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[tnt22]

NASA Goddard‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAGoddard 26 мин назад

NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission departs International Space Station: https://go.nasa.gov/2o2QDmO  via @NASA_SatServ

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-robotic-refueling-mission-departs-station

April 3, 2017
 
 NASA Robotic Refueling Mission Departs Station
 
The International Space Station serves as an orbiting test and demonstration laboratory for scientific experiments to be performed inside and outside the space station. The experiments are inherently transient with typical life cycles of about one to five years. Once their test objectives are accomplished, they are removed to make way for new experiments.

On Feb. 19, a NASA experiment — a test module called Raven — was successfully launched on SpaceX-10/Dragon and installed on the exterior of the station, where it will test autopilot technologies for spacecraft. As the Raven payload took its perch on the station, another Satellite Servicing Projects Division (SSPD) creation — the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) payload, departed. Aboard the Dragon trunk in which Raven arrived, RRM made its way back to Earth on March 19, where it reentered the atmosphere. Though both payloads were and are critical to the advancement of satellite servicing, after

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RRM served its purpose and accomplished its objectives, it was time for RRM to leave the station and make way for new experiments.
RRM has established a firm legacy in demonstrating satellite servicing capabilities and that on-orbit servicing is technologically ready for implementation. RRM launched in July 2011 aboard the final space shuttle flight and was the last payload to be removed from the shuttle cargo bay by an astronaut. It was subsequently mounted outside onto a Express Logistics Carrier built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. RRM demonstrated and tested the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel and repair satellites in space that were not designed to be serviced.
 

 Astronaut Mike Fossum's spacewalk for the Robotics Refueling Mission Payload on July 12, 2011.
Credits: NASA
 
The Robotic Refueling Mission was an essential bridge between the manned servicing carried out in the Hubble Servicing Missions and robotic servicing that will be demonstrated in the upcoming Restore-L mission," said Ben Reed, deputy division director for SSPD. "Our team worked very hard to develop the suite of RRM tools and experiments and are extremely pleased to see what they accomplished. We are eager to apply the lessons learned from RRM to the Restore-L mission as well as future servicing efforts."

The year was 2010 when planning for RRM began. The fourth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission had just ended. The space shuttle was in the twilight of its career, scheduled for retirement in 2011. The hundreds of engineers at Goddard who had supported servicing Hubble were not sure what a future without shuttle would hold. A team, led by the "father of servicing" Frank Cepollina, began brainstorming how to continue servicing without shuttle. With no time to waste, Cepollina's team determined that the future of servicing would rely on robotics and the space station robotic arm was the best mechanism to test and develop robotic servicing techniques. Eighteen months later — extremely quick for a project of this complexity — RRM was in the cargo bay of space shuttle Atlantis, ready to launch and demonstrate to the world that robotic servicing had come of age.  

"The space station is on-orbit and already has a robot," said Frank Cepollina, the previous associate director of the SSPD. "Space station was tailor-made for RRM and worked beautifully as a testbed for servicing."

The washing machine-sized RRM payload housed four unique tools that were used by the station's twin-armed Canadian "Dextre" robot to accomplish the precise, complex tasks needed to refuel a satellite. These tasks included cutting and peeling back thermal blankets, unscrewing multiple caps, accessing valves and transferring a simulated satellite fuel. In January 2013, with this fluid transfer in space, RRM confirmed that current-day robotic technology could refuel a triple-sealed satellite fuel valve, transferring 1.7 liters of ethanol.
 
 
A look back at the highlights from Phase 1 of the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM). RRM consisted of the RRM "module" — a box covered with activity boards — and four stowed RRM Tools. The International Space Station's twin-armed Canadian "Dextre" robot acted as a skilled spacecraft refueling and servicing technician. During operations, controllers on the ground remotely commanded Dextre to reach into the RRM module and pick up RRM tools. Dextre then went to work on RRM's components and activity boards, demonstrating such servicing tasks such as cutting wires, unscrewing caps, turning valves, transferring fluid, inspection and intermediary steps leading up to coolant replenishment.
Credits: NASA
 
In separate launches in 2013 and 2014, two new task boards and a tool were sent to the space station as part of RRM "Phase 2." The task boards further demonstrated activities vital to servicing free-flying satellites. Similarly, the new tool, the Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot, or VIPIR, exhibited state-of-the-art near and midrange inspection using an articulable, "snake-like" borescope tool.

Through these two phases and multiple days of operations, the RRM team has bonded and consistently performed under pressure. Together they created a payload and completed a mission critical to the future of satellite servicing. Currently, they are developing and working to execute a third phase of RRM, which will continue to advance the technology necessary for robotic refueling. RRM 3 will focus specifically on servicing cryogenic fluid and xenon gas interfaces which will support future scientific missions as humans extend their exploration further into our solar system.

"Space station was a wonderful facility to test our technologies, and we know that RRM's departure will make room for another great experiment," said Jill McGuire, RRM project manager. "We are proud of what we accomplished with RRM, and are excited to contribute to the next stages of enabling robotic satellite servicing."

For more information on RRM, visit: https://sspd.gsfc.nasa.gov/robotic_refueling_mission.html

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By Peter Sooy and Vanessa Lloyd
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

 
Last Updated: April 3, 2017
Editor: Rob Garner

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 16 мин. назад

Our #OA7 mission carrying the S.S. John Glenn #Cygnus spacecraft is now scheduled for April 18

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital/2017/04/03/orbital-atk-crs-7-mission-targeted-for-april-18-launch/

Orbital ATK CRS-7 Mission Targeted for April 18 Launch       
Posted on April 3, 2017 at 5:41 pm by Linda Herridge.


The payload fairing containing the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module is mated to the Centaur upper stage, or second stage, of the United Launch Alliance rocket March 17 in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

 
NASA, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are now targeting April 18 for the launch of Orbital ATK's seventh contracted commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. ULA has developed a plan to resolve an earlier booster hydraulic issue, and is moving forward with launch vehicle processing. Both the Atlas V rocket and Cygnus spacecraft remain secure. Several tons of cargo including crew supplies and science experiments packed aboard Cygnus remain in good shape.
                
 This entry was posted in Cygnus, Orbital ATK on April 3, 2017 by Linda Herridge.

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/04/04/station-prepares-for-april-crew-swap/?linkId=36182341

Station Prepares for April Crew Swap
Posted on April 4, 2017 at 12:15 pm by Mark Garcia.

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Expedition 51 crew members (from left) Fyodor Yurchikhin and Jack Fischer pose for a portrait in front of the Soyuz spacecraft mockup in Star City, Russia. Credit: NASA/Rob Navias

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Three Expedition 50 crew members are getting ready to end their stay aboard the International Space Station and return to Earth April 10. Two Expedition 51 crew members, who will replace them, are in Russia finalizing their mission preparations before they launch April 20.

Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko have been living in space since October 19. The trio will enter the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft on Monday and undock from the Poisk module at 4 a.m. EDT. They will land in Kazakhstan at 7:20 a.m. ending their mission after 173 days in space. The crew departure and Soyuz landing will be televised live on NASA TV.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will take over command of the station the day before Kimbrough and his crewmates leave. Staying behind with Whitson will be European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos. This will be Whitson's second stint as commander of the orbital laboratory having last led the Expedition 16 crew in 2008.

Back in Russia, two Expedition 51 crewmates, Jack Fischer of NASA and Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, have completed their final qualification exams. They will fly to Kazakhstan on Wednesday for ceremonial duties, check out their Soyuz MS-04 rocket and wrap up mission training before launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

 This entry was posted in Expedition 50, Expedition 51 and tagged European Space Agency, Expedition 50, International Space Station, NASA, Roscosmos, Soyuz on April 4, 2017 by Mark Garcia.

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https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/04/nasa-is-planning-a-daring-repair-mission-to-save-a-2-billion-particle-detector/

NASA is planning a daring repair mission to save a $2 billion particle detector
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer "is changing our understanding of the cosmos."
 Eric Berger - 4/3/2017, 4:40 PM

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The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer has served during the last six years as a silent witness to the formation of the universe, quietly collecting about 100 billion cosmic rays, particles, and nuclei with energies up to 1 trillion electron volts. "The results show unexpected phenomena—they are not predicted by current cosmic ray models—and this is changing our understanding of the cosmos," principal investigator Sam Ting told Ars.

But as this publication recently reported, there is a problem with the AMS particle detector's cooling system, and NASA is planning an extensive set of repairs. This will likely include a series of "Hubble-esque" spacewalks in 2018 to install a new cooling system for the $2 billion instrument. After the initial story, Ting provided Ars with more information about the scope and timing of the repairs.

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According to Ting, there are four redundant pumps in the cooling system that keep AMS' silicon tracker at a constant 10 degrees Celsius, plus or minus three degrees. The system was originally designed to last three years in space, but now after almost six years two of the four pumps have stopped functioning. The experiment is using the third pump, which is operating normally. The fourth pump has shown signs of malfunctioning and is therefore kept in reserve.
 
Given that the rest of the experiment is continuing to function beyond its design lifetime, both the AMS scientists and NASA would like to see the experiment continue and are preparing to fix a machine that wasn't designed with on-orbit servicing in mind. The repairs will therefore involve several tricky spacewalks, for which NASA has had teams of astronauts, engineers, and flight directors training for more than a year. Ting explained that the repair plans are still not final, but are coming into shape.

"Together with the NASA Johnson Space Center, we have improved the pump design to extend the lifetime of AMS to coincide with the lifetime of the ISS," he said. "Twelve new pumps have been ordered and will be delivered in September of this year. After extensive tests, four of the new pumps are scheduled to be sent to the space station in the later part of 2018 as replacements."

Despite the cost (one person involved in the planning said that under some scenario, the repairs could cost as much as $100 million), researchers say the additional time collecting data is critical to the experiment's success. "By collecting data until at least 2024, we should be able to make a statement on the origin of dark matter and antimatter," Ting said. "So far, all other the instruments are operating normally and we expect to stay operational on the space station for its lifetime."

Further ReadingThe Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer has a problem with its cooling system

Listing image by NASA
 

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[Salo]

 Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust  10 мин.10 минут назад
Komarov: we are ready to discuss an extension of ISS beyond 2024, but no commitment yet. #33SS
 
   Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust  14 мин.14 минут назад  
Komarov, on another 1-yr mission: will discuss this in the future. NASA side more optimistic about such missions; we're more skeptical #33SS
 
   Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust  28 мин.28 минут назад  
Komarov: in discussions with ESA on Moon Village, but also with NASA on a role on cislunar gateway station. #33SS
 
   Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust  36 мин.36 минут назад  
Komarov: MLM won't be ready for launch in December as planned, but do expect it to launch in first half of 2018. #33SS
 
   Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust  36 мин.36 минут назад  
Roscosmos head Igor Komarov, in a press conference at #33SS, says situation with MLM module for ISS "more complicated than expected."

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https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/fast_neutron-spectrometer

April 4, 2017

NASA's New Spectrometer to Help Future Crews Cope with Cosmic Radiation

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 The team of scientists and engineers that designed and built the Fast Neutron Spectrometer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, gather around their device before it is shipped to the processing facility in Houston for launch.
Credits: NASA/Fred Deaton
 

 This image shows the small glass scintillator fibers that can help make this a more effective neutron detector. When used in space, it will record the exposure of space travelers to incoming cosmic radiation.
Credits: NASA
 

 Seen center of the image, the Fast Neutron Spectrometer will help accurately detect neutrons in space. The neutrons are potentially harmful to humans.
Credits: NASA

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One of the main health concerns of living and working in space is the long-term exposure to high levels of radiation. NASA scientists have developed a new device to monitor radiation exposure to neutrons and are testing it on the International Space Station.

Launched on the fifth Orbital ATK resupply mission to the station, the Fast Neutron Spectrometer is designed to detect and measure the energy of neutrons, which are known to be specifically harmful to humans. Understanding neutron radiation will help keep crews safe when NASA sends humans to Mars.

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"There are multiple types of radiation in space," said Mark Christl, team lead for the study at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "While there are already advanced instruments to detect gamma rays produced by supernovas or black holes, X-rays and other charged particles, we needed a way to detect and measure neutron radiation to quantify the impact on human biology. Neutron detection techniques have not seen the same leap in technology advancement."

Neutron radiation is created when the high-energy particles from our sun and outside our solar system interact with other particles or matter, such as a spacecraft or a planetary surface. But these neutrons are only viable for approximately 13 minutes before they decay into charged particles.

"If they're more than 13 minutes away from you, it's not really a problem," Christl said. "If you're in a capsule or on a planet's surface with little or no magnetic field or atmosphere, you can potentially be covered in a neutron field."

The Fast Neutron Spectrometer is mainly a passive tool, waiting for neutrons to strike it. It is comprised of an aluminum housing with a plastic scintillator that slows down the neutron when it hits the device, and glass scintillator fibers that absorb the neutrons and re-emit the energy in the form of light. This advanced version provides two distinct signals for measurement – the first to measure its energy and the second to confirm a neutron was detected rather than another kind of particle. The standard, all-plastic devices can't clearly determine the differences between these signals.

"Detectors for other radiation types are already used in many industries," said Christl. "They're used in particle accelerators for scientific research, the oil industry or medical field to measure radiation exposure. Scientists have been working on remarkable advancements in these detectors, but neutron radiation detectors have not received that kind of attention. At NASA, we saw this as an opportunity to address a problem our astronauts will have as they go on longer journeys in our solar system."

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough installed the device on the space station on Dec. 2, 2016. Since then, it has been moved to different locations around the interior of the station and it currently resides in the Node 1 module. The Fast Neutron Spectrometer will monitor for neutrons for six months, sending data for any neutron strikes to a laptop computer on the station. That data will be downloaded daily for processing and analysis by the team at Marshall.

The device was tested and calibrated at particle accelerators and by using other radioactive sources on Earth. If the technique is verified, Christl hopes it can be used on future missions to determine when – and how much – the neutrons are contributing to the radiation absorbed by a crew of space travelers. Even though the space station's radiation environment is not considered "deep space," the spectrometer is a new capability ready for validation in a space environment.

The project is a collaborative effort within the agency. A team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, is looking into the actions crew members may take if they receive warning of an oncoming wave of radiation from a solar eruption, running simulations and coming up with ways to rearrange the contents of a spacecraft to increase the shielding. Another team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston is advancing the detection of charged particles.

"There is a serious need to monitor the radiation dose the crew receives," Christl said. "We use different techniques for charged particles and neutrons and we'll need to know the dose from both to know how much radiation the astronauts are receiving. These radiation detectors may force missions to change in mid-stream, but it will help keep our astronauts safe."

[свернуть]

Bill Hubscher
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
 
Last Updated: April 4, 2017
Editor: Kristine Rainey

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Dr Marco Langbroek‏ @Marco_Langbroek 4 ч. назад

VIDEO: pass of the #ISS Fabric Shield over Leiden, NL: https://youtu.be/zILMGnpzUvk  @esaoperations @ESA_nl @ISSarchaeology @drspacejunk

Pass of ISS Fabric Shield and ISS, 4 APRIL 2017
Pass of the ISS Fabric Shield, a 1.5 x 0.6 meter large meteoroid shield which accidentally floated off the ISS during an EVA. Followed 1m45s later by the ISS itself.

[Олег]

tnt22 пишет:
Followed 1m45s later by the ISS itself

Гооогл переwел: Спустя 1m45s позже самой ISS.
А там  наоборот - сначала мелочь, потом сама МКС. Так кто же за кем ?

[Спутник]

ISS — вслед/позже на 1м45с

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Human Spaceflight‏Подлинная учетная запись @esaspaceflight 4 ч. назад

Tentative date for next #spacewalk with @Thom_astro and @AstroPeggy: 24 April

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/04/05/spacesuit-checks-ahead-of-monday-crew-departure/

Spacesuit Checks Ahead of Monday Crew Departure
Posted on April 5, 2017 at 12:08 pm by Mark Garcia.

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Astronaut Shane Kimbrough is seen inside the Quest airlock at the end of a spacewalk on March 24, 2017.

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The Expedition 50 crew is checking out U.S. spacesuits today and testing tiny internal satellites for research. Three crew members are also packing up for a ride back to Earth on Monday.

Commander Shane Kimbrough worked on a pair of spacesuits today following the completion of two spacewalks last month. He sampled and tested the cooling water that flows through the suits to keep astronauts cool in the extreme environment of outer space.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson conducted test runs of the SPHERES satellites today to demonstrate autonomous docking maneuvers. The bowling ball-sized miniature satellites (also known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) have been used for a variety of purposes including student algorithm competitions and fluid physics.

Kimbrough is winding down his stay in space with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko. The trio this week is packing the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft with science samples, personal items and other cargo for a landing in Kazakhstan after 173 days in space. NASA TV will broadcast the crew departure activities live with landing scheduled for Monday at 7:20 a.m. EDT.
                
 This entry was posted in Expedition 50, Uncategorized and tagged European Space Agency, Expedition 50, International Space Station, NASA, Roscosmos, Soyuz, spacewalk on April 5, 2017 by Mark Garcia.

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Intl. Space Station‏Подлинная учетная запись @Space_Station 34 мин. назад

Record-breaking astronaut Peggy Whitson extends her mission with additional three months at the station. https://go.nasa.gov/2oJOMRW 

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[свернуть]

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-peggy-whitson-adds-three-months-to-record-breaking-mission

April 5, 2017
RELEASE 17-038

NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson Adds Three Months to Record-Breaking Mission


 NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is set to extend her mission with an additional three months at the International Space Station.
Credits: NASA
 
 Already poised to break the record for cumulative time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut, Peggy Whitson is set to extend her mission with an additional three months at the International Space Station.

NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, signed an agreement to extend Peggy Whitson's stay on the space station into Expedition 52. Rather than returning to Earth with her Expedition 51 crew mates Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), in June as originally planned, Whitson will remain on the space station and return home with NASA's Jack Fischer and Roscosmos' Fyodor Yurchikhin. That landing is targeted for September.

This is great news," Whitson said. "I love being up here. Living and working aboard the space station is where I feel like I make the greatest contribution, so I am constantly trying to squeeze every drop out of my time here. Having three more months to squeeze is just what I would wish for."

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The arrangement takes advantage of a Soyuz seat left empty by the Roscosmos decision to temporarily reduce their crew complement to two cosmonauts. Whitson's extension will ensure a full complement of six astronauts on board the station and increase the amount of valuable astronaut time available for experiments on board the station.

"Peggy's skill and experience makes her an incredible asset aboard the space station," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's International Space Station Program Manager. "By extending the stay of one of NASA's most veteran astronauts, our research, our technology development, our commercial and our international partner communities will all benefit."

This is Whitson's third long-duration stay onboard the space station. She launched on Nov. 17 with 377 days in space already under her belt, and on April 24 will break Jeff Williams' standing United States record of 534 cumulative days in space. In 2008, Whitson became the first woman to command the space station, and on April 9 will become the first woman to command it twice. In addition, she holds the record for most spacewalks by a female.

Follow Whitson's stay on the space station via social media at:
 

http:// www.twitter.com/AstroPeggy

http://www.facebook.com/NASAastronautPeggyWhitson

https://astropeggy.tumblr.com
  

Learn more about the space station and its crews at:
 

http://www.nasa.gov/station

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Kathryn Hambleton 
 Headquarters, Washington
 202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov

Brandi Dean/ Dan Huot
 Johnson Space Center, Houston
 281-483-5111
brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov / dan.huot@nasa.gov 

[свернуть]

Last Updated: April 5, 2017
Editor: Karen Northon

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О трансляции НАСА
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-tv-to-air-return-of-space-station-crew-members-to-earth-april-10

April 5, 2017
 MEDIA ADVISORY M17-039
 
 NASA TV to Air Return of Space Station Crew Members to Earth April 10

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 Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos will undock their Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft from the space station on April 10.
Credits: NASA

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Three crew members aboard the International Space Station are scheduled to depart the orbiting outpost Monday, April 10. Coverage of their departure and return to Earth will air on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos will undock their Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft from the space station at 4 a.m. EDT and land in Kazakhstan at 7:20 a.m. (5:20 p.m. Kazakhstan time). Their return will wrap up 173 days in space for the crew members since their launch last October.

NASA TV will air coverage of the departure and landing activities at the following dates and times:

Sunday, April 9
 

[/li]
• 10:40 a.m. – Change of command ceremony in which Kimbrough hands over station command to NASA's Peggy Whitson
  

Monday, April 10
 

[/li]
• 12:15 a.m. – Farewell and hatch closure coverage (hatch closure at 12:40 a.m.)
• 3:30 a.m. – Undocking coverage (undocking scheduled at 4 a.m.)
• 6 a.m. – Deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn at 6:27 a.m., landing at 7:20 a.m.)
• 9 a.m. – Video file of hatch closure, undocking and landing activities.
  

Tuesday, April 11
 

[/li]
• 12 p.m. – Video file of landing and post-landing activities and post-landing interview with Kimbrough in Kazakhstan
  

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Together, the Expedition 50 crew members continued work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard humanity's only orbital laboratory.

At the time of undocking, Expedition 51 will begin aboard the station under Whitson's command. Along with her crewmates Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), the three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of two new crew members. NASA's Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch April 20 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Keep up with the International Space Station, and its research and crews, at:

 

 https://www.nasa.gov/station

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter at:

 

http://instagram.com/iss

and

http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station 

-end-

 
Cheryl Warner
 Headquarters, Washington
 202-358-1100
cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

Dan Huot
 Johnson Space Center, Houston
 281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov

[свернуть]

Last Updated: April 5, 2017
Editor: Katherine Brown

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https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/04/whitson-iss-additional-three-months/

Whitson to stay on the ISS for an additional three months
April 5, 2017 by Chris Bergin

 

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson has been granted a three-month extension to her mission on the International Space Station (ISS). The decision, made between NASA and Roscosmos, avoids a "gap" in the full crew compliment during a two-month period in the summer. Meanwhile, Soyuz TMA-02 is preparing to return home three crew members next Monday.

Whitson Extension:

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Dr. Whitson is already a record-breaker and no stranger to the orbital outpost.

She was assigned to her first spaceflight as a member of Expedition 5 crew, launching aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the STS-111 mission on 5 June 2002.



Whitson returned to the Station when she was assigned as Commander of the Expedition 16 mission and launched fr om the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 10 October 2007 on Soyuz TMA-11. During just this tour alone, Whitson performed five spacewalks.

Returning to the Station on Soyuz MS-03 last November, Dr. Whitson added her eighth and ninth spacewalks of her career – more than any other female astronaut.

The plan was for Whitson to return home with her Expedition 51 crew mates Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA in June. However, Whitson will now skip that departure and will head back to Earth with NASA's Jack Fischer and Roscosmos' Fyodor Yurchikhin in September.

"This is great news," Whitson said. "I love being up here. Living and working aboard the space station is wh ere I feel like I make the greatest contribution, so I am constantly trying to squeeze every drop out of my time here. Having three more months to squeeze is just what I would wish for."



Preparations for the Station crew comings and goings began when the Station adjusted its orbit via a 35.6 firing of thrusters on the Zvezda module.

That sets the stage for the departure of Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos when they undock their Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft from the space station at 4 a.m. EDT and land in Kazakhstan at 7:20 a.m. (5:20 p.m. Kazakhstan time) this coming Monday.

Their return will wrap up 173 days in space for the crew members since their launch last October.

At the time of undocking, Expedition 51 will begin aboard the station under Whitson's command.

Along with her crewmates Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), the three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of two new crew members.



NASA's Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch April 20 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan – riding on the Soyuz MS-04.

This two person launch is the key reason why Dr. Whitson will remain on the Station.

With a Soyuz seat left empty by the Roscosmos, the ISS will be  temporarily reduced to two cosmonauts. Whitson's extension will ensure a full complement of six astronauts on board the station and increase the amount of valuable astronaut time available for experiments on board the station.

Dr. Whitson's next record will come on April 24, whens she will break Jeff Williams' standing United States record of 534 cumulative days in space. Along with the recent spacewalk record, Whitson also became the first woman to command the space station, and on April 9 will become the first woman to command it twice.
 
"Peggy's skill and experience makes her an incredible asset aboard the space station," added Kirk Shireman, NASA's International Space Station Program Manager. "By extending the stay of one of NASA's most veteran astronauts, our research, our technology development, our commercial and our international partner communities will all benefit."

Yet another spacewalk is on the cards for Whitson when she conducts the third of a trio of EVAs that are preparing for the future arrival of US commercial crew spacecraft, along with upgrading the station hardware.



Previously, EVA-42 was set to take place on April 6. However, due to delays with the arrival of the OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft – due to issues with its Atlas V carrier rocket – the spacewalk has been postponed.

The Atlas V will now launch from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral on April 18, following the resolution of two issues – the latter relating to a hydraulic line on the rocket's first stage.

As such, EVA-42 is now expected to take place shortly after the Cygnus is berthed to the Station, with the spacewalk currently allocated a placeholder of April 24.

The spacewalk will feature Whitson and Pesquet replacing an avionics box on the starboard truss called an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier, a storage platform. The box houses electrical and command and data routing equipment for the science experiments and replacement hardware stored outside of the station.

The reason for delaying the EVA is obvious, given the new avionics box is scheduled to launch aboard Cygnus.

The EVA will be a major milestone for the orbital outpost, marking the 200th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance.

(Images via NASA and Roscosmos).

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

https://www.roscosmos.ru/23403/

ПОСАДКА СПУСКАЕМОГО АППАРАТА ТПК «СОЮЗ МС-02»
10 апреля 2017
 

   Программа МКС

    
 

10 апреля 2017 года в 14:21 мск запланирована посадка спускаемого аппарата транспортного пилотируемого корабля «Союз МС-02» с экипажем в составе командира корабля Сергея РЫЖИКОВА (РОСКОСМОС), бортинженеров Андрея БОРИСЕНКО (РОСКОСМОС) и Роберта КИМБРОУ (NASA). Команда на расстыковку ТПК «Союз МС-02» с МКС будет дана в 10:58 мск. Планируемый район посадки спускаемого корабля - около 147 км от г.Жезказган, Республика Казахстан.

[Алексей Георгиевич Белозерский]

tnt22 пишет:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/04/whitson-iss-additional-three-months/
 

Вставлю ссылку на оригинал пресс-релиза НАСА
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-peggy-whitson-adds-three-months-to-record-breaking-mission

[Alien3]

Очень рад за Пегги! Она заслужила (вспоминается книга Криса Хэтфилда).

[tnt22]

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/04/Spotting_debris

Spotting debris

DOWNLOAD HI-RES JPG (528.82 kB)                         
                         
           
Details

Title Spotting debris

Released 06/04/2017 9:00 am

Copyright Marco Langbroek, 2017

Description

On 30 March, NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson ventured outside the International Space Station on a seven-hour spacewalk. The duo's work included installing four thermal shields on the US Tranquility module, protecting a docking port. 

Unfortunately, one shield was lost during the spacewalk. It posed no immediate danger to the astronauts and they went on to install the remaining shields on the port.

The lost shield is in orbit some distance in front of the Station and is visible fr om Earth through a pair of good binoculars.

Спойлер

During the evening of 3 April, Marco Langbroek, from Leiden, the Netherlands, photographed the shield passing over in the night sky, using a Canon EOS 60D DSLR camera and a Samyang 1.4/85 mm lens.

In a pair of excellent images created from a series of photos, the shield is seen as the very faint, thin streak (in the image at left), followed a minute later by the Station itself, seen as the thick streak (in the image at right).

The shield is about 1.5 x 0.6 m, and is expected to drop from orbit and burn up in the atmosphere within a few months.

"The item poses very little risk to navigation, and an accidental release like this is not unexpected given the complexity and challenges of working outside during a spacewalk," says Holger Krag, Head of ESA's Space Debris Office.

He says the incident does, however, put a spotlight on the current space debris situation.

"There are some 750 000 debris objects 1–10 cm in orbit, and any one of these could damage or destroy a functioning satellite."

Later this month, ESA's Space Debris Office will host the 7th European Conference on Space Debris, the world's largest gathering on this topic. The conference will be opened by ESA Director General Jan Woerner and NASA's former orbital debris chief scientist, Donald Kessler.

Highlight talks will address acute issues like debris avoidance measures, novel concepts for removing debris and the deployment of large constellations of several thousand satellites for telecommunications.

More information

Marco Langbroek http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com

Video of  (WMV, 24 MB)

Wh ere's the dropped fabric shield? http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=42434

ESA Space Debris http://www.esa.int/debris

ESA CleanSpace http://www.esa.int/CleanSpace

Id 375633

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/04/06/trio-packs-for-homecoming-and-whitsons-mission-extended/

Trio Packs for Homecoming and Whitson's Mission Extended
Posted on April 6, 2017 at 12:45 pm by Mark Garcia.

Спойлер

Expedition 50 crew members (from left) Shane Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will depart the station Monday April 10 ending their stay in space.

[свернуть]

Three crew members aboard the International Space Station are packing up their gear for a homecoming on Monday. NASA also decided to extend the mission of an astronaut living aboard the station since November.

Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut will take a ride back to Earth early Monday inside the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft. Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will have completed a 173-day mission in space when they land Monday at 7:21 a.m. EDT in Kazakhstan. NASA TV will broadcast the departure and landing activities live.

Kimbrough has accumulated six spacewalks over two missions, including the STS-126 mission aboard space shuttle Endeavour in 2008. Ryzhikov, who is on his first space mission, will be commanding the Soyuz spacecraft during its landing. Borisenko was last aboard the station in 2011 and is completing his second stint as a station crew member.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson has been granted a three-month extension to her already record-breaking career aboard the station. She will stay in space until September as a member of Expeditions 50, 51 and 52. NASA managers wanted to ensure the station maintained a six-person crew to maximize research while Russia temporarily reduces its crew to two cosmonauts.

This entry was posted in Expedition 50 and tagged European Space Agency, Expedition 50, International Space Station, NASA, Roscosmos, Soyuz on April 6, 2017 by Mark Garcia.