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The three Expedition 49 crew members orbiting Earth right now are moving ahead today with human research and the upkeep of the International Space Station. In the meantime, Roscosmos officials have decided to postpone the Sept. 23 launch of NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko aboard the Soyuz MS-02 …

Roscosmos decided to postpone the planned September 23, 2016 launch of the spacecraft “Soyuz MS – 02” for technical reasons after routine tests at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch date of the spacecraft will be announced later. Please visit the Roscosmos website for the latest information.

The Expedition 49 trio is looking at plant growth today after the successful deployment of eight nanosatellites Thursday. The crew also inspected a treadmill and trained to care for a sick or injured crew member. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins swapped seeds in a cultivator for the Plant RNA Regulation experiment. Some seeds were stowed in …

By Eric Lindstrom SPURS-2 on R/V Revelle has been a balloon bonanza. We have been profiling the atmosphere every six hours with radiosondes (AKA; sondes) attached to helium filled weather balloons. The sondes measure the temperature and humidity profiles in the atmosphere are transmitted via radio signal back to a receiver on the ship. They […]

While I was interviewing University of North Carolina climate scientist Wei Mei about his new research that shows a significant increase in the intensity of land-falling typhoons in the western Pacific, the strongest storm of the 2016 season (Super Typhoon Meranti) was on the verge of slamming into China after grazing Taiwan. “Meranti fits the trend,” […]

NanoRack Cubesat Deployer (NRCSD) #9 Deployment: Overnight, ground controllers deployed the remaining three of four pairs of Planet Lab DoveSats from the NRCSD #9.  This deployment titled “Flock 2” is a fleet of nanosatellites designed, built and operated by Planet Labs Inc., and will enable imagery of the changing planet to be taken on a frequent …

Asia Try Zero-G: The crew performed the ASIA TRY ZERO-G experiment.  The crew performed science experiments on themes proposed by six different countries throughout Asia.  The downlinked video will be used to promote the understanding of space activity for Asian countries. Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Troubleshooting: The crew is troubleshooting the ELF facility.  The crew …

By Eric Lindstrom A 1960’s movie classic, “The Graduate” (1967), contains a scene where the young Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is given advice about his future by the worldly Mr. McGuire (Walter Brooke): Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Benjamin: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Benjamin: […]

The Expedition 49 trio orbiting Earth inside the International Space Station are less than two weeks away from welcoming three new crew members. As the station residents wait for the new arrivals, they continue conducting space science and maintaining station systems. Commander Anatoly Ivanishin with Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi have been living …