Mission controllers are preparing to release Japan’s Kounotori cargo ship from the International Space Station at the end of the week. Meanwhile, the Expedition 50 crew is getting ready for a new protein crystal experiment and reconfiguring combustion science gear. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is getting ready to complete its sixth cargo mission to …
Fluid Shifts Before, During and After Prolonged Space Flight and Their Association with Intracranial Pressure and Visual Impairment (Fluid Shifts): The third 49S crewmember performed their second day of the Flight Day 45 Day (FD45) Fluid Shifts operations in the Russian Service Module (SM). The subject donned the Chibis device, and while the crewmember was …
Milky blue swirls in the Bering Sea stem from Alaska’s Bogoslof Island, which has been erupting since mid-December 2016.
The International Space Station residents are wrapping up their work week today installing and checking science communications gear. The Expedition 50 crew is also continuing to explore how long-term space flight affects eyesight. Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet worked on increasing the operations and communication capabilities of science gear. The duo worked …
Vacuum Access Port (VAP) Installation and Leak Check: Today, the crew installed a VAP in Node 2 from the LAB Vent Relief Valve to provide vacuum access capability for Visiting Vehicles berthed to Node 2 Nadir after PMA3 is relocated to Node 2 Zenith. Once installed, the VAP and lines were depressed and a leak …
The Expedition 50 crew is continuing its investigation into vision changes and eye damage some astronauts have experienced after long-term missions in space. Living in the microgravity environment causes a headward fluid shift that may be causing pressure behind astronauts’ eyes resulting in visual and physical changes. Two cosmonauts, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, and …
Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-6 (J-SSOD6) Removal: Following the successful deployments on Monday, the crew repressed the JEM Airlock (JEMAL) then extended the Slide Table into the cabin to remove the deployers from the Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP). The next use of the JEMAL is the High Definition Television External Facility-2 (HDTV-EF2), a high-definition television …
Following a successful pair of spacewalks, the Expedition 50 crew has switched gears and is moving full-speed ahead with advanced space research. The orbital residents checked out science gear and studied the impacts of living in space. European astronaut Thomas Pesquet repressed the Japanese Kibo lab module airlock after a small satellite deployer shot a …
In some parts of the world, saline lakes are common features. Take, for instance, the image below, from our January 2017 article about fires in Argentina. But saline lakes are an environment unto themselves. Lakes cover about 4 percent of the Earth’s land surface. Many of the largest ones (by area) are salty: Utah’s Great Salt […]
NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Engineering Directorate coordinated a platform beam signing event to celebrate the NASA and contractor team’s last several years of study, design, construction and installation of 20 new work platforms for NASA’s Space Launch System in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Workers involved in the High Bay 3 platform project had the …
