NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers (NRCSD): Utilizing the JEM Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), Ground controllers performed an emergency stop shake test on the NRCSD. No deployments were observed during this time. However, after roughly 7 hours, an additional door (#7) was observed to be open, implying an inadvertent deploy during the morning of the crew workday. The …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 09/04/14
NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers: Additional attempts to launch CubeSats from deployers #4, 7, and 8 were made overnight without success. 24 commands were sent attempting to deploy #4, 30 commands were sent to deployer #7, and 17 deploy commands were sent to deployer #8. Ground Teams are continuing to assess the issue and are working on …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 09/03/14
NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers: Overnight, ground teams attempted deployment of three undeployed launchers (#4, 7, 8) without success. Additional deploy attempts are being planned this evening. Sprint Evaluation of Maximal Oxygen Uptake and Submaximal Estimates of VO2max Before, During, and After Long Duration International Space Station Missions (VO2Max): Flight Engineer (FE)-5 Wiseman set up the Portable …
Aerosol Measurements in Hurricane Cristobal
After a lengthy waiting period, we have successfully deployed our instrumentation to make aerosol measurements inside a tropical storm/hurricane. As of our last post, instrumentation was mounted aboard the NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft but we were awaiting installation of an inlet. This is not a trivial task, as any structure mounted to the exterior of […]
Puzzling Evidence
The answer to the August puzzler — Nagoya and the south-central coast of Japan — was puzzling even to Earth Observatory staff. When we first posted the image on August 26, even we did not know what we were looking at. We had asked our colleagues at the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) office at NASA Johnson Space Center […]
Mangroves, Mud, and More
Mangrove forests are disappearing faster than any other tropical environment. NASA scientists are working to understand how human activities coupled with land use/ land cover change have altered mangrove environments.
ISS Daily Summary Report – 09/02/14
Skin-B: Commander (CDR) Swanson conducted his last 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. This experiment will improve understanding of skin aging, which is slow on Earth but greatly accelerated in space. It …
Preparing for the Trip North
A new NASA airborne campaign known as ARISE, or the Arctic Radiation – IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment, will take measurements intended to help researchers better understand the role that clouds play in Arctic warming as sea ice conditions change. From Sep. 3 to Oct. 3, researchers flying aboard NASA’s C-130 research aircraft will measure […]
Time for a new target: HS3 turns focus to the Bay of Campeche
Since I last posted, AV-6 flew a successful mission over Cristobal. Meanwhile, AV-1 is still stuck in California until crews can figure out the electrical issues that are affecting the aircraft. Those of us on the AV-1 instrument teams, which includes the team I’m on, are starting to get pretty jealous of AV-6’s ability to […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 08/29/14
FLame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX)-2 Operations: Flight Engineer (FE)-5 Wiseman removed the Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) alignment guides which isolated the rack, allowing ground teams to conduct another FLEX-2 test point via ground commanding. A toluene and heptane mixture was used for this test point. FLEX-2 uses small droplets of fuel to study the special burning …