Blogs

This video shows the satellite and space-station view of various shorelines across the United States.

Expedition 52 astronauts Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson of NASA released the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station’s robotic arm at 2:41 a.m. EDT. Dragon’s thrusters will be fired to move the spacecraft a safe distance from the station before SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, command its deorbit burn. The capsule will …

Due to a forecast of unacceptable sea states in the Pacific Ocean in the prime opportunity splashdown zone, SpaceX and NASA have elected to delay the return of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft to Monday, July 3. The splashdown zone for Monday has an acceptable weather forecast and is closer to port in Long Beach, California. …

SpaceX (SpX)-11 Unberth Status: Teams met this afternoon to discuss the plan to unberth Dragon on Sunday, July 2. Weather at the splashdown area has been a concern for the past few days but reports are that the weather is improving. Teams decided to go forward with the plan to release on Sunday at 10:38AM …

Extremophiles:  In preparation for Session C of the Extremophiles investigation the crew wiped designated surfaces in Node 1, Node 3 and the Cupola with sterile wet wipes and placed them into a Biolab Thermal Control Unit.  Archaea and extremophilic bacteria have not been considered as significant contributors to the microbiome on the ISS. The Extremophiles …

A pair of NASA astronauts are almost finished packing the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship and are training for its Sunday morning departure. The three-member Expedition 52 crew also explored life science researching microgravity’s effect on microbes and plants. Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer will be inside the Cupola Sunday to robotically release Dragon …

By Kevin Matyi Want to find out more about this year’s total solar eclipse — like what totality means and why the path of totality is so much smaller than the overall eclipse? Wonder how long it takes photons from the sun to reach Earth? Curious about dark matter and what we know about it? …

Onboard the International Space Station today, the Expedition 52 crew continued packing the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship for its departure Sunday morning. The crew is loading Dragon all week with scientific samples and station hardware for splashdown and retrieval in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX personnel will take a two-day boat ride with Dragon onboard and …

Rodent Research-5 (RR-5) Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for Osteoporosis: The two animal habitats that will remain on ISS following SpX-11 departure were cleaned and restocked with new food bars.  Because spaceflight has significant and rapid effects on the musculoskeletal system it is important to investigate targeted therapies that could ameliorate some of the detrimental effects …

Though mosquitos are small, they are also deadly. A new app helps citizen scientists fight back.