Three new crew members from US, Russia and Japan on their way to the International Space Station

Three new crew members from US, Russia and Japan were on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). One of them is a NASA biologist. They were successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three are Kate Rubins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Anatoly Ivanishin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. They are traveling in an upgraded Soyuz spacecraft.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 7 July 2016.

The three of them will spend two days along with 34 Earth orbits in the course of testing modified systems before docking to the space station's Rassvet module on Saturday. With their arrival, the station's crew complement will come back to six.
Kate Rubins, Anatoly Ivanishin and Takuya Onishi will join Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams of NASA and Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos. The plan for the Expedition 48 crew members is to spend four months conducting more than 250 science investigations in fields ranging from biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development. Rubins holds a bachelor's degree in molecular biology and is also a doctorate in cancer biology.
Ivanishin and Onishi would remain aboard ISS till late October while Williams, Skripochka and Ovchinin will return to Earth in September.
One of the assignments for Expedition 48 crew members is to receive and install the station's first international docking adapter which will accommodate future arrivals of US commercial crew spacecraft. Among the various experiments are capabilities for sequencing DNA in space, regulating temperatures aboard spacecraft, understanding bone loss and tracking ships around the world and studying how to protect computers from radiation in space and also test out an efficient, three-dimensional solar cell.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is a revolution in space flight

Astronauts in the ISS will soon get their first ever inflatable room up there in space. Blow-up air mattresses will be a thing of the pat as the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) takes over. It will be the first inflatable habitat to get attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and it is scheduled to launch by an unmanned SpaceX rocket.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 8 April 2016.

In the age of mission to Moon, Mars and distant planets, expendables like BEAM (also known as 'inflatables') will be useful because they are lightweight and take up minimal space on a rocket, they expand after being deployed in space and provide a comfortable area for astronauts to live and work. The first BEAM will remain there for two years.
The unmanned SpaceX Falcon rocket will carry a capsule full of supplies with the pioneering pod in its trunk. Bigelow Aerospace who is behind the experiment will get a ride to the International Space Station (ISS) with another private space company.
The inflatable pod demo is the first step towards paving the way for moon bases and Mars expeditions, as well as orbiting outposts that will cater to scientists and tourists in just a few more years.


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First Russian woman cosmonaut returns to Earth after six-month stay in ISS

#YelenaSerova #ISS #NASA #BarryWilmore #Kazakhstan #Soyuz The three astronauts including Yelena Serova, the first female Russian cosmonaut to have spent time on the ISS, have returned to Earth after a six-month stint in space as reported in news.sky.com dated 12 March 2015.
The other two are Alexander Samokutyaev of Russia and Barry Wilmore of America – they landed in Kazakhstan after spending 167 days on the International Space Station and travelling 70 million miles around the planet.
NASA has indicated that after successfully undocking, the capsule enjoyed a few hours of free flight and, communication links between the capsule and Earth were lost for a brief period. Anyway, the Soyuz landed safely under parachute on a landing site located southeast of Dzhezkazgan.
With their return, three astronauts now remain on the Space Station and they will be joined by more crew members on March 27. This would be a historic mission because two of them astronauts would remain on board for a whole year so that scientists can assess the impact of long-term missions on humans.
Incidentally, Russia has confirmed that it will continue to use the International Space Station in partnership with NASA until 2024.

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US astronauts onboard ISS have to work for their living – spacewalk is their routine

#spacewalk #ISS #NASA #AstroButch #AstroTerry #SpaceX #Boeing The US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Terry Virts who are onboard the ISS have to work hard for their living – these spacewalking astronauts have already routed more than 300 feet of cable outside the International Space Station. This is not an easy task but is tricky and tiring and they have to complete the task before the new American-made crew capsules arrive.
This has been reported on foxnews.com dated 21 February 2015.
Their latest spacewalk was the first of three such walks planned over the coming week. The total length of cable they have to run outside the ISS is 764 feet and they have already succeeded in completing the rigging of eight power and data lines, or roughly 340 feet.
In the opinion of NASA, the task ahead for Butch Wilmore and Terry Virts is the most complicated cable-routing job in the 16-year history of the space station and it would be equally difficult to run the cable on the inside of the complex. This extensive rewiring is necessary in order to get ready for NASA's next phase.
In 2017, it would be time for arrival of the first commercial spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to the orbiting lab.
It may be recalled that NASA has contracted with Boeing and SpaceX to build the capsules and fly them from Cape Canaveral.
Once they arrive in the ISS, the docking ports must be ready hence, still more spacewalks would be necessary to set everything up.

ESA cargo ship Georges Lemaitre take leave from the ISS to splash down on Sunday

#atv5 #ISS #NASA #georgeslemaitre #ESA #cargoship Georges Lemaitre, the cargo ship of the European Space Agency (ESA) is its fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5) and it has left the International Space Station before its final splashdown on Sunday as revealed in space.com dated 14 February 2015.
The unmanned ATV-5, is named after the 20th-century Belgian priest and astronomer and with its departure from the ISS an era ends – it had been at the orbiting lab ISS for six months.
The reentry of ATV-5 into the atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean will be documented by the Expedition 42 crew on board the ISS as well as NASA, ESA and other agencies around the world. The aim of the agencies is "to gather detailed information on the mechanics of the breakup of a spacecraft re-entering the Earth's atmosphere."
Of course, onboard sensors in the ATV-5 would also collect information via its temperature-measuring Break-Up Camera. Incidentally, ATVs have been supplying ISS regularly ever since 2008 - the ATV-1 ("Jules Verne") was launched in March of that year. Next came ATV-2 ("Johannes Kepler") which blasted off in February 2011 followed by ATV-3 ("Edoardo Amaldi") in March 2012, and ATV-4 ("Albert Einstein") in June 2013.
The ATVs have brought in a total of about 34 tons of cargo to ISS, the orbiting lab, NASA and, as informed by NASA officials, the ATV-5, which is as big as a double-decker bus, had delivered more than 7 tons of food, scientific experiments, spare parts and other gear when it docked with the station on Aug. 12, 2014.

Trip to Mars will result in premature aging

#ISS #NASA #marsmission #astronaut #faseb Researchers fear that spaceflight could be associated with premature aging of the immune system as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 3 February 2015, researchers have claimed. It is a fact that long-term space flight does have detrimental effects on the human body, including muscle and bone loss. And now, with trip to Mars on the horizon, researchers feel that the time has come to chalk out ways to counteract the negative effects on the immune system so that the crew is kept fit and healthy.
Details of the research has been published in the journal Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) – it was conducted by several French institutions including Lorraine University in Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy.
It is understood that the team used a ground-based model called hindlimb unloading (HU) on mice – it simulates some of the effects of spaceflight on the animals. The mice are suspended with the rear legs in the air, while their front legs remain on the ground.
In March of this year, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will carry out a year-long stay aboard the International Space Station to check out how astronauts would cope with such a prolonged stay in space – till now, the ISS crew used to spend a maximum of six months aboard the station before returning to Earth.

SpaceX Dragon berths with International Space Station

#dragonspacecraft #SpaceX #NASA #ISS #soyuzspacecraft With the berthing of the Dragon spacecraft, operated by California-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), humans take yet another step into its venturing out into Space to conquer new barriers.
The Dragon is the first private spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station as reported in space.com dated 30 January 2015 – its duty and responsibility is to transport cargo to and from the ISS and it has commercial agreements with NASA.
SpaceX made its first demonstration flight to the station in May 2012, and then began commercial fights and is currently contracted with NASA to carry out 12 robotic supply flights to the station for a minimum of $1.6 billion.
Ferrying cargo to and from the station is one aspect of SpaceX because it is simultaneously working on a plan to put astronauts on the Dragon spacecraft. For this, the company has received in 2014 an amount of $2.6 billion from NASA for the latest phase of the Commercial Crew Program. The aim is to fly astronauts on American spacecraft by 2017.
For the Commercial Crew Program, Dragon would be modified to accommodate up to seven astronauts – this is three in the Soyuz spacecraft that is being used. SpaceX and NASA are hoping that this capability to carry more astronauts could allow International Space Station crews to expand from the current normal level of six people.

Race for Mars hots up – test flight on ESA mini shuttle set for 11 February 2015

#spacetaxi #ESA #ISS #IXV #vegarocket The European ‘space taxi’ IXV (or Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle) is getting readied for launch on 11 February 2015 as indicated in dailymail.co.uk of dated 29 January 2015 – it would be a test flight. This vehicle would make available to Europe with its own shuttle-like, reusable space vehicle.
One of the objectives of this mission is to gather vital flight data that that could assist Europe to develop technology for a sample return mission to Mars, or to return astronauts from the space station.
It has been planned to launch the ‘space taxi’ on February 11 by using a Vega rocket from Kourou, French Guiana – the flight would be of 100-minute duration. It may be recalled that the launch had, initially, been scheduled for November 18, but in October, Arianespace had announced a postponement in order 'to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses'.
The weight of the taxi is two tonnes, its size is that of a car and it is fitted with 300 sensors. The prototype IXV is expected to collect data on the craft's handling and thermodynamics. The two-piece shell will open to release the space plane at an altitude of 200 miles (320 km).
It has been developed over five years at a cost of $225 million and this IXV would be the test-bed for a reusable vehicle. It would be useful to bring astronauts back from the International Space Station (ISS). At present, this is done by Russia and its Soyuz.

NASA eyes humans on Mars by 2024 – Boeing and SpaceX to ferry astronauts to ISS

#NASA #boeing #SpaceX #CST100 #ISS NASA plans to tie up with commercial companies like Boeing and SpaceX to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station ISS by 2017 and, subsequently, to send humans to Mars by 2024. It may be recalled that the announcement of US$4.2 billion for Boeing and US$2.6 billion for SpaceX was made in September 2014. However, things are gradually hotting up.
Following the end of its 30-year space shuttle program in 2011, NASA has to rely on Russia and its Soyuz capsules but the cost charged is $US70-million per seat but, with the entry of private contractors like Boeing and SpaceX, the cost would reduce to approximately $US58-million.
As indicated by Commercial crew program manager Kathy Lueders, the cost per seat in the new US commercial industry would be approximately $US58 million – this would be an average cost teased out over the course of a five-year mission plan. The goal is to have two robust providers.
The tentative plans are to send a NASA astronaut and a Boeing test pilot in the first crewed test flight on the spacecraft called Crew Space Transportation-100, or CST-100 for short, in July 2017. This has been informed by John Elbon, Boeing's vice president and general manager of space exploration.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden has clarified that the rise of private industry in reaching low-Earth orbit would translate into greater benefits because the US space agency will then be in a position to focus on sending humans to Mars by 2024.
Of course, another major benefit for the US would be to end its costly dependency on the Russian space agency.

NASA gears up for Mars mission – two astronauts to remain one-year on the ISS

#NASA #ISS #ScottKelly #MikhailKornienko #Marsmission NASA has identified two astronauts who would remain on the International Space Station ISS continuously for a period of one year in preparation of manned mission to Mars. The two are NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. They are scheduled to launch in March 2015 and would remain on the ISS till March 2016.
This purpose of this mission is to observe how human bodies change throughout the year so that it can be understood how the body is affected by long-term spaceflight. Normally, astronauts remain on the ISS for limited tenures and are rotated every six months – but, this would be a one-year mission and would be undertaken to study long term effects.
This would mark the first time a crew would have spent a continuous year on the space station, and researchers plan to take advantage of it. The scientists and doctors on the ground will be monitoring the way Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko adapts to the ISS environment.
One aspect would be their eyesight - Kornienko and Kelly's eyes will be monitored for any changes to their eyesight.
When they return to Earth, officials will examine them on their ability to perform certain tasks that might be needed once a group arrives on Mars for the first time after a long spaceflight. The probable tasks could be the light construction of a habitat, or moving items around. They could experience a bit of dizziness and other symptoms that could be induced by arriving back in an environment of higher gravity.

False alarm of ammonia leak in the ISS – all astronauts are safe

#ammonialeak #ISS #NASA #ESA The International Space Station houses six astronauts – two of them are Americans, there is one Italian and the remaining three are Russians. They occupy two separate living spaces and, due to the scare of leaking ammonia gas, the Americans and the Italian had to evacuate to the Russian side of the orbiting lab.
However, the ammonia alarm in the ISS appears to be a false alarm as confirmed by NASA. They have said that there was no ammonia leak into the station's atmosphere and the astronauts were free to roam the outpost.
The station, at present, has a six-person crew - two of them are Americans, three Russians and an Italian astronaut. Once the scare started, all of them took refuge in the station's Russian-built segment. Thereby, they isolated themselves from modules built by NASA, Europe and Japan.
Latest information is that NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Terry Virts along with European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian are all "safe and in good shape" with their Russian crewmates.
Incidentally, the ISS has approximately the same living space as a five bedroom house and it has been continuously occupied by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since 2000.

International Space Station astronauts finally get their Christmas presents

#ISS #DragonCapsule #SpaceX It was a much belated shipment of Christmas presents for the astronauts on-board the International Space Station that finally arrived at the ISS along with much-needed groceries.
It was delivered by Dragon, the supply ship of SpaceX Company. It had taken off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday and arrived at the orbiting lab early on Monday. The astronauts working inside the station made use of a robotic crane to pluck the capsule from orbit and grab its precious cargo.
Station commander Butch Wilmore radioed to Mission Control in Houston about the safe arrival of the items because the six astronauts in ISS were getting a little low on supplies since, the previous supply ship was destroyed in an October launch explosion. That was owned by a different company and, NASA had to arrange and send replacement equipment aboard Dragon.
Incidentally, Butch Wilmore was waiting eagerly for fresh stock of mustard - the condiment cabinet of ISS is, reportedly, empty.
The Dragon capsule is believed to be loaded with over 2,313-Kg of food, clothing, equipment and science experiments for the six-member station crew and includes an instrument to measure clouds and aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. The capsule will not return immediately but will remain docked to ISS for about four weeks and, then, would fly back to Earth.