Clayton C. Anderson aboard the International Space Station.Clayton C. Anderson

Humans eat smelly things. Our bodies produce stinky outputs. And if we build up a sweat, our clothes start to smell too.

The International Space Station is a big, climate-controlled environment that houses six people at any given time. As you can probably imagine, these humans produce odors just like the rest of us. So how do NASA and other space agencies make the International Space Station a decent-smelling place to live for those stuck there for months at a time?

NASA engineer Robert Frost took to Quora to answer that very question, and his answer is filled with all sorts of engineering goodness. In the ISS' service module, for example, a micropurification unit removes both low- and high-molecular weight contaminants, and a "Trace Contaminant Control Subassembly "does this in the lab environment. Both are serviced regularly and help to keep the ISS smelling fresh.

"Either one is capable of providing the trace contaminant removal for the entire ISS," Frost said.

Astronaut Clayton C. Anderson, who's spent more than 167 days in space, including 159 aboard the ISS, said that though these systems work nearly flawlessly, that doesn't stop some smells from permeating the ISS. Anderson noted that if sweaty clothes aren't dried properly, the air smells a bit like a locker room.

"Oleg Kotov, my Expedition 15 Russian crewmate and our Soyuz commander, liked to stash his used workout clothes above the forward-facing FGB (Functional Cargo Block, Russian Module) hatch," Anderson said. "This was not my favorite choice for the stowage of sweaty workout gear as there was not a very good chance that they would dry out effectively."

Continued Anderson: "I chose to put my nasty shorts/socks/T-shirt onto a handrail in the US segment's Node 1 module. This handrail was near an A/C vent, meaning fresh, cold air would blow across my sweaty laundry for many hours until I donned them -- dry as a bone -- the next day. Decreasing their ability to generate any 'locker room' odors, that special placement also allowed for our environmental systems to easily soak up my sweat and turn it into drinking water for later!"

Some foods, like versions of seafood gumbo, were actually banned from several shuttle missions, and it could take the ISS' systems a few hours to clear that fishy smell out of the hull.

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This is how NASA banishes odors in space

Nighttime in the Space Station Cupola | Fisheye Time-lapse | Video
More space news and info at: http://www.coconutsciencelab.com - time-lapse video taken by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst from the Cupola obs...

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Nighttime in the Space Station Cupola | Fisheye Time-lapse | Video - Video

International Space Station for Wed, 15th October 2014
This is a image taken from the live feed from the International Space Station.

By: dingo001

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International Space Station for Wed, 15th October 2014 - Video

Orbital Cleanup mission 1
the first of a series of flights i #39;m going to send my shuttle on to clean up the derbies from the trashed space station and first shuttle. Music- Beethoven - Symphony No.7 in A major op.92...

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Orbital Cleanup mission 1 - Video

Interview with Commander Chris Hadfield, Canada #39;s first space-walker
Chris Hadfield was the first Canadian Commander of the International Space Station. During his inaugural trip to Australia in 2014, he sat down with Canada Down Under to share why it #39;s important...

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Interview with Commander Chris Hadfield, Canada's first space-walker - Video