Category Archives: Space Station

NASA TV

Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko (bottom) and Pavel Vinogradov float outside the International Space Station on Friday during a spacewalk.

By Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A 59-year-old Russian cosmonaut became the world's oldest spacewalker Friday, joining a much younger cosmonaut's son for a little maintenance work outside the International Space Station.

Pavel Vinogradov, a cosmonaut for two decades, claimed the honor as he emerged from the hatch with Roman Romanenko. But he inadvertently added to the booming population of space junk when he lost his grip on an experiment tray that he was retrieving toward the end of the 6-hour spacewalk.

The lost aluminum panel 18 inches by 12 inches (45 by 30 centimeters) and about 6 pounds (3 kilograms) contained metal samples. Scientists wanted to see how the samples had fared after a year out in the vacuum of space.

Otherwise, the spacewalk went well, with the spacewalkers installing new science equipment and replacing a navigation device needed for the June arrival of a European cargo ship.

Collecting the experiment tray was Vinogradov's last task outside.

The tray drifted toward the solar panels of the main Russian space station compartment, called Zvezda, Russian for Star. Flight controllers did not believe it struck anything, and the object was not thought to pose a safety hazard in the hours and days ahead.

"That's unfortunate," someone radioed in Russian.

See original here:
'Hard work': Russian spacewalkers swap experiments on space station

I.S.S (International Space Station)
spotted the I.S.S tonight at 20.48 GMT traveling from the west.

By: grannysvids

Originally posted here:
I.S.S (International Space Station) - Video

Space Station Video News Live: April 15, 2013
Space Station Live: April 15, 2013. The Space Station Live recap video for April 15, 2013. Watch the full Space Station Live broadcast weekdays on NASA TV at...

By: okrajoe

Continued here:
Space Station Video News Live: April 15, 2013 - Video

International Space Station - 15 April 2013
This is a short clip of my first ever sighting of the International Space Station (ISS), passing overhead on 15 April 2013.

By: davidjellis

Follow this link:
International Space Station - 15 April 2013 - Video

How Long Does It Take Space Station To Orbit Earth? | Video
ISS commander Chris Hadfield explains orbital mechanics to a high school student.

By: VideoFromSpace

Originally posted here:
How Long Does It Take Space Station To Orbit Earth? | Video - Video

April 18, 2013

Image Caption: NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn conducts the SPHERES-VERTIGO investigation aboard the International Space Station to study the ability to create a three-dimensional model of an unknown object in space using only one or two small satellites. Credit: NASA

NASA

[ Watch The Video ISS Update: SPHERES-VERTIGO ]

It looks like something out of a sci-fi moviefree-formation-flying robotic spheres hovering around the International Space Station with goggles on. The Visual Estimation and Relative Tracking for Inspection of Generic Objects (VERTIGO) study, a part of the Synchronized Position, Hold, Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) investigation explores the use of small satellites equipped to analyze and capture data from specified objects, producing a 3-D model of those objects.

The 1.6 kilogram VERTIGO goggles designed for the each SPHERES satellite are similar to a small computer tablet with 1.2 gigahertz data processor, camera, Wi-Fi device and batteries allowing the satellite to see what it is navigating around. This technology could result in techniques for space recycling of old aperture satellites or mapping of an asteroid for exploration, among other missions.

In a March 26 interview on NASA Television, Brent Tweddle, a doctoral candidate at the Space Systems Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., said the goggles allow for each satellite to, see, perceive and understand its world visually. We use that to communicate that information to the SPHERES satellites using a package called the VERTIGO goggles. [The goggles] are their own little intelligence block that sticks on the front-end of the SPHERES satellite and allows it to see the rest of the world that it wants to navigate through.

Tweddle talked about a variety of topics related to the SPHERES and VERTIGO during the interview, including the different teams interested in this research. He described how the SHPERES are commanded by algorithms. Tweedle also spoke on the February 2012 test run and future SPHERES tests.

The VERTIGO addition to the SPHERES satellites is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded International Space Station SPHERES Integrated Research Experiments (InSPIRE) program that leverages the human presence in space for rapid, iterative experimentation and design of space capabilities. It is providing the next generation of scientists and engineers (through the ZERO Robotics Competition) with exposure and experience in carrying out meaningful space experimentation economically and over reasonable time scales.

See original here:
SPHERES-VERTIGO Investigation Conducted Aboard The International Space Station

Two Russian cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station Friday (April 19) to begin a six-hour spacewalk to upgrade the orbiting lab with new experiments.

Clad in their bulky Orlan spacesuits, veteran cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko began their spacewalk just after 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) to install a space weather experiment to the space station's hull and prepare the outpost for the arrival of a robotic cargo ship later this year. You can watch the spacewalk live on SPACE.com, courtesy of NASA TV.

"It's dark outside," one of the cosmonauts said after they opened the hatch of the Pirs docking module, which doubles as a spacewalk airlock and spacecraft parking spot at the station. [Space Station's Expedition 35 Mission in Photos]

The spacewalk's first task is the installation of a new Russian experiment called Obstanovka, which will measure charged particles interact with a variety of materials kept outside of the space station. Obstanovka could offer scientists new insights about how space weather affects the ionosphere, an active region of the Earth's atmosphere, NASA officials explained in a spacewalk description.

Vinogradov and Romanenko also plan to retrieve a Biorisk canister, an experiment that measures the effects of bacteria and fungus on spacecraft materials, as well as part of a materials exposure experiment called Vinoslivost.

"All this is hard work," Romanenko said of the spacewalk in a NASA interview before launching to the station in December. "Also I'm supposed to collect information from other experiments that were installed outside the station."

Vinogradov and Romanenko are also expected to replace a faulty retro-reflector device needed to guide the upcoming arrival of the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle 4 an unmanned cargo ship named "Albert Einstein." That robotic spacecraft will launch toward the space station in Juneand park itself at the orbiting laboratory's Russian-built Zvezda service module.

Today's spacewalk is the first for Romanenko and the seventh for veteran space man Vinogradov. Before launch, Romanenko said he was worried he would not get a chance to perform the spacewalk since he is due to return to Earth in May. He is a second-generation spacewalker; his father, former cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko, logged more than 10 spacewalking hours in his career.

The spacewalkers are two members of the six-man Expedition 35 crew currently living aboard the International Space Station. The others are Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, and NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Chris Cassidy.

This is the 167th spacewalk dedicated to the construction and upkeep of the International Space Station, which was built by five different space agencies representing 15 countries. Construction of the $100 billion space station began in 1998 and it has been permanently staffed with rotating crews since 2000. It is roughly the size of a five-bedroom house with a wingspan the size of a football field.

See the rest here:
Russian Cosmonauts Take Spacewalk Outside Space Station

"Waste Away" in Departed Space Station Freighter
An unpiloted Russian resupply vehicle undocked from the International Space Station April 15 after spending five months attached to it. After delivering 2 ...

By: NASAtelevision

More:
"Waste Away" in Departed Space Station Freighter - Video

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. - A private company contracted by NASA to make supply runs to the International Space Station scrubbed a Wednesday test launch of an unmanned rocket, saying cables linked to the rocket's second stage apparently detached too early in blustery winds.

The towering Antares rocket had been scheduled to blast off Wednesday afternoon from Wallops Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore when the countdown clock was halted 12 minutes before a 5 p.m. launch window was to have opened.

Barry Benesky, a spokesman for Dulles-based Orbital Sciences Corp., said it wasn't immediately clear when officials would attempt a launch.

He said officials initially suspected brisk winds had caused a premature separation of a cord linked to the second stage of the rocket. But he said experts were investigating what happened and would release more details later about what prompted the launch to be called off.

The company had said earlier that low cloud cover hugging the Virginia coast was a vexing concern during the day. Amid weather concerns, officials had already shortened their window for a possible launch to just 10 minutes starting Wednesday afternoon.

The planned launch by the Washington area commercial firm was designed to test whether a practice payload could reach orbit and safely separate from the rocket.

Orbital, based near Washinton, D.C., is one of two private companies contracted to restock the space station by NASA, which ended its shuttle program in 2011. California-based SpaceX completed its third supply run to the station last month.

Orbital executives have said they are conducting the tests as they prove their capability to carry out several supply runs.

View post:
Private firm contracted to deliver space station supplies scrubs Wednesday test rocket launch

Robert Z. Pearlman / collectSPACE.com

The new International Space Station exhibition at Space Center Houston introduces visitors to the past, present and future of the outpost using artifacts, videos and a live show.

By Robert Z. Pearlman Space.com

NASA has a new "stage" to expose and educate the public about the work behind and on board the International Space Station.

More than a year in the making, NASA and Space Center Houston, the visitor center for the agency's Johnson Space Center in Texas, put the final touches on a new interactive exhibit and special effects live stage show that highlights how the orbiting outpost came to be, what life is like on board and how it is being used to conduct science.

The 3,000-square-foot (280 square meters) display was inspired by NASA's traveling exhibit "Destination Station" (hosted currently at Atlanta's Fernbank Science Center until May 18). But instead of simply re-creating the mobile exhibition, NASA's International Space Station Program worked with the external relations office at Johnson and Space Center Houston to enhance and expand the display into a brand-new experience for guests. [Building the International Space Station (Photos)]

"This (new) exhibition highlights, through the use of a live performance, static graphic elements, hardware, astronaut personal effects, video content and interactive software programs, the international partnership which assembled this orbiting laboratory, its human presence which works and lives on board, and the complex research and science that is taking place which benefits all humankind," NASA wrote about the exhibit.

Destination Station 2.0Space Center Houston began building the exhibit about a year ago by reconfiguring the International Space Station or rather a large detailed model of the orbiting complex.

Suspended from the ceiling, the scale model was updated to reflect the final assembly of the space station, including removing a once-docked replica of the now-retired space shuttle. The model was then re-hung in front of a mural of the Earth, placing it into the context of the new display.

Underneath the not-so-miniature station is a new mockup of a Mission Control console. Nearby, one of the canisters used to transport the orbiting laboratory's power-providing solar arrays is also on display with a sample strip of the cells used to generate electricity for the station.

More here:
Hop aboard the space station in Houston -- at NASA exhibit