Category Archives: Space Station

NASA said Wednesday that it's suspending most of its contacts with Russian officials due to U.S.-Russian frictions over Ukraine and Crimea.

The suspension does not affect operations on the International Space Station, in which the United States and Russia are the main partners. It does, however, affect travel to Russia as well as communication and meetings with Russian space officials.

The decision to suspend most contacts was the subject of discussion throughout the day, and confirmed in a NASA statement issued late Wednesday:

"Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation. NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station.

"NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space. This has been a top priority of the Obama administration's for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches and the jobs they support back to the United States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we're now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017.

"The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It's that simple. The Obama administration chooses to invest in America and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same."

Relations between Washington and Moscow have worsened in the wake of Crimea's secession from Ukraine and its annexation by Russia. However, U.S.-Russian cooperation is essential on the space station, which has been supported by 15 nations throughout its 13 years of operation.

The station is currently commanded by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, with three Russians and two Americans filling out the crew.

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Due to the 2011 retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet, Russian spaceships provide the only means to transport astronauts to and from the station. However, the station also relies on a U.S.-controlled set of solar arrays for electrical power, as well as U.S. and Russian communication links.

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NASA Limits Contact With Russia, Except for Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata installed the canisters that arrived on the Soyuz spacecraft into the Protein Crystallization Research Facility for the JAXA Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) study. The main scientific objective of the investigation is to make fine quality protein crystals in space, and it will show how effective the space station is for investigations of this type. This experiment contributes to society by helping to design new drugs to fight diseases, and new catalysts for the environmental and energy industries.

NASA astronaut Steven Swanson set up blood and saliva collections for theSalivary Markersstudy. The investigationinvolves thecollection ofblood, saliva, urine and a health assessment on six subjects pre-, in- and post-flight to determine if spaceflight-induced immune systemdysregulationincreases infection susceptibility or poses a health risk to crews aboard the space station. The data collected during this study may lead to an understanding of how the immune system is affected by different factors from stress to the environment. The information could be used to help develop new treatments and preventative measures for immune dysfunctions.

The crew installed the 17 dosimeters -- a device for measuring doses of radiation -- that arrived on the Soyuz for the Area Passive Dosimeter for Life-Science Experiments in Space (Area PADLES) study. This investigation uses dosimeters to continuously monitor the radiation dose aboard the space station. Radiation exposure can have significant biological effects on living organisms, and on the biological investigations being done on the station and on the Japanese Experiment Module, known as Kibo.By installing dosimeters at 17 fixed locations inside the Kibo, continuous area radiation monitoring can be provided. The dosimetry technique is already used for dose management of radiation workers in high-energy accelelators. The high-speed microscope scanning image techniques are used in the diagnosis of cancer cells.

Wakata installed the passive dosimeters that arrived on the Soyuz for theDOSIS-3Dstudy. DOSIS-3D is short for Dose Distribution Inside the International Space Station-D. DOSIS-3D measures radiation field parameters such as absorbed dose and dose equivalent at different locations inside the space station, using active and passive radiation detector devices. The aim is to produce a three-dimensional dose distribution map of all segments of the station. This study further enlightens scientists of the use of devices for data collection and how to monitor real-time data. This could prove beneficial to radiation monitoring of commercial airline crews and military flight crews.

Operations were completed for the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES) study. It was deactivated and will be disposed of on H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-5. The main scientific objective of the SMILES mission is to study the recovery and stability of the stratospheric ozone, also known as the ozone layer. SMILES is the first aboard mechanically cooled superconducting mixer and high-resolution system for measuring atmospheric minor constituents related to stratospheric and mesospheric chemistry. It was launched on HTV-1 in 2009 and operated for over four years.

Other human research investigations continued for various crew members includingJournals,Reaction Self Test,Space Headachesand Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device (SLAMMD).

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NASA ISS Expedition Lead Scientist: Highlights: Week of March 24, 2014

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The International Space Station is pictured in its current configuration, in a 2011 photo.

WASHINGTON The International Space Stationhad to dodge space junk again the second time in less than three weeks.

NASA said the station fired its thrusters Thursday afternoon, moving up about half a mile, to avoid some parts from an old Ariane 5 rocket. The European Space Agency launches Ariane rockets out of South America.

The junk would have come within 1,040 feet of the outpost. NASA said the six man crew was never in danger.

NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said the space agency has had to consider sidestepping space junk dozens of times since the outpost was launched in 1998, sometimes cancelling the orbital dodge at the last moment.

The station moved on March 16 to avoid an old Russian weather satellite part.

The Canadian Press, 2014

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Space station dodges space junk for second time in 3 weeks

Space Station Live: Protein Crystal Growth for Treatment of Immunological Disorders
NASA Public Affairs Officer Brandi Dean talks with Paul Reichert of Merck Research Laboratories in N.J. about the Merck PCG study, which looks at the crystal...

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Space Station Live: Protein Crystal Growth for Treatment of Immunological Disorders - Video

Caffeine (Demo) w/ facecam | GORGEOUS INDIE! | Indie Horror Game
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Geeks: Favorite fictional space station
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Space Station 13 Tutorial #2: Engineering - PA Setup
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Space Station 13 Tutorial #2: Engineering - PA Setup - Video

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Part 1: *Sigh* Goddamnit Crash
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Police Officers #39; Hilarious Holiday Crime Video
Officials try to use humor to spread the message that crime during the holidays is no joke. Tampa Police will expand its efforts to educate shoppers through ...

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Call of Duty: Ghosts Gameplay - Infected on Octane - W/Commentary
See The Full Call of Duty Ghosts Series Here: http://goo.gl/hJVF5k Next CoD Ghosts Episode on: Thursday Call of Duty Ghosts: Team Deathmatch on Stormfront Ca...

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Call of Duty: Ghosts Gameplay - Infected on Octane - W/Commentary - Video