Category Archives: Space Station

Feb. 25, 2013 The second International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services flight by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is set for liftoff at 10:10 a.m. EST on March 1 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Carried by a Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft will ferry 1,268 pounds of supplies for the space station crew and for experiments being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The Falcon 9 and Dragon were manufactured at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., and arrived at the Florida launch site by truck. The rocket, topped with the spacecraft, stands 157-feet tall.

The two-stage rocket uses nine engines to power the first stage, generating 855,000 pounds of thrust at sea level, rising to nearly 1,000,000 pounds of thrust as Falcon 9 climbs out of Earth's atmosphere. One engine powers the second stage to complete the climb to space. The 14.4-foot-tall Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying more than 7,000 pounds of cargo split between pressurized and unpressurized sections.

On March 2, Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA are scheduled use the station's robot arm to grapple Dragon following its rendezvous with the orbiting outpost. Ground commands will be sent to attach the spacecraft to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module where it will remain for a few weeks while astronauts unload cargo. The crew then will load more than 2,600 pounds of experiment samples and equipment for return to Earth.

Dragon is scheduled for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.

This SpaceX flight is the second of at least 12 missions to the space station that the company will fly for NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services contract.

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Second SpaceX space station resupply flight ready to go

Our World Sleeping On Board the International Space Station

By: Alfredo Mcdowell

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Our World Sleeping On Board the International Space Station - Video

Peter Gabriel Talks with Space Station Astronauts
Peter Gabriel Talks with the International Space Station Crew. NASA Video.

By: okrajoe

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Peter Gabriel Talks with Space Station Astronauts - Video

By: Jenny Marder

Are dreams affected by microgravity? How do you exercise in space? What's that on Chris Hadfield's forehead?

These were among the questions posed to NASA astronauts -- three of whom are orbiting 240 miles above the Earth, from the International Space Station (ISS) -- during NASA's first live Google Hangout.

Astronauts Kevin Ford, Chris Hadfield and Tom Marshburn answered questions from the International Space Station, while NASA astronaut Ron Garan and Nicole Stott fielded questions from the ground. Questions were submitted live and through social media using the #askastro tag. You can watch the discussion above or on NASA's Google Plus page.

Here are some of the gems delivered by the astronauts during the chat:

In space, astronauts can turn like falling cats by twisting their bodies. They see shooting stars below them from the space station, but no satellites. Space, says Canadian Space Agency's Hadfield, is so deep black "it almost has a texture when you look at it."

And in orbit, gravity causes blood to shift upward through the body toward the head, resulting in puffy faces and skinny legs. With extended time in space, the heart shrinks, as it pumps less blood. This interesting physiological phenomenon about living in space came from NASA astronaut Nicole Stott.

"For some people, this happens more significantly than others," Stott said. "Some feel congested. That happens and it kind of mellows out after a while."

As for exercise, astronauts aboard the ISS use the on-board treadmill and stationary bikes to do an hour of aerobics and an hour of weightlifting every day to keep their muscles strong.

Coming home and readjusting to gravity is a challenge, Stott said, adding that upon return, she felt like she weighed 500 pounds.

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Hanging Out Live With Astronauts From the International Space Station

Posted at 03:53 PM ET, 02/25/2013

Feb 25, 2013 08:53 PM EST

A Southwest Airlines jet is silhouetted against the rising full moon as it takes of from Sky Harbor Airport Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 in Phoenix. (Charlie Riedel - AP) The moon officially became full at 3:26 p.m. EST and will rise tonight at 6:07 p.m. We double our cosmic pleasure, as just as the moon is rising, the International Space Station will zip across the northern sky (from west to east).

This latest full moon - the third since the winter solstice - is known as the Snow Moon or Hunger Moon since it occurs at a time when winter exercises its strongest grip, writes Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory. Of course, the Snow Moon moniker is a bit of irony in the Washington, D.C. area, owing to our growing snow drought.

Earth Sky mentions this latest full moon has also earned the names Sap Moon, Lenten Moon, and Crow or Worm Moon, among others.

Just 12 minutes after the moon crests the horizon, the International Space Station will appear in the northwest sky. Its pass will take about 6 minutes and it will exit just above the eastern horizon at 6:25 p.m. - right where the moon is rising. If the timing is right, you might be able to photograph the two together.

Sky conditions for viewing may pose a bit of challenge due to high clouds which have moved into the region. However, satellite imagery shows potential for some breaks in the clouds early this evening in the D.C. area.

In case you missed it, check out this amazing video of the moon rising over Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand by Mark Gee during the last full moon on January 27.

Full Moon Silhouettes from Mark Gee on Vimeo.

(hat tip for video: WJLA weather blog)

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Full “snow moon” and International Space Station in this evening’s sky

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Jerry Linenger dons a mask during his mission on Mir in 1997. Credit: NASA

Sixteen years ago, a fire on the Russian space station Mir erupted after a cosmonaut routinely ignited a perchlorate canister that produced oxygen to supplement the space stations air supply. Jerry Linenger, an American astronaut aboard Mir at that time, wrote about the incident that occurred on February 24, 1997 in his memoir Off the Planet:

As the fire spewed with angry intensity, sparks resembling an entire box of sparklers ignited simultaneously extended a foot or so beyond the flames furthest edge. Beyond the sparks, I saw what appeared to be melting wax splattering on the bulkhead opposite the blaze. But it was not melting max. It was molten metal. The fire was so hot that it was melting metal.

Linenger famously had some trouble donning gas masks, which kept malfunctioning, but he and the rest of the crew managed to put out the blaze before it spun out of control. The cause was traced to a fault in the canister.

Mir itself was deorbited in 2001, but the fire safety lessons are still vivid in everyones mind today.

Outside view of the Mir space station. Credit: NASA

NASA fire expert David Urban told Universe Today that a fire is among the most catastrophic situations that a crew can face.

You cant go outside, youre in a very small volume, and your escape options are limited. Your survival options are limited. That space can tolerate a much smaller fire than you can tolerate in our home. Thepressure cant escape easily, and the heat stays there, and the toxic products are there as well.

Urban, who ischief of the combustion and reacting systems branch of the research and technologydirectorateof theNASA Glenn Research Center, said NASA and Russia have learned several things from the incident that they have implemented on the International Space Station today:

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Fire! How the Mir Incident Changed Space Station Safety

SpaceX's Dragon Spacecraft With Solar Array Fairings in Hangar

The Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, Dragon spacecraft with solar array fairings attached, stands inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The spacecraft will launch on the upcoming SpaceX CRS-2 mission. Image released Jan. 15, 2013.

Both SpaceX (left) and NASA have designed mission patches for the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) flight to the International Space Station.

A truck pulls the first stage of the Falcon 9 Rocket inside the SpaceX Falcon Hangar at Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This image was released Nov. 9, 2012.

Inside the SpaceX Falcon Hangar at Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket is placed in a workstand for prelaunch processing. Image released Nov. 12, 2012.

A truck arrives at the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers inspect a solar array fairing at the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers prepare solar array fairings at the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers guide a solar array fairing into place inside the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

Workers guide a solar array fairing into place inside the processing hangar used by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. This image was released Jan. 12, 2013.

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SpaceX Primes Dragon Capsule for Space Station Mission (Photos)

The second of NASA's contracted cargo flights to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) is set to launch later this week, and like most spaceflights, it has its own mission patch.

In fact, it has two.

The dual designs underscore the commercial nature of the unmanned mission, which uses a rocket and a spacecraft built and operated by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, under a contract with NASA. SpaceX is headed by Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal and Tesla Motors.

Both the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company and NASA have designed their own emblems to represent the flight, which is scheduled to launch on Friday (March 1) at 10:10 a.m. EST (1510 GMT) from Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. [HowSpaceX's Capsule Works (Infographic)]

The mission will deliver 1,268 pounds (575 kilograms) of crew supplies and science equipment to the space station packed aboard SpaceX's third Dragon capsule to visit the orbiting laboratory. The gumdrop-shaped freighter will ride to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Almost a month later, on March 25, the Dragon will return to a parachute-assisted ocean splashdown, repacked with 2,668 pounds of science experiment results and no-longer-needed hardware.

The mission will be the second to launch under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, which in 2008 awarded a $1.6 billion contract to SpaceX to fly 12 Dragon cargo capsules to and from the station. The Virginia-based firm Orbital Sciences was also contracted by the space agency for cargo delivery flights using its Cygnus craft.

In addition to the Dragon mission's two patches, the flight also goes by two names: Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) and SpaceX 2 (SpX-2).

Two for one

NASA's patch for SpX-2 the mission designation that appears on the agency's emblem centers on SpaceX's Dragon as it nears a rendezvous with the space station from below. On the insignia, the sun shines brightly in the distance as it rises over Earth's horizon.

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SpaceX's Next Space Station Resupply Flight Gets Mission Patches

Musician Peter Gabriel Talks With the Space Station Astronauts | NASA ISS Science Video
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - musician Peter Gabriel and family talks with the crew of the Space Station. Please rate and comment, thanks! Credits NASA

By: CoconutScienceLab

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Musician Peter Gabriel Talks With the Space Station Astronauts | NASA ISS Science Video - Video

International Space Station (ISS) Flyby
The International Space Station (ISS) flying over Cambridge 21st February 2013. See it here: http://www.youtube.com

By: Steve Mallinson

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International Space Station (ISS) Flyby - Video