Cassie Freund is the program director of the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program, an orangutan protection project in Indonesia. While working on our latest feature story, we asked her what life was like in West Kalimantan during the 2015 fire season, when smoke blanketed parts of Borneo and Sumatra. Peat deposits, El Niño weather, and agricultural activity converged to […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 12/10/15
The ISS crew is sleep shifting today in support of Soyuz 43 (43S) undock and landing tomorrow. Crew sleep will begin at 9:00am CST this morning. 43S undocking is scheduled to occur early Friday morning at 3:49am CST. Orbital ATK (OA)-4 Status: The crew started their day by outfitting the Node 1 to Cygnus …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 12/9/15
Cygnus Rendezvous and Capture: This morning the crew monitored the Cygnus approach from the Cupola Robotic Workstation and successfully captured Cygnus using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) at approximately 5:19am CST. The Ground Robotics team maneuvered Cygnus into position to inspect the Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM), and berthed Cygnus onto the Node-1 …
Join NASA’s Geminid Meteor Shower Tweet Chat on December 13-14
The Geminid meteor shower peaks on the night of December 13 through the morning of December 14. Geminid rates can get as high as 100 per hour, with many fireballs visible in the night sky. Best viewing is just before dawn. NASA Tweet Chat: Observe the Geminid Meteor Shower On the night of December 13, …
Cygnus Attached to Station Ready for Business
The Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship was bolted into place on the International Space Station’s Earth-facing port of the Unity module at 9:26 a.m. EST. Cygnus will be the first cargo ship to be berthed to the Earth-facing port on the Unity module. The spacecraft’s arrival will support the crew members’ research off the Earth …
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren Captures Cygnus Spacecraft
Using the International Space Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren successfully captured Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo vehicle at 6:19 a.m. EST. The space station crew and the robotics officer in mission control in Houston will position Cygnus for installation to the orbiting laboratory’s Earth-facing port of the Unity module. NASA TV coverage …
Crew Gets Ready for Cygnus Arrival Today
Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren is making final preparations for the arrival of Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo vehicle. NASA Television is providing live coverage, which also can be seen online at https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv. Lindgren will command the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, to reach out and capture the Cygnus. Capture is scheduled …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 12/8/15
Microbiome: For Yui’s Return Minus Zero day (R-0) and Kelly’s Flight Day 240 Microbiome sessions, they each collected saliva samples today. Kelly also collected water from the Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) in the galley and stowed it for ambient return on the 43 Soyuz (43S) vehicle, which is scheduled to undock from the ISS this …
First Christmas Delivery Set to Arrive Wednesday
The first of two Christmas space deliveries is set to arrive early Wednesday morning. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo craft is on its way to the International Space Station where it will be captured and berthed to the Unity module around 6:10 a.m. EST/11:10 a.m. UTC. The next holiday shipment will be delivered Dec. 23 aboard …
Equipment check-in and Drygalski adventure
By Christine Dow The Nansen Ice Shelf, where we have installed our GPS, is notoriously windy. This is clear from the blue ice on the surface and complete lack of snow, which gets rapidly swept away by katabatic winds (winds driven down from the glacier towards the sea by differences in pressure induced by the […]