FROM: NASA
SpaceX Dragon Launches
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 10:10 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, beginning its mission to resupply the International Space Station. The mission will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012.
FROM: NASA
Learning About 'Veggie' at the NASA Social
Marshall Porterfield, Life and Physical Sciences Division Director at NASA Headquarters, talks about the human body in microgravity and other life sciences at a NASA Social exploring science on the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Washington.
The Vegetable Production System ("Veggie"), a container used for growing plants on the ISS, is pictured in the foreground. Veggie is a deployable plant growth unit capable of producing salad-type crops to provide the crew with a palatable, nutritious, and safe source of fresh food and a tool to support relaxation and recreation. Veggie provides lighting and nutrient delivery, but utilizes the cabin environment for temperature control and as a source of carbon dioxide to promote growth. Image Credit-NASA-Carla Cioffi
FROM: NASA
Russian Cargo Ship Heads to Station
The ISS Progress 50 resupply ship launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:41 a.m. EST (8:41 p.m. Kazakhstan time) Monday on an accelerated, four-orbit journey to rendezvous with the International Space Station.
FROM: NASA
The International Space Station update video for Feb. 12, 2013.
FROM: NASA
The International Space Station update video for Feb. 11, 2013.
FROM: NASA
ISS Update: Robotic Refueling Mission Payload Overview
Public Affairs Officer Kyle Herring talks by phone with Ben Reed, Deputy Project Manager of the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office at Goddard Space Flight Center. They talk about the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) activities going on outside the International Space Station. The RRM is an experiment that uses Canadarm2 and Dextre to test techniques to service and refuel satellites to extend their original missions.
FROM: NASA
Stratocumulus Clouds Over Pacific
ISS034-E-016601 (4 Jan. 2013) --- On Jan. 4 a large presence of stratocumulus clouds was the central focus of camera lenses which remained aimed at the clouds as the Expedition 34 crew members aboard the International Space Station flew above the northwestern Pacific Ocean about 460 miles east of northern Honshu, Japan. This is a descending pass with a panoramic view looking southeast in late afternoon light with the terminator (upper left). The cloud pattern is typical for this part of the world. The low clouds carry cold air over a warmer sea with no discernable storm pattern. Photo: NASA.
FROM: NASA
Robonaut Operates Task Board in Space
In the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory, Robonaut 2 is pictured on Jan. 2, during a round of testing for the first humanoid robot in space. Ground teams put Robonaut through its paces as they remotely commanded it to operate valves on a task board.
Robonaut is a testbed for exploring new robotic capabilities in space, and its form and dexterity allow it to use the same tools and control panels as its human counterparts do aboard the station.
Photo Credit: NASA
FROM: NASA
New Year's Message From Space Station
Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineers Chris Hadfield and Tom Marshburn of the International Space Station's Expedition 34 crew send down their best wishes for a happy new year.
FROM: NASA
New Trio Launches to Join Expedition 34
The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 7:12 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Dec. 19.
FROM: NASA
Expedition 33 Lands in the Snowy Steppe of Kazakhstan
Expedition 33 Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineers Aki Hoshide and Yuri Malenchenko undocked from the International Space Station in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft at 5:26 p.m. EST Sunday Nov. 18, 2012. The trio landed just before sunrise in the snowy steppe of Kazakhstan at 8:56 p.m. Sunday (7:56 a.m. Monday, Kazakhstan time).
Credti-NASA/ISS
FROM: NASA
Commander Dan Burbank works with Robonaut 2. The robot humanoid demonstrated its dexterity performing sign language. Credit-NASA TV
Robonaut 2 is one step closer to earning its keep on the International Space Station.
R2 – as the robot is called – got its first taste of real work on Wednesday. The crew and ground team had completed all its initial checkouts, and Tuesday installed heat sinks in both of the robot’s forearms to allow it to better dissipate heat and work for longer periods of time.
The first humanoid robot in space was sent to the space station with the intention of eventually taking over tasks too dangerous or mundane for astronauts, and the first such task identified for it was monitoring air velocity. Astronauts onboard the space station generally have to measure the air flow in front of vents inside the station to ensure that none of the ventilation ductwork gets clogged or blocked. The task involves holding a gauge in front of vents in five different locations on the station and taking several measurements of the air flow every 90 days or so.
It’s not exactly a job that requires a rocket scientist – or astronaut – to accomplish, but there are a few things that make it difficult. For one, the gauge has to be held very steady – a challenge for a human being bobbing up and down in microgravity. And the samples can be misleading if there’s another source of air flow in the area – such as a human being’s breath.
FROM: NASA
SpaceX Launches to the International Space Station
Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is illuminated by a Falcon 9 rocket as it lifts off at 8:35 p.m. EDT carrying a Dragon capsule to orbit. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, built both the rocket and capsule for NASA's first Commercial Resupply Services, or CRS-1, mission to the International Space Station.
SpaceX CRS-1 is an important step toward making America’s microgravity research program self-sufficient by providing a way to deliver and return significant amounts of cargo, including science experiments, to and from the orbiting laboratory. NASA has contracted for 12 commercial resupply flights from SpaceX and eight from the Orbital Sciences Corp.
Image Credit- NASA
