Vijay Mishra and I went to do a maintenance check yesterday on one of the 4 X-band radars that the University of Iowa is contributing to the IFloodS field campaign. Below is a photo of the radar, located at a topographical high point near Elkader, Iowa. The X-band radar has a panoramic view of part […]
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission is now Landsat 8, and that means images are now public (woohoo!). NASA handed control of the satellite to the USGS yesterday (May 30, 2013), and calibrated imagery is available through the Earth Explorer. Unfortunately, the Earth Explorer interface is a bit of a pain, so I’ve put together a […]
New Status: Inter-module Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement: FE-5 Parmitano and FE-6 Nyberg completed IMV flow measurements throughout the United States On-orbit Segment (USOS). Measurements were taken using the velocicalc at the ventilation inlets and outlets and in mid-module to determine the status of the IMV system between the USOS modules as well as between the USOS …
New Status: Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS): Flight Engineer (FE)-3 Cassidy executed the eleventh of thirteen sessions planned for this experiment. BASS examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity and will guide strategies for extinguishing fires in microgravity. BASS results contribute to the combustion computational models used …
Although the significant convection stayed well south of the IFloodS area of study on the evening of 28 May, the multiple wavelength radars at the NPOL site captured the large anvil spreading out from the convection and the associated undulations beneath, known as mammatus. Mammatus clouds are often (but not necessarily) associated with severe weather […]
New Status: Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Combustion Chamber (CC) Setup: FE-3 Cassidy configured and installed the MSPR CC in preparation for the Combustion Chamber gas leak check scheduled for Thursday, May 30. Cassidy deployed and installed the chamber onto the MSPR workbench and then installed the chamber in the MSPR work volume. The leak check …
New Status: ISS as Testbed for Analog Research (ISTAR) Treadmill 2 (T2) 6-Month Maintenance: Flight Engineer (FE)-3 Cassidy successfully completed a regular maintenance on the T2. He cleaned closeout panels; inspected the treadmill motor carriage bolts, drive belt, treadmill mounting screws, tread belt slats and screws, damaged rack composite, and snubber cup liner; and vacuumed inside …
Earth Observatory reader Warren Bonesteel sent us this shot of mammatus clouds over Duncan, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013. They were taken at about 7:00 p.m. CST, a few minutes after a large supercell storm passed. The same storm system spawned a violent tornado that devastated the nearby city of Moore. While most clouds form […]
New Status: Seedling Growth Experiment: Flight Engineer (FE)-3 Cassidy removed the Experiment Container (EC) and inserted it into the Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) which completed the 4th and final run of this experiment. Seedling Growth studies the effects of microgravity on the growth of plants and is being performed on board the …
