Category Archives: Space Station

SXSW talks to the International Space Station
SXSW connects with the International Space Station using Skype and a few lucky attendees get to ask the questions.

By: Chris Carter

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SXSW talks to the International Space Station - Video

Japanese astronaut takes command of International Space Station
Subscribe to ITN News: http://bit.ly/1bmWO8h The first Japanese astronaut to live aboard the International Space Station took control as commander on Sunday....

By: ITN

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Japanese astronaut takes command of International Space Station - Video

New Commander on the Space Station
Command of the International Space Station was passed from cosmonaut Oleg Kotov to Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on March 9. The ch...

By: NASA

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New Commander on the Space Station - Video

Prophecy Asciu - Space Station Model
One of our RC winners presents the Space Station! [Open for more info] Hello everyone Syms Will here bringing you Prophecy Asciu who really impressed us wh...

By: ProphecyImagery

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Prophecy Asciu - Space Station Model - Video

HOUSTON -- Astronaut Michael Barratt spent more than six months on the International Space Station, making him well qualified for his current job as manager of NASA's Human Research Program, studying the effects of space on the human body.

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CBS News correspondent Chip Reid looks at the Johnson Space Centers Neutral Buoyancy Lab, a pool with an underwater mock-up of the International...

Barratt, a medical doctor, says a more serious problem is that months of zero gravity can leave bones brittle and muscles weak. Fortunately, there's a simple solution: vigorous exercise that offsets the loss of muscle and bone mass.

Tom Marshburn

CBS News

"When I finished my five-month mission, I was able to stand up, walk a straight line, and it's quite an accomplishment," Marshburn says. "We had not been able to do that before."

When not in space, Marshburn works on the strength and dexterity needed for space walks in a giant pool at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. But some effects of space on the human body don't have simple answers.

"It's safe to say that radiation is our biggest concern," Barratt says. "Unfortunately, the space flight environment is a radiation environment."

Astronauts train in a giant pool at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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How astronauts combat debilitating effects of space

Astronaut Koichi Wakata of JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) was handed over command during a ceremony held onboard the outpost early Sunday morning. Wakata, who has been a flight engineer aboard the space station since November, will lead the complex's 39th expedition crew through mid-May.

"I am humbled to assume command of the space station," Wakata said, floating with his crewmates in the Japanese Kibo laboratory. "I am very proud as a Japanese to be be given this important commandership of ISS." [Video: Space Station Change of Command]

- astronaut Koichi Wakata of JAXA

"Welcome Wakata-san," radioed JAXA mission control in Tsukuba, Japan. "It is indeed a special day for the human space program, especially for the people in Japan."

Koichi Wakatais replacing the space station's Expedition 38 commander Oleg Kotov, a Russian cosmonaut who after 166 days in orbit is returning to Earth with cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins on Monday. The departure of their Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft at just after 8:00 p.m. EDT, will signal the beginning of Expedition 39.

"I am really glad to pass command of the space station to my friend, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata," Kotov said as part of the handover ceremony. "So, now it is time to learn Japanese language aboard the station, so arigato!" [Space Station's Expedition 38 Mission in Pictures]

Wakata's initial charge are his two Soyuz TMA-11M crew-mates, Rick Mastracchio with NASA and Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos. The Soyuz TMA-13M crew, including NASA astronaut Steve Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov, are scheduled to lift off to the station March 25 to complete the Expedition 39 crew.

Wakata, now 50, was selected for Japan's astronaut corps in 1992 and four years later became the nation's third full-time astronaut to fly in space.

Over the course of his three prior spaceflights, Wakata set records as Japan's first space shuttle mission specialist, his country's first astronaut to work on building the space station, and the first Japanese crewmember to complete a long-duration stay on the outpost. To date, he has logged more than 280 days off the planet.

Wakata is the first-ever Japanese astronaut to command a space mission.

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Koichi Wakata becomes 1st Japanese astronaut to command space station

hide captionRussian personnel are the first to meet space station crew members when they return to earth.

Russian personnel are the first to meet space station crew members when they return to earth.

Tonight, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryazanskiy, Oleg Kotov and NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins will return to earth from the International Space Station.

Parachutes will open, and the duo's Russian-built Soyuz capsule will touch down on the remote, frozen plains of the central Asian republic of Khazakstan.

But this March is a particularly chilly time for Hopkins to be landing: Russia's military intervention in Crimea is straining relations between the two superpowers. And, while NASA has a team in place to welcome Hopkins home, it's Russian helicopters that will be picking him up.

"We ride with the Russians," says Josh Byerly, a spokesperson at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas.

Despite the current standoff between Russia and the West over the Ukraine, Byerly is confident Hopkins will be able to hitch a ride back to civilization.

"The Russians take very good care of our crew whenever they're out there," Byerly says.

Byerly says that operations aboard the International Space Station have run smoothly throughout the crisis: "Their systems depended on ours and ours depend on theirs," he says.

NASA's dependence on the Russians runs deep. Since the U.S. retired the space shuttle in 2011, Russian rockets are the only way up. That state of affairs is likely to continue for at least a few years to come, until NASA and its partners can fly a replacement.

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Despite Diplomatic Tensions, U.S.-Russian Space Ties Persist

The Small Satellite Orbital Deployer, in the grasp of the Kibo laboratory robotic arm, is photographed by an Expedition 38 crew member on the International Space Station as it deploys a set of NanoRacks CubeSats last month. REUTERS/NASA

Wakata, 50, had been a space station flight engineer since he and two crewmates arrived on Nov. 7.

"I am humbled to assume the command of the space station," Wakata said during a change-of-command ceremony broadcast on NASA Television.

Outgoing station commander Oleg Kotov, flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both from Russia, and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins are due to depart the orbital outpost on Monday. Their replacements arrive on March 26.

Wakata's command marks just the third time the station is being overseen by a crewmember who is not from NASA or the Russian Space Agency, the two primary partners of the 15-nation project.

Canadian Chris Hadfield served as commander from March to May 2013. European Space Agency astronaut Frank DeWinne led a station crew in 2009.

"I am very proud as a Japanese to be given this important command," Wakata, speaking Japanese, said through a translator.

"I think that this reflects the real trust toward Japan and what Japan has achieved over the past years," he said.

So far, four Japanese astronauts have served as space station crewmembers, including Wakata, who previously flew in 2009. Wakata also is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

Along with NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Wakata is scheduled to remain aboard the station until mid-May.

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Space station command a first for Japan

Sending a Hammock to the Space Station to help Deal with Problems of Zero G.
Next video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odpmzZTJsII Prev. video: https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=_NSpjuL4AD0 For article: http://www.science20.com/...

By: Mars and Space Colonization

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Sending a Hammock to the Space Station to help Deal with Problems of Zero G. - Video

Stoveplay: Salamander (MSX) Part II: Space Station Zot
In this installment we mow the outer space equivalent of a lawn: an asteroid field. One option is lost in the process. R.I.P. little buddy... ;_;

By: Stovepipehat

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Stoveplay: Salamander (MSX) Part II: Space Station Zot - Video