Payloads EarthKAM (Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools): The crew switched out the D2X camera lens to an 85mm lens. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the Internet, the students control a special digital camera mounted on-board the ISS. This enables them to …
Comet NEOWISE Seen in an Aurora-Filled Sky
Comet NEOWISE is visible in an aurora-filled sky in this photo by Aurorasaurus Ambassador Donna Lach. The photo was taken early on July 14, 2020, in western Manitoba, Canada. The purple ribbon-like structure to the left is STEVE, an aurora-related phenomenon discovered with the help of citizen scientists working with the Aurorasaurus project. The bright …
Crew Completes Spacewalk Preps and Studies Human Biology
Two NASA astronauts finalized their preparations today, ahead of Thursday’s spacewalk, to complete battery swaps on the outside of the International Space Station. NASA Flight Engineer Bob Behnken and Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy organized their tools and readied the Quest airlock for the spacewalk set to begin tomorrow at 7:35 a.m. NASA astronaut Doug …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 7/14/2020
Payloads JEM Water Recovery System (JWRS): The crew retrieved the JEM WRS and performed inspections of the left, top and rear inside of the unit as well as checking fitting and coupler connections. Photos were taken and downloaded to the ground for evaluation. The Demonstration of JEM Water Recovery System (JWRS) generates potable water from …
Busy Day of Spacewalk Preps and Human Research
Two astronauts are concentrating on the final set of power upgrade spacewalks on the International Space Station beginning this week. Meanwhile, their Expedition 63 crewmates continued focusing on biology research to ensure humans stay healthy in space during long-term missions. Flight Engineer Bob Behnken and Commander Chris Cassidy for preparing for a pair of spacewalks …
NASA’s STEREO Sees Comet NEOWISE
By Sarah Frazier NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center This image of comet NEOWISE was captured by NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, on June 24, 2020, as the comet approached the Sun. The comet was visible in the field of view of STEREO’s Heliospheric Imager because of a special observing campaign: STEREO underwent …
Spacewalk Preps, Satellite Deployment During Bone and Heart Research
Two NASA astronauts are setting their sights on the final pair of spacewalks to continue upgrading power systems on the International Space Station. The orbiting lab also deployed a pair of microsatellites today while the rest of the Expedition 63 crew explored how weightlessness affects the human body. Flight Engineer Bob Behnken will lead the …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 7/13/2020
Payloads NanoRacks External Cygnus CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD): The crew took imagery photos of the NRCSD-18 Deploys. Two satellites were deployed: DeMi (Deformable Mirror) and TechEdSat-10 (Technology Educational Satellite-10). The NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer is a stackable, modular, ground loaded launch case. Each NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer accommodates up to eight launch cases and are stacked for each …
Space Physics and Biology Top Research Schedule Today
The Expedition 63 crew spent Friday setting up advanced science hardware to explore a wide variety of space phenomena. The International Space Station residents also worked spacesuit maintenance and conducted more eye checks. NASA Flight Engineer Bob Behnken spent the morning swapping furnaces inside the Materials Science Laboratory (MSL) research rack. Fellow NASA astronaut Doug …
Parker Solar Probe Prepares for Third Venus Flyby
Coming off its fifth encounter with the Sun — and the mission’s longest observation campaign yet — Parker Solar Probe is now headed toward Venus.