New Status: Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) Experiment (BASS): Cassidy conducted the 7th of 13 sessions planned for this experiment. BASS examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity and will guide strategies for extinguishing fires in microgravity. BASS results contribute to the combustion computational models used …
We have been waiting for rain at the NPOL site. Yesterday evening it got very close- within 50 km or so. In the interim, we were waiting for convective cells to develop along what is called a radar “fine-line”. Fine-lines are little boundaries in the lowest part of the atmosphere associated with small changes in […]
A rain gauge will collect how much rain falls, but how exactly do scientists measure the size, shape, and fall speed of raindrops near the ground? Patrick Gatlin of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, sent us a couple photos from Iowa of the instrument that does exactly that: a two-dimensional video disdrometer. Shaped like a […]
New Status: In-Flight Maintenance (IFM) improved Payload Ethernet Hub Gateway (iPEHG) Installation: Commander (CDR) Hadfield upgraded PEHG-2 (in LAB1D2) by removing the legacy PEHG and installing the new iPEHG. IPEGH-1 installation is scheduled for this Friday, May 3. The new iPEHG will have enhanced configuration capabilities over the existing PEHG, improved Gateway modes of operation and …
New Status: Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Today Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) and translated the Mobile Transporter (MT) from Worksite (WS) 4 to WS2. They then maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) into position, grappled the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator System (SPDM), and released it from Mobile Base …
Walt Petersen is the Ground Validation Scientist for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, based at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. He manages all of GPM’s ground validation operations, the field campaigns that ensure that satellites measure rainfall and precipitation from space accurately. From May 1 to June 15, he is leading the Iowa […]
New Status: 51 Progress (P) Reboost – Yesterday the International Space Station (ISS) performed a nominal 1.53 meters per second reboost using 51P thrusters. This reboost provided phasing for the upcoming 33 Soyuz landing and 35 Soyuz launch. Nutrition and Pro-K Experiment Sample Collections: Cassidy collected blood and urine samples and stowed them in the Minus Eighty …
Thanks to everybody who offered answers to our five puzzlers last week. Congratulations to Christina Stiefel for solving Puzzler #5, Alan Wessman for solving Puzzler #3, and Angie Connelly for solving Puzzler #2! Honorable mention to Marcus Scherer for nearly solving Puzzler #1. Puzzler #1 showed undisturbed rainforest canopy in Brazil in part of Pará […]
51 Progress (51P) Docking: 51P successfully docked to the ISS Russian Segment Service Module (SM) aft port with this morning with contact and capture occurring at 7:26 am CDT. All Progress systems operated nominally with the exception of Kurs АСФ2 antenna which had still not deployed. A software patch was uplinked to the 51P vehicle which …
Each month, Earth Observatory offers up a puzzling satellite image here on Earth Matters. In celebration of Earth Month 2013, we’re upping the ante. We are going to release a new puzzler image every day this week. The fifth image is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part […]
