Category Archives: Space Station

Alien Space Station or Craft? HD
One million miles out from Earth. SOHO Satellite Photo. Lasco C3. These pictures are easily checked at Link - http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/data_qu...

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Alien Space Station or Craft? HD - Video

Beijing, Sep 20 : A senior Chinese space scientist Friday said China's space station is expected to be opened to foreign astronauts.

"The space station will offer astronauts from around the world opportunities for research and experimentation," Zhou Jianping, designer-in-chief of China's manned space programme, told Xinhua on the sidelines of an international symposium in Beijing.

China's space station is expected to be completed around 2020.

Representatives from more than 20 countries and international organisations exchanged views on space technology cooperation the five-day symposium that ended Friday.

"The space station will use cutting-edge technologies, such as energy and regeneration technologies," Zhou added.

Zhou said China is willing to exchange and cooperate with other countries in the field after the completion of the space station, in order to achieve peaceful use of space resources and mutual development.

The space station has been designed to accommodate three astronauts who will work in half-year shifts during its operation period, but new capsules can be added as and when required for scientific research.

--IANS (Posted on 20-09-2013)

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Chinese space station to be open to foreigners

Space Station Live: Sept. 16, 2013
The Space Station Live recap video for Sept. 16, 2013. Watch the full Space Station Live broadcast weekdays on NASA TV at 10 a.m. CDT. http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

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Space Station Live: Sept. 16, 2013 - Video

Astronaut Chris Cassidy Talks About Conducting Space Station
Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy, who lived and worked nearly six months during Expedition 36 aboard the International Space Station, discusses experiments he c...

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Astronaut Chris Cassidy Talks About Conducting Space Station - Video

Barring a catastrophic malfunction or damaging impacts from space debris, NASA should be able to keep the International Space Station (ISS) in operation at least through 2020 and, with steady funding, careful planning and a bit of luck, through 2028 -- the 30th anniversary of the first module's launch -- officials say.

But reduced power from degraded solar arrays and other crippling consequences of decades spent in the extreme environment of space will slowly but surely take their toll and the cost-benefit ratio eventually will tilt in favor of abandonment and a fiery controlled re-entry.

The International Space Station.

While the engineering and management challenges associated with keeping the station operational are daunting, ISS program manager Michael Suffredini says they should be doable, as long as NASA has the resources to build spare parts, pay for cargo launches and provide transportation for U.S. astronauts, either aboard U.S. commercial spacecraft or Russian Soyuz capsules.

"We have a space station that is designed in a modular fashion meant for repair," Suffredini told CBS News. "So as long as you have spares for all the things that can break, you can last as long as the structure will let you last. Within reason.

"The structure, it turns out, most of it was originally designed for 30 years. So all that margin has made it relatively easy for us to get to 2020. 2028 will be a little bit more challenging. ... We may have to sharpen our pencils to get to 2028."

Boeing, NASA's space station prime contractor, is currently conducting a detailed engineering analysis to verify that the U.S. segment of the complex can safely operate through the end of the decade. Russian engineers are assessing their own hardware, as are the other international partners.

The Boeing analysis is not yet complete and additional work will be needed to to show the lab can be safely operated beyond 2020. But Suffredini said no major surprises have cropped up so far and he's optimistic the station eventually can be cleared to fly through 2028 -- in theory, at least.

"When we get to 2028, the solar arrays are going to be struggling, I'm probably going to have a handful of radiator lines that have been isolated," he said. "2028 might be possible, but it also might be very challenging because then you're talking about the cost of replacing big things that may be prohibitive.

"All our analysis kind of says we think we can get to 2028 and that's the path we're headed on. As we start getting beyond 2028, if it makes sense, and things aren't failing at a rate that makes it difficult for us to keep up, and the country thinks it's the right thing to do, then we can look at going beyond that.

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NASA looks to post-2020 International Space Station operations

International Space Station to Explore the Tops of Thunderstorms
Sometimes, Earth mimics a supernova, producing a Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flash from the tops of thunderstorms. A new lightning sensor on the International Spac...

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International Space Station to Explore the Tops of Thunderstorms - Video

Space Station Live Orbital Sciences Cygnus Update
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Space Station Live Orbital Sciences Cygnus Update - Video

Poundland Challenge - 10 minute Space Station

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Poundland Challenge - 10 minute Space Station - Video

Updated at 01:35 PM EDT, 09/18/13

In a critical test flight for NASA's space station program, an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket making only its second flight blasted off from the Virginia coast Wednesday, lofting an unmanned cargo ship on its maiden flight to the international lab complex.

The demonstration mission is a critical test run for Orbital to prove the company's new rocket and Cygnus cargo ship can execute an autonomous rendezvous with the space station and, if necessary, carry out an abort if something goes wrong.

If the four-day trip to the station is successful, Orbital will be clear to begin routine cargo delivery missions later this year, joining Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, in a commercial program intended to make up for the retirement of the space shuttle.

Using recycled engines originally built for Russia's moon program, the Antares first stage roared to life at 10:58 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), quickly pushing the 133-toot-tall rocket away from its launching stand at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island, Va., flight facility.

The Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket moments after launch, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013.

Burning kerosene and liquid oxygen, the refurbished Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-26 engines fired for nearly four minutes, boosting the rocket out of the dense lower atmosphere and into the orbital plane of the space station.

Dramatic television views from a camera mounted on the rocket showed the Virginia coastline receding in the background and then the limb of the Earth as the spacecraft accelerated toward orbit. A few moments later, the spent first stage could be seen falling away.

The Antares second stage, powered by an Alliant Techsystems solid-fuel motor, then took over, igniting at an altitude of about 116 miles and firing for two-and-a-half minutes to put the spacecraft into an initial orbit with a high point, or apogee, of about 186 miles and a low point, or perigee, of around 151 miles.

A few moments later, the cargo ship was released from the spent second stage motor and its two solar panels unfolded as planned.

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Orbital launches cargo ship on maiden flight to space station

A Virginia company makes its debut this week as a space station delivery service, and the lone American aboard the orbiting lab is counting on a fresh stash of chocolate.

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg said she can't wait for this weekend's arrival of a new cargo ship named Cygnus. It will be the first shipment by Orbital Sciences Corp. to the International Space Station.

"You know that there's something packed away in that vehicle, something special for you ... We're human beings and we get very excited about the packages from home and some of the treats that we might get," said Nyberg.

Orbital Sciences is scheduled to launch an unmanned Antares rocket containing Cygnus on Wednesday morning from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's eastern shore. It's where NASA launched a moon spacecraft 1 weeks ago.

NASA is paying Orbital Sciences and the California-based SpaceX company to keep the space station well stocked in the shuttle-less era.

Orbital Sciences conducted a practice Antares launch in April with a mock payload. This will be its first space station run, coming more than a year after the initial SpaceX delivery.

Because this is considered a test flight, the Cygnus will carry up mostly food and other nonessential items. That suits Nyberg and her two male crewmates an Italian and a Russian. They have been in orbit since the end of May, with two more months to go. Three more residents arrive later next week.

Nyberg's husband NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley put together the care package that's already stowed on the Cygnus capsule. They have one child, 3-year-old Jack.

"It would be really nice to have some fresh home-baked goods, but the fresh part doesn't work very well when it takes a couple days to get here," Nyberg said. "So anything chocolate usually does it for me."

Given a Wednesday launch, the Cygnus should arrive at the space station on Sunday. Unlike the SpaceX Earth-returning Dragon, it will be filled with trash and, once cut loose, burn up during descent.

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Chocolate coming from Wallops to space station