Lighting Effects Meter Reading: The crew set up and configured the Light Meter hardware and took readings in the Node 1 and Crew Quarters (CQ). The Node 1 light is the legacy General Luminaire Assembly (GLA), while the CQ light has been upgraded to the newly installed Solid State Lighting Assemblies (SSLAs). The Lighting Effects …
Mobile Launcher will Receive first Umbilicals for NASA’s Deep Space Missions
Several of the umbilicals that will support the launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket atop the mobile launcher were transported from the Launch Equipment Test Facility to the Mobile Launcher Yard and staging area at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They will be prepped for installation on the mobile launcher. The …
First Contact Made with CYGNSS Satellites on Orbit
It’s Friday, and the excitement of launch day yesterday still hasn’t worn off. Not only did we see CYGNSS get launched into space, we were also able to make first contact with them. I talked about the excitement of the launch itself yesterday, so today’s post will describe our experiences communicating with each of the […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 12/16/2016
Medical Consumables Tracker (MCT) Installation: The crew installed the HTV-6 delivered MCT hardware in the Crew Health Care System (CHeCS) Resupply Stowage Rack (RSR). MCT uses Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) codes to track medicines and medical supplies on board the ISS. Ground managers will be able to track which medical supplies are being used, and how …
CYGNSS Launch Day Thoughts
I’m currently writing from Hangar AE, where it all happened. While we wait to make contact with all of the CYGNSS satellites after launch, I’m going to attempt some coherent thoughts about the past few days. You may already have been following what’s been going on since my last post, but I’ll give a brief […]
A Message From CYGNSS Principal Investigator Chris Ruf
We have successfully contacted each of the 8 observatories on our first attempt. This bodes very well for their health and status, which is the next thing we will be carefully checking with the next contacts in the coming days. It is an amazingly rewarding feeling to spend such an intense and focused time working …
Eight for Eight! All Satellites Contacted!
The eighth CYGNSS satellite was contacted at 3:30 p.m. EST through the Chile ground station — 100-percent success! Full constellation redundancy achieved.
ISS Daily Summary Report – 12/15/2016
Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: When trying to power up the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Control Unit 2 (SACU2) the sequence aborted with the same signature as yesterday. When swapping Bus channels, the power up sequence completed. It was decided to call off the RapidScat activity and perform troubleshooting instead to better understand the …
Satellites Six and Seven Contacted
CYGNSS satellite six was contacted at 3:01 p.m. EST, seven at 3:28 EST, both by the ground station in Chile. One more to go!
And another! Fifth Satellite Contacted
The fifth CYGNSS satellite was contacted at 1:53 p.m. EST — also at a Chile ground station. Three to go!