Nanoracks Module 74: Today a crewmember sequentially placed the 6 microplates into the Plate Reader-2 for scanning and stowed them in Module-74. This is day 13 of plate reader ops. The Module-74 experiment investigates the Effects of Microgravity on Controlled Release of Antibiotics and Curing Mechanism of a Novel Wound Dressing (Hydrogel Formation and Drug …
International Crew to Ring in Christmas 50 Years After First Moon Trip
Three people from the U.S., Canada and Russia are orbiting Earth today getting ready to observe Christmas and experience New Year’s Eve from space aboard the International Space Station. Back on Earth, another three station crew members have returned to their home bases just 24 hours after completing a 197-day mission aboard the orbital lab. …
Solar X-Rays: How a CubeSat Sheds New Light on the Sun’s X-Ray Emissions
By Susannah Darling NASA Headquarters On December 3rd, 2018 the second Miniature X-Ray Solar Spectrometer, MinXSS-2, was launched. MinXSS-2 is a NASA CubeSat designed to study the soft X-ray photons that burst from the Sun during solar flares. Along the way, it may answer a long-standing mystery of what heats up the Sun’s atmosphere, the …
Fireball Leaves Persistent Train over Western Skies
Well over 100 people in California, Nevada, Arizona and Oregon observed a fireball at 5:35 p.m. PST Dec. 19. This event was unusual not for the brightness of the fireball—similar to that of a crescent Moon—but for the persistent train left behind after the object ablated. This persistent train lasted for minutes (compared to the …
Meet Corey Walker, NASA Earth Science Intern and Aspiring Educator
By Corey Walker / NASA ARMSTRONG FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER, PALMDALE, CALIFORNIA / My name is Corey Walker. One of the most incredible things I’ve done on paper is become a NASA intern through the agency’s Student Airborne Research Program, otherwise known as SARP. Why? I grew up in Etowah County, Alabama which has a poverty …
We Made it to Antarctica
Stepping off the airplane onto the ice runway for the first time is a breath-taking experience.
The PI’s Perspective: On Final Approach to Ultima
The New Horizons spacecraft is healthy and on final approach to explore Ultima Thule in the Kuiper Belt. On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, New Horizons will swoop three times closer to “Ultima” than we flew past Pluto! On Saturday, Dec. 15, the New Horizons hazard watch team concluded its work, having found …
Expedition 57 Trio Back on Earth After 197-Day Space Mission
Three members of the International Space Station’s Expedition 57 crew, including NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, returned to Earth Thursday, safely landing at 12:02 a.m. EST (11:02 a.m. local time) in Kazakhstan. Auñón-Chancellor and her crewmates, Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Soyuz commander Sergey Prokopyev, launched June 6 and arrived …
Expedition 57 Crew Departs Station, Begins Ride Back to Earth
NASA Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Soyuz commander Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos undocked from the International Space Station at 8:40 p.m. EST to begin their trip home. Deorbit burn is scheduled for approximately 11:10 p.m., with landing in Kazakhstan targeted for …
Departing Trio Boards Soyuz Crew Ship, Prepares to Undock
At 5:30 p.m. EST, the hatch closed between the Soyuz spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking. NASA Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Soyuz commander Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos are scheduled to undock their Soyuz at 8:40 p.m. …