By Eric Lindstrom As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the R/V Revelle is bristling with meteorological sensors. Some are permanently installed aboard, some are just for SPURS-2, and some are on the moorings we will deploy. Raymond Graham, a graduate student at University of Connecticut, did a quick count of meteorological sensors and […]
ISS Daily Summary Report – 08/19/2016
U.S. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #36: Williams (EV-1) and Rubins (EV-2) completed the following activities to install the International Docking Adapter (IDA)2 with Intravehicular (IV) support from FE-5: Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-2 setup Preliminary IDA installation Initial IDA cable installation PMA-2 hemi reflector cover installation Final IDA cable installation IDA outfitting IDA cleanup IDA3 cable routing …
Spacewalk Concludes After Commercial Crew Port Installation
Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins concluded their spacewalk at 2:02 EDT. During the five-hour and 58-minute spacewalk, the two NASA astronauts successfully installed the first of two international docking adapters (IDAs). The IDAs will be used for the future arrivals of Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew spacecraft in development under NASA’s …
Going Back in Time
As the DC-8 flies around the world for the ATom project, we are crossing many time zones and occasionally loosing and gaining days! For most of the first half of the project, I didn’t really notice these time changes. I gained the most time leaving Boston for California and had one to two hourly stretches […]
Satellites and Salinity
By Eric Lindstrom One of the most common questions I get (and the first comment to this blog) is “How do you measure ocean salinity from space?” During the SPURS-1 campaign in 2012 I wrote a blog post on this topic. Basically the story is one of building a very sensitive instrument (a radiometer) to […]
Spacewalkers Begin Work to Install Commercial Crew Port
Two NASA astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 8:04 a.m. EDT aboard the International Space Station to begin a spacewalk planned to last some six and a half hours. Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins will install the first of two international docking adapters (IDAs) that will …
Watch NASA TV Now for Spacewalk with Rubins and Williams
Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA will begin a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station at 8:05 a.m. EDT Friday. NASA TV coverage will begin at 6:30 a.m. NASA TV’s Public Channel (NTV-1) will broadcast enhanced coverage of the spacewalk including operational commentary, in-studio experts and features. The …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 08/18/2016
Mouse Epigenetics Cage Unit Maintenance: The crew completed standard maintenance activities for the Mouse Epigenetics experiment by refilling the Transportation Cage Units with water and checking the water nozzles of the individual cages. The Mouse Epigenetics investigation studies altered gene expression patterns in the organs of male mice that spend one month in space, and …
New Docking Adapter in Position for Spacewalk Friday Morning
A new port for commercial crew vehicles was robotically removed from the back of the SpaceX Dragon Wednesday night. The International Docking Adapter was placed in position for its installation Friday morning to a pressurized mating adapter attached to the Harmony module. VIDEO: International Docking Adapter is Extracted from SpaceX Dragon Two spacewalkers, Commander Jeff …