Category Archives: Space Station

Red sprites, also known as red fairies are a type of transient luminous event (TLE), primarily appearing as red flashes of light occurring above thunderstorms. They are part of a larger family of upper-atmospheric phenomena linked to thunderstorm activity, alongside blue jets and elves.

Discovered only in the late 20th century, red sprites have since captivated scientists and sky-watchers alike with their elusive and spectacular nature.

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured this image of a red fairy hovering above a thundercloud as a part of the Thor-Davis experiment at Danish Technical University. Red sprites, as they are called in scientific circles, are rare Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) that form above thunderclouds. They typically emerge between 40 to 80 kilometers above Earth.

As demonstrated in the Davis camera video, thunder precedes the appearance of red fairies higher in the sky. The Davis cameras uniqueness lies in its operation. It functions more like our eyes retinas, sensitive to light changes, allowing it to capture up to the equivalent of 100,000 frames per second, unlike a standard camera.

The existence of red sprites eluded scientific documentation until 1989, largely due to their brief duration and high altitude.

Pilots had reported sightings of unusual aerial phenomena for years. However, these accounts remained anecdotal until researchers, using high-speed cameras, captured the first images of red sprites. This breakthrough paved the way for a new field of atmospheric research.

Red sprites manifest as reddish-orange flashes, often accompanied by tendrils extending both upward and downward. They typically occur in clusters and can stretch 50 to 90 kilometers above the Earths surface, into the ionosphere. The coloration is a result of nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere getting excited by the electrical discharge.

Red sprites develop in conjunction with large-scale thunderstorm activity, specifically above the intense electrical discharges of positive cloud-to-ground lightning. They are believed to arise from the imbalance in electrical charge between the upper atmosphere and the thunderclouds below.

The study of red sprites offers valuable insights into atmospheric electricity and upper-atmosphere conditions. They play a role in the Earths electrical balance and can impact various atmospheric chemical processes.

Advancements in high-speed photography and observational techniques have significantly enhanced our understanding of red sprites. Satellites, airborne observations, and ground-based photometric arrays are now instrumental in studying these transient events.

Despite advancements, observing and studying red sprites remain challenging due to their unpredictability and brief lifespan. Future research aims to better understand the impact of sprites on the atmosphere and their relation to other meteorological phenomena.

In summary, red sprites, while still shrouded in mystery, offer a fascinating glimpse into the complex interplay of Earths weather systems and atmospheric electricity. Continued research and observation promise to uncover more secrets of these ephemeral lights, deepening our understanding of our planets atmospheric dynamics.

As discussed above, red sprites are a form of upper atmospheric lightning, a spectacular and somewhat mysterious phenomenon that captures the curiosity of scientists and sky-watchers alike. Unlike the more familiar lightning that occurs within clouds or between clouds and the ground, red sprites are transient luminous events that appear high above thunderstorms, reaching into the Earths ionosphere.

The story of red sprites begins with their discovery. Although pilots had reported seeing unusual red lights above thunderstorms for decades, the scientific community largely dismissed these reports until 1989. That year, scientists at the University of Minnesota accidentally captured images of red sprites while filming a thunderstorm. This serendipitous discovery marked the beginning of focused scientific research into these elusive phenomena.

Red sprites are named for their distinct coloration. Typically, they appear as red at higher altitudes and fade to blue at lower altitudes. This coloration is due to the interaction of electrical discharges with nitrogen in the Earths atmosphere. Sprites can take various shapes, including jellyfish-like forms with tendrils extending downward and columnar shapes known as carrot sprites.

Forming at altitudes between 50 to 90 kilometers (31 to 56 miles), red sprites occur directly above large thunderstorm systems. They are fleeting, lasting only milliseconds, and are best observed at night. Their formation is thought to be linked to the intense electrical activity in thunderstorms. When a powerful positive lightning strike occurs within the cloud, it can create an imbalance in the electric field above the storm, triggering the appearance of sprites.

The study of red sprites is not just for aesthetic appreciation. It also holds significant scientific importance. Understanding sprites can provide insights into the electrical and chemical processes in the upper atmosphere. They are also thought to play a role in the Earths global electric circuit, a complex system that involves the entire planets electromagnetic environment.

Research into red sprites is challenging due to their brief and unpredictable nature. Scientists use specialized high-speed cameras and sensitive telescopes to capture and study these elusive events. Additionally, research aircraft and satellites are employed to gain a better vantage point for observing and analyzing sprites.

In recent years, public interest in red sprites has grown, thanks in part to the spread of information on social media and the increasing accessibility of high-quality cameras. Amateur astronomers, astronauts and photographers have captured stunning images of red sprites, contributing to both the publics awareness and the scientific communitys understanding of these fascinating natural phenomena.

In summary, red sprites are a mesmerizing and complex element of our planets atmospheric behavior. They represent a beautiful intersection of earth science and atmospheric physics, offering both aesthetic wonder and scientific intrigue. As research continues, we can expect to learn more about how these fleeting flashes of light fit into the broader puzzle of Earths atmospheric processes.

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Mysterious "red sprite" captured by space station astronaut - Earth.com

In an out-of-this-world example of a tomato rolling under the fridge, astronauts have finally recovered a tomato that had been lost on the ISS for eight months.

Thanks to microgravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS), it wasnt as simple as merely following the logical path of the morsel according to gravity.

Microgravity, according to NASA, is the condition in which people or objects appear to be weightless.

READ MORE! First ever luxury Space Spa is literally like going to heaven

The effects of microgravity can be seen when astronauts and objects float in space, they said.

Think astronauts on tethers during ISS spacewalks to avoid them floating off into infinity its the same phenomenon.

Or the Tesla that Elon Musk launched into orbit.

Or even the tool bag that is currently orbiting Earth at 17,000 mph.

While the tasty tomato couldnt escape from inside the confines of the station, finding it was a mission in itself.

Just ask astronaut Frank Rubio, who lost the infamous tomato earlier this year

Francisco Carlos Frank Rubio is an American flight surgeon, US Army lieutenant colonel and helicopter pilot, as well as NASA astronaut.

He holds the American record for the longest spaceflight at 370 days and so getting a snack in space is something hes used to.

The tomato wasnt just part of a salad, however, it was a vital part of the ongoing experiments intogrowing crops on the ISS.

Astronauts grew salad crops to experiment with types of fertilizer and levels of light that are best for growing produce in orbit.

Astronauts have also successfully cultivated chilies, kale, radishes, and more.

But all that research is hungry work.

When Rubio tried to enjoy the fruits of his labor, one dwarf tomato floated away before he could scarf it.

Per Space.com, Rubio discussed the lost tomato in a livestream following his return to Earth in September after he came back to earth.

I spent so many hours looking for that thing, Rubio said.

Im sure the desiccated tomato will show up at some point and vindicate me, years in the future.

Now, after months of being MIA, the rogue produce has finally reappeared.

The news of its discovery was broken during a livestream to celebrate, not the tomatos triumphant return, but theISSs 25th anniversary.

NASA astronaut, Jasmin Moghbeli, broke the good news.

Our good friend Frank Rubio, who headed home [in September], has been blamed for quite a while for eating the tomato, she said.

But we can exonerate him. We found the tomato.

While you might wonder what all the fuss over a salad item is about, you have to appreciate that, amid the powdered and prepackaged produce astronauts endure, fresh fruit and vegetables are highly prized.

And the toll space travel can take on the human body has been widely researched and documented.

Research has also revealed that, aside from the obvious benefits of nutrition to physical health, the proximity to nature is also beneficial for astronauts mental health and well-being.

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Astronauts find tomato lost 8 months earlier aboard ISS - Supercar Blondie

The space station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during its departure and flyaround on Nov. 8, 2021.

Research to promote health and advance manufacturing were the top science activities aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The Expedition 70 crew will also commemorate 25 years since the first two station modules were connected on orbit.

NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli began her day in the Kibo laboratory module working on the Cerebral Aging study that is exploring neurodegenerative processes. She processed brain cell-like samples inside Kibos Life Science Glovebox to understand the effects of microgravity at a molecular and cellular level. Results may advance research techniques, reduce drug development costs, and improve health on Earth and in space.

Moghbeli later joined astronaut Satoshi Furukawa on Wednesday afternoon transferring cargo in and out of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) finalized his day checking the performance of a spherical robot camera that can operate remotely or autonomously inside Kibo.

Commander Andreas Mogensen worked in the Destiny laboratory module on fiber optics research installing experiment hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox. The advanced physics study may benefit Earth and space-based applications such as laser surgery, remote-sensing, atmospheric monitoring, and optical data communications. Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) wrapped up his day cleaning orbital plumbing hardware.

NASA Flight Engineer Loral OHara from NASA began her day inside the Columbus laboratory module removing electronic components from life science hardware. Afterward, she spent the rest of the day inside Kibo supporting more space biology work.

In the orbital outposts Roscosmos segment, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko serviced a carbon dioxide removal device then repositioned eggs in an incubator for a new biology experiment. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub worked on cargo and water transfers from the newly docked Progress 86 cargo craft. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov worked on an oxygen generator, cleaned ventilation systems, then watered and photographed plants growing for a Roscosmos space botany study.

At 12:25 p.m. EST on Wednesday, all seven space station crew members will gather in the Harmony module for a live television conference commemorating 25 years of space station assembly. The orbital septet will receive a call from NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana and International Space Station Program Manager Joel Montalbano discussing the stations evolution and its impact on Earth and space industries. Cabana commanded space shuttle Endeavour during the STS-88 mission on Dec. 6, 1998, when the Zarya and Unity modules were mated. The shuttles Canadarm robotic arm grappled Zarya and mated it to Unity stowed in Endeavours payload bay.

Watch live on the NASA+ streaming service via the web or theNASAapp. Coverage also will air live on NASA Television, YouTube, and on the agencyswebsite. Learn how tostream NASA TVthrough a variety of platforms including social media.

Learn more about station activities by following thespace station blog,@space_stationand@ISS_Researchon X, as well as theISS FacebookandISS Instagramaccounts.

Get weekly video highlights at:https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Health, Manufacturing Science Day Before Station's 25th Anniversary - NASA Blogs

The end is nigh. Death Note

The International Space Station is celebrating its 25th birthday even as NASA prepares to put it out to pasture.

In a live-streamed talk pegged to the quarter-century anniversary of the ISS, the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the floating habitat took questions about a variety of topics, including the detritus that's accumulated in the station's Unity Module, the look of lightning from above the Earth, and the spirit of international cooperation.

But one topic notably didn't make the list: the station's projected demise as it careens towards its inevitable end.

Indeed, NASA has quietly been preparing to "retire" the space station which was only designed to support operations for 15 years but has now gone on for a whole other decade by the end of 2030.

While the agency is openly discussing plans to replace the ISS with commercially-owned "destinations," there's been relatively little talk about what has to be done between now and then.

And officials are already concerned about the possibility of something going wrong before NASA has a chance to come up with a safe plan to retire the station.

"The day will inevitably come when the station is at the end of its life and we may not be able to dictate that day it is inconceivable to allow the station to deorbit in an uncontrolled manner," explained Patricia Sanders, the chair of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, during a press conference in late October, as quoted bySpace Policy Online.

"[The station] is simply too massive and would pose extreme hazard to populations over a broad area of Earth," Sanders continued. "This needs to be resourced and resourced now if we are to avert a catastrophe."

With all the cracks and leaks associated with its extended lifespan, NASA is, perScientific American,going to have to spend upwards of a billion dollars to safely decommission the ISS so that it doesn't uncontrollably crash into the Earth below.

For all its wear and tear, there's a non-zero chance that NASA may look into extending the aging space station's lifespan should private sector options not be viable in time for its 2030 execution date.

"The timeline is flexible," Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, said during a conference in early November. "Its not mandatory that we stop flying the ISS in 2030."

"But, it is our full intention to switch to new platforms when theyre available," he added.

More on space travel:Scientists Have Bad News for Astronauts'Genitals

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Space Station Turns 25, Just in Time to Die - Futurism

Everyone owes astronaut Frank Rubio an apology.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) in late September, after a record-setting 371 straight days in space. During his lengthy mission, Rubio orbited our planet roughly 5,936 times, covered a distance of more than 157 million miles and inadvertently lost one tiny tomato.

Rubio was among the ISS team who worked on a project called VEG-05, an experiment into how (or if) red robin tomatoes could grow in space. After a 100-day growth period, the inch-long tomatoeswere harvested, but, according to NASA, the astronauts were allowed to examine them, but could not eat them due to the potential for fungal contamination. Rubios sample tomato somehow floated off in the low-gravity environment and wasnt found before his year-plus mission ended.

However, after months of being teased about eating the missing tomato, Rubios name has finally been cleared.

Related: How NASA Made Tang Cool

"We might have found something that someone had been looking for for quite a while," ISS astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli said last week, during a Q&A with the crew still onboard. "Our good friend Frank Rubio, who headed home [in September], has been blamed for quite a while for eating the tomato. But we can exonerate him. We found the tomato."

Mogbeli did not reveal any additional details, like who found the tomato and where on the space station it was located, but still, the mystery is solved.

Story continues

In October, Rubio told NASA that he harvested "the first tomato in space" and put it in a Ziploc bag. But when one of his fellow astronauts did an event with some schoolkids, he decided to take it from its storage place to show it off. "I thought it'd be kind of cool to show the kids," he said. "Then, I was pretty confident that I Velcroed it where I was supposed to Velcro it, and then I came back, and it was gone."

Rubio admitted that he spent "18 to 20 hours" looking for the tomato in the sprawling square footage of the ISS which is roughly the size of a six-bedroom house. "Hopefully, somebody will find it someday, some little shriveled thing in a Ziploc bag, and they can prove the fact that I did not eat the tomato in space," he said.

Mission accomplished, Frank.

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Astronauts Just Found a Tomato That Was Missing for 8 Months in Space - Yahoo Lifestyle UK

"We can exonerate him. We found the tomato." Grand Theft Tomato

A scandal on board the International Space Station has finally been put to bed.

For months now, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has been accused by his fellow crew members in jest, they say, mostly at least of eating a tiny tomato that was laboriously grown on board the space station.

But as it turns out, Rubio was innocent.

"Our good friend Frank Rubio, who headed home [already], has been blamed for quite a while for eating the tomato," NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli said during a live stream celebrating the station's 25th anniversary.

"But we can exonerate him," she added in the footage, spotted by Space.com. "We found the tomato."

Rubio flew to the space station on board a Soyuz spacecraft in September 2022 and made his return just over a year later due to delays caused by the same capsule starting to uncontrollably leak coolant. The unusual incident forced Russia's space program to send a replacement spacecraft, which ended up taking several months.

While he was on board the station, Rubio tended to an experiment dubbed Veg-05, which involved growing tiny Red Robin dwarf tomatoes.

In late March, astronauts were each given a share of the harvest tucked inside Ziploc bags. Rubio says his share, however, floated away before he could eat the fruits of his labor.

"I spent so many hours looking for that thing," Rubio said during a September livestream. "I'm sure the desiccated tomato will show up at some point and vindicate me, years in the future."

In October, two weeks after returning to the ground, Rubio told reporters that he spent "18 to 20 hours of my own time looking for" the errant tomato, as quoted by Space.com.

"The reality of the problem, you know the humidity up there is like 17 percent," he added. "It's probably desiccated to the point where you couldn't tell what it was, and somebody just threw away the bag."

Given Moghbeli's latest comments, he likely was spot on in his predictions.

More on the ISS: Space Station Turns 25, Just in Time to Die

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Space Station Astronauts Find Desiccated Tomato After Blaming Colleague for Its Theft - Futurism

Dec. 5 (UPI) -- NASA officials will mark the 25th anniversary of the International Space Station with a call to the crew Wednesday, and the public and tune in.

"During a space to Earth call at 12:25 EST Wednesday, Dec. 6, the Expedition 70 crew will speak with NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana and Joel Montalbano, space station program manager," NASA said in a press release Tuesday.

NASA will live stream the event on NASA TV, YouTube and via the NASA App.

The commemoration will mark 25 years since the Zarya and Unity modules were connected by the crew of shuttle Endevour on Dec. 6, 1998.

Current NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana was the commander of the STS-88 shuttle mission that assembled the two modules.

"More than 3,300 research and educational investigations have been conducted on station from 108 countries and areas," NASA said. "Many lay the groundwork for future commercial destinations in low-Earth orbit and exploration farther into the solar system."

According to NASA, the ISS has been continuously inhabited for 23 years and has hosted 273 occupants.

The ISS is a rare cooperative project between Russia and the United States at a time of elevated tension between the two global superpowers caused primarily by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday, a Russian Progress spacecraft took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with supplies for the ISS.

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Public can tune in as NASA live streams space station's 25th anniversary call to crew - UPI News

After returning to Earth in September 2023, with the tomato assumably gone forever, the good-natured ribbing continued, and Frank Rubio stood forever accused of secretly eating a part of history. He explained the accidental loss in a NASA video released on October 13, about seven months after the incident, bemoaning the fact that "a proud moment of harvesting the first tomato in space became a self-inflicted wound of losing the first tomato in space."

With the ISS spanning the equivalent space of a six-bedroom home with a gym, living spaces, anda massive 360-degree view window, there areplenty of weightless spaces for a frisky round tomato to frolic, bounce, and hide. But miraculously, eight months after beginning its freedom fling, the tomato has resurfaced to exonerate Rubio.According to fellow astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli during a December 6 commemoration of the Space Station's 25th anniversary, the tomato has officially reappeared.

There's no word yet on whether it's shriveled or a squishy blob, or even where it finally showed itself. But it's a miracle nonetheless. The tomato and its fellow clan members, which were cultivated using soil-less hydroponic and aeroponic techniques, are part of the Veg-5 studyand mission establishing agricultural production in space, supplying fresh food to future space crews aboard the ISS. The agricultural component of NASA's International Space Station also includes a program known asTomatosphere through which students in thousands of earthly classrooms study the effects of space atmospheres on tomato seeds.

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Space Station Crew Proves Missing Tomato Wasn't Eaten By Astronaut - Tasting Table

If it's not carefully retired, there could be "catastrophe." Orbital Threat

The International Space Station will soon need to be retired, having long outlasted its intended lifespan of 15 years and NASA is getting deadly serious about taking it down.

At a briefing on Thursday, the space agency's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) called plans to build a specialized "space tug" to deorbit the station "not optional," fearing human casualties on the ground should it make an uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere.

"The day will inevitably come when the Station is at the end of its life and we may not be able to dictate that day it is inconceivable to allow the Station to deorbit in an uncontrolled manner," said ASAP Chair Patricia Sanders at the briefing, as quoted by Space Policy Online.

"[The station] is simply too massive and would pose extreme hazard to populations over a broad area of Earth," she added. "This needs to be resourced and resourced now if we are to avert a catastrophe."

Deorbiting spacecraft is nothing new for NASA, but the hefty size of the ISS poses a bigger risk and demands greater precision. At 358 feet from end to end, it's easily large enough to crush an entire stadium, that is, if it were to make it through the atmosphere in one piece.

NASA has said that it wants to retire the ISS by 2030, and its plan to accomplish that is using a space tug that will nudge the station into the atmosphere, where it will begin to burn up during re-entry and fall over a remote part of the ocean called Point Nemo.

To "initiate developing" the tug, NASA said it's allocated around $180 million. Actually building it, however, could cost up to an eye-watering $1 billion.

To account for those costs, NASA has asked for a budget boost to $27.2 billion for next year, but the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 signed by President Joe Biden in June means that the space agency will likely suffer budget cuts.

Sanders said if those cuts come through, NASA will have to make "difficult choices," but stressed that the space tug is one of the "few areas that are not discretionary," per Space Policy Online.

Previously, NASA floated the idea of using Russia's already existing Progress spacecraft, which regularly resupplies the station, to perform the deorbiting.

But, given the firm support that ASAP has just thrown behind the space tug plan, it sounds like NASA is dead set on retiring the ISS all on its own with or without its desired budget.

More on the ISS: Cosmonauts Encounter Deadly "Blob" During Spacewalk

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NASA Terrified of Space Station Careening Out of Control and Crashing Into People - Futurism

Two cosmonauts conducting a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday (Oct. 25) got an up-close view of a coolant leak that was first observed flowing from an external radiator earlier this month.

Oleg Kononenko came so close to the growing "blob" or "droplet" as the pooling ammonia was described that one of his tethers became contaminated, necessitating it being bagged and left outside of the space station when the spacewalk ended.

Kononenko and his fellow Expedition 70 spacewalker, Nikolai Chub, also of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos, began the extravehicular activity (EVA) at 1:49 p.m. EDT (1749 GMT) on Wednesday, knowing that one of their first tasks was to isolate and photo document the radiator, which was first observed leaking coolant on Oct. 9. Used as a backup to a main body radiator that regulates the temperature inside Russia's Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, Kononenko and Chub configured a number of valves to cut off the external radiator from its ammonia supply.

Related: International Space Station Everything you need to know

After that was complete and before noticing the growing deposit of liquid coolant, Kononenko reported seeing a myriad of small holes on the surface of the radiator's panels.

"The holes have very even edges, like they've been drilled through," Kononenko radioed to the flight controllers working in Moscow Mission Control. "There are lots of them. They are spread in a chaotic manner."

The "blob" was believed to have formed from the residual ammonia that was disturbed when the work was done to close the valves. Knowing in advance they might come in contact with the coolant, the cosmonauts were prepared with tissues and cloths to wipe down their spacesuits and tools so as to not bring any the toxic material back inside the space station.

Russian engineers on the ground will use the data collected by the cosmonauts to further determine the cause for the leak and what steps might be taken to return the radiator to use in the future.

In addition to the radiator inspection, Kononenko and Chub also worked to install a synthetic radar communications system and released a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology. The radar, which will be used to monitor Earth's environment, was the first science payload to be mounted on Nauka's exterior. The radar's panels only partially deployed, and an attempt by the cosmonauts to get it to fully deploy was not successful.

The cube-shaped smallsat, which was developed by a team at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, was designed to test a means for deploying an experimental solar sail. With a little coaxing, the nanosatellite emerged from its housing and slowly tumbled away from the space station, but the solar wings did not extend when planned.

The 7-hour, 41-minute spacewalk came to its end with the hatch being closed to the Poisk module airlock at 9:30 p.m. EDT (0130 GMT on Oct. 26).

The EVA was the 268th in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades. It was the first by Chub and the sixth spacewalk by Kononenko, who has now logged a total of 41 hours and 43 minutes working in Orlan spacesuits in the vacuum of space.

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Cosmonauts on ISS spacewalk encounter toxic coolant 'blob' while inspecting leaky radiator - Space.com