Managers gave a “go” to proceed toward the launch of OCO-2 at the conclusion of today’s Launch Readiness Review. The spacecraft is sealed atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket set to lift off from Space Launch Complex 2 on Tuesday, July 1 at 2:56 a.m. PDT, 5:56 a.m. EDT. Tuesday, July 1, at Vandenberg Air Force …
Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS)-II Operations: Flight Engineer (FE)-5 Wiseman conducted flame tests using cotton fiberglass fabric samples and a four centimeter acrylic spherical section for the BASS-II investigation. The investigation examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity. The experiment will guide strategies for materials flammability …
It’s been a busy week for the teams preparing the OCO-2 spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The nearly 1,000-pound observatory has been sealed inside the protective payload fairing atop the Delta II since Saturday, June 21. Fuel was loaded aboard the rocket’s second …
Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS)-II Operations: FE-5 Wiseman completed four rods in five flame tests for the BASS-II investigation. The BASS-II investigation examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity. The BASS-II experiment will guide strategies for materials flammability screening for use in spacecraft as well as …
Small Fine Arm Attachment Mechanism (SAM) Installation: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Gerst opened the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock (JEMAL) and extended the slide table. Then with assistance from Commander (CDR) Swanson, Gerst installed the SAM on the slide table and attached the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) to the SAM. The slide table was then retracted …
Skin-B Sample Collection: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Gerst conducted his second Skin-B data collection using the Tewameter probe to measure the skin barrier function; the Visioscan Camera to measure skin surface topography; and the Corneometer probe to measure skin hydration. The Skin-B experiment will improve understanding of skin aging, which is slow on Earth but very …
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The June 2014 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 […]
Advanced Colloids Experiment (ACE)-M-2 Operations: Flight Engineer (FE)-5 Wiseman installed another ACE-M-2 sample into the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) for processing. In the ACE-M-2 investigation, a model colloidal system is used to observe the microscopic behavior of liquids and gases separating from each other, near the critical point, via a process called spinodal decomposition. Burning …
Biological Rhythms: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Gerst removed a digital walk holter and actiwatch to end a data take for Biological Rhythms and saved the data to a medical laptop. Biological Rhythms 48 hours studies the effects of long-term microgravity exposure on heart function by analyzing an astronaut’s electrocardiogram for 48 hours. Capillary Flow Experiment (CFE) …
Russian Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #38: EV1 Skvortsov and EV2 Artemiev successfully performed a 7 hour 23 minute EVA today. All of the planned tasks were completed: Installed [АФАР] antenna of [EKTC] (comm system) on SM conical section Relocated “Obstanovka” [ПВК-2] unit along SM handrails Verified operating condition of SM plane IV [УРM-Д] fasteners Performed experiment …
