Category Archives: Space Station

ATV-5 launch campaign (timelapse)
This time-lapse video shows the ATV-5 Georges Lemaitre loading process and its integration on the Ariane 5 launcher before its transfer and launch to the International Space Station from Europe #39;s...

By: European Space Agency, ESA

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ATV-5 launch campaign (timelapse) - Video

Space Station 76 Official Trailer 1 2014 Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson Sci Fi Comedy HD
Space Station 76 Official Trailer 1 2014 Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson Sci Fi Comedy HD.

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Space Station 76 Official Trailer 1 2014 Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson Sci Fi Comedy HD - Video

UFOs Visiting Space Station, Aug 31, 2014
Date of sighting: August 31, 2014 Location of sighting: Space Station ISS Live Cam: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/iss_ustream.html#.VAPSMhZiCtY Theres glowing orbs were seen yesterday...

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UFOs Visiting Space Station, Aug 31, 2014 - Video

Cazzia #39;s Failed Space Station
build with your tool to survive monstersnn Visit this place at http://www.roblox.com/Build-To-Survive-Monsters-place?id=48368745nnFor more games visit http://www.roblox.com.

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Cazzia's Failed Space Station - Video

The first 3D printer ever to fly in space will blast off this month, and NASA has high hopes for the innovative device's test runs on the International Space Station.

The 3D printer, which is scheduled to launch toward the orbiting lab Sept. 19 aboard SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo capsule, could help lay the foundation for broader in-space manufacturing capabilities, NASA officials said. The end result could be far less reliance on resupply from Earth, leading to cheaper and more efficient missions to faraway destinations such as Mars.

"The on-demand capability can revolutionize the constrained supply chain model we are limited to today and will be critical for exploration missions," Niki Werkheiser, manager of NASA's "3-D Printing in Zero-G" project at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement. [3D Printing in Space (Photo Gallery)]

3D Printing in Zero-G is a collaboration between NASA and California-based startup Made in Space, which built the machine that's heading to the space station this month. The microwave-size 3D printer was cleared for flight in April after an extensive series of tests at Marshall.

3D printers build objects layer by layer out of metal, plastic, composites and other materials, using a technique called extrusion additive manufacturing. NASA hopes Made in Space's device works normally aboard the station, thus demonstrating that 3D printers can produce high-quality parts in space as well as on Earth.

If that turns out to be the case, replacing a broken part or tool aboard the orbiting lab could be a matter of simply pushing a button.

"I remember when the tip broke off a tool during a mission," said NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer, who lived aboard the space station from December 2009 to June 2010. "I had to wait for the next shuttle to come up to bring me a new one. Now, rather than wait for a resupply ship to bring me a new tool, in the future, I could just print it."

It will likely take the 3D printer from 15 minutes to an hour to print something aboard the space station, depending on the size and complexity of the object, researchers said. Blueprints for desired parts can be loaded onto the machine before launch or beamed up from the ground.

"This means that we could go from having a part designed on the ground to printed in orbit within an hour or two from start to finish," Werkheiser said.

While the space station is the proving ground for this test, NASA officials see great potential for 3D printing beyond low-Earth orbit. For example, deep-space missions could benefit greatly from the technology, because it would be tough to ferry a spare part to a vessel already on its way to an asteroid or Mars.

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World's First 3D Printer in Space Will Launch This Month

Do space and alcohol mix? We already know that beer has a cozy relationship with space culture, but now its time to raise an orbital dram. In an alcoholic first, small samples of whisky will return to Earth this month after a three-year stay on the International Space Station.

NEWS: Space Beer Brewed With Lunar Dust? Ill Have a Pint!

As one of the experiments installed in the stations NanoRacks system, the samples were sent into space by the scotch whisky company Ardbeg to see how the spirit matured in microgravity when compared with samples that matured on Earth.

According to the company website, The vials contained a class of compounds known as terpenes. Ardbeg was invited by U.S.-based space research company NanoRacks LLC to take part in testing these micro organic compounds in a maturation experiment (the interaction of these compounds with charred oak) between normal gravity on Earth and micro-gravity i.e. space.

This experiment is one of many industry-driven interests to see how the microgravity environment impacts chemical processes, but this is the first to focus on the maturation process in whisky.

ANALYSIS: Space Beer Reaches for Final Frontier

Ardbegs vials will return to Earth on Sept. 11 on board a Russian Soyuz space capsule that is ferrying NASA astronaut Steve Swanson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev. The Soyuz TMA-12M will parachute onto the Kazakhstan Steppes and the whisky samples will be rushed to Houston so tests can be carried out.

After arriving in the Houston lab, it will be the teams task to proceed to unlock the mysteries of maturation, through the study of the interaction between Ardbeg-crafted molecules and charred oak, both in micro-gravity (in orbit) and normal gravity (in Ardbegs Warehouse 3), says the company's website.

ANALYSIS: Forget Space Beer, Order Meteorite Wine Instead

Should there be a chemical difference between the space and terrestrial samples, it will be interesting to see how it may change the way whisky is matured in the future. If theres no change, the experiment is at least a great means of publicizing our unique orbital laboratory, where hundreds of groundbreaking experiments are routinely carried out.

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'Space Whisky' to Return After Space Station Voyage

Riddle: It's the size of a small microwave, and it may alleviate the need for NASA astronauts to wait for resupply ships to arrive at theInternational Space Stationto get some essential items.

Answer: A3-D printer-- the first ever to be flown to space. And it could change the way NASA does business aboard the space station.

The 3-D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration (3-D Printing In Zero-G), led out of NASAsMarshall Space Flight Centerin Huntsville, Alabama, provided a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award toMade In Space Inc.to build the first 3-D printer for operation in microgravity. It is scheduled to launch to the station aboard the SpaceX-4 resupply mission.

The project is supported by three NASA customers: the International Space Station Technology Development Office at the agency'sJohnson Space Center in Houston; theAdvanced Exploration Systemsdivision within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington; and theGame Changing Development Programwithin the Space Technology Mission Directorate, also at NASA Headquarters.

Researchers hope to show a 3-D printer can work normally in space and produce parts equitable to those printed on the ground. It works by extruding heated plastic, which then builds layer upon layer to create three-dimensional objects. Testing this on the station is the first step toward creating a working "machine shop" in space. This capability may decrease cost and risk on the station, will be critical when space explorers venture far from Earth and will create an on-demand supply chain for needed tools and parts.

If the printer is successful, it will not only serve as the first demonstration of additive manufacturing in microgravity, but it also will bring NASA and Made In Space a big step closer to evolving in-space manufacturing for future missions to destinations such as an asteroid and Mars.

Long-term missions would benefit greatly from onboard manufacturing capabilities. Data and experience gathered in this demonstration will improve future 3-D manufacturing technology and equipment for the space program, allowing a greater degree of autonomy and flexibility for astronauts.

"I remember when the tip broke off a tool during a mission," recallsNASA astronaut TJ Creamer, who flew aboard the space station during Expedition 22/23 from December 2009 to June 2010. "I had to wait for the next shuttle to come up to bring me a new one. Now, rather than wait for a resupply ship to bring me a new tool, in the future, I could just print it."

So, if something breaks, like a wrench for instance, how long will it take to print one? It depends on the size and complexity of the part. Depending on these factors, it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to print a part on the station. The computer-aided design model, which serves as the instructions, can be pre-loaded on the printer or uplinked from the ground to the station printer. It requires minimal crew time as it can be operated primarily from ground control at Marshall's Operations Support Center.

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3-D Printer Could Turn Space Station into 'Machine Shop'

The technology powering robotic arms in space could be used to perform minor surgeries for children on Earth.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) the manufacturer of the robotic arms Canadarm and Canadarm2 is now part of a project called KidsArm. The effort aims to use a mini-arm to automate some tasks during pediatric surgery.

Both space robotic arms were used to build the International Space Station. While Canadarm now only exists in space as a modified boom, Canadarm2 is still used today to capture the commercial Dragon and Cygnus cargo spacecraft visiting the station, and to assist astronauts during spacewalks, among other tasks. [The International Space Station in Pictures]

"Our tests indicate we can operate on tiny structures such as blood vessels without damaging them," said Thomas Looi, the program director for the Centre for Image-Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention at the Hospital for Sick Kids (SickKids) in Toronto, said in a statement.

"The goal of the robotic arm is to help doctors perform certain procedures many times faster than if they were only using their hands, and with increased accuracy," Looi added. "Some of this would be done autonomously. While we are not quite there yet, KidsArm is able to perform three to five suture points autonomously."

KidsArm includes a vision-based system that works like robotic eyes, allowing guiding a small surgical arm to be guided to the spot it needs to reach in order to do its work. To figure out where to suture, KidsArm uses a stereo camera that creates a "3D point cloud" of spots to guide the tool tip into the zone.

KidsArm is in testing right now at SickKids to see if it will be useful for anastomosis, a procedure that involves connecting vessels and similar parts of the body. Researchers are testing the accuracy of the robotic arm's camera pointing system, and how well it puts in the sutures.

SickKids announced the project in a NASA news release, but In a NASA press release, did not disclose when doctors plan to use the technology regularly for surgeries.

MDA is involved in several other surgical robotic arm projects. The company was a co-creator of the University of Calgary's neuroArm, which works inside an MRI and did its first operation in 2008. A new generation of arm is being developed for commercial use.

Additionally, MDA and Ontario's Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation have a robotic arm, called Image-Guided Autonomous Robot, under clinical testing that could be useful for breast cancer diagnosis and surgery.

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Space Robot Arm Tech Could Help Surgeons Operate on Kids

NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore, who is making final preparations for his launch this month to the International Space Station, will be available for live satellite interviews from6-7 a.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 8.

Wilmore will participate live from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City,Russia. The interviews will be preceded at5:30 a.m.by a video highlighting his mission training and previous spaceflight.

To schedule an interview time, reporters should contactSeth Marcantelat 281-792-7515 no later than3 p.m.,Friday, Sept. 5.

Wilmore hails fromMt. Juliet, Tennesseeand earned degrees fromTennessee Technological Universityand theUniversity of Tennessee. He is a captain in the U.S. Navy and has accumulated almost 7,000 flight hours and 663 carrier landings in tactical jet aircraft. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and piloted space shuttle Atlantis during the STS-129 mission inNovember 2009. The 10-day mission delivered 30,000 pounds of replacement parts and supplies to the space station.

Wilmore's crew mates are cosmonauts Alexander Samoukutyaev andElena Serovaof the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). The three will launch to the station aboard a Soyuz spacecraftSept. 25from the Baikonur Cosmodrome inKazakhstan. At the space station, they will join Expedition 41 astronautsReid Wisemanof NASA,Alexander Gerstof the European Space Agency and cosmonaut Maxim Suraev of Roscosmos, who launched to the station inMay 2014.

The crew will continue supporting several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science currently under way and scheduled to take place aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Wilmore will assume command of Expedition 42 in November when Expedition 41 returns home. He is scheduled to return to Earth with Samoukutyaev and Serova inMarch 2015.

Media participating in the live shots must tune to NTV-3. Satellite tuning information is available at:

http://go.nasa.gov/1pOWUhR

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NASA Astronaut Butch Wilmore Available for Interviews Before His Space Station Mission

Space Station Flies Through an Aurora | Time-lapse | Video
More space news and info at: http://www.coconutsciencelab.com - time-lapse created by the ISS Expedition 40 crew, taken as the space station sailed through a...

By: CoconutScienceLab

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Space Station Flies Through an Aurora | Time-lapse | Video - Video