Expedition 50 astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA released the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station‘s robotic arm at 5:11 a.m. EDT. With the spacecraft a safe distance from the station, SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, will command its deorbit burn around 10 a.m. …
Aviators, skydivers and other altitude-seeking enthusiasts flying out of Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, are double taking at a new topographical feature reminiscent of an alien crop circle. Rest assured, the nearly 2,000-foot (600-meter) diameter circle with a pie-shaped wedge on one side and spokes on the other is no extraterrestrial footprint and it’s definitely no …
Dragon SpaceX (SpX)-10 Unberth: The crew packed critical items and egressed the vehicle in preparation for Dragon departure. Dragon was unberthed from the ISS via ground commanding at approximately 4:45 PM CST today. Ground teams have started maneuvering the Dragon into a IDA viewing position followed by another maneuver about an hour and a half …
In preparation for NASA’s next Super Pressure Balloon flight from Wanaka, New Zealand, NASA’s balloon team unpacked the top and bottom fittings of the balloon March 17 to perform test and integration work prior to launch. The 18.8-million-cubic-foot (532,000-cubic-meter) balloon is enormous – about the size of a football stadium – when fully inflated. The …
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) 275 Failure: On Wednesday evening, White Sands Facility reported a timeout of the 275 satellite. This resulted in a loss of both S-band and Ku-band communications. The ISS team worked to fill comm gaps where possible. As of Friday, Network Specialists are still troubleshooting the issue with TDRS 275. …
Rodent Research (RR) Habitat Stow: Following Tuesday’s completion of operations, today the crew stowed the RR habitats. The habitats were cleaned and sealed prior to their next use, planned for RR-5 scheduled for SpX-11. Advanced Plant Experiments (APEX)-04 Harvest: The crew removed the APEX-04 petri plate from the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) facility and harvested …
Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Overnight, the Robotics Ground Controllers unstowed the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) Payload from the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Enhanced Orbit Replaceable Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP). They then stowed the RRM on the Dragon Trunk Site 1 Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism (PFRAM). Next they released the RRM and …
2A Direct Current to Direct Current Converter Unit (DDCU) Trips: Today, all of the DDCUs on the 2A power bus tripped off simultaneously due to a bus undervoltage. This included DDCU 2A, DDCU LA2A, DDCU N2P2A, and DDCU N32A. The trip of DDCU 2A removed power from the 2A Pump Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS). Loads …
After a globetrotting journey that started in Texas and included stops in Belgium and Singapore, an 18.8 million-cubic-foot (532,000 cubic-meter) super pressure balloon (SPB) arrived in Wanaka, New Zealand, March 9, in preparation for another journey—one that should take it around the world multiple times. This is the third consecutive year NASA has flown the …
Rodent Research-4: Over the weekend and continuing today, the crew performed Rodent Research operations, in coordination with ground specialists, collecting samples and stowing them in Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for return on SpX-10. The Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect (RR-4) investigation studies what prevents vertebrates such as rodents and humans from regrowing …
