Category Archives: Space Station

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During the first phase of the eclipse, a visible object crossed in front of the Sun, it was not the moon, it was the International Space Station. It was uniquely visible from the state of Wyoming, according to Smarter Every Day.

Destin Sandlin, the host of the You Tube channel, Smarter Every Day, traveled all the way to Wyoming to see the eclipsebecause he and a buddy figured out that from there they could see something that could not be seen in any other state.

The entire eclipse was a three-hour event. The moment of totality only lasts 2.5 minutes. While totality is an amazing event, there is a lot to see during that long transit time.

Call it a Three Clips because you can see three objects at once. As the Moon crossed in front of the Sun, so did the International Space Station.

Amerter Every Day chose to set up in Crowheart, Wyoming as the best point to see the transit of the space station. They were gained special permission to view the event from aranch in the middle of an Indian reservation where not many people are allowed to visit.

Folks in Glendowere also able to see the transit of that space station as well, but Crowheart was considered the best place to witness the crossing, according to the math.

Anyone outside of Wyoming would not be able to see the station transit during the eclipse because of the time and angle of the eclipse in their corresponding area.

So chalk one up for our state, we had something extra to our eclipse that no one else got to see.

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International Space Station Only Visible in Wyoming During Eclipse - Kgab

Hurricane Harvey, which is forecast to become the strongest such storm to hit the U.S. in over a decade, is a gnarly sight from above.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured the eye of Hurricane Harvey over Texas, where it's expected to make landfall Friday night or Saturday morning as a Category 3 or 4 storm.

Harvey is then forecast to stall out for days, dumping 2 to 3 FEET of rain along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines.

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik posted two photos of the storm from space.

With the storm forecast to reach maximum sustained wind speeds of 125 mph, retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who flew aboard the ISS, tweeted about seeing the massive storm brewing over "your family."

The NASA corps of astronauts are based in Houston, Texas, which is home to the Johnson Space Center.

These are powerful photos, but not as powerful as the Category 3 winds and rains forecast to come down fast on the Gulf Coast for many days in a row.

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Space Station astronauts catch sight of monster storm Hurricane Harvey - Mashable

CARBONDALE Products manufactured in Carbondale arrived at the International Space Station last week.

Com-Pac International, Inc., which manufactures flexible packaging products for the medical and laboratory specimen-handling industries, was notified by NASA earlier this month that scientists will be using the companys BITRAN leak-proof specimen bags for a research project aboard the ISS.

The products were included on SpaceXs 12th cargo resupply mission, which launched Aug. 14 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cargo ship docked at the ISS on Aug. 16.

Its a very exciting thing that something as local as our small town of Carbondale is going to be on the Space Station, said Com-Pac Business Development Manager Diana Isaacs.

The research project involves the study of a protein linked to Parkinsons disease. On Earth, gravity keeps the protein, known as LRRK2, too small for effective study. Using automated biotechnology devices, scientists will grow larger versions of the protein in the micro-gravity environment of space, according to an overview of the project on NASAs website.

The proteins will be returned to Earth for analysis to aid in the development of therapies to combat Parkinsons disease.

We are certainly very pleased that NASA has chosen to utilize our products aboard the ISS, but are additionally pleased that the products we make right here in Carbondale could contribute to finding a cure for Parkinsons disease, said Com-Pac President Greg Sprehe in a news release.

According to the release, Com-Pacs bags were chosen because they can remain leak-proof even after multiple openings and closings during freezing and thawing cycles.

This bag is made out of a special resin, plastic, its called EVOH, and it has a very low oxygen transmission rate, which is the rate oxygen can transfer through the plastic itself, Isaacs said.

Com-Pac, located in Carbondales industrial park, has worked with NASA for several years; the agency has utilized several of the companys specimen-style bags in the past, Isaacs said.

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Carbondale-made bags to be used for research aboard International Space Station - The Southern

Elon Musk has posted the official first photo of his SpaceX space suit on Instagram, teasing that more details will come in a few days. Musk says the suit actually works, and was tested to double vacuum pressure. The suit itself is very white and very spacey, and Musk acknowledges that it was incredibly hard to balance the suits look and its function.

Musk didnt specify, but the SpaceX suits are meant to be worn by astronauts when riding inside the companys Dragon Capsule. Theyre pressure suits, so theyre not meant for spacewalks, but are worn by astronauts during transport in case the capsule depressurizes. The suits will be worn by NASA astronauts for the commercial crew program when SpaceX starts launching people to and from the International Space Station. In January, Boeing revealed its own spacesuit design that astronauts will wear on route to the ISS.

The reveal today is similar to photos of a SpaceX suit that surfaced years ago on reddit. The design is very elegant and feels right at home in a sci-fi flick, while simultaneously paying homage to the old school suits NASA astronauts wore to the Moon. We compiled a list of science fiction spacesuits from worst to best, though in my opinion, this real SpaceX suit tops the list of best.

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Elon Musk reveals first official photo of SpaceX space suit - The Verge - The Verge

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Along with the moon and some sunspots, the International Space Station made a cameo in front of the sun. If you look very closely, you can see it.

This composite image, made from seven frames, shows the International Space Station, with a crew of six onboard, as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second during a partial solar eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 near Banner, Wyoming.

If you weren't able to see one of the most anticipated and unifying events this country has witnessed in nearly a hundred years, don't worry. You won't have to wait an entire century until the next one -- just seven years. Another total solar eclipse will be visible in the United States onApril 8, 2024.

Traveling a different path from the 2017 eclipse, the total eclipse will be visible in Mexico, the central US and east Canada, with a partial eclipse visible across North and Central America.

Although Monday's eclipse was peaking over two minutes in the path of totality, the 2024 eclipse will have peaks of 4 minutes. In the United States, it will be visible in a diagonal path crossing from Texas to Maine, according to NASA.

Cities like Austin, Texas; Dallas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Indianapolis; Toledo, Cleveland and Akron, Ohio; Buffalo and Rochester, New York; Montpelier, Vermont; and Montreal will be directly in the path of totality.

Given the planning by many in preparation for the 2017 eclipse, you might want to start making your hotel and travel arrangements now. And stock up on eclipse glasses once they become widely available again.

If you're eclipse chaser who doesn't mind globetrotting, you can also catch these total solar eclipses around the world in the coming years:

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Watch the space station cross the sun during the eclipse - fox2now.com

The International Space Station crosses the solar disk during the eclipse. NASA/Joel Kowsky

One might be forgiven for imagining that a fly crawled across the lens NASA used to capture this image of yesterdays eclipse near Banner, Wyoming, but thats no fly. Its the International Space Station (ISS), more than 30,000 cubic feet of pressurized habitat, with six people aboard, traveling at 17,200 miles per hour more than 250 miles above Earth. This composite combines seven images of the station making its way across the solar disk, as millions watched the celestial show from belowa transit it made three times during the eclipse.

The six crew members currently on the ISSRandy Bresnik, Jack Fischer, Peggy Whitson, Paolo Nespoli, Fyodor Yurchikhin, and Sergey Ryazanskiywere the only people to see the eclipse from space. Here is what they saw when they looked up

and when they looked down:

They have seen and will see any number of wonders during their time in orbit, but the eclipse that entranced the United States has to be a highlight.

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The International Space Station Had Two Views of the Eclipse - Atlas Obscura

The ISS astronauts had a great view of the moon's shadow.

The view of a solar eclipse from space can be very different than what we see down here on Earth. Italian Space Agency and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli snapped a series of photos of the moon casting its shadow on the planet from his vantage point on board the International Space Station. Nespoli tweeted the images on Monday.

Two of the photos show the view with parts of the space station in the frame. A dark blotch appears near the curve of the Earth where the moon cast its umbra. The shadow looks huge from this perspective. People standing in that umbra would be seeing the solar eclipse as it happened.

Nespoli wrote, "Voila! The # Eclipse2017 shadow from @Space_Station, no words needed."

The world's space agencies have been busy documenting the eclipse. Earlier Monday, a NASA photographer captured a gorgeous photo of the ISS transiting the sun as the moon took a bite out of the star's bright face.

The International Space Station Twitter account later shared another series of photos showing what the six astronauts in orbit witnessed during the event:

Now Playing: Watch this: Solar eclipse wows millions across the US, see it all

1:41

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Space station astronaut sees solar eclipse shadow on Earth - CNET

By Peter RakobowchukThe Canadian Press

Tues., Aug. 22, 2017

MONTREALIts a far-out dream that Canadas two newest astronauts are hoping will come true: orbiting the moon within the next decade or so.

In fact, Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey are already looking beyond the International Space Station as they begin two years of intense basic training.

In an interview from Houston on Tuesday, Kutryk pointed out that Canada is committed to the space station until 2024 along with its international partners.

But the 35-year-old Albertan said the plan for what will happen after is already starting to be defined.

We dont have the details ironed out but we know that its going to involve new destinations, probably the moon and then Mars, said Kutryk, adding he expects Canada to seek out and play a large role.

I think that were living in a lifetime now when we see humans, including Canadian humans, potentially going back to the moon and thats just a super exciting thing for me to think about.

Thats to be determined but I do feel a lot of excitement for the Canadian space program in general, he said.

Sidey, who will be training alongside Kutryk, said travelling around the moon, in so-called cislunar orbit, is on her agenda.

Certainly, Im definitely in for the idea of deep space (and) longer space flights, kind of pushing what we can do, she said.

Cislunar for us is going to be incredibly important as a gateway to put people in orbit and eventually go back to the moon.

The 29-year-old Calgary-born astronaut was asked about her chances of orbiting the moon in the coming decades.

Her response was: Who knows, who knows, but Id love that... who wouldnt, huh.

But the focus over the next two years will be on understanding various things, including systems on the space station, human behaviour, robotics and survival training.

They will also learn Russian.

Were going to be juggling all sorts of subjects and theyre all very different and theyre all very important (and) keeping all those balls in the air at once is going to be tough, Sidey said.

Kutryk, a test pilot, admitted that learning Russian will be a tough test, noting it took him about 25 years to be comfortable in French.

Based on that experience, and when I look at the idea of learning a third language in two years, thats something thats definitely going to be challenging, he said.

On Tuesday, Kutryk and Sidey also joined a dozen American trainees in a link-up with three astronauts now on board the International Space Station.

Flight engineer Peggy Whitson, 57, who is on her third long-duration space station mission, had some advice for the group: know how to fix things.

You need to get good at using tools, Whitson said as she floated inside the space station. Thatll be an important part of your training, so pay attention to that part of it.

So you cant be hesitant about taking something apart and putting it back together, because thats a lot of our job.

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Canada's newest astronauts consider moon, Mars missions after space station trip - Toronto Star

A cool thing happened in the sky today: the moon covered the sun, and people got super emotional about it.

While we watched from Earth, either with special glasses. cardboard boxes. or with our own scorched retinas, astronauts got to see the eclipse from another perspective.

And we got to see them creeping across the sun, thanks to a NASA photographer. Look at it... it's pretty awesome.

In photos taken by a NASA photographer located in the Northern Cascades National Park in Washington, the International Space Station is seen in silhouette as it transits the sun at roughly five miles per second during a partial phase of the solar eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.

Compared to the size of the sun and the moon, the ISS resembles an ant crawling across a luminescent piece of cheese, or a TIE fighter roaring across an orange Death Star.

Here's a composite image made from four different frames.

The video at the top of this story, taken by NASA's Joel Kowsky, shows the space station crossing the sun at five miles per second. It was taken by a high speed camera that captured images at 1,500 frames per second.

Feel free to make a badass TIE fighter sound effect as you watch.

People in the United States won't get to experience a total solar eclipse again until 2024. Better buy your glasses now before they skyrocket in price.

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The ultimate photobomb: NASA spied the Space Station crossing ... - Mashable

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) A SpaceX capsule rocketed to the International Space Station on Monday, carrying tons of scientific research, plus ice cream.

As has become customary on these cargo flights, SpaceX landed its leftover booster back at Cape Canaveral shortly after liftoff, a key to its long-term effort to recycle rockets and reduce costs.

Gorgeous day, spectacular launch, said Dan Hartman, NASAs deputy manager of the space station program.

Experiments make up most of the 6,400 pounds of cargo, which should reach the orbiting lab Wednesday. That includes 20 mice that will return alive inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule in about a month.

The Dragon is also doubling as an ice cream truck this time.

There was extra freezer space, so NASA packed little cups of vanilla, chocolate and birthday cake ice cream, as well as ice cream candy bars. Those treats should be especially welcomed by U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, in orbit since November. Shes due back at the beginning of September. Newly arrived U.S. spaceman Randolph Bresnik turns 50 next month.

Thespace stationwas zooming 250 miles above the Atlantic, just off Nova Scotia, when the Falcon took flight.

It was the 14th successful booster landing for SpaceX and the sixth on the giant X at the companys touchdown spot at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, just a few miles from its NASA-leased pad at Kennedy Space Center.

Its right on the bulls-eye, and a very soft touchdown, said SpaceXs Hans Koenigsmann.

The mice on board are part of a study of visual problems suffered in space by some male astronauts. Scientists will study the pressure in the animals eyes, as well as the movement of fluid in their brains. Thirty days for mice in space is comparable to three years for humans, according to Florida State Universitys Michael Delp, whos in charge of the experiment. The study may help explain why female astronauts dont have this vision problem, which can linger long after spaceflight, he added.

The Dragon also holds an instrument to measure cosmic rays from the space station. This type of device has previously flown on high-altitude balloons. The Army has an imaging microsatellite on board for release this fall from the station. Its a technology demo; the military wants to see how small satellites like this, with low-cost, off-the-shelf cameras and telescopes, might support critical ground operations. Its about the size of a dormitory-room refrigerator.

Also going up on behalf of the Michael J. Fox Foundation: protein crystals that, in space, might shed light on Parkinsons disease. The mission got a televised plug from Fox, an actor who has the disease.

Three Americans, one more than usual, and an Italian will tackle all this scientific work in orbit. The station also is home to two Russians; that number will go back up to three in a year or so.

This is the 13th delivery by the Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, one of two private shippers hired by NASA. The other is Orbital ATK; its next supply run is in November from Wallops Island, Virginia.

The SpaceX Dragon is the only supply ship capable of returning items to Earth. It parachutes into the Pacific; the others burn up during re-entry.

This particular Dragon is brand new, as is the Falcon rocket. In June, SpaceX launched its first reused Dragon, and in March, its first reused Falcon. From now on, the company said it may only fly used Dragons.

SpaceX is also developing a crew Dragon for NASA astronauts, set to debut next year. Boeing is working on its own capsule to ferry space station astronauts.

In the meantime, SpaceX is aiming for a November debut of its Falcon Heavy rocket, which will feature three first-stage boosters and 27 engines, versus the single booster and nine engines on the Falcon 9. It will have two-thirds the thrust of NASAs Saturn V rocket, which was used during the Apollo moon program. All three of the Falcon Heavys first-stage boosters are meant to fly back to a touchdown.

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SpaceX launches experiments, ice cream to space station - KRQE News 13