At the town line into Minamitane on Tanegashima Island, Japan, a giant billboard announces, “Global Precipitation Measurement / Launching of the rocket is coming soon!” Six days to be exact. I grinned when I saw it. Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, is why I’m in town. The launch window begins at 1:07 p.m. Feb. 27 […]
Aniso Tubule Experiment Operations: Today Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Wakata retrieved the Aniso Tublule sample from the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) door where he had put it earlier this week, watered it, and placed it on the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) fluorescent microscope for 48 hours of observation. He placed the remainder of the …
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is a name worth remembering. First of all, it’s a satellite. On February 27, 2014, GPM’s Core Observatory is scheduled to rocket into space from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center carrying a radar and radiometer capable of measuring precipitation in new ways. However, this joint NASA/JAXA mission is bigger than just one satellite. The scientists behind GPM are hoping that […]
Spinal Ultrasound Scan Operations: Flight Engineer (FE)-3 Hopkins, with assistance from FE-6 Wakata and ground experts, performed his Flight Day 150 Spinal Ultrasound session. This investigation aims to characterize microgravity-associated spinal alterations during and after spaceflight using in-flight ultrasound. Results from this research will provide data to enhance crew health for long duration space missions. Cube …
Cygnus Re-Entry: Cygnus completed its De-Orbit Delta-V (DDV)-1 burn at 7:24 am CST this morning. The Re-Entry Delta-V (RDV) burn was initiated at 11:45 am CST. The vehicle crossed the Entry Interface and destructively re-entered the atmosphere off the coast of New Zealand at approximately 12:20 pm CST. The final loss of telemetry occurred at …
It’s funny what you can find in a satellite image. Mike Gartley, a research scientist at Rochester Institute of Technology, spotted the Landsat 5 satellite lurking in a Landsat 8 image of northwestern Brazil. Landsat 5 once flew in the orbit that Landsat 8 now lives in. But in January 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey lowered […]
Orbital 1 Departure: Today, the Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) in the hot backup configuration for Cygnus unberthing and release. Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Wakata and FE-3 Hopkins demated Cygnus from the Node 2 Nadir Active Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) and used the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to uninstall …
Cube Satellite (CubeSat) Operations: Four CubeSats were successfully launched by JAXA Robotic Flight Controllers from NanoRacks CubSat Deployer (NRCSD) locations 4 and 5 on Saturday, February 15th. The commands to launch the CubeSats from these locations needed to be sent several times in order for the deployer doors to open. Previous attempts last week to …
Cube Satellite (CubeSat) Deploys: Four additional CubeSats were deployed overnight from the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers (NRCSDs) by JAXA Robotic Flight Controllers, for a total of 12 CubeSats launched this week. Unsuccessful attempts to launch from NRCSD locations 4 and 5 are under investigation by NASA NRCSD Teams. Additional attempts will be made to launch those …
