Today we wave goodbye to our NAAMES team members who will not join us at sea….. And away we go! Starting something new can often be intimidating. Add in a moving boat, some rough weather, and potential sickness and that feeling can become overwhelming. However, these feelings are quickly eclipsed by the sheer excitement of […]
Final Rocket Components Arrive in Florida for Parker Solar Probe
All components of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket that will launch NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have arrived for prelaunch processing at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
NAAMES-III Expedition: August 29, 2017
Today was our last day of mobilization before sailing on Day 1 of the NASA NAAMES mission. The scientists and crew were busy making final preparations, there was a buzz in the air that was cooled by a well-timed sea breeze. Boxes were strapped down, filter rigs were secured, and last minute trips were made […]
SAGE Enjoyed the Eclipse Too!
Just like the millions of people across the United States who got to view the Great American Eclipse just a couple of weeks ago, the SAGE III instrument, from its perch on the International Space Station was able to catch a glimpse as well. The instrument completed a sunset occultation measurement during the solar eclipse […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 8/31/2017
Special Daily Summary during JSC Closure August 28th – September 1st 50S Crew Departure Preparations. In preparation for their return to Earth this weekend, the 50S Crew cleaned their Crew Quarters, stowed returning items within the Soyuz and conducted a descent drill to review undocking procedures and timelines. 50S undock is scheduled for Saturday, September …
August Puzzler
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The August 2017 puzzler is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting. How to answer. Your answer can be a few words or several paragraphs. (Try to […]
Flying into Hurricane Harvey
I had the good fortune to join the crew of the NOAA P-3 “hurricane hunter” plane that flew into Harvey on 25 Aug 2017 shortly before it made landfall in Texas. We made six pairs of eyewall penetrations. The maximum surface level winds continued to grow with each successive one as we witnessed Harvey’s rapid […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 8/25/2017
Lung Tissue: The crew took samples and fixed media in Tissue Bags. They then inserted the bags in a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). The Lung Tissue investigation uses the microgravity environment of space to test strategies for growing new lung tissue. Using the latest bioengineering techniques, the Lung Tissue experiment …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 8/24/2017
Miniature Exercise Device (MED-2): The crew set up cameras in Node 3 and Cupola to capture video from multiple views of the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) and MED-2 hardware, applied body markers, performed exercises and transferred video for downlink. The microgravity environment of space weakens muscle and bone, so orbiting crew members spend significant …
Crew Checks New Exercise Gear, CREAM Observes Cosmic Rays
A pair of Expedition 52 astronauts checked out new, smaller exercise gear today. The crew also worked on a variety of human research while a new cosmic ray detector has begun scanning outer space. The space station’s two newest astronauts, Paolo Nespoli and Randy Bresnik, joined forces today to measure the effectiveness of the new …