Communications Issues: This morning, communication with the ISS on Space to Ground (S/G) became intermittent. A failed controller card at White Sands prevented the acquisition of the correct Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). Nominal communications were restored after the card was replaced. Rodent Research 6 (RR-6): Today the crew performed the third day of …
Russian Cargo Ship Preps for Launch While Crew Studies Life Science
A Russian cargo craft is getting ready to roll out to its launch pad for a Sunday morning lift-off to resupply the International Space Station and the Expedition 54 crew. The astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the station are also preparing for the new space shipment and continuing a variety of life science studies. Russia’s Progress …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 2/07/2018
AstroPi Video for Columbus: To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Columbus module to the International Space Station (ISS), today the crew recorded a short video of themselves using AstroPi to wish Columbus a happy birthday. Columbus was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis and is a science laboratory that can accommodate …
Atlas V First Stage Lifted Vertical at Space Launch Complex 41 for GOES-S Mission
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage was lifted by crane into the Vertical Integration Facility on Jan. 31, 2018, at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket will be positioned on its launcher to boost NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-S). The satellite is the second …
Europe’s Station Lab in Space 10 Years; Crew Studies Eyes and Muscles
The European Space Agency (ESA) is celebrating today the 10th anniversary of the launch of its Columbus lab module aboard space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. Now Columbus is one of three lab modules supporting hundreds of advanced microgravity science experiments. The other two modules are Destiny from NASA and Kibo from the …
What Caused Twin Mega-Avalanches in Tibet?
Scientists have pieced together why the ends of two neighboring glaciers collapsed in 2016.
ISS Daily Summary Report – 2/06/2018
Common Communications for Visiting Vehicle (C2V2) R2 Upgrade: Due to issues experienced yesterday while loading the C2V2 R2 upgrade, ground controllers were unable to complete the first day of R2 load operations. The attempt to load the software today was again unsuccessful. It was determined that a file mismatch was causing errors in the software …
Europe Nears 10 Years at Station; Crew Studies Mice and Plants
The International Space Station program is getting ready to recognize the 10th year in space of its Columbus lab module from the European Space Agency (ESA). The Expedition 54 crew members, meanwhile, spent the day helping scientists on the ground understand the impacts of living in space. ESA is getting ready to celebrate the 10th …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 2/05/2018
Microbial Tracking-2 (MT-2): Over the weekend, a 53S subject completed saliva sample collections in support of the MT-2 investigation. The MT-2 series continues the monitoring of the types of microbes that are present on the ISS. It seeks to catalog and characterize potential disease-causing microorganisms onboard the ISS. Crew pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight samples and …
The Footsteps of Apollo Astronauts
On our team’s last day at Kilbourne Hole, we were joined by retired astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, the lunar module pilot for Apollo 17. He is the only professional geologist to have walked on the Moon and is still an active researcher. Schmitt joined our 2017 excursion for very much the same reason that Butch […]