Blogs

The Expedition 50 crew trained today for the robotic capture of the SpaceX Dragon and studied how the brain adapts to living in space. Three crew members also conducted an emergency drill aboard the International Space Station. Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet joined Commander Shane Kimbrough to study the robotics maneuvers they will …

Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Exposed Facility (EF) High Definition Television (HDTV) Camera Installation: Today, the crew installed the HDTV on the EFU Adapter which was then installed on the JEM Airlock Slide Table. The Slide Table was then retracted into the JEM Airlock, and the JEM Airlock was depressurized and leak checked in preparation for operations …

A new high-definition Earth observation video camera will be installed on the outside of Japan’s Kibo lab module later this week. The Expedition 50 crew is also getting the International Space Station ready for the next SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. An HDTV camera delivered aboard Japan’s HTV-6 cargo craft in December is being readied for …

There was a very bright green fireball seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses surrounding Lake Michigan early this morning at 1:25:13 AM Central Time (February 6, 2017). The reports from these individuals and the video information from dash cameras and other cameras in the region indicate that the meteor originated 62 miles above West Bend, Wisconsin …

H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)-6 Deorbit:  HTV-6 successfully completed all three deorbit burns over the weekend.  Loss of telemetry occurred Sunday 05-February at 15:11:21 GMT at an altitude of 80 km over the South Pacific near 50° S, 142° W.  Lighting Effects Vision Test: This morning the crew unstowed the Visual Performance Test hardware, then configured …

Japan’s Kounotori, or “White Stork,” HTV-6 resupply ship completed its mission Sunday morning just over a week after its release from the International Space Station. The HTV-6 fired its engines for the last time sending it into Earth’s atmosphere for a fiery demise over the southern Pacific Ocean. The Expedition 50 crew is now planning …

NASA is planning human spaceflight missions further out into space and is learning how astronauts adapt to life off Earth for months and years at a time. The International Space Station provides the laboratory environment for numerous studies into how the human body reacts when exposed to microgravity. Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet, from the European …

Exposed Facility Unit (EFU) Adapter Transfer: Overnight ground controllers maneuvered the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Robotic Manipulator System (RMS) Small Fine Arm (SFA) to a position to remove the EFU Adapter from the EFU-5 location.  Once the EFU Adapter was removed, it was transferred and installed onto the JEM Airlock (JEMAL) Slide Table. The slide …

NASA, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are now targeting launch of Orbital ATK’s seventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station on March 19 during a 30-minute window that opens at approximately 10:56 p.m. EDT. This date takes into account space station operations, payload processing, and range availability. Orbital ATK has contracted …

BEAM was opened for a short time Thursday so the crew could install sensors inside the expandable module. The Expedition 50 space residents also explored how the body changes shape and how to prevent back pain during long-term missions. BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, had its hatches opened temporarily so astronaut Peggy Whitson could …