Each spring as Earth passes through the debris trail from Halley’s Comet (1P/Halley), the cosmic bits burn up in our atmosphere and result in the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This year the peak will occur on May 6 about 9 AM EDT with meteor rates of about 30 meteors per hour near peak. Best …
NASA astronauts Terry Virts and Scott Kelly spent the day replacing components inside one of the station’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Assemblies (CDRA.) The CDRA system works to remove carbon dioxide from the cabin air, allowing for an environmentally safe crew cabin. ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti continued two experiments that are investigating how the body changes …
Robotics Refueling Mission (RRM) Operations: Over the weekend, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) picked up Task Board 2 (TB2) and the Safety Cap Tool (SCT) from the RRM. The Mobile Transport (MT) was translated to Work Site (WS) 7 where the SPDM stowed TB2 and the Safety Cap Tool on the RRM On-orbit Transfer Cage …
Monday began a new week of science and maintenance work for the Expedition 43 crew. NASA astronauts Terry Virts and Scott Kelly spent the day reviewing procedures and gathering equipment for an upcoming replacement activity with one of the station’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Assemblies (CDRA.) The CDRA system works to remove carbon dioxide from the …
USOS Crew Half Duty Day: Today was a half duty day for the USOS crew. This was payback for the weekend Dragon arrived and the crew performed vehicle arrival activities including critical cargo transfer. NeuroMapping: Following a control pad connection to the HRF laptop, Virts launched the NeuroMapping application and completed all the tests. The …
Robotic Refueling Mission-2 (RRM-2): Virts worked with ground teams to configure the Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) and extend the JEMAL slide table to position the RRM for transfer. The Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) operators on the ground are currently using the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to remove task board (TB)3 from …
Attempts by Russian ground controllers to regain control of the Progress have been unsuccessful, and they have said they will not be able to regain propulsive control of it. As a result, the Progress currently is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere within the next two weeks. Russian ballistics specialists, working in conjunction with flight controllers in …
Station astronauts continued preparing for the next round of robotic refueling demonstrations while conducting various biomedical experiments and checkouts. Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts worked with ground teams to prepare the airlock in the Japanese Experiment Module and extend the slide table carrying the new Robotic Refueling Mission-2 (RRM-2) hardware. Robotics controllers on the ground …
59 Progress (59P) Status: Last night Russian ground controllers resumed 59P troubleshooting during Russian ground passes and were able to establish communications with the vehicle and review telemetry. Russian controllers configured the refueling system to feed the thrusters and made two unsuccessful attempts to command the thrusters to stabilize the vehicle’s angular rotation. Per Mission …
The Expedition 43 crew continued their work on Wednesday with a variety of research and technology demonstration activities. NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Terry Virts studied the effects of microgravity on living organisms for the Rodent Research experiment. They are looking at mice and how their body systems change in space. The results may promote …
