Category Archives: Space Station

Movie magic: Part-time filmmaker Chris Jacobs with cast on the set of his space station - a backyard garden shed transformed. Photo: Joe Armao

Chris Jacobs has a space station in his backyard. True, it's unlikely to fly anywhere it's a hotchpotch of MDF and flower pots and plastic bin lids and duct tape from Bunnings, and bits of computer junk salvaged from his day job as an IT consultant but at first glance it looks utterly convincing.

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It looks real enough for the camera, anyway, which is all that matters. Cobbled together in the shed at the back of his rental house in West Footscray (don't tell the landlord), the space station is a key set on the low-budget sci-fi film Jacobs and his friends have been making. Every weekend for three years and counting.

''When will this be over?'' asks his long-suffering girlfriend, Andrea Innocent, not entirely rhetorically.

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Not that she can claim she didn't know what she was in for. ''On one of our first dates he invited me back to do some papier mache work on a creature,'' she confesses. Amazingly, she said yes.

Bits of said creatures are scattered around the backyard; they probably won't win any Oscars for special effects, but like the space station they'll do the job. Or so Jacobs hopes.

His movie MK Outlier started as a simple story about a soldier played by the writer-director-producer-cinematographer's mate Warren Otteraa wandering about a deserted Earth, in communication only with a guy on a space station (another friend, David Leeming). Originally, the whole film was going to be made in six weeks. ''But then I thought, 'I wonder if I can do creatures cheap','' says Jacobs. ''I sit here three years later still wondering.''

He realised that in many movies you only ever see glimpses of the frighteners, which got him thinking again. ''If you're only going to see a few frames, what's wrong with papier mache?''' he asked himself.

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Filmmaker builds backyard space station in Footscray

3-man space station crew makes safe landing
3-man space station crew makes safe landing watched by Mrtodayvideos2.

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3-man space station crew makes safe landing - Video

NASA Connects Space Station and "Star Trek Into Darkness" Crews in a Google+ Hangout
Astronaut Chris Cassidy, from aboard the International Space Station participated in a Google+ hangout with fellow astronauts at Johnson Space Center and cas...

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NASA Connects Space Station and "Star Trek Into Darkness" Crews in a Google+ Hangout - Video

AP Photo / NASA

In this photo from Saturday made available by NASA, astronaut Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn (not pictured) perform a space walk to inspect and replace a pump controller box on the International Space Station after an ammonia coolant leak was discovered.

By Marcia Dunn, AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An impromptu spacewalk over the weekend seems to have fixed a big ammonia leak at the International Space Station, NASA said Thursday.

The "gusher" erupted a week ago, prompting the hastiest repair job ever by residents of the orbiting lab. Spacewalking astronauts replaced a suspect ammonia pump on Saturday, just two days after the trouble arose.

NASA is now calling the old, removed pump "Mr. Leaky," said flight controller Anthony Vareha.

"Right now, we're feeling pretty good. We definitely got the big leak," Vareha said in a NASA broadcast from Mission Control in Houston.

Vareha said engineers don't know whether the pump replacement also took care of a smaller leak that has plagued the system for years. It will take at least a couple months of monitoring to know the full status.

Ammonia is used as a coolant in the space station's radiator system.

The leak forced one of the station's seven power channels to go offline. NASA hopes to resume normal operations early next week, following computer software updates.

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NASA says new pump fixed space station leak

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) An impromptu spacewalk over the weekend seems to have fixed a big ammonia leak at the International Space Station, NASA said Thursday.

The "gusher" erupted a week ago, prompting the hastiest repair job ever by residents of the orbiting lab. Spacewalking astronauts replaced a suspect ammonia pump on Saturday, just two days after the trouble arose.

NASA is now calling the old, removed pump "Mr. Leaky," said flight controller Anthony Vareha.

"Right now, we're feeling pretty good. We definitely got the big leak," Vareha said in a NASA broadcast from Mission Control in Houston.

Vareha said engineers don't know whether the pump replacement also took care of a smaller leak that has plagued the system for years. It will take at least a couple months of monitoring to know the full status.

Ammonia is used as a coolant in the space station's radiator system.

The leak forced one of the station's seven power channels to go offline. NASA hopes to resume normal operations early next week, following computer software updates.

One of the spacewalkers, NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn, is now back on Earth. He returned this week aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, ending a five-month mission.

The other spacewalker, Christopher Cassidy, a recent arrival, spent Thursday chatting with three of the actors and a writer-producer of the newest Star Trek movie, "Star Trek into Darkness." The film was beamed up to the space station a few days before its U.S. opening in theaters Thursday.

Cassidy watched the first half-hour of the movie while he was exercising Thursday morning and offered a stellar review.

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NASA: New pump resolves big space station leak

WASHINGTON (AP) In a story May 15 about astronauts at the International Space Station getting the new "Star Trek" movie, The Associated Press reported erroneously when the film opened on Earth. "Star Trek into Darkness" opened in the United States on Thursday; it opened in some other countries earlier in May.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Space not the final frontier for viewing movies

Beam me up popcorn Scotty; space station crew gets 'Star Trek' film before U.S.

By SETH BORENSTEIN

AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) The crew of the International Space Station is boldly going where no one has gone before to see the new "Star Trek" film.

The three astronauts were offered a sneak peak of "Star Trek Into Darkness" days before it opens Thursday in the United States, seeing it not in 3-D, but Zero-G.

NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said the movie was beamed up to the outpost Monday and the two Russians and American on board had a day off Tuesday. That gave them a chance to view it on their laptops. It's unclear if they watched it.

U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy is taking part Thursday in a Google+ hangout that's bringing together two Earth-bound astronauts, film stars Chris Pine, Alice Eve and John Cho, and its director and screenwriter.

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Correction: Space Station-Star Trek story

Astronaut sings David Bowie #39;s "Space Oddity" from Space Station
Singing astronaut covers Bowie song in space and wows cyberspace. CNN #39;s Jeanne Moos reports on an out-of-this-world song. For more CNN videos, visit our site...

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Astronaut sings David Bowie's "Space Oddity" from Space Station - Video

After five months in space, International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield has returned to the planet. While manning the ISS he also created the first music video in space, using a rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." NBC's Brian Williams reports.

By Miriam Kramer, Space.com

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a crew of three space travelers successfully touched down on the Central Asian steppes of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, wrapping up a five-month mission to the International Space Station.

Canadianastronaut Chris Hadfield, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko landed in their Soyuz capsule atabout 8:31 a.m. Kazakh time (10:31 p.m. ET Monday).

"It's beautiful," Romanenko radioed right before landing. "It's morning here."[Astronaut Chris Hadfield's 8 Most Amazing Space Moments]

After the landing, all three had smiles on their faces. "That was quite a ride home," Hadfield said.

The trio's return marks the end of the station's Expedition 35, which Hadfield commanded, and the start of Expedition 36. The landing comes just two days after Marshburn and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy performed an unprecedentedemergency spacewalkto fix a serious ammonia coolant leak on the outside of the station.

The three spacefliers orbited Earth 2,300 times and logged 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) during their 144 days on the station. Romanenko, Hadfield and Marshburn also witnessed the arrival and departure of a few unmanned cargo ships, including SpaceX's Dragon capsule in March.

Hadfield was the first Canadian commander of the space station, and he shared his unique perspective on the planet with everyone back on Earth during his time on the orbiting outpost. The astronaut beamed back a series of videos about life in space, including a music video cover ofDavid Bowie's "Space Oddity,"sung as a goodbye to his space-based home.

Cosmic Log: Space station chief returns home a star

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Russian capsule touches down in Kazakhstan with space station trio

Space Station Live: Preparing for the Ride Home on a Soyuz Spacecraft
NASA Public Affairs Officer Kelly Humphries interviews astronaut Shannon Walker who served as an Expedition 24/25 flight engineer in 2010. She talks about preparations station crew members...

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Space Station Live: Preparing for the Ride Home on a Soyuz Spacecraft - Video

May 14, 2013: Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), left, Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), center, and NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn sit in chairs outside the Soyuz Capsule just minutes after they landed in a remote area outside the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.NASA/AP

This image provided by NASA shows astronaut Chris Hadfield recording the first music video from space.AP

MOSCOW A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man crew returning from a five-month mission to the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn, and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:31 a.m. local time Tuesday.

Live footage on NASA TV showed the Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descending by parachute onto the sun-drenched steppes under clear skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

Rescue teams moved quickly to help the crew in their bulky spacesuits exit through the narrow hatch of the capsule. They were then put into reclining chairs to start adjusting to Earth's gravity after 146 days in space.

The three astronauts smiled as they chatted with space agency officials and doctors who were checking their condition. Hadfield, who served as the space station's commander, gave a thumbs-up sign. They then made quick phone calls to family members and friends.

NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said by telephone from the landing site that the three returning astronauts were doing very well.

Hadfield, 53, an engineer and former test pilot from Milton, Ontario, was Canada's first professional astronaut to live aboard the space station and became the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday.

"It's just been an extremely fulfilling and amazing experience end to end," Hadfield told Mission Control on Monday. "From this Canadian to all the rest of them, I offer an enormous debt of thanks." He was referring to all those in the Canadian Space Agency who helped make his flight possible.

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Space Station Astronauts Home