My eyes begrudgingly opened today around noon and the slow but steady accelerations of the rocking ship made their way into my consciousness. I hardly ever wake feeling thoroughly rested but the excitement of starting another day at sea always drags me out of bed. The start of a work day on-board is always preceded […]
NAAMES-II Expedition: May 19, 2016
I’m part of the Russell research group, along with my colleagues Raghu Betha, Chia-li (Candice) Chen, and Maryam Lamjiri, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Our group focuses on aerosols, which are microscopic liquids and solids suspended in the air. Aerosols may be formed over the ocean when wave generated bubbles burst and eject particles […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 05/19/16
Rodent Research-3 (RR-3) Operations: The crew has completed operations on 15 rodents. They are scheduled to perform operations on 5 rodents today and 5 more tomorrow which will conclude this session of RR activities. The crew will perform bone densitometry measurements and then transfer the rodents to the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) for sample processing. …
Crew Researching How Life Adapts to Spaceflight
The crew was back at work today with more life science studies and human research. Cygnus cargo transfer work is ongoing as robotics controllers prepare for an external video survey. Mice continue to be observed today for the Rodent Research-3 study. The astronauts are measuring their bone density to learn how microgravity affects muscles and …
Final Powered Testing Complete
SAGE III team members successfully completed full functional testing as planned on May 6, 2016, and the second Payload Rack Checkout Unit (PRCU) End-to-End test on May 13. Flight payload closeouts were completed May 19 and the SAGE III Instrument Payload and SAGE III Nadir Viewing Platform were placed in storage at NASA’s Kennedy Space […]
NAAMES-II Expedition: May 18, 2016
With day one of Station One complete, an opportunity is provided to reflect on the stations events so far. I woke up at to start the day at 11 o’clock, quickly helping myself to a cup of the ships endless pot of coffee and a hefty bowl of cereal. If this sounds like a very […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 05/18/16
Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock (JEMAL) NanoRacks Cubesat Deployer #7 (NRCSD 7) Deployment: This morning, operations which began Monday were completed with the deployment of four Dove satellites and four LEMUR-2 satellites. All satellites were deployed on time as commanded. The empty deployer will be returned to the JEM Airlock. Rodent Research-3 (RR-3) Operations: …
Imaging the Encounter of a Lifetime
Jorge Núñez, a planetary scientist and engineer from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), is the deputy systems engineer of the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) instrument on New Horizons. He studies the geology and composition of planetary surfaces using a variety of remote-sensing techniques. When not working on New Horizons or analyzing …
Last Cubesats Released as Life Science Continues
The final set of Cubesats was ejected from the International Space Station today. Inside the orbital lab, the station residents continued more rodent bone and muscle research, checked for microbes and cleaned fans. A total of 17 Cubesats have been released since Monday from a small satellite deployer on the outside of the Kibo experiment …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 05/17/16
Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock (JEMAL) NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer #7 (NRCSD 7) Deployment Operations: Today a total of 6 Dove satellites will be deployed via ground commanding. This morning the NRCSD 7 Silos 1 and 2 were deployed and Silo 3 is planned to be deployed this evening during crew sleep. This will complete the …