Space Station | Universe Today

Two upstart commercial space companies have been awarded contracts by NASA for commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station. SpaceX, also known as Space Exploration Technologies received a contract for $1.6 billion while Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. has a contract valued at $1.9 billion. NASA has ordered 12 flights from SpaceX and eight from Orbital. In October, at this year's International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, SpaceX Vice President of Marketing and Communications Diane Murphy said that the six- year-old company has it in their sights to be able to fly to the space station by 2009. For now, the contract is for cargo only, however SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket are human rated, and would be capable of delivering up to 7 crew members to the station. The Dragon could also be used as an escape vehicle. If SpaceX and Orbital can be successful in cargo re-supply, it could pave the way for a potential solution to the gap between the shuttle retirement in 2010 and when the Constellation program would be ready to fly, hopefully by 2015.
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International Space Station Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke and flight engineer Yury Lonchakov, conducted a five-hour 38-minute spacewalk on Dec. 23, successfully installing an electrical probe on the Russian Pirs airlock module designed to track down problems with Russian Soyuz capsule. They also retrieved a space exposure experiment and mounted instrumentation on the Zvezda command module that will monitor disturbances in the ionosphere. But the spacewalkers encountered problems with a second experiment package, designed to expose biological samples to the space environment, to properly plug into the station's power and data system. After extensive troubleshooting, Russian flight controllers ordered Fincke and Lonchakov to disconnect the Expose-R experiment and return it to the airlock.
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Having flown out of Edwards Air Force Base in California early Wednesday morning, Space Shuttle Endeavour is stopping over at Fort Worth in Texas before making the final leg of its homeward-bound journey to Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. This is a rare treat for the people of Fort Worth, and anyone who saw the 747/Shuttle duo touch down on the runway Wednesday afternoon will most likely be the last. It is highly unlikely another shuttle will land at Fort Worth ever again…
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For the first time, beer brewed totally from barley grown in space can be enjoyed on terra firma. The Japanese-owned Sapporo Brewery is one of the oldest beer producers in the nation, so it seems fitting that the company would want to diversify into the next frontier. Although the beer wasn't actually brewed in space, the barley ingredient was grown there. Through a joint program between Sapporo, the Russian Academy of Science and Okayama University in Japan, the small amount of barley was grown on board the ISS as part of a project to research the cultivation of foodstuffs in Earth orbit.

100 litres of Space Beer has been produced as a result of the successful microgravity barley farming effort, and a lucky 60 people will have the exclusive chance to taste the beer in Tokyo next month. Unfortunately, the Space Beer is not yet commercially available, so put that pint glass away…
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Seemingly, the current space shuttle mission, STS-126, has been all about two things: recycling and restoring. The crew has been working almost nonstop to get a new system that turns urine into drinking water to work correctly; and spacewalkers spent a majority of four grueling EVAs cleaning and lubricating a jammed solar-wing joint on the station's right side. And now there's good news to report on both fronts. The urine recycling system now seems to be working perfectly. "Not to spoil anything, but I think up here the appropriate words are 'Yippee!'" space station commander Mike Fincke told ground controllers. Mission Control replied, "There will be dancing later." The recycling system will be a necessity for supporting the International Space Station's crew, which will increase from three to six in early 2009. Also essential will be enough power to support the larger crew, so having the SARJ working correctly, the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint which allows the solar arrays to track the sun, is more good news. After Endeavour astronauts worked on the giant gears and replaced bearing assemblies, initial tests found the starboard SARJ working well, with no power spikes or excessive vibrations. So, with the major hurdles on the mission being cleared, the astronauts will be able to enjoy an irradiated, freeze-dried, vacuum-packed Thanksgiving holiday meal on Thursday. And UT readers can now enjoy some of the great images from this mission in the gallery below.
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The educational experiment currently being carried out on the space station has just returned a surprise result. It would appear the two web-weaving spiders being studied have turned their fortunes around - they have scrapped their aimless 3D mess of silk and started to create the symmetrical 2D webs more commonly seen on Earth. The experiment started off a little precarious as one of the spiders went AWOL, but it would appear the pair are back and better than ever, spinning picture perfect spider webs.

This experiment, currently being studied by hundreds of K-12 students in the USA, is one of the payloads of the STS-126 shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS), dubbed the "home improvement mission." Not to be outdone by the space walking astronauts, the little arachnid ISS passengers have decided to do some home improvements of their own…
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The system has only just been installed and it is already broken down. Unfortunately, the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) don't have the luxury of returning their faulty urine recycling system to the store to replace it with a new one.

The $154 million recycler was started up just as Thursday's space walk was ending, but it suddenly shut down for an unknown reason. Today (Friday), the crew re-started the device, only for a sensor to alert NASA that one of the motors inside was not working. NASA engineers are now working hard to establish whether this revolutionary machine has a simple glitch, or whether the motor needs to be replaced. Either way, an answer needs to be found within the next week, as a sample of recycled water needs to be transported on board Shuttle Endeavour when it returns to Earth so it can be tested…
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Air quality is a serious issue for any space-based activity. After all, if a harmful gas is leaked into the sealed space station, the astronauts on board cannot simply open the window to get some fresh air. The International Space Station (ISS) and stations before it (including the Russian-built Mir) have all been afflicted with poor air-quality conditions. This is a concern for astronauts and cosmonauts as their health can suffer significantly when exposed to certain chemicals accidentally leaked.

In an effort to remove the threat of harmful chemical build-up in the ISS, a new hi-tech electronic "nose" will be tested on board the ISS next month. If successful, the ENose will be fitted as standard on manned space missions, including long-term missions to the Moon and Mars…
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Ten years ago today the Russian built Zarya control module was launched into space and the International Space Station was born. The orbiting outpost has gone from one small module to an expansive station with ten different modules made in several different countries, a huge backbone truss structure made of 12 large pieces, and three sets of the largest solar arrays ever sent into space. The current space shuttle mission is providing the furnishings to outfit the station into a five-bedroom, two bath, two kitchen space research outpost. 164 people have visited the station in these past ten years, as the 313 ton station has circled the Earth more than 57,300 times and traveled a distance of more than 1.3 billion miles (2 billion km). See a very nifty animation of how the station was built at USA Today, see a list of all the flights so far dedicated to ISS construction, and find all the stats you'll ever want on the ISS here.

Frequent readers of Universe Today know I have a soft spot in my heart for the ISS, and today I'd like to share some of my favorite images from the past ten years of station construction. Above is a collage of the Zarya module a decade ago, (left) and the station's current configuration.
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A tool bag floated away in space as spacewalking astronauts worked outside the International Space Station Tuesday. Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper had a grease gun explode inside her tool bag, getting the dark gray goop all over a camera, the inside of the bag, and her gloves. While she was trying to clean it up, the whole bag floated away. "Oh, great," Piper said. It was one of the largest items ever to be lost by a spacewalker. Lost were two grease guns, needed to clean and lube the jammed Solar Alpha Rotary Joint for the space station's solar arrays. Flight director Ginger Kerrick said the bag and also an errant screw that also floated past that spacewalkers posed no hazards to the ISS or shuttle. By late Tuesday, the bag was already well away from the complex, about 2.5 miles (4 km) in front of the shuttle-station complex. The rest of the spacewalk went well, as Piper and her partner Stephen Bowen shared tools and accomplished all the planned objectives. Mission planners are studying options for replacing, or doing without, two grease guns lost.

Also lost is one of two spiders on board a special experiment…
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A new camera that will assist farmers, ranchers, foresters and educators is heading to the International Space Station. Students and faculty from the University of North Dakota built the Agricultural Camera, known as AgCam, which will be delivered by Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-126 mission to the ISS. The astronauts will install the system on the station but once its set up, students will control the camera remotely, sending commands from the Operations Center at UND. AgCam will take images in visible and infrared light of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions. "The beauty of the AgCam is the combination of features it has to provide important data to a wide variety of people", George Seielstad, the director of AgCam at told Universe Today. "Plus, students have the opportunity to do real engineering and provide valuable data to protect our environment."
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Space biology experiments have just arrived in the classroom. With a focus on hundreds of K-12 students, a University of Colorado, Boulder payload will be launched on board Space Shuttle Endeavour on November 14th carrying spiders and butterfly larvae. The purpose? To provide an educational research tool for youngsters, helping to develop their interest in biology and space science. The butterfly larvae will be studied over their complete life cycle in space; from larvae to pupae to butterfly to egg. Web-building spiders will be studied to see how their behaviour alters when lacking gravity. Both sets of experiments will then be compared with control subjects on the ground… I wish I had the chance to do this kind of research when in school. I wish I had the chance to do this kind of research now!
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Astronauts on the crew of STS-126, scheduled to launch on space shuttle Endeavour on Friday, Nov. 14 will be doing some big home improvement projects on their visit to the International Space Station. This mission will allow the ISS to double its crew size, as well as making sure there will be enough power for everyone living on board the orbital outpost. “It’s the most jam-packed logistics module we have ever carried up there,” STS-126 Commander Chris Ferguson said. “We’re taking a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house and turning it into a five-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a gym.”
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On December 10th 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in a direct response to the atrocities committed during the Second World War. Since this landmark moment, the UDHR has been adopted and become the most translated document in history. The declaration consists of 30 articles (or 30 specific basic rights) and all have been worked into international law.

Now the one document that defines an individual's rights on Earth will be launched into orbit and installed on the International Space Station (ISS), just in time for the 60th anniversary of the declaration's signing…
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Three free-flying spheres are currently zooming around inside the International Space Station. Is the crew of Expedition 18 using them to hone their light-saber battle skills a la Luke Skywalker or sharpen their ability to detect UFOs? No, these bowling-ball sized spherical satellites are part of an experiment devised by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to test autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuvers for future formation flying spacecraft. Called SPHERES – which stands for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites — these color-coded robots are flying inside the ISS, testing different flight formations. But these have to be a lot of fun to play with during off hours on the space station: zero-g bowling or space volleyball, anyone?
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Astronauts realise that there are some things they will miss out on. Whilst living on the International Space Station (ISS) for months at a time they may miss out on their child's first words, they may forget to record the new season of Heroes, they may also miss out on a terrestrial celebration of their birthday.

While many of these things can upsetting or frustrating, say if you're in space when a life-changing event or historical moment for your whole country is about to occur? This is exactly what is going to happen for the two US astronauts currently looking down on their nation from the orbiting outpost. Tomorrow is Presidential Election Day, so Michael Fincke and Gregory Chamitoff are going to exercise their rights as American citizens (that only four astronauts have been able to do previously) to vote in their next leader…
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The Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS), the largest chunk of debris ever jettisoned from the International Space Station (ISS) had a fight with Earth's atmosphere, and lost. Reports by amateur astronomers on November 2nd suggested that the speeding EAS had probably re-entered, as its expected orbital pass was not observed. Now calculations by US Space Command suggest any surviving EAS debris dropped into the Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean, 550km south of Tasmania, where any sightings of the resulting fireball would be unlikely…
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The Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) weighs 1400 lb (635 kg), is the size of two refrigerators and it's going to drop through the atmosphere some time tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 2nd). Funny thing is, we don't know where, and we don't precisely know when. Will any of the defunct equipment survive re-entry? We don't know that either, but it seems highly probable.

The EAS was dropped from the International Space Station in 2007, making it the largest piece of space junk ever dropped from the orbital outpost. At the time, it was believed the ammonia coolant-filled debris would only stay in orbit for 300 days; alas this was a huge underestimation, the EAS has been in orbit for 15 months. The final hours of the large chunk of space debris are being closely tracked by NASA and the U.S. Space Surveillance Network as a precaution. Although no bits of the EAS are expected to pose a danger to people on the ground, NASA's space station program manager said "we just need to be cautious."
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The space shuttle mission to repair and update the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed. Mission managers were aiming for a February 2009 launch for STS-125 flight for the fifth and final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The replacement component for the data handling system that recently caused problems for the telescope not be ready by February, and now NASA is looking for a May 2009 launch. On a positive note, the "other" shuttle mission waiting in the wings, STS-126 to the International Space Station, is looking good and is go for launch. Current launch date is set for November 14 at 7:55 p.m. EST.
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A Canadian amateur radio operator had an 11 minute opportunity to listen out for the International Space Station (ISS) as it passed overhead on October 20th with space tourist Richard Garriott on board. Garriott was also using ham radio during his stay on board the station to communicate with other ham radio enthusiasts on the ground. Murray Crandon from Saskatchewan heard Garriott seeking contact and they exchanged call signs, but Crandon was aware Garriott had a lot of people to make contact with and kept his communication short…
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The Russian spacecraft producer Energiya has warned that it might only have enough money to launch the next two Soyuz flights unless funds are raised urgently.

This situation poses a difficult problem for future access to the International Space Station. The spacecraft producer requires funding in advance to pay for the construction of future Soyuz vehicles, so unless a solution is found, the launch of Expedition 19 that is expected to be carried by the Soyuz TMA-15 (around May 2009) could be the last…
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Costa Rican engineering students invent a coffee percolator for use in orbit

Imagine: You've just woken up on board the space station half-way through your six-month mission in zero-gravity. You probably feel a little home sick and you crave a drink that will pick up your mood, preparing you for a tough day of overseeing experiments in Kibo and keeping up with your station schedule for the day. You go to the galley for some coffee. Instant, bad tasting coffee at that. You put the instant coffee container into the microwave and heat up the sour, plastic-tasting brew. Did that make you feel any better? Or did it just make you crave the smell of real, freshly ground coffee beans you're used to on Earth?

Franklin Chang-Diaz, a veteran NASA astronaut who spent a lot of time on the International Space Station (ISS), knows all too well the taste of really bad microwaved space coffee. So, in an effort to make life a little better for the current astronauts in orbit, Chang has asked two engineering students to design a machine that can percolate fresh-ground coffee in space…
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A Russian official misspoke last weekend when he said the number of crew members on board the International Space Station probably wouldn't increase next year as planned. On Saturday, Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said, "I doubt that the ISS crew will be increased to six people from next year because the final decision has not been taken yet. All countries participating in the ISS program have to decide it." But today NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said Perminov made a mistake. "There are no impediments for going forward with expanding the crew size from three to six," Humphries told Universe Today. The issue was also discussed during a press conference with the space station crew, including the newly arrived crew of three that launched on a Soyuz rocket on Sunday: U.S. astronaut Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and U.S. space tourist Richard Garriott.
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The Soyuz TMA-13 carrying Expedition 18 to the International Space Station (ISS) has successfully docked, delivering astronaut Mike Fincke, cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov and space tourist Richard Garriott. The Soyuz spaceship docked with the Zarya module ahead of schedule over breathtaking views of southern Asia. Richard Garriott, a 47 year-old computer games entrepreneur and son of retired US astronaut Owen Garriott, spent $30 million for the privilege of spending ten days travelling to, and living on the orbital outpost. To appreciate how the Earth has changed in the 35 years since his father first looked down on Earth from the US Skylab space station, Garriott Jr. will spend some of his time taking photos of our planet so the images can be compared…
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…but the station's toilet has broken down again.

For $30 million, you can get a ride into space for a 10-day trip on board the International Space Station. To Richard Garriott, this is money well-spent. He got to spend months training for the experience and he will use the adventure to carry out experiments, educational programs and to follow in his father's footsteps. 25-years earlier, Owen Garriott flew on Space Shuttle Columbia, and before that he served on Skylab. Having successfully launched on board the Soyuz launch vehicle on Sunday, Garriott Jr. is keen to make space travel a family affair, and make some history along the way; he is the first second-generation American astronaut ever to be launched into space. It sounds like an exciting few days await the 47 year old computer video game entrepreneur…

But like any positive story, there's a flip-side. The International Space Station, far from being The Ritz at the best of times, has been inflicted with a rather annoying inconvenience… the main toilet is out of order, requiring all on board to use the Soyuz en-suite. Although it is doubtful Garriott will get a room credit for the inconvenience, I'm sure the view of the Earth rotating below, the excitement of being involved in the biggest space project ever conceived, and the joy of zero-G will more than make up for the bathroom situation…
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