Crews and cargo shipments will be coming and going at the International Space Station during a busy December in space. Two resupply ships will arrive, one cargo craft will leave and an Expedition 45 trio will head home before an Expedition 46 trio replaces it. Commander Scott Kelly teamed up with Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren …
Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Troubleshooting: Kelly and Lindgren attempted to restore full functionality to the slide mechanism that allows the MSG work volume to be extended for crew access but were not successful. The MSG Ground Team is working with a ground unit to develop additional procedures for correcting the problem. The slide mechanism initially …
By Brian Walker November 19th — After the final cargo flight on November 17th, we finally had all our equipment and could prepare for installation. This wasn’t without some drama, as we initially received only four batteries and various pipes, but none of the actual instruments. After a few tense hours of emailing, we found […]
The next cargo mission to the International Space Station is set to launch Dec. 3 at 5:55 p.m. EST. The Orbital ATK Cygnus commercial cargo craft will arrive Dec. 6 when it will be grappled with the Canadarm2 and berthed to the Unity module. Commander Scott Kelly joined Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui …
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The November 2015 puzzler is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, what the image shows, and why the scene is interesting. How to answer. Your answer can be a few […]
Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock Operations for Closeout of Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM) #2: Yui opened the inner JEM Airlock hatch and then, with assistance from Lindgren, removed the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) from the Small Fine Arm (SFA) Airlock Attachment Mechanism (SAM) on the Slide Table and then removed the SAM from …
Today’s post is from Veronica Bray, a planetary scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson. She specializes in comparing the surfaces of planetary bodies across the solar system. I love looking at New Horizons’ images of Pluto! But I spend most of my time looking elsewhere. Why? Because comparing Pluto with other planetary …
The Project conducted a successfully System Acceptance Review / Pre-Ship Review on November 17, 2015. The instrument payload left NASA Langley Research Center at 8:07 PM Thursday, November 19 on a FedEx Custom Critical truck and was delivered to the NASA Kennedy Space Center on November 20, 2015 – just in time for Thanksgiving and […]
Columbus A1 Express Rack 3 (ER3) Combustion Event: This morning at approximately 2:14AM CST, a Potential Fire Alarm associated with Columbus A1 Express Rack 3 (ER3) came into alarm. The crew sampled the fire port associated with the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) since the crew had been working at that location minutes earlier. Fire …
The six-member Expedition 45 crew continued exploring more life science Thursday. Commander Scott Kelly, who is comparing his space-borne body with his ground-based twin brother and ex-astronaut Mark Kelly, collected and stored blood and urine samples for the ongoing Twins study. Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren explored using a joystick that transmits sensitive vibrations to control …
