Microbiome: Kelly collected samples in support of the Microbiome experiment which were then inserted into Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for later return. The Microbiome experiment investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on …
The International Space Station will see two new spacecraft over six days beginning June 30. Three orbiting residents are preparing for the new arrivals with training on a pair of different rendezvous and approach systems. SpaceX CRS-7 will launch Sunday at 10:21 a.m. EDT. The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft will arrive Tuesday morning to be …
If you saw our June 22 Image of the Day with global maps of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), you may have noticed large concentrations over the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Peninsula. With vast deserts in these areas, it’s not a surprise that the satellites detected so many particulates. Winds regularly send plumes of dust blowing over the […]
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test Low Gravity Phase Kinetics Platform (BCAT-KP): Kelly changed the camera battery, transferred images to a laptop for downlink, and set the D2Xs intervalometer. The BCAT-KP experiment aims to help materials scientists develop new consumer products with unique properties and longer shelf lives. Colloids are mixtures of small particles distributed throughout a …
A pair of Expedition 44 crew members are training for next week’s arrival of SpaceX CRS-7. Another crew member is practicing for the rendezvous of an upcoming Russian resupply mission. Meanwhile, science is ongoing aboard the International Space Station. One-Year crew member Scott Kelly and station Commander Gennady Padalka partnered up for another session of …
Sleep ISS-12: Kelly and Kornienko are performing a week of sleep logging. Within fifteen minutes of wakeup, the crew answered questions from the SleepLog application on the Station Support Computer (SSC). The Sleep ISS-12 experiment monitors ambient light exposure and crew member activity and collects subjective evaluations of sleep and alertness, to examine the effects …
The orbiting Expedition 44 trio is counting down to next week’s arrival of the SpaceX CRS-7 mission. The station inhabitants also participated in an emergency drill and advanced microgravity science. One-Year crew member Scott Kelly is training for the robotic capture of the Dragon supply ship set for about 9 a.m. EDT June 30. Commander …
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The June 2015 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 a […]
Congratulations to reader John Radford for being the first to solve our May 2015 puzzler. As John noted: “It is East Java looking across Surabaya towards Bali and further islands. The numerous lights in the Java Sea must be mostly fishing boats though the cluster dead center may be partly Pulau Kangean lights. The yellowish […]
