Blogs

Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The January 2017 puzzler is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, what the image shows, and why the scene is interesting. How to answer. Your answer can be […]

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations:  The USOS crew continued preparations for Friday’s EVA by auditing and configuring EVA tools, reviewing EVA Cuff Checklist procedures and participating in a conference with ground specialist.  Additionally, they checked out the Rechargeable EVA Battery Assemblies (REBAs) on Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suits 3006 and 3008 to verify the glove heaters …

In a remarkable demonstration of robotic prowess, ground controllers used the Canadian-built “Dextre” Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator over the weekend to install three new lithium-ion batteries in the International Space Station’s 3A power channel Integrated Electronics Assembly (IEA) pallet on the starboard 4 truss. Dextre also removed four old nickel-hydrogen batteries from the IEA, three …

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations:  The USOS Crew prepared the Equipment Lock, Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU), and ancillary hardware to support the upcoming Battery Upgrade EVA scheduled for Friday, January 6th.   In addition, they conducted an EMU On-Orbit Fit Verification (OFV) in order to confirm the correct sizing on EMUs 3006 and 3008.  Fluid Shifts – …

The Expedition 50 crew aboard the International Space Station spent the week working on an array of science, maintenance and spacewalking preparation to close out 2016. Kimbrough and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet are getting ready for a pair of spacewalks on Jan. 6 and 13. The spacewalks, in conjunction with remote robotics …

Fluid Shifts – Baseline Imaging: The first of three 49Soyuz subjects performed their Baseline Imaging measurements with assistance from both onboard operators and ground remote guiders.  Ultrasound imaging was taken of arterial and venous measures of the head and neck, cardiac, ophthalmic and portal vein, and tissue thickness of lower and upper body. Additional measurements …

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Prep: The crew reviewed procedures for the upcoming S4 Battery EVA.  During this session the crew reviewed the generic EVA prep, emergency and post EVA procedures along with the EVA specific procedures, detailed timelines, and EVA systems briefing. Earlier today ground teams tied Channel 3A to Channel 3B via Seamless Power Channel …

Fluid Shifts Dilution Measurements: The second of three 49S subjects completed their Flight Day 45 blood draw with assistance from a Crew Medical Officer (CMO) Operator in support of the first part of the Fluid Shift activities – Diultion Measurement. Upon wakeup the subject collected saliva, blood and urine and insert them into Minus Eighty …

As the year comes to a close, I’m probably not the only one looking back at how 2016 panned out. For the CYGNSS team, we ended 2016 with a lot of excitement, after carefully and patiently working on pre-launch development for the past few years. It takes a long time to develop things in careful […]