International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

cIclops · 2008-03-15 01:23:27

Whitson, Doi and Reisman setting up equipment inside the new JLP module -imaged 15 Mar 2008

SAIBO is for biology and RYUTAI is for fluid physics experiments.

SpaceNut · 2008-03-16 21:40:35

It makes me smile when I see articles about New Hampshire's Rick Linnehan. Beaming them up: NH man at home in space

Missions to outer space have become so routine, despite their enormous challenges and risks, that the world thinks little of them these days. A graduate of Pelham High and the University of New Hampshire, he is on his fourth shuttle mission and today is logging his 49th day of space travel. On Friday, he walked in space (the term still stuns us) for the fourth time.
Linnehan was in possession of another New Hampshire reminder -- the photo of an 8-year-old Bedford boy, Alex Higgins. Alex died last year and his family has established a Space Camp scholarship in his honor.
People can debate how space exploration should continue and how much money should be spent on it. But so long as man retains his quest for knowledge, and his human failings, there should be no question that space exploration must continue. We are all indebted to men of Rick Linnehan's courage and qualifications and we wish him and his crewmates God speed.

SpaceNut · 2008-03-17 10:22:41

So how do they live in LEO What You Don't Know About Living in Space; As Astronauts Begin Spacewalks, a Few Things of Note About Life in Space

Over the years, living in space has forced astronauts to make a few concessions to things you would not give a second thought about when staying at a Holiday Inn.
Here are a fews things you may not have known about living in space.
IPods: For the last few years astronauts have been allowed to fly with iPods, a great space saver over CD players. The iPods had to be modified to fly in space; the lithium batteries were taken out and replaced with alkaline double As that are certified to fly on the shuttle.
Though iPods can fly on the space shuttle, when the shuttle docks to the space station, iPods can't cross over the hatch because they haven't been certified to fly on the space station yet.
But now the people who figure out just where to stow everyone on the space shuttle have to find space for spare double-A batteries, because the iPods tend to be battery burners!
Silverware: Each space shuttle crew gets one set of silverware per mission. They can't do dishes in space (or laundry -- but that's another story) so they have to wipe their forks and knives down with disinfectant wipes after every meal.
Pizza: NASA can put a man on the moon but there is no way to get pizza on a space station or space shuttle mission. It just doesn't hold up. You can't freeze-dry pizza or dehydrate it very successfully and regular pizza delivery is probably a few decades off from becoming reality.
Astronaut Mike Massimino, a native New Yorker, misses good pizza. "It is hard to get good pizza in Texas. It is impossible in space we don't have it. Someone would get a Nobel Prize if they can figure out how to get pizza in space." There is also no ice cream in space. No freezer.
Padlocks: On a previous mission many years ago a space shuttle commander was concerned about a crew member he considered potentially volatile. He requested a padlock to lock the hatch to keep someone from opening it unexpectedly during a mission. One shuttle commander, when offered the padlock option, declined, joking "My going-in assumption is that we can fly without padlocks, I will ask everyone how you feel prior to launch --? any suicidal tendencies or thoughts?"
Laundry: Astronauts never worry about doing laundry -- there is simply no way to wash clothes in space; water and resources are too scarce. So for 12 days, or however long the mission runs, they wear the same clothes over and over. Their T-shirts, socks and underwear have a special silver thread lining that absorbs odor and keeps items wearable longer. NASA recycles the astronauts' clothes for other missions, including the underwear.
Garbage: The astronauts don't just toss the garbage overboard. The mandate is clean your plate and drink all the coffee in your drink bag because all the trash created on orbit has to fit in a container the size of a large kitchen garbage can. That is seven astronauts' times three meals times 12 or so days. The trick is to wrap it up as small as you can when you are done eating and then compress it even more and tape it shut.
Money: Money has no value in space. When seven astronauts are living together in a cramped atmosphere the psychology of small isolated groups kicks in. Whoever has squirreled away the most M&Ms, tortillas or coffee has the most bargaining power. Those are items that are most prized at the end of a mission if someone runs short in their own stash. Astronauts' meals are color coded on shuttle missions -- and reliable sources tell ABC News some astronauts aren't above switching the colored dots on their dehydrated meals if they have run out of say, lasagna, on day six and have way too much creamed spinach left.

cIclops · 2008-03-20 04:36:38

For ISS afficionados who want to know what this stuff looks like. The three ORU's were transferred
from the Shuttle to external pallets during EVA-3. Problems with installing the MISSE-6 experiment
package may be resolved on EVA-5.

cIclops · 2008-03-20 09:33:14

S123-E-007088 (18 March 2008) --- In the grasp of the station's robotic Canadarm2, Dextre (center), also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM), is featured in this image photographed by a crewmember on the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Endeavour is docked with the station. Also pictured are solar array panels (right) and a section of a station truss (left). A blue and white Earth provides the backdrop for the scene.

cIclops · 2008-03-25 02:26:29

Expedition 16 crew: Flight engineer 1, Yuri Malenchenko; commander Peggy Whitson, and
flight engineer 2 Garrett Reisman who replaces Léopold Eyharts

Endeavour Undocks From Station

Space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station at 8:25 p.m. EDT Monday, ending its 12-day stay at the orbital outpost. After the STS-123 and Expedition 16 crews bid one another farewell, the hatches between the two spacecraft closed at 5:49 p.m.
STS-123 arrived at the station March 12, delivering the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section, the first pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, to the station. The crew of Endeavour also delivered the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator.

cIclops · 2008-03-27 02:12:50

(24 March 2008) --- The newly installed Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (JLP) of the International Space Station is photographed from Space Shuttle Endeavour as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation. The JLP is the first pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the newest component of the station.

cIclops · 2008-03-28 13:56:39

Configuration as imaged by STS-123 24 Mar 2008 showing the JLP attached to Harmony together with Columbus
High rez version

cIclops · 2008-04-04 00:50:46

(31 March 2008) --- Backdropped by the blackness of space, the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) approaches the International Space Station on Monday, March 31, 2008, for its "Demo Day 2" practice maneuvers.

ATV Jules Verne Docks with Station - 3 Apr 2008

The Jules Verne, the first European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, docked to the aft port of the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module at 10:45 a.m. EDT Thursday.
The unpiloted cargo spacecraft carries more than 7,500 pounds of equipment, supplies, water, fuel and gases for the station.
It also carries hopes and aspirations of the European Space Agency. The ATV and its advanced rendezvous system could play an important role in future space exploration.
The Jules Verne docked smoothly using its automated, laser guided rendezvous system. It was in many respects a repeat of the dry run on Monday. That practice approach brought the ATV to within 36 feet of the docking port.
The Jules Verne launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket on March 9.
Solar arrays deployed as planned after two engine firings more than an hour and a half after launch. That placed the ATV in a parking orbit about 1,200 miles from the station.
It was, at almost 22 tons, the largest payload ever launched by the Ariane 5.
The Jules Verne is named after the acclaimed French science-fiction author. It is the first of perhaps seven such spacecraft to be built.
The ATV can carry about three times the cargo weight carried by the Progress, the reliable Russian unpiloted cargo carrier.
The Jules Verne initially was placed in an orbit a safe distance from the station, where a series of tests were performed. Among the last of the tests were two approaches to the station.
Those approaches ended in "escape" maneuvers, to verify a collision avoidance system. It would be used if the ATV automated docking system should fail.
The spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the station until August, for unloading and to reboost the orbiting laboratory. Subsequently it will be filled with station garbage and discards. Then it will be deorbited for destruction on re-entry over the Pacific.

cIclops · 2008-04-06 04:13:06

(March 2008) --- Two Expedition 17 crewmembers pose for a portrait with a spaceflight participant at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. From the left are South Korea's So-yeon Yi, spaceflight participant; along with Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts Sergei Volkov, Expedition 17 commander; and Oleg Kononenko, flight engineer. The three will launch aboard Soyuz TMA-12 on April 8. The two cosmonauts will spend six months on the International Space Station, and So-yeon Yi will spend several days on the station before returning to Earth with the Expedition 16 crew. Volkov and Kononenko will join NASA Astronaut Garrett Reisman, who arrived on the station in mid-March.

cIclops · 2008-04-10 10:24:09

Commander Sergei Alexandrovich Volkov and cosmonaut Oleg Dmitrievich Kononenko of the 17th International Space Station crew docked their Soyuz TMA-12 with the orbiting laboratory's Pirs Docking Compartment at 8:57 a.m. EDT Thursday, marking the beginning of their six-month stay aboard.
With Volkov, a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Air Force, and Kononenko was spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi. She is a South Korean flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
Yi will return to Earth with Expedition 16 crew members, Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko in their Soyuz TMA-11 on April 19. Expedition 16 launched to the station Oct. 10.
After the hatches opened at 11:40 a.m., the Expedition 17 crew members were welcomed by the Expedition 16 crew, including astronaut Garrett Reisman. Reisman launched to the station on the STS-123 mission of Endeavour March 11. He joined Expedition 16 in progress and will provide Expedition 17 with an experienced flight engineer for the first part of its increment.

cIclops · 2008-04-17 14:56:15

Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson officially handed over command of the International Space Station to Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov. Thursday’s ceremony took place inside the U.S. Harmony Node.
The station crews have shifted their sleep schedules in preparation for Saturday morning’s Soyuz TMA-11 undocking. Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko will return to Earth with South Korean spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi.
Whitson broke Michael Foale’s cumulative time-in-space record on Wednesday. She will have accumulated 377 days in space by the time she lands in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, the station occupants continue their normal activities as they resize U.S. spacesuits, work on science experiments and stow gear for Expedition 16’s return home. Whitson and Malenchenko also are proceeding with their increased exercise routines to condition their bodies for their return to Earth’s gravity.

Change of Command Ceremony - video 3:28 mins

cIclops · 2008-04-19 05:57:53

Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft undocking with Whitson, Malenchenko and Yi onboard

Commander Peggy Whitson and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko of the 16th International Space Station crew landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan around 4:30 a.m. EDT Saturday after 192 days in space.
All three people aboard the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft were reported to be in good condition after their re-entry and landing.
The landing was approximately 295 miles from the expected landing site, delaying the recovery forces’ arrival to the spacecraft by approximately 45 minutes.

Seems like another Soyuz failure similar to TMA-10 resulting in a ballistic reentry.

Grypd · 2008-04-19 07:02:10

Apparently they suffered about 10 G on there way down and though safe they are being treated and checked by medical authorities at the landing site.

cIclops · 2008-04-20 01:20:12

Expedition 17: Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts Sergei Volkov (center), commander;
Oleg Kononenko, flight engineer; and astronaut Garrett Reisman (left), flight engineer - imaged 14 Feb. 2008

Expedition 17 press kit (PDF 20MB)

SpaceNut · 2008-04-24 20:26:23

Today was a day of hearings on NASA's Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs: Status and Issues

:: Opening Statements ::
Chairman Mark Udall
:: Witness Statements ::
William H. Gerstenmaier
Tommy W. Holloway
G. Paul Neitzel, Ph.D.
Christina T. Chaplain

cIclops · 2008-04-26 03:57:38

Today was a day of hearings on NASA's Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs: Status and Issues

Bill Gerstenmaier's testimony is online here (PDF) - it's very readable and gives a great overview of ISS, its current status and future development - for example:

The ISS is NASA’s only long-duration flight analog for future human lunar missions and Mars transit. It provides an invaluable laboratory for research with direct application to the exploration requirements that address human risks associated with missions to the Moon and beyond. It is the only space-based multinational research and technology test-bed available to identify and quantify risks to human health and performance, identify and validate potential risk mitigation techniques, and develop countermeasures for future human exploration.

In 2010, the ISS plans to incorporate a Sabatier system that will combine carbon dioxide and excess hydrogen from the oxygen generation system to produce water for the generation of oxygen. When the closed-loop life support system is operational, it will reduce the amount of consumables needed by about 80 percent. This demonstration is critical for future exploration missions.

Terraformer · 2008-04-26 04:43:16

What are they using the Methane fore? Turning back into C an H2 or using it in a VASIMR booster?

cIclops · 2008-04-27 06:58:27

The purpose is to recover water from the life support system not for producing methane. During the House hearing Gerstenmaier talked about paying the company that makes the Sabatier unit directly for the amount of water produced and not for the unit. If the units stops working, NASA stops paying - an interesting way of doing business. IIRC he mentioned 2000 lbs of water could be recovered (per year?). The methane would probably be vented overboard.

There's no plan for a VASIMR engine to fly on ISS or anywhere right now, this type of engine needs a LOT of electrical power - megawatts.

Terraformer · 2008-04-27 07:38:34

But it seems a bit wasteful just to vent the CH4 overboard when it can be turned into H2 and C by heating.

cIclops · 2008-04-27 09:08:30

ISS already produces too much H2 when O2 is produced from water. Why produce more C and waste energy?

SpaceNut · 2008-04-27 15:27:43

Currently the C is captured from the air and since there is no process to remove it from that system we must keep importing more oxygen and more water as a result of the waste processes in use.

The backup system, canisters of lithium hydroxide while the station's Russian-built Vozdukh carbon dioxide scrubber is the main unit which forces the cabin air over a bed of chemicals that absorbs carbon dioxide.

Any way by using the sabetier process and the reverse gas water system we are able to get clean new water, power and oxygen while dumping much less over board.

cIclops · 2008-05-05 06:25:26

Program overview - video (37 + 39 mins)

First John Shannon, Shuttle Program Manager, discusses the status of STS-124 and the next flights.

Then Mike Suffredini, ISS Program Manager, discusses the expansion with the Kibo module, TMA-11 investigation, COTS, SARJ status and other topics.

cIclops · 2008-05-13 01:59:29

New Water Reclamation System Headed for Duty on Space Station - 12 May 2008

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- International Space Station crews soon will have a new water reclamation system that will recycle wastewater, allowing up to six crew members to live aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The latest addition to the station's life support system departs today from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for final flight preparations.
The new Water Recovery System, or WRS, is the second part of a comprehensive life support system for the station. It is scheduled to fly aboard space shuttle Endeavour on STS-126 targeted for later this year. The first part of the system, the Oxygen Generation System, was launched on shuttle Discovery in July 2006. The two systems are part of NASA's Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System, or ECLSS, for the station.
"Recycling will be an essential part of daily life for future astronauts, whether on board the space station or living on the moon," said Mike Suffredini, the station program manager. "Delivering this hardware is an important step in achieving the station's full potential, allowing for additional crew members and more scientific research."
By recycling, the system reduces the dependence on Earth resupply by cutting the amount of water and consumables needed to be launched by about 15,000 pounds, or 6,800 kilograms, a year.
"As early as the late 1960's we knew sustaining life in space would require recycling water and oxygen," said Bob Bagdigian, ECLSS project manager. "A number of us have experienced the entire lifecycle of this technology, all the way from early ideas to implementation. Knowing that we will soon see this system completed, gives us great pride."
Through a series of chemical treatment processes and filters, the Water Recovery System creates water clean enough to drink. In fact, part of the same process has been used in Third World countries to produce drinkable water.
A distillation process is used to recover water from urine. The process occurs within a rotating distillation assembly that compensates for the absence of gravity, aiding in the separation of liquids and gases in space. Once distilled, the water from the urine processor is combined with other wastewaters and delivered to the water processor for treatment.
The water processor removes free gas and solid materials such as hair and lint, before the water goes through a series of filtration beds for further purification. Any remaining organic contaminants and microorganisms are removed by a high-temperature catalytic reaction. These rigorous treatment processes create water that meets stringent purity standards for human consumption.
Engineers at Marshall and at Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International Inc., Windsor Locks, Conn., led the design and development of the Water Recovery System.

cIclops · 2008-05-17 01:13:04

Progress P29 Docking - 16 May 2008

A new Progress cargo carrier docked to the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station's Zarya module at 5:39 p.m. EDT Friday with more than 2.3 tons of fuel, oxygen, air, water, propellant and other supplies and equipment aboard.
The station's 29th Progress unpiloted spacecraft brings to the orbiting laboratory more than 770 pounds of propellant, more than 100 pounds of oxygen and air, about 925 pounds of water and 2,850 pounds of dry cargo. Total cargo weight is 4,657 pounds.
P29 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, May 14, at 4:22 p.m. It replaces the trash-filled P28 which was undocked from Pirs on April 7 and destroyed on re-entry.
P29 used the automated Kurs system to dock to the station. Expedition 17 Commander Sergi Volkov was at the manual TORU docking system controls, should his intervention have become necessary

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#151 2008-03-15 01:23:27

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#152 2008-03-16 21:40:35

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#153 2008-03-17 10:22:41

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#154 2008-03-20 04:36:38

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#155 2008-03-20 09:33:14

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#156 2008-03-25 02:26:29

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#157 2008-03-27 02:12:50

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#158 2008-03-28 13:56:39

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#159 2008-04-04 00:50:46

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#160 2008-04-06 04:13:06

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#161 2008-04-10 10:24:09

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#162 2008-04-17 14:56:15

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#163 2008-04-19 05:57:53

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#164 2008-04-19 07:02:10

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#165 2008-04-20 01:20:12

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#166 2008-04-24 20:26:23

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#167 2008-04-26 03:57:38

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#168 2008-04-26 04:43:16

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#169 2008-04-27 06:58:27

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#170 2008-04-27 07:38:34

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#171 2008-04-27 09:08:30

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#172 2008-04-27 15:27:43

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#173 2008-05-05 06:25:26

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#174 2008-05-13 01:59:29

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#175 2008-05-17 01:13:04

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

Board footer