Blogs

In preparation for NASA's next Super Pressure Balloon flight from Wanaka, New Zealand, NASA's balloon team unpacked the top and bottom fittings of the balloon March 17 to perform test and integration work prior to launch. The 18.8-million-cubic-foot (532,000-cubic-meter) balloon is enormous – about the size of a football stadium – when fully inflated. The …

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) 275 Failure: On Wednesday evening, White Sands Facility reported a timeout of the 275 satellite. This resulted in a loss of both S-band and Ku-band communications. The ISS team worked to fill comm gaps where possible.  As of Friday, Network Specialists are still troubleshooting the issue with TDRS 275.  …

Editor’s note: Here’s a roundup of the latest eye-catching earth science videos from NASA and beyond. In March, snow emerged as a theme. Where there is snow, there is water. Scientists trudged through thick white powder in Grand Mesa and the Senator Beck Basin to measure the depth of snow — and its water content — for […]

Rodent Research (RR) Habitat Stow: Following Tuesday’s completion of operations, today the crew stowed the RR habitats.  The habitats were cleaned and sealed prior to their next use, planned for RR-5 scheduled for SpX-11.  Advanced Plant Experiments (APEX)-04 Harvest: The crew removed the APEX-04 petri plate from the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) facility and harvested …

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Overnight, the Robotics Ground Controllers unstowed the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) Payload from the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Enhanced Orbit Replaceable Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP).  They then stowed the RRM on the Dragon Trunk Site 1 Passive Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism (PFRAM).  Next they released the RRM and …

2A Direct Current to Direct Current Converter Unit (DDCU) Trips: Today, all of the DDCUs on the 2A power bus tripped off simultaneously due to a bus undervoltage.  This included DDCU 2A, DDCU LA2A, DDCU N2P2A, and DDCU N32A.  The trip of DDCU 2A removed power from the 2A Pump Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS).  Loads …

On Friday, March 10, 2017, the very important first step in activation of the SAGE III/ISS payload was completed successfully. At approximately 10:01 EST, 28V Operational Power was applied by the HOSC to the Interface Adapter Module (IAM) and initialization proceeded nominally. From there, the Solid State Memory Card (SSMC) downlink was initiated and performed […]

After a globetrotting journey that started in Texas and included stops in Belgium and Singapore, an 18.8 million-cubic-foot (532,000 cubic-meter) super pressure balloon (SPB) arrived in Wanaka, New Zealand, March 9, in preparation for another journey—one that should take it around the world multiple times. This is the third consecutive year NASA has flown the …

Rodent Research-4: Over the weekend and continuing today, the crew performed Rodent Research operations, in coordination with ground specialists, collecting samples and stowing them in Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for return on SpX-10.  The Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect (RR-4) investigation studies what prevents vertebrates such as rodents and humans from regrowing …