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Mars Base

Teams Working Cooling System Issue; Station Crew Carries on With Research | NASA - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...-crew-carries-on-with-research

scibyte113 iss

shared by Mars Base on 13 Dec 13 - No Cached
  • Dec. 12, 2013
  • suspect a flow control valve actually inside the pump module itself might not be functioning correctly
  • hat flow control valve regulates the temperature of the ammonia in the loop so that when the ammonia is re-introduced into the heat exchanger on the Harmony node it does not freeze the water also flowing through the exchange
  • ...17 more annotations...
  • Mission managers have deferred the decision on whether to proceed with or postpone the launch of the Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus commercial cargo craft until more is known about the flow control valve issue
  • Cygnus is currently scheduled to launch Dec. 18 from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and rendezvous with the station on Dec. 21
  • Wednesday, the first of two reboosts of the station took place to raise the station’s orbit and set up
  • for Russian vehicle launches and dockings in 2014
  • also places the station in position for the arrival of Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus commercial cargo vehicle this month
  • e 7-minute, 41-second firing
  • Expedition 38 crew members also tackled a variety of other tasks Thursday, including maintenance work and scientific research
  • work on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, or ARED, which allows the crew to perform a wide range of weightlifting exercises in the weightless environment of the station
  • installed a jumper in the Quest airlock to provide contingency power to the airlock’s secondary shell heaters
  • prepared the U.S. spacesuits for some upcoming scheduled maintenance
  • deployed eight bubble detectors for the RaDI-N experiment, which seeks to characterize the neutron radiation environment of the station
  • removed and stowed a NanoRacks platform. NanoRacks provides lower-cost microgravity research facilities for small payloads utilizing a standardized “plug-and-play” interface
  • spoke with students in Kyoto, Japan, via the amateur radio aboard the station
  • unloading cargo from the Progress 53 cargo vehicle that docked to the station on Nov. 29
  • collected micro-accelerometer data for the Identification experiment, which examines the station’s dynamic loads during events such as dockings and reboosts
  • continued the replacement of fans in the Zvezda service module with low-noise units and used a sound level meter to measure the results.
  • conducted routine maintenance on the life support systems in the Zvezda service module
Mars Base

NASA - Meals, Equipment Top Cargo List for Dragon - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...spacex_cargopreview.html

scibyte47 SpaceX dragon iss

shared by Mars Base on 16 May 12 - No Cached
  • about 1,200 pounds of cargo
  • including commemorative patches and pins, 162 meals and a collection of student experiments
  • Most of the cargo's weight, 674 pounds, is in food and crew provisions, including the meals, crew clothing and batteries and other pantry items. A laptop and its accompanying accessories will also make the journey.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Tucked inside the Dragon capsule are two NanoRacks dedicated to student experiments that will study a range of microgravity-related areas from microbial growth to water purification.
Mars Base

SpaceX's First Mission to the Space Station: How It Will Work | Dragon COTS 2/3 Flight ... - 0 views

www.space.com/agon-space-station-flight.html

scibyte47 SpaceX iss PrivateSpaceTravel

shared by Mars Base on 16 May 12 - No Cached
  • SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule is due to deliver food, supplies and science experiments
  • SpaceX is one of two companies with NASA contracts for robotic cargo delivery flights (Virginia's Orbital Technologies Corp. is the other), but is the first to actually try a launch
  • Here's how the robotic mission is expected to play out:
  • ...50 more annotations...
  • Step 1: Launch
  • from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. SpaceX has use of the facility's Space Launch Complex 40
  • The initial ascent is powered by Falcon 9's first stage, consisting of nine SpaceX Merlin 1C rocket engines
  • Step 2: Main Engine Cut Off/Stage Separation
  • At a little before 180 seconds into the flight, the Falcon 9's first stage engines will cut off, and the first stage will drop off, falling back to Earth
  • the booster's second stage engines should start, further propelling the vehicle into orbit.
  • Step 3: Payload Separation
  • Around 9 minutes into the flight, the Dragon capsule should separate from Falcon 9's second stage and orbit on its own
  • capsule will deploy its solar arrays to start soaking up energy from the sun
  • Dragon is on its own and must maneuver using its onboard thrusters
  • Step 4: Orbital Checkouts
  • Dragon will begin a series of checkouts to make sure it's functioning as designed and ready to meet up with the station
  • test out its abort system to prove it can terminate its activities and move away from the space station if something goes wrong.
  • demonstrate its performance in free drift phase, with thrusters inhibited
  • Teams on the ground will lead the vehicle through tests of
  • Absolute GPS (AGPS) system, which uses global positioning system satellites to determine its location in space
  • Step 5: Fly-Under
  • fire its thrusters to perform a fly-under of the International Space Station
  • to 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) below the outpost
  • make radio contact with the station using a system called the COTS Ultra?high frequency Communication Unit to communicate.
  • Dragon will also test a secondary locator system called the relative GPS system, which uses the spacecraft's position relative to the space station to establish its coordinates
  • the six-person crew inside the orbiting laboratory will be monitoring their new visitor
  • use a crew command panel onboard the station to communicate with the capsule and send it a command to turn on a strobe light.
  • After completing the fly-under, Dragon will loop out in front, above and then behind the space station to position itself for docking.
  • Step 6: Rendezvous
  • during Dragon's fourth day of flight, the spacecraft will fire its thrusters again to bring it within 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) of the space station
  • there, NASA's Mission Control team in Houston will run through a "go-no go" call to confirm all teams are ready for rendezvous
  • If everyone is "go," Dragon will inch closer, to about 820 feet (250 meters) away from the space station.
  • series of final checkouts will be performed to make sure all of Dragon's location and navigation systems are accurate
  • If all looks good, Dragon's SpaceX control team on the ground will command the vehicle to approach the space station
  • When it reaches 720 feet (220 meters), the astronauts onboard the outpost will command the capsule to halt.
  • After another series of "go-no go" checks
  • approach to 656 feet (200 meters), and then 98 feet (30 meters), and finally 32 feet (10 meters), the capture point.
  • Step 7: Docking
  • Mission Control will tell the space station crew they are "go" for capturing Dragon
  • astronaut Don Pettit will use the station's robotic arm to reach out and grab Dragon, pulling it in to the bottom side of the lab's Harmony node, and then attaching it.
  • The next day, after more checkouts, the crew will open the hatch between Dragon and the station.
  • Over the coming weeks, the astronauts will spend about 25 hours unpacking the 1,014 pounds (460 kilograms) of cargo that Dragon delivers
  • none of the cargo is critical (since this is a test flight),
  • capsule will arrive bearing food, water, clothing and supplies for the crew.
  • Step 8: Undocking
  • Dragon is due to spend about 18 days docked at the International Space Station.
  • the station astronauts will use the robotic arm to maneuver the capsule out to about 33 feet (10 meters) away, then release it. Dragon will then use its thrusters to fly a safe distance away from the laboratory.
  • Step 9: Re-entry
  • About four hours after departing the space station, Dragon will fire its engines to make what's called a de-orbit burn
  • will set the capsule on a course for re-entry through Earth's atmosphere
  • spacecraft is equipped with a heat shield to protect it from the fiery temperatures of its 7-minute re-entry flight.
  • Step 10: Landing
  • due to splash down in the Pacific Ocean to end its mission
  • There, recovery crews will be waiting to collect the capsule about 250 miles (450 kilometers) off the West Coast of the United States
  • Mars Base on 21 May 12
     
    Mission Overview
Mars Base

Easter Sunday Space Station Rendezvous and Berthing for SpaceX Dragon Freighter Succees... - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...ng-for-spacex-dragon-freighter

scibyte127 iss dragon

shared by Mars Base on 20 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • The SpaceX 3 Dragon commercial cargo freighter successfully arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Easter Sunday morning, April 20
  • The mission is the company’s third cargo delivery flight to the station.
  • The Dragon vehicle loaded with nearly 2.5 tons of science experiments
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Dragon will remain attached to the station until May 18
  • There are over 150 science experiments loaded aboard the Dragon capsule for research to be conducted by the crews of ISS Expeditions 39 and 40
  • CRS-3 mission will deliver some 5000 pounds of science experiments
  • a pair of hi tech legs for Robonaut 2
  • a high definition Earth observing imaging camera suite (HDEV)
  • a laser optical communications experiment (OPALS) and essential gear
  • the VEGGIE lettuce growing experiment
  • spare parts, crew provisions, food, clothing and supplies to the six person crews
Mars Base

Canadarm Ready to Ensnare Space Dragon after March 1 Blast Off - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...dragon-after-march-1-blast-off

scibyte83 dragon

shared by Mars Base on 22 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • On March 1 at 10:10 AM EST, a Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket is slated to blast off topped by the Dragon cargo vehicle on what will be only the 2nd commercial resupply mission ever to the ISS
  • The flight, dubbed CRS-2, will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying about 1,200 pounds of vital supplies and science experiments for the six man international crew living aboard the million pound orbiting outpost
  • The Dragon will remain docked to the ISS for about three weeks while the crew unloads all manner of supplies including food, water, clothing, spare parts and gear and new science experiments
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • the astronauts will replace all that cargo load with numerous critical experiment samples they have stored during ongoing research activities, as well as no longer needed equipment and trash totaling about 2300 pounds, for the return trip to Earth and a Pacific Ocean splashdown set for March 25
Mars Base

Missing 'Big Bang' Antarctic Telescope Found - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...ig-bang-arctic-telescope-found

scibyte49 telescope

shared by Mars Base on 01 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Astronomers and students from the University of Minnesota hoping to search for radiation left over from the Big Bang instead spent the past few days looking for their telescope
  • 6,000 lb (2729 kg)
  • the truck driver who was supposed to deliver it to a NASA facility in Palestine, Texas
  • ...17 more annotations...
  • he’s not talking and police in Texas won’t press charges against him.
  • good news is that the missing telescope has been found – sitting at a truck wash — after a frantic cross-country search
  • telescope is a high-tech irreplaceable piece of equipment that is 22 ft high 15 ft wide (6.5 X 4.5 meters
  • designed to detect radiation from the Big Bang and it took fifteen people 8 years to build
  • will be shipped to Antarctica, where it will be attached to a giant balloon in December and sent 110,000 feet (33,500 meters) into the atmosphere.
  • Friday, a Minnesota trucking company sent off one of their trucks with telescope inside
  • Monday there was no word from the trucker and the scientists started to panic when the truck didn’t show up at the NASA facility
  • Calls to the trucker went unanswered
  • The owner of the trucking company sent his son to Dallas to search for the truck and the driver
  • only clue was a credit card charge at a Dallas truck stop.
  • The son found the driver, asleep in the cab of the truck, but the trailer, with the precious cargo inside, was nowhere to be seen.
  • driver said he left the trailer at a hotel parking lot
  • when the searchers arrived, it wasn’t there
  • trucker clammed up and wouldn’t provide any more clues or reasons for why he didn’t deliver his cargo
  • another employee of the trucking company found the trailer sitting at a truck wash in Dallas
  • If they would not have found that particular trailer at that time, maybe half a day or a day later someone would have stolen it and taken it for metal or just for scrap,”
  • NASA unpacked the crate Thursday morning and said the telescope was unharmed and is in great shape
Mars Base

Japanese Cargo Ship Launches to Space Station - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...ship-launches-to-space-station

scibyte55 iss japanese

shared by Mars Base on 21 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • Japanese resupply ship, the HTV-3 “Kountouri” (White Stork) launched Saturday
  • at 02:06 UTC.
  • contains supplies such as food, clothing and equipment for experiments
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • should reach the ISS on July 27,
Mars Base

Doubly Historic Day for Private Space: Cygnus docks at Station & Next Gen Falcon 9 Soars - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...tation-next-gen-falcon-9-soars

scibyte105 PrivateSpaceTravel Cygnus SpacecraftUpdae

shared by Mars Base on 30 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • Sept. 29
  • Cygnus commercial cargo ship docked at the International Space Station (ISS)
  • a few hours later the Next Generation commercial SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • demonstration test flight from the California coast carrying a Canadian satellite to an elliptical earth orbit
  • Both Cygnus and Falcon 9 were developed with seed money from NASA in a pair of public-private partnerships between NASA and Orbital Sciences and SpaceX
  • docking was delayed a week due to an easily fixed communications glitch
  • The Cygnus spacecraft
  • Hatches to Cygnus
  • opened on Monday, Sept. 30 after completing leak checks
  • second commercial partner’s demonstration mission reaches the ISS
  • Cygnus delivers about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food, clothing, water, science experiments, spare parts and gear to the Expedition 37 crew
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 blasted off from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California
  • deployed Canada’s 1,060 pound (481 kg) Cascade, Smallsat, and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) weather satellite and several additional small satellites.
Mars Base

Satellite Left Stranded by SpaceX Rocket Falls From Space | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/ded-satellite-falls-space.html

scibyte67 Orbcomm

shared by Mars Base on 13 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • Orbcomm
  • satellite, launched Oct. 7 into a bad orbit by a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket
  • provided enough data to proceed with the launch of the full constellation starting next year.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • In its statement, Orbcomm suggested that i
  • had enough access to the satellite in less than four days in orbit to validate the performance of its major subsystems.
  • Orbcomm said that, had its satellite been the primary payload on SpaceX’s Oct. 7 flight, the mission would have been a success
  • OG2 satellite bus systems including power, attitude control, thermal and data handling were also tested to verify proper operation
  • The solar array and communications antenna deployments were successful
  • Orbcomm requested that SpaceX carry one of their small satellites
  • few hundred pounds, vs. Dragon at over 12,000 pounds
  • on this flight so that they could gather test data before we launch their full constellation next year.
  • The higher the orbit, the more test data they can gather, so they requested that we attempt to restart and raise altitude
  • NASA agreed to allow that, but only on condition that there be substantial propellant reserves, since the orbit would be close to the space station
  • Orbcomm understood from the beginning that the orbit-raising maneuver was tentative
  • They accepted that there was a high risk of their satellite remaining at the Dragon insertion orbit.
Mars Base

Astronaut Ice Cream: Frozen Dessert Launching to Space Station | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/ream-spacex-dragon-launch.html

scibyte66 SpaceX

shared by Mars Base on 07 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • The vanilla with swirled chocolate sauce ice cream cups won't melt on their three-day journey to the space station thanks to a freezer on board the Dragon capsule
  • e first time we are taking powered cargo up. We are taking up a GLACIER freezer, which has refrigerated science samples in it
  • The mini-fridge sized freezer previously flew aboard the space shuttle.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • GLACIER, or General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator, is primarily used to preserve science samples that require temperatures between minus 301 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 160 and 4 degrees Celsius
  • The brand of ice cream flying in the Dragon's GLACIER is Blue Bell Creameries, a Texas dairy that has a strong fan base in Houston
  • Blue Bell ice cream has been flown to the space station before. The creamery's cups first launched to the orbiting laboratory in 2006 on board the space shuttle Atlanti
Mars Base

NASA Buys Private Inflatable Room for Space Station | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/inflatable-module-bigelow.html

scibyte77 BigelowAerospace

shared by Mars Base on 12 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • NASA officials have said that BEAM could be on orbit about two years after getting an official go-ahead
  • The module will likely be launched by one of the agency's commerical cargo suppliers, California-based SpaceX or Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp
  • The company wants to launch and link up several of its larger expandable modules to create private space stations, which could be used by a variety of clients.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Bigelow is also eyeing a possible outpost on the moon, for which the company envisions using its BA-330 modules (so named because they offer 330 cubic meters of usable internal volume).
  • Several BA-330 habitats, along with propulsion tanks and power units, would be joined together in space and then flown down to the lunar surface.
  • Lunar dirt would be piled over the modules to protect against radiation, thermal extremes and micrometeorite strikes.
Mars Base

Mars Colonists Wanted to Explore Red Planet | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/-colony-astronauts-wanted.html

scibyte77 MarsOne

shared by Mars Base on 09 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One, which hopes to put the first boots on the Red Planet in 2023, released its basic astronaut requirements
  • (Jan. 8),
  • televised global selection process that will begin later this year.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • anyone who is at least 18 years old can apply to become a Mars colony pioneer
  • important criteria, officials say, are intelligence, good mental and physical health and dedication to the project, as astronauts will undergo eight years of training before launch.
  • Mars One plans to launch a series of robotic cargo missions between 2016 and 2021, which will build a habitable Red Planet outpost ahead of the arrival of the first four colonists in 2023.
  • More settlers will arrive every two years after that. There are no plans to return the pioneers to Earth
  • fund most of its ambitious activities by staging a global reality-TV event
  • Well before the official Astronaut Selection Program, we received more than 1,000 emails from individuals who desire to go to Mars
Mars Base

First Evidence of Life in Antarctic Subglacial Lake : The Crux - 0 views

blogs.discovermagazine.com/...e-in-antarctic-subglacial-lake

scibyte80 AntarcticLake

shared by Mars Base on 01 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • The search continues for life in subglacial Lake Whillans, 2,600 feet below the surface of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet—but a thrilling preliminary result has detected signs of life
  • At 6:20am on January 28, four people in sterile white Tyvek suits tended to a winch winding cable onto the drill platform
  • One person knocked frost off the cable as it emerged from the ice borehole a few feet below
  • ...24 more annotations...
  • a gray plastic vessel, as long as a baseball bat, filled with water from Lake Whillans, half a mile below.
  • The bottle was hurried into a 40-foot cargo container outfitted as a laboratory on skis
  • Some of the lake water was squirted into bottles of media in order to grow whatever microbes might inhabit the lake
  • cultures could require weeks to produce results
  • When lake water was viewed under a microscope, cells were seen: their tiny bodies glowed green in response to DNA-sensitive dye. It was the first evidence of life in an Antarctic subglacial lake.
  • (A Russian team has reported that two types of bacteria were found in water from subglacial Lake Vostok, but DNA sequences matched those of bacteria that are known to live inside kerosene—causing the scientists to conclude that those bacteria came from kerosene drilling fluid used to bore the hole, and not from Lake Vostok itself
  • In order to conclusively demonstrate that Lake Whillans harbors life, the researchers will need to complete more time-consuming experiments showing that the cells actually grow
  • dead cells can sometimes show up under a microscope with DNA-sensitive
  • weeks or months will pass before it is known whether these cells represent known types of microbes, or something never seen before
  • t a couple of things seem likely. Most of those microbes probably subsist by chewing on rocks. And despite being sealed beneath 2,600 feet of ice, they probably have a steady supply of oxygen.
  • oxygen comes from water melting off the base of the ice sheet—maybe a few penny thicknesses of ice per year
  • When you melt ice, you’re liberating the air bubbles [trapped in that ice
  • That’s 20 percent oxygen
  • , lake bacteria could live on commonly occurring pyrite minerals that contain iron and sulfur
  • would obtain energy by using oxygen to essentially “burn” that iron and sulfur (analogous to the way that animals use oxygen to slowly burn sugars and fats).
  • The half mile of glacial ice sitting atop Lake Whillans is quite pure—derived from snow that fell onto Antarctica thousands of years ago.
  • contains only one-hundredth the level of dissolved minerals that are seen in a clear mountain creek, or in tap water from a typical city
  • a sensor lowered down the borehole this week showed that dissolved minerals were far more abundant in the lake itself
  • The fact that we see high concentrations is suggestive that there’s some interesting water-rock-microbe interaction that’s going on
  • Microbes, in other words, might well be munching on minerals under the ice sheet
  • will take months or years to unravel this picture
  • will perform experiments to see whether microbes taken from the lake metabolize iron, sulfur, or other components of minerals
  • will analyze the DNA of those microbes to see whether they’re related to rock-chewing bacteria that are already known to science.
  • Antarctica isn’t the only place in the solar system where water sits concealed in the dark beneath thick ice. Europa and Enceladus (moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively) are also thought to harbor oceans of liquid water. What is learned at Lake Whillans could shed light on how best to look for life in these other places
Mars Base

Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit 'Incredible,' 'Breathtaking' | NASA Shuttle Program | Sp... - 0 views

www.space.com/exhibit-visitors-reaction.html

scibyte100 shuttle

shared by Mars Base on 01 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • The retired orbiter is displayed at an angle, with its cargo bay doors open and robotic arm outstretched
  • The public got its first official look at the display
  • June 29
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • when the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibition opened
  • at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
  • Atlantis dominates the center of a multistory building that allows views of the orbiter from many angles.
Mars Base

Station-Bound Dragon Spacecraft's Mission Patch Unveiled | | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/ace-capsule-mission-patch.html

scibyte66 SpaceX

shared by Mars Base on 05 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • The first of NASA's contracted cargo resupply flights to the International Space Station now has its own mission patch, courtesy of the company launching the spacecraft.
  • The flight, referred to as Commercial Resupply Services-1 (CRS-1), is the first of a dozen resupply flights for which NASA is paying SpaceX $1.6 billion to fly.
  • The CRS-1 mission patch, which borrows its shape from the Dragon capsule, shows the solar-powered spacecraft grappled by the space station's Canadarm2 robotic arm as it is being brought in to connect with the orbiting outpost's Harmony module
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Almost camouflaged with the patch's green-colored North American continent is a four leaf clover. The symbol for luck, the clover has become a regular feature on SpaceX's insignias since the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company's first successful Falcon 1 launch in September 2008
  • Based on pre-launch photos, the CRS-1 emblem does not appear on the Falcon 9 rocket or the Dragon capsule
  • embroidered versions of the patch may fly to the space station and back as part of the mission's Official Flight Kit (OFK) of mementos to be presented to NASA and SpaceX team members for a job well done.
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