Category Archives: Space Station

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Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station have taken a wander over the outside of the station to replace a critical backup computer that conked out.

NASA doesn't do beige boxes, it prefers grey

Flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson swapped out the multiplexer/demultiplexer (MDM) control box in a 90 minute space walk along the side of the ISS. The computer is the backup controller for the station's robotic arm, solar panel controls, and railway system* and failed on April 11 during testing.

The microwave oven-sized grey control box is designed to be switched out easily, given a working environment that makes most Earthbound data centers look pleasant. The MDM has seven four-pin connectors on its base and is fixed with three retaining bolts, so the team simply slid the old one out and replaced it with a spare unit.

After completing the switchover, the unit was tested by crew inside the ISS to make sure all functions were normal. Meanwhile,Mastracchio trimmed a sheet of thermal shielding to protect the unit against heat stress as it moves in and out of sunlight.

"Nice and clean. Great job," Mission control's Jeremy Hansen told the crew after they completed the job in less than half the time allotted.

Although the main external MDM is still working fine, NASA believes in having backup systems ready at all times. The ISS has nearly 50 of the boxes spotted around the station, each handling critical systems, with primary control boxes having between two and four backup MDMs ready to take over.

The spacewalk was made possible thanks to equipment delivered to the ISS by SpaceX's Dragon capsule on Easter Sunday. The 5,000 pounds of cargo delivered included a replacement top half of one of the space suits needed to survive outside of the space station, and replacement parts for the rest, including new cooling units.

Last year, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano nearly drowned on a spacewalk after his suit's cooling system started venting coolant into his helmet. Just to be on the safe side, both Mastracchio and Swanson both wore helmets padded with absorbent material and with snorkels built in to allow for extra breathing time if problems should reoccur, Reuters reports.

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Space station astronauts pop outside to replace crippled computer

April 23, 2014

Imaeg Caption: Project manager John Carver prepares the Advanced Plant Experiment (APEX) at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The study will launch with the SpaceX-3 mission to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA

Growing knowledge in a given field takes time, attention, andwater? It does when youre talking about plant studies aboard the International Space Station (ISS). All of these things and some scientific know-how come into play as astronauts find out just how green their thumbs are while assisting researchers on the ground.

The crew will assist with the Advanced Plant Experiments (APEX) investigation, a series of studies on the effects of the spaceflight environment on biological systems. Next in the APEX series is the APEX-02-2 study that launched to the space station aboard the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon capsule on the SpaceX-3 resupply mission.

SpaceX-3 is the third station resupply flight under NASAs Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Using Petri plates of common brewers yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae, scientists hope APEX-02-2 will help them pinpoint specific changes in the yeasts genetic expression when exposed to microgravity conditions.

Given that yeast is an eukaryotic organism, as are humans, the results will be applicable to organisms higher in the evolutionary chain than bacteria, which are prokaryotic cells. Researchers anticipate that their observations of yeast as a model for how cells adapt to microgravity will help them to better understand how more complex organisms evolve.

Ground testing and processing of the payload took place inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Overseeing the project is payload manager Jose Camacho, who previously managed the Biological Research in Canisters-17 (BRIC-17) space station study, which launched on SpaceX-2 in 2013.

Camacho started his career with NASA as an electrical engineer working in the ISS Electrical Power Systems group and then migrated to integration engineer, or systems engineer. I would say my experience as a systems engineer along with an engineering management degree was what qualified me for this position, Camacho explained.

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International Space Station Crew To Assist With APEX Investigations

[ISS] SpaceX Dragon CRS-3 Hatch Opened
After a successful launch, arrival, capture and berthing to the International Space Station the crew onboard opened up the hatches to gain access to the freshly delivered cargo.

By: SpaceVids.tv

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[ISS] SpaceX Dragon CRS-3 Hatch Opened - Video

International Space Station ISS Radio Communications.
Receiving Station: 2W0GJM on the 7th Feb 2009. Altitude above earth 240 miles. Received with a modest VHF ham radio setup in Newport South Wales UK IO81LO. Astronauts talking to ground station...

By: Gareth McDonagh

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International Space Station ISS Radio Communications. - Video

Space station cargo craft undocks to test automated rendezvous system
An unpiloted Russian Progress cargo ship left the International Space Station for a two-day test on an upgraded automated rendezvous system. After undocking from the aft port of the Zvezda...

By: NASA

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Space station cargo craft undocks to test automated rendezvous system - Video

Earth Day 2014 Space Station Live: Earth Observation From Space #GlobalSelfie #EarthRightNow
Space Station Live commentator Kyle Herring interviews Dr. William Stefanov from the Earth Science Remote Sensing Unit at Johnson Space Center about Earth Observations from space and methods...

By: w1TenMinutes

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Earth Day 2014 Space Station Live: Earth Observation From Space #GlobalSelfie #EarthRightNow - Video

Raw: ISS Astronauts Tackle Urgent Repair Job
Space station astronauts are taking a spacewalk to replace a dead computer and get their orbiting home back up to full strength. The two Americans on board, Rick Mastracchio and Steven Swanson,...

By: AssociatedPress

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Raw: ISS Astronauts Tackle Urgent Repair Job - Video

The Little Space Station that Could, Episode 6
In which I talk about episode 105, "The Parliament of Dreams."

By: Fred Kerns

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The Little Space Station that Could, Episode 6 - Video

Super Mario Star Road - Part 28 [ELITE SPACE STATION]
To be honest I didn #39;t expect another whole new area in this game! But I #39;m excited to see it! 😀 We begin on our epic journey to stop Bowser from taking over the world once again in this ROM...

By: AttackingTucans

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Super Mario Star Road - Part 28 [ELITE SPACE STATION] - Video

Space Station viewing City Lights ~Thailand to the Pacific
Eastern Asia at night, as seen from the International Space Station interesting,... So, some say space is fake,..? Credit: NASA JSC/EOL.

By: liemee watcher

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Space Station viewing City Lights ~Thailand to the Pacific - Video