Updates ISS UPDATES

[Capt_hensley]

I guess they need more time to get all thier S&%# in one of Sandys socks

Sorry, my applogies, I just had to! I've seen worse in other threads...

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA Selects Nonprofit to Manage Space Station National Lab Research

RELEASE : 11-225

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space Inc. (CASIS) to develop and manage the U.S. portion of the International Space Station that will be operated as a national laboratory. At the conclusion of successful negotiations, the independent, nonprofit research management organization will help ensure the station’s unique capabilities are available to the broadest possible cross-section of the U.S. scientific, technological and industrial communities.

"The space station is the centerpiece of NASA's human spaceflight activities, and it is truly a national asset," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "This agreement helps us ensure the station will be available for broad, meaningful and sustained use."

CASIS will be located at the Space Life Sciences Laboratory near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The organization will increase station use to maximize the public’s return on its investment by managing its diversified research and development portfolio based on needs for basic and applied research in a variety of fields. CASIS will identify opportunities for non-NASA uses linking scientific review and economic value, and will match potential research and development opportunities with funding sources. The organization also will increase awareness among schools and students about using the station as a learning platform.

NASA issued a cooperative agreement notice on Feb. 14 to seek a management partner for the portion of the station designated a national laboratory in 2005. The NASA Authorization Act of 2010, which extended station operations until at least 2020, also directed NASA to establish this organization. The cooperative agreement initially will have a value of up to $15 million per year.

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information about the space station as a national lab, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/nlab

 

[orb]

Roscosmos:

• ISS Cosmonauts Prepare for EVA
  :: 25.07.2011
  
  Russian cosmonauts Sergey Volkov and Alexander Samokutiaev on-board the International Space Station prepare for a space walk slated for August 3.
  
  
  

  
  Alexander Samokutiaev prepares Biorisk container​
  
  Today the cosmonauts will check EVA panels, prepare tools and replaceable items of the space suits.
  
  The objectives of the upcoming EVA include maintenance and scientific tasks, as well as launch of the Kedr microsatellite devoted to the 50th anniversary of Yury Gagarin’s space mission.
  
  This will be the first EVA for Samokutiaev, and the third for Volkov. The space walk is to commence at 18.30 MSK and to last about 6 hours.
  
  
  
  
• Operations and Experiments in the International Space Station (July 25- 31, 2011)

 

[orb]

JAXA: Certification for ISS onboard astronaut:

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has been providing basic training to be certified as an astronaut for the International Space Station (ISS) to astronaut candidates Kimiya Yui, and Takuya Ohnishi since April 2009, and also to astronaut candidate Norishige Kanai since September 2009. The three candidates have completed all their basic training requirements, thus they were certified as ISS astronauts on July 25, 2011.
The three will further participate in training to improve their knowledge and techniques as astronauts mainly at the NASA Johnson Space Center as well as in Japan and other countries.

{...}

1. Certified astronauts
   • Kimiya Yui
   • Takuya Ohnishi
   • Norishige Kanai

{...}

 

[orb]

NASA:

July 26, 2011​

RELEASE : 11-249
NASA and International Partners Discuss New Uses for Space Station

WASHINGTON -- The Multilateral Coordination Board (MCB) for the International Space Station partner agencies met Tuesday, July 26, to discuss how to use the space station as a test bed for technologies that will enable missions beyond low Earth orbit.

The board will begin identifying several specific technology collaboration initiatives based on possible future missions suggested by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group. These technology developments and demonstrations on the station could support voyages to an asteroid or Mars or the development of lunar habitats.

The MCB also discussed efforts to increase station use and reported on the status of standardization efforts for rendezvous and proximity operations, interfaces for replaceable items and payloads and command protocols for spacecraft. The recently released revision of the International Docking Systems Standard can be downloaded at:

http://www.internationaldockingstandard.com​

Ongoing space station research includes:

• The uses of the International Space Station as a national laboratory are growing. Memorandums of understanding are in place between NASA and other U.S. government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, which is now in its second year of selecting experiments related to human health research.
  
  Space Act Agreements also are active with private firms and universities in the areas of vaccine development for bacterial pathogens, gene differentiation for production of new plant cultivars, nanocube scale experiment systems, hyper-spectral imaging for agricultural applications and advanced propulsion technologies. Earlier this month, NASA formally selected the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space for negotiation of a cooperative agreement to stimulate, develop and manage uses of the station by organizations other than NASA.
  
  
• The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer has collected more than 2 billion observations of galactic cosmic rays since its launch and installation on the space station in May. The astrophysics instrument is a partnership of hundreds of scientists and sixteen countries led by Nobel laureate Samuel Ting.
  
  
• Robotic technologies developed by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for the station have been used to improve the dexterity of surgeons in fine scale surgery. NASA will be testing a humanoid robot, Robonaut, developed in partnership with General Motors in the coming months. The first test of robotically controlled refueling in orbit, developed jointly by NASA and CSA, launched earlier this month aboard Atlantis' STS-135 flight.
  
  
• The space station partnership is working to share data from remote sensing instruments mounted on the orbiting outpost and to increase the application of such data to disaster response. The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean has collected more than 3,510 images, providing unprecedented spectral resolution of difficult-to-map coastal waters. The International Space Station Agricultural Camera collected its first images on June 10. Its data is used to assess crop health and rapid changes during the growing season.
  
  
• NASA's studies of crew health have identified relationships between diet and bone loss that offer important insights for future studies. Recently published data on chemical changes in pharmaceuticals identified that low-dose ionizing radiation in orbit degrades many medications, and that additional development of space-hardy medications will be needed for human spaceflight beyond Earth orbit.
  
  
• The Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, continues experiments aimed at human adaptation to future long-term expeditions. Effects of the flight conditions on the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system and bones are being investigated in dedicated medical experiments. Wheat and vegetables are being planted, followed by genetic, microbiological and biochemical tests of the plants. Four different long-duration Russian astrobiology experiments from Expose-R returned after two years of open space exposure.
  
  
• In addition to astronomical and Earth observations, Japan promotes biotechnological research by analyzing structures of high-quality protein crystals created on the station leading to treatments for muscular dystrophy. Japan also continues experiments related to future long-term human spaceflight missions such as investigating bone loss mechanism, the effects of radiation and countermeasures of those. Scientists have gained insight to the fields of fundamental life and materials science from research conducted in the Kibo laboratory.
  
  
• With the return of European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli in May, ESA successfully concluded a focal set of research known as the "MagISStra" mission. Recently returned long-duration experiments include: a year-long radiation exposure experiment conducted with Roscosmos, nine different European astrobiology experiments after two years of open space exposure and the CFS-A study of fungi after five months in space. The completion of the ZAG and Otolith experiments by shuttle crew members gives new, unexpected insight into human balance. The Materials Science Laboratory now has the ability to cool rapidly metal alloy samples, with new cartridges expanding its use by the research community. These experiments are being performed in collaboration with the station's international partners.
  
  
• Educational activities on the station reach thousands of students around the world. In May and June, hundreds of thousands of students watched the adaptation of spiders to a space environment and compared their behavior to spiders in classrooms on Earth through the website BioEdOnline.org. The spiders returned to Earth on Thursday, July 21. Students in the U.S., Europe and Japan had the opportunity to propose investigations for the space station and astronauts conducted the winning activities.

The MCB includes senior representatives from NASA, CSA, ESA, Roscosmos and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The MCB meets periodically to ensure coordination of station operations and activities among the partners. The board is working to tabulate station utilization metrics and document accomplishments for a publication to be released by September.


{...}

 

[orb]

And today an article about new uses for ISS from ESA: New uses for Space Station:

27 July 2011
For more than a decade, the International Space Station has been a busy orbiting research lab. But it could soon take on a new role as a testbed for ambitious missions deeper into space.

Future ventures could include Mars missions, lunar habitats or travelling to an asteroid – all needing new technologies and techniques that could be tested on the Station.

{...}

Spaceflight Now: Hired private cargo ships booked to visit space station

 

[Donamy]

Sounds like the ISS crew, will get pizza delivery.

 

[orb]

Sounds like the ISS crew, will get pizza delivery.

With the Dragon docking a week after the launch, it will be already a cold pizza. :lol:

 

[Donamy]

I like cold pizza best.

 

[orb]

RIA Novosti: ISS to be de-orbited and sunk in Pacific after 2020 - Roscosmos:

The International Space Station (ISS) will be de-orbited and sunk in the Pacific Ocean after 2020 like its Russian predecessor Mir, Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) Deputy Head Vitaly Davydov said on Wednesday.

"We will be forced to sink the ISS. We cannot leave it in orbit as it is a very complicated and a heavy object. There must be no space waste from it," Davydov said in an interview posted on the Roscosmos website.

"We have agreed with our partners that the ISS would function roughly until 2020," he said adding the station's life was initially estimated at 15 years.

The ISS has been functioning for 13 years now after receiving numerous international space expeditions.

Asked whether a new space station will be built, Davydov said "there are several possibilities."

The Mir space station was in operation from 1983 to 1998 before being sunk in the Pacific Ocean in a "spacecraft cemetery" not far from Christmas Island in 2000.

The agreement to construct the ISS was signed January 29, 1998 in Washington by representatives from Canada, members of the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan, Russia and the United States.

Upcoming Expedition 29/30 crew members have ended their training at JSC, Houston:

They are scheduled for launch in Soyuz TMA-22 (the final TMA series flight) on September 30, 2011.

(Source: Roscosmos [in Russian])


In the meantime, the preparations for the spacewalk scheduled for August 3 continue on the ISS.

The spacewalk is scheduled to start with hatch opening on August 3, at 18:35 MSD / 14:35 UTC / 10:35 a.m. EDT, and go on for about 6 hours. It will be broadcast live on NASA TV.

The cosmonauts will work outside the Russian segment to move a small crane, install a laser communications terminal on Zvezda, and remove and inspect antennas, install materials science experiments, and deploying "Kedr" (Yury Gagarin's call sign) micro-satellite ("Radioskaf" experiment) in honor of the 50th anniversary of Garagin's flight.

It will be the first spacewalk for Alexander Samokutyaev, and 3rd of Sergei Volkov.

(Source: Roscosmos [in Russian])

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Russian Spacewalkers to Move Cargo Boom, Deploy Ham Radio Satellite

Two Russian cosmonauts will leave the confines of the International Space Station on Aug.3 to move a cargo boom from one airlock to another, install a prototype laser communications system and deploy an amateur radio micro-satellite.

Expedition 28 Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev are scheduled to venture outside the Pirs airlock at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday to begin the six-hour excursion. Both spacewalkers will wear Russian Orlan-MK spacesuits. Coverage of the spacewalk will be broadcast live on NASA Television beginning at 10 a.m. EDT.

Volkov, making his third spacewalk, and Samokutyaev, making his first, will both wear spacesuits marked with blue stripes. Volkov’s previous two spacewalks occurred while he was Expedition 17 commander in 2008.

During the spacewalk, Commander Andrey Borisenko and NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan will close the hatches on the Poisk docking module, which is opposite the Pirs airlock, and seal the hatches between Zvezda and Poisk. This gives them access to their Soyuz 26 spacecraft, protects against the unlikely possibility of a sudden station depressurization and allows the forward transfer compartment of Zvezda to be used as a backup airlock. Flight Engineers Mike Fossum of NASA, and Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will be in the U.S. segment and will have access to their Soyuz 27 spacecraft, which is docked to the Rassvet module.

The duo’s first task will be to deploy a boxy, 57-pound satellite, called alternately ARISSat-1 and Radioskaf-V, which is the prototype test flight of a proposed series of educational satellites being developed in a partnership with the Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. (AMSAT), the NASA Office of Education ISS National Lab Project, the Amateur Radio on ISS (ARISS) working group and RSC-Energia.

The ARISSat design can carry up to four student experiments and the data from these experiments will be transmitted to the ground via an amateur radio link. This prototype ARISSat-1 carries one student experiment, a pressure sensor built at Kursk University in Russia, to measure atmospheric pressure for the lifetime of the satellite.

In addition to transmitting student experiment data, ARISSat-1 will transmit still-frame video Earth views from four onboard cameras, commemorative greetings in the native languages from students around the world, including messages to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launch of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the first human in space. The satellite, which uses off-the-shelf equipment and software provided by AMSAT, also features a Morse code tracking beacon and will function as a space communications utility for use by “ham” radio operators world-wide.

More information on tracking ARISSat-1 decoding its telemetry visit the AMSAT and ARISSat-1 websites:

http://www.arissat1.org/v3

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new

Their next job will be to install a barbecue grill-shaped experiment to test the use of a laser-based system for high-speed transmissions at up to 100 megabytes a second to the Earth from Russian science experiments. The system will be installed on a universal work platform outside the Zvezda service module hull just behind its solar arrays.

After that, they’ll take photographs of a nearby antenna that has been showing signs of degraded performance. The imagery will be used to help engineers on the ground find the root cause of the antenna’s problem.

Next, they’ll retrieve an antenna that was used for docking of the Poisk module when it arrived at the station in November 2009. The antenna is no longer needed and will be brought back inside the station.

Then it is on to the major objective of the spacewalk, the move of the telescoping STRELA-1 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Poisk docking compartment. The task is expected to take nearly three hours to complete, and will involve the use of the STRELA-2 boom, with its base attached to Pirs. At the completion of the task, STRELA-1 will be ready for use from Poisk, and STRELA-2 will remain on Pirs. The cargo booms extend somewhat like a fishing rod, and can be used to help move massive components around the outside of the Russian segment of the space station.

Once the boom relocation is complete, the spacewalkers will retrieve an experiment known as Biorisk from the airlock, and install it on a handrail outside the Pirs module. Biorisk is short for the Influence of Factors of the Space Environment on the Condition of the System of Microorganisms-Hosts Relating to the Problem of Environmental Safety of Flight Techniques and Planetary Quarantine. The experiment will look at the effects of bacteria and fungus on structural materials used in spacecraft construction with a focus on how solar activity may affect the growth of these microbes.

With all tasks complete, Volkov and Samokutyaev will take some final photographs, reenter the Pirs airlock and end their spacewalk.

The next Russian spacewalk is planned for February 2012, when the Expedition 30 crew will be in orbit aboard the station.

 

[Donamy]

Which Strela is which ?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Exciting week on ISS (well, exciting if you're an ISS fan like me)! :thumbup:


Today, the CTC that Dextre has been holding onto since February was installed onto the EOTP (on the side opposite RRM), in preparation for the P1 RPCM R&R coming up the week of August 15th. This is so that the CTC's lid can be opened in order to remove the new RPCM, and stow the old RPCM.

Here's some more info on the RPCM R&R from the CSA:

Dextre, Space Electrician: Swapping Out Failed Circuit Breaker Boxes
Repairing failed circuit-breaker boxes is a routine chore on board the International Space Station (ISS). The circuit breakers (also known by the technical term "Remote Power Control Modules," or RPCMs) are an important part of the ISS’s electrical system, and tend to fail occasionally. Up to now, swapping the boxes needed to be done by astronauts during spacewalks. That is, until the arrival of Dextre, the Space Station's robotic handyman.

Dextre was designed to do standard repairs on the Space Station's exterior to reduce the need for astronauts to do spacewalks (which always carry a certain level of risk), and free up the crew's time for more important activities, like conducting science experiments. Like the average home, as the Space Station ages, it will require more minor repairs and servicing to ensure that everything stays in working order. As the Station's resident handyman, Dextre will always be on call to keep the Station ship-shape.

In the summer of 2011, Dextre will replace two failed circuit breaker boxes on the ISS. Dextre will approach the worksite with the help of Canadarm2. He will begin by extending his arm, grasping the fixture on the broken circuit breaker, unfastening the bolt that holds it in place and removing it. Dextre will then move away from the worksite in order to rotate his lower body. The broken circuit breaker will be put into an empty slot into the Cargo Transport Carrier (which Dextre has been holding in one of his hands since February 2011).

Using his free hand, Dextre will then grasp and remove a brand new circuit breaker from the Cargo Transport Container. He will then rotate his waist so his workbench is turned away from the worksite, and install the new circuit breaker. After he completes his task, Canadarm2 will move Dextre away from the worksite.

Then, starting tomorrow, the JEM RMS SFA (that's Japanese Experiment Module, Remote Manipulator System, Small Fine Arm ) will begin a checkout period that will run throughout this week.

Here's some info on the SFA checkout from today's ISS On-Orbit Status Report:

[Extraction of SFA from the SSE (SFA Storage Equipment) with tool release is scheduled tomorrow, full SFA function checkout on 08/04, and installation of the SFA in the SSE on 08/05.]

And as well as all that, we've got a Russian spacewalk on Wednesday too! Who said that ISS was boring post-Shuttle?!

--------------------

Which Strela is which ?

Ermmm....I'll have to check on that!

 

[orb]

NASA: The Orbital Perspective of Astronaut Ron Garan

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 02/08/2011.

After yesterday's successful suited dry-run for the Russian EVA-29, CDR Andrey Borisenko, FE-1 Alexander Samokutyayev & FE-4 Sergei Volkov spent several hours on preparing for the EVA tomorrow, first reviewing the spacewalk timeline for about 2 hrs, then completing EVA equipment gathering, filling & installing Orlan drink bags, etc.
Outer hatch opening & egress by Volkov (EV-1) & Samokutyayev (EV-2) is scheduled for ~2:30 PM GMT, ingress & hatch closure at ~8:27 PM GMT, for an estimated duration of 5 hrs 57 min. Spacewalk objectives are:

• Deploying & photographing the Radioskaf microsatellite.
• Installing the BTLS-N (Onboard Laser Communications Terminal) monoblock and mating it on the SM RO lg. (Service Module | Work Compartment | large diameter).
• Removing the 4 [AO-VKA] antenna unit on the SM RO sm. (small diameter).
• Photographing the WAL6 antenna of the PCE (Proximity Communications Equipment) antenna feeder unit on SM RO sm.
• Relocating the massive Strela-1 cargo boom assembly from DC-1 (Docking Compartment-1) to MRM-2 (Mini Research Module-2).
• Installing the Biorisk-[MSN] platform with three containers on DC-1.
• Photographing the SKK #1 materials exposure container on MRM-2 and the Komplast panel #11 on the FGB.
• Photographing pictures of Gagarin, Korolev and Tsiolkovski.

FE-3 Ron Garan & FE-5 Satoshi Furukawa joined up for Day 2 of the JEM RMS SFA (Japanese Experiment Module | Remote Manipulator System | Small Fine Arm) functional checkout. With MPEG-2 (Moving Pictures Expert Group-2) encoder set up to transmit monitor views, FE-5 & FE-3 activated RLT (Robotics Laptop), CCP (Camera Control Panel) and RMS Monitors, tagged up with ground specialists (at ~10:55 AM GMT) and then went through today's checkout maneuvers. [Steps included configuring proper switch settings, activating & starting the JEM RMS ABM (Arm Bus Monitor), maneuvering MA (Main Arm) from stowed position to SFA backoff (Unloaded Hover), grappling the SFA grapple fixture for a checkout of the RMS EE (End Effector) and SPEE (Special Purpose End Effector), performing SFA grappling, activating the SFA heater via MA, ungrappling SSE (SFA Stowage Equipment) tool fixture, monitoring unberthing SFA (by ground) and maneuvering the RMS MA with the SFA to the Loaded Hover position at SSE for extracting the SFA from SSE. All equipment was then powered down by Satoshi. Full SFA function checkout is scheduled on 08/04, and installation of the SFA in the SSE on 08/05.]

 

[orb]

SPACE.com: Russian Cosmonauts to Take Spacewalk Today:

{...}

Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev are scheduled to exit the space station's Pirs airlock at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) to begin a six-hour spacewalk. It will be Volkov's third time working on the exterior of the station and Samokutyaev's first. Both cosmonauts will wear Russian Orlan-MK spacesuits marked with blue stripes.

The duo's first task will be to release a boxy, 57-pound satellite, known as ARISSat-1 or Radioskaf-V. The satellite was designed and built by amateur radio operators to help drum up interest in scientific and technological careers among students.

{...}

Volkov and Samokutyaev are scheduled to release the ARISSat-1 satellite into space at around 11:07 a.m. EDT (1507 GMT).

{...}

The spacewalkers will then install an experimental laser-based system designed to transmit data at extremely high speeds to Earth from Russian science experiments. The barbecue grill-shaped system will be installed on a work platform outside the Russian Zvezda service module just behind its solar arrays.

Volkov and Samokutyaev will then take photographs of an antenna nearby that is not performing as expected. The pictures will be sent back to Earth to help engineers pinpoint the issue.

The spacewalkers will next retrieve an obsolete antenna that was originally used to help spacecraft dock to the Poisk module on the station's Russian segment. Since the antenna is no longer needed, Volkov and Samokutyaev will bring it back inside the station with them. [Building the International Space Station]

The next major task of the spacewalk involves moving a cargo boom from one docking compartment to another. This laborious task is expected to take nearly three hours to complete. Once the cargo boom has been installed at its new location, space station residents will be able to use it like a fishing rod to move larger components around on the outside of the space station's Russian segment.

The final task of the day will be to retrieve an experiment and install it outside the Pirs module. The experiment, called Biorisk, will examine the effects of bacteria and fungus on structural materials used to build spacecraft. The experiment will focus on how solar activity may influence the growth of these microbes.

The next Russian spacewalk is currently scheduled to occur in February 2012.

{...}

EDIT: And an article by Orbinaut Pete -

NASASpaceflight: Cosmonauts to conduct Russian spacewalk on International Space Station​

 

[Wood]

The EVA should be starting in a few minutes, NASA TV playing some trippy music while we wait.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Which Strela is which ?

Strela-1 is on the Starboard side of DC-1 (will be moving to the Port side of MRM-2 today), and Strela-2 is on the Port side of DC-1.

 

[orb]

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: Spacewalk skips main task:

Russian cosmonauts wrapped up a spacewalk today outside the International Space Station without moving a cargo boom that was intended to be their primary task.

{...}

RIA Novosti: Russian cosmonauts complete spacewalk outside ISS

 

[Wishbone]

Is there any information on the cause for the delay, viz. was it planners' fault or the "human factor"? Lots of PR silliness with the Kedr, which somehow lost one antenna...