NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts worked Monday conducting intricate maintenance on a device that removes carbon dioxide from the International Space Station’s atmosphere. The duo later joined cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti for a review of emergency procedures and evacuation paths. Cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev spent the morning unloading cargo from …
Special Purpose Inexpensive Satellite (SpinSat): Wilmore and ground operations teams deployed the SpinSat today. The Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) was depressed, the outer hatch opened and the slide table extended. The JEM Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS) small fine Arm (SFA) guided to grapple the Cyclops launch platform and maneuvered into position for the SpinSat …
Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Cable Fraying Status: Based on the ground team’s review of the ARED Right Upper Stop Cable, they requested that the crew confirm no issues with un-racking and racking the Main Arm in the current configuration. Wilmore tested and confirmed there were no issues with the Main Arm movement. The crew …
The International Space Station is operating at full capacity as the six-member Expedition 42 crew ramps up new science experiments by setting up research hardware. Commander Barry Wilmore partnered up with new Flight Engineer Terry Virts in Japan’s Kibo laboratory module setting up a nanosatellite deployer known as Cyclops. Wilmore then moved on to science …
Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Cable Fraying: Yesterday, the crew reported fraying of the ARED Left Upper Stop Cable which was confirmed by ground team review of downlinked photos. Today, the crew disengaged the Left Upper Stop Cable to prevent cable failure and inspected and straightened the Right Upper Stop Cable. Ground teams are currently …
The International Space Station’s population stands at six after three new crew members arrived Sunday night. After a six hour ride that began at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineers Terry Virts and Samantha Cristoforetti docked to the Rassvet module beginning a 5-1/2 month stay at the orbital laboratory. …
A bright fireball occurred at 8:18 pm CST, Nov. 20, just southwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and was detected by NASA All Sky Cameras. The fireball traveled at 67,000 miles per hour and appears to have broken apart at an altitude of 27 miles. It was as bright as the full moon, about 14 inches in …
The six International Space Station crew members, in orbit 260 miles above Earth, will enjoy a somewhat traditional Thanksgiving dinner but with a few tweaks. While most Americans are roasting turkeys and emptying cranberry sauce out of cans, the station crew will be cutting open bags of freeze-dried, irradiated and thermostabilized foods. Their menu will …
NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency joined their Expedition 42 crewmates when the hatches between the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft and the International Space Station officially opened at midnight EST. Expedition 42 Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore of NASA and Alexander Samoukutyaev …
41 Soyuz (41S) Launch and Dock: 41S launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:01pm CST today with Shkaplerov, Cristoforetti, and Virts onboard. After orbital insertion, the vehicle deployed its antennas and solar arrays nominally then proceeded with a 4-orbit rendezvous with ISS. Docking to the MRM-1 module occurred at 8:49 PM CST with hatch opening …
