NASA, the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales, and SpaceX now are targeting 3:46 a.m. PST on Friday, Dec. 16, for launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. After SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket went vertical on the pad at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in …
Cosmonauts Preparing for Spacewalk Live on NASA TV
NASA Television coverage is underway for today’s spacewalk with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitriy Petelin. The duo, with assistance from European robotic arm operator cosmonaut Anna Kikina, will relocate a radiator from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module on the International Space Station Coverage of the spacewalk is on NASA Television the …
Artemis I Update: Orion Offloaded from USS Portland in Preparation for Transport to Kennedy Space Center
Team members with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program successfully removed the Artemis I Orion spacecraft from the USS Portland Dec. 14, after the ship arrived at U.S. Naval Base San Diego a day earlier. The spacecraft successfully splashed down Dec. 11 in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California after completing a 1.4 million-mile journey …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 12/14/2022
Payloads: JEM Water Recovery System (JWRS): The JWRS Gas Trap Module B and T-union were reconnected. The JWRS Valve Module SV-7 was reinstalled and the JWRS Bypass Line tube tip was cut as part of JWRS troubleshooting. The demonstration of JWRS generates potable water from urine. In the past, urine and wastewater were collected and …
SWOT Prelaunch News Briefing Time Changed to 3 p.m. EST (Noon PST)
NASA is adjusting the coverage time for the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission’s prelaunch news conference. NEW TIME: 3 p.m. EST (noon PST) – SWOT Prelaunch News Conference on NASA TV and YouTube with the following participants: Karen St. Germain, director, NASA’s Earth Science Division Thierry Lafon, SWOT project manager, CNES Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA’s Launch …
Webb Glimpses Field of Extragalactic PEARLS, Studded With Galactic Diamonds
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured one of the first medium-deep wide-field images of the cosmos, featuring a region of the sky known as the North Ecliptic Pole. The image, which accompanies a paper published in the Astronomical Journal, is from the Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science (PEARLS) GTO program. “Medium-deep” …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 12/13/2022
Payloads: Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR): CIR Absorber Cartridge QDs (Quick Disconnects) were reconnected. The CIR includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion investigations in microgravity. Dose Distribution Inside the International Space Station-3D (DOSIS-3D): DOSTEL-2 data and power cables were removed from DOSIS Main Box in …
Parker Solar Probe Embarks on 14th Close Encounter with the Sun
On Dec. 6, 2022, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe began the 14th of 24 planned close approaches to the Sun, eventually coming within 5.3 million miles of the solar surface.
Cosmonauts Ready for Spacewalk, Astronauts Run Space Research
Two Expedition 68 crew members are making final preparations before exiting the International Space Station on Wednesday for the 12th spacewalk of the year. Meanwhile, the rest of the orbital residents kept up with advanced microgravity research operations. Commander Sergey Prokopyev will join Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin to begin a spacewalk at 9:20 p.m. EST …
Two Briefings on Tap Ahead of International SWOT Launch
NASA, SpaceX, and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) are targeting 3:46 a.m. PST Thursday, Dec. 15, for launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite – the first global survey of nearly all water on Earth’s surface. Today, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m. EST (noon PST), NASA will hold …