By Emily Clay The Perseid meteor shower is here! With Comet NEOWISE making its way out of the solar system, it is time for a celestial show caused by a different comet. Perseid meteors, caused by debris left behind by the Comet Swift-Tuttle, began streaking across the skies in late July and will peak in …
Every detail that goes into space exploration matters. While habitat design or making sure a rocket is powerful enough to launch supplies are obviously important, what may be less apparent are the smaller things, including the solvents used in manufacturing materials for spaceflight. On Aug. 6, a 22-second hot fire test in the East Test …
Payloads Handhold Experiment Platform (HXP2): The crew retrieved and packaged ten Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM2) samples for return to the ground. The ExHAM samples were recently brought inside ISS through the JEM airlock and were exposed the external ISS environment to test various technologies. Some the experiment samples include carbon composite, radiator material, …
Advanced space science, cargo transfers and orbital maintenance kept the three Expedition 63 crew members occupied Thursday aboard the International Space Station. Commander Chris Cassidy spent a good portion of his day working inside JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Kibo laboratory module. The experienced shuttle and station astronaut retrieved the Handhold Experiment Platform-2 (HXP-2), packed …
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage for the Artemis I lunar mission has successfully completed its first four Green Run tests and is building on those tests for the next phase of checkout as engineers require more capability of the hardware before hot-firing the stage and its four powerful engines. On Aug. 5, engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space …
Payloads Droplet Formation Study (DFS): The crew performed the setup and initiation of recording for additional runs of the DFS investigation. Data will be archived by an alternate method which will actually result in a quicker delivery time to the experiment team. Droplet Formation Studies in Microgravity (Droplet Formation Study, or more simply DFS) evaluates …
The Expedition 63 crew, with one U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station, juggled an array of space research and orbital plumbing duties on Wednesday. Commander Chris Cassidy ran several test operations today of the Water Droplet Formation experiment that may improve fluid management on spaceships and faucets and showers on …
When NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover roared off the pad aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 Thursday, July 30, at 7:50 a.m., there were a lot of energized engineers on the ground at Kennedy Space Center. Following the successful launch, the Florida spaceport’s …
Payloads Astrobee: The Astrobee system was powered on in support of additional free-flight and checkout operations. Astrobee will be used in the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge in the coming weeks. Astrobee is made up of three free-flying, cube-shaped robots which are designed to help scientists and engineers develop and test technologies for use in microgravity …
Free-flying robots, planetary bodies and water droplets were just part of Tuesday’s research plan aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 63 trio also serviced a variety of communications gear and life support systems. NASA and its international partners are planning human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond and the space station represents a …
