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    NASA Postpones Super Pressure Balloon Launch

    This image depicts the ASTHROS mission in flight in over Antarctica. The mission’s launch vehicle, an American football-stadium sized stratospheric balloon, and telescope payload fly in the stratosphere. Clouds and Antarctic land are visible below the mission, while the  vast expanse of outer space stretches above the mission.

    WANAKA, New Zealand – NASA postponed the scheduled launch of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 19, (3:30 p.m., Monday, April 19 in EDT) due to unacceptable weather conditions for launch operations. The team brought the payload out to the flight line, laid out the balloon's protective …

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    New Gear Readied for Advanced Space Science

    The International Space Station crew is getting the orbital laboratory ready this week for a wide variety of advanced space science. The station also received a new module that will be expanded in late May for two years of habitability tests. The Expedition 47 crew members are starting the work week setting up hardware for …

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    NASA targeting April 19 for super pressure balloon launch attempt

    SPB Launch Panorama

    NASA is targeting Tuesday, April 19 (Monday, April 18 in Eastern Time), to conduct a super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, on a potentially 100-day journey. Forecast surface and low-level winds are aligned for an early launch attempt; officials are watching trajectory projections closely. NASA will begin flight preparations …

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    BEAM Successfully Installed to the International Space Station

    Following extraction from Dragon, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was installed to the International Space Station at 5:36 a.m. EDT. At the time of installation, the space station was flying over the Southern Pacific Ocean. It will remain attached to station for two-year test period. NASA is investigating concepts for habitats that can keep …

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    ISS Daily Summary Report – 04/15/16

    Cell Mechanosensing 3 (CMS-3) Operations: Following yesterday’s successful observation obtained by repositioning the thermal sample container to allow enough lighting through the microscope for imaging, the crew completed another microscope observation setting for CMS-3. CMS-3 is a JAXA investigation that identifies gravity sensors in skeletal muscle cells to develop countermeasures to muscle atrophy. Scientists believe …

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    Mapping to Make Sense of Pluto

    Pluto Geologic Map

    Today's blog post is from Oliver White, a postdoctoral researcher in planetary science at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He studies the geomorphology and surface processes of planetary bodies in the outer solar system. Looking at the surface of a planet or moon for the first time can be bewildering, particularly when …

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    BEAM Installation Work Begins Tonight

    BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, will be removed from the back of the SpaceX Dragon late tonight before installation on the Tranquility module begins early Saturday. Expansion of the new habitat module won’t occur until late May for two years of habitability tests. Meanwhile, the six-member Expedition 47 crew kept up its very busy …

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    Balloon Team Continues to Wait on Weather

    COSI payload

    While local weather in Wanaka, New Zealand, is almost always lovely for locals and visitors alike, NASA's Super Pressure Balloon team continues to evaluate multiple weather conditions, all of which need to align before moving into a launch attempt. Wind conditions at the surface level need to be light in order to facilitate work on …

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    ISS Daily Summary Report – 04/14/16

    Cell Mechanosensing 3 (CMS-3) Operations: The crew successfully initiated and completed another microscope observation setting for CMS-3, after repositioning the thermal sample container to allow enough lighting through the microscope for imaging. The investigation identifies gravity sensors in skeletal muscle cells to develop countermeasures to muscle atrophy. Scientists believe that the lack of mechanical stress …

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