Three thick layers of cake and frosting sat atop Jeff Schmaltz’s kitchen counter. The programmer had completed a 3-D model of a GIBS tile pyramid; it was his entry into a collegial science bake-off at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. But there was more to this cake than flour and eggs and sugar. If you have ever browsed […]
Sixth Japanese HTV Cargo Ship Leaves Station
8 Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA commanded the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to release a Japanese cargo vehicle at 10:46 a.m. EST. At the time of release, the station was flying 261 statute miles above the south Atlantic Ocean. Earlier, ground …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/26/2017
Fluid Shifts Chibis Imaging Day 2: Due to yesterday’s issues with the Joint Station LAN (JSL), the final Flight Day 45 Chibis session for the 49S crew was rescheduled and performed this morning. The subject donned the Chibis device, and while the crewmember was exposed to the negative pressure (pulling the fluid feetward), then with …
Spaceship Ready for Release as Crew Studies Vision
The Expedition 50 crew is getting ready for Friday morning’s release of Japan’s sixth cargo craft to visit the International Space Station. The station residents are also continuing to explore how their eyes adapt to living in space for months at a time. The Kounotori HTV-6 resupply ship, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/25/2017
Fluid Shifts Chibis Imaging Day 2: The Flight Day 45 Chibis session for the 49S crew was planned this morning, however due to Joint Station LAN (JSL) network issues the session had to be cancelled. This Fluid Shifts session will be replanned for tomorrow. Lighting Effects Vision Test: The crew performed a Numerical Verification and …
Study: Major Middle East Dust Storm in 2015 Was Due to the Weather, Not Human Conflict
A new analysis of satellite suggests the key causes of a major dust storm in 2015 were climate and weather conditions — not the war in Syria.
Crew Checks Eyes after Japanese Cargo Ship Packed
The Japanese HTV-6 resupply ship is packed and ready for its release Friday from the International Space Station. European astronaut Thomas Pesquet will command the Canadarm2 to release the HTV-6 at 10:30 a.m. EST. Afterward, it will enter Earth’s atmosphere for a fiery disposal over the Pacific Ocean. NASA TV will broadcast the release and …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/24/2017
Story Time From Space Meniscus Demonstration: The crew narrated and recorded a video demonstration exploring how a fluid behaves in free fall (microgravity) and how acceleration compared to free fall will make fluid behave the same as it would on the ground (1-G environment). Story Time From Space combines science literacy outreach with simple demonstrations …
Fluid Studies Today Benefit Astronauts and Kids
The Expedition 50 crew members explored a variety of space phenomena today to help researchers improve life for humans and stimulate children’s curiosity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Scientists are working to understand how fluids behave not just in spacecraft fuel tanks and containers but also inside an astronaut’s body. Microgravity creates a headward …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/23/2017
Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI)-1 Autostop and Recovery: MELFI-1 went to Autostop mode Friday evening (during crew sleep). The Cold Stowage team performed troubleshooting including a rack reboot but remained in autostop. Failure signature had anomalous values on the 120 and 28 volt inputs, as well as failure statuses on multiple …