Since he rocketed to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 29, 2014, American astronaut Reid Wiseman has been enjoying the sights. He has built an active following on Twitter by sharing photographs of a world he is seeing from space for the first time. Like many first-timers in space, he is also discovering some […]
NanoRack Cubesat Deployer (NRCSD) Operations: Today the ground started a series of deployments of Cosmogia Dove CubeSats from the NRCSD via the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS). The NRCSD is installed on top of the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) and was brought outside through the JEM Airlock (JEMAL) via the slide table. …
Update: The R/V Endeavor returned from sea on Aug. 6, concluding the fieldwork component of the 2014 SABOR experiment. As mentioned in the previous blog (“A Vast Ocean Teeming with Life”) ending this cruise is not an easy thing to do. Especially if you experienced the majesty of the crystalline blue water in the open […]
Russian Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #39: EV1 Alexander Skvortsov and EV2 Oleg Artemyev successfully completed a 5 hour 11 minute EVA. The following tasks were completed: Deploy Nanosatellite [HC-1] Install experiment “Expose-R” on SM universal work platform (Plane II) Install holder on AFAR antenna handrail clamp Take samples from SM Window #13 (“Test” experiment) Install experiment …
Orbital-2 Cygnus Unberth: Cygnus was unberthed from the ISS at 4:10am and released at 5:40am CDT. After unberth, Cygnus completed two burns to move above and trailing behind the ISS. Over the next two days the vehicle will perform Detailed Test Objectives (DTOs) to characterize spacecraft performance for future missions. Destructive re-entry is scheduled to …
Electromagnetic Levitation (EML) Preparation: Commander (CDR) Swanson and Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Gerst transferred EML cargo from ATV-5 in preparation for EML installation in the European Drawer Rack (EDR) in the Columbus module. Bags were unpacked and EML hardware was temporarily installed. EML installation activities will continue next week. EML aims to increase the performance of …
August 5, 2014 Three weeks at sea is a long time for someone who has never been out of sight of shore. My greatest impression during my time out here is the one I first had when we first set out: the ocean is really, really big! I realize that probably sounds too obvious to […]
Body Measures: Commander (CDR) Swanson Flight Engineer (FE)-5 Wiseman conducted their Flight Day (FD)135 and FD 80 sessions, respectively, of Body Measures. They set up body marker instrumentation and took calibration and body pose pictures along with circumference measurements. They then recorded a neutral body posture video. The goal of this study is to gather …
North America has a pretty good seat for this cosmic event. 1. First, check the visibility map to make sure it’s visible from your location. 2. Then check the weather – if you are expecting clouds, then Mother Nature has just rained on your parade and you won’t be able to see any meteors from outside your …
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-5 Docking: ATV-5 successfully docked to the ISS Service Module (SM) aft port at 8:30 am CDT. Hatch opening and air scrubbing are scheduled for tomorrow, with cargo operations beginning on Thursday. ATV will remain docked to the ISS until early next year. Robonaut Mobility Upgrades: Commander (CDR) Swanson completed Robonaut upgrades …
