This time lapse footage was taken by astronaut Don Pettit — of Saturday Morning Science and the Zero-G coffee cup fame — during his time on the International Space Station. It shows Earth from day to night and back to day again. Pettit was on the ISS from November 23, 2002 to May 3, 2003, so he was in space when the Columbia accident happened. Pettit is one of the most interesting and quirkier astronauts and I hope he gets to return to the ISS. is scheduled to return to the ISS in 2011 (thanks to Ben H. for clarifying — see comments). This video provides some great views of Earth, especially at night, that can’t be captured with a regular video shot. Stunning.
Robonaut getting ready for launch. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today
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The payload for the next shuttle mission, STS-133 was on full display at Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility, including the mission’s “7th” crew member – Robonaut (or R2 as he is known to his friends). A media event on Aug. 12 showcased elements that Discovery is scheduled to lift to orbit on Nov. 1, 2010 at 4:33 p.m. EDT.
Jason Rhian with Robonaut. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Without a doubt the star of the show was R2 himself. The mostly-white android looked every bit the science-fiction meets science-fact as the imagery we have all seen on television and the internet have made him out to be. Robonaut 2 had originally been designed to only be a technology demonstrator, but engineers wanted to see how the system would operate in space and he was given a seat on the flight (albeit way in the back).
Inside Leonardo, the PPM. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today.
R2 was not the only horse at this rodeo however; NASA also had other flight hardware elements on display that will roar into orbit this fall. One of these was the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) that will be transported to the space station in Discovery’s payload bay (with R2 nestled inside). The PMM is in actuality the modified Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM) and when the mission is completed the PMM will be left attached to the station.
Space Shuttle Discovery will carry Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) DragonEye (DE) relative navigation sensor on this mission. It is expected that this sensor will be installed about half a month later than originally planned due to a failure in the laser rod that was detected during testing. This item however was not on display at this event.
STS-133 could possibly be Discovery’s final flight (it has been mentioned that if there is an STS-135 – that Discovery might fly that mission). It will mark the 35th time that one of NASA’s orbiters has traveled to the orbiting laboratory. The crew consists of Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Tim Kopra and Nicole Stott.
Image above: Expedition 24 Flight Engineers Doug Wheelock (right) and Tracy Caldwell Dyson work to replace a failed ammonia pump module outside of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
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Overcoming a disappointing spacewalk last weekend, today astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson successfully removed the failed ammonia coolant pump module on the S1 truss of the International Space Station. But NASA managers said that at least two more EVAs will be required to complete all the repairs to the critical cooling system. Earlier, it was hoped that two spacewalks total would allow enough time, but it will take at least four. “There were a number of challenges in the first EVA that set us back, but as we looked closer at this, we were hedging our bets at how many EVAs we had ahead of us,” said Spacewalk officer David Beaver at a press briefing following the successful EVA today. “As we have done more and more work in laying this out in a stepwise fashion, it became clear to us early on that this was a much bigger set of EVAs than we originally made time for.”
He added that on orbit, the astronauts have stopped all research in order to save on the cooling system. The complex systems keeps the station from overheating and the six-member crew has relied on just one — instead of the usual two pumps –to handle the cooling ever since the one pump failed during a power surge on July 31.
“The system has been kind to us and we haven’t had any more failures,” Beaver said.
The spare pump will be installed on the S1 truss during a spacewalk that is now scheduled for Monday – originally it was set for Sunday, but NASA managers decided an extra day would help both the astronauts and the teams on the ground preparing for the EVAs.
Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson were able to close the quick disconnect valve for the final fluid connector for the failed ammonia pump module, and then detach the final fluid line from the failed ammonia pump module – which was the problem that couldn’t be overcome on the first spacewalk.
The two astronauts then extracted the pump module and stowed on another location on the truss, and Caldwell Dyson prepared the spare pump for installation on the next spacewalk on Monday.
The spacewalk lasted 7 1/2 hours, slightly shorter than Saturday’s eight-hour marathon, the longest EVA at the ISS without a space shuttle present. Wheelock and Dyson had to use decontamination procedures after the spacewalk just in case some ammonia leaked on their suits.
In response to the power-saving reconfiguration that has had to be done, the science team worked quickly to establish a plan to preserve experiment samples in the Japanese Experiment Module freezer. The on-orbit crew was able to transfer all the samples from the freezer in the Kibo laboratory to an operating freezer. No sciences samples were lost due to the pump module anomaly.
While the crew schedule has been interrupted to support the newly added spacewalks, the payload ground teams have been working closely with mission controllers to preserve and re-plan high priority activities. Other activities that can be rescheduled with little or no impact are being postponed to a later date.
Astronauts Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson conducted an eight hour, 3 minute-long spacewalk to replace a balky coolant pump. Credit: NASA
Expedition 24 Flight Engineers Douglas Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson battled with a balky ammonia pump on a spacewalk that lasted for eight hours and 3 minutes. Sadly their efforts were in vain. A line connected to the pump began leaking ammonia forcing mission managers on the ground to reevaluate the situation. They decided to leave the pump where it is for the time being. The coolant problem has caused the International Space Station (ISS) to run at a diminished capacity since the pump began acting up.
The spacewalk marked the sixth-longest in human spaceflight history and the longest at the space station without a space shuttle present. For Wheelock it was his fourth spacewalk, it was Caldwell Dyson’s first. The pair wrapped up their first attempt at 3:22 p.m. EDT. Teams monitoring on the ground wanted to review the situation further before the next spacewalk, currently scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 11, takes place.
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Meanwhile all of the crew members are perfectly safe and the space station itself is operating at a normal capacity (many science experiments have been shut down to avoid overheating). Engineers also powered down and adjusted other systems on the station to avoid any complications. The ammonia pump failed last week and is one of two located on the space station’s S1 Truss element.
There are currently two additional spacewalks planned to address this problem. The next one is currently scheduled to take place no-earlier than Wednesday, Aug. 11.
Location of the pump module on the S-1 truss that failed. Credit: NASA
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*Updated at 11 pm CDT — dates have changed for EVAs.
Two spacewalks will be required to remove and replace a pump on a critical cooling system on the International Space Station, and NASA is hoping to have station astronauts and ground teams ready by Thursday, August 5 Friday, August 6 for the first EVA. The pump module failed over the weekend, prompting a shift to a backup system, while other systems were shut down as a precaution. The backup system is working perfectly, and having a second system failure is highly unlikely, but NASA does not like to operate on a “single-string” system without redundancy. “Having another failure would be a serious situation for the program that we want to avoid,” said ISS program manager Mike Suffredini.
Update:
NASA had originally scheduled the first EVA for Thursday, August 5 and the second for Sunday, but decided late Monday that they needed more time for both astronauts and ground crews to prepare. Now, the first spacewalk will be Friday morning, starting at 6:55 a.m. EDT, (1155 GMT) with the second EVA on Monday, August 9.
An EVA was already scheduled for August 5 for astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson to install part of a robotic crane and to prepare for a new module due to arrive in November aboard space shuttle Discovery. But that work will be postponed in order for the astronauts to do the priority fix.
“Typically, we allow two weeks to prepare for this type of EVA, but we decided to take advantage of having an EVA already scheduled, so this is a very aggressive approach,” said Flight Director Courtenay McMillan, who is leading the team supporting the spacewalk.
This type of EVA is part of what is called the “Big 14” set of contingency spacewalks that all ISS astronauts train for in the event of system failures like the one that happened on Saturday.
Suffredini said he is confident everyone can be ready. “The crew is in great spirits and are ready to do this,” he said. “These Big 14 EVA’s cover major systems repairs that an increment crew might have to do without the shuttle there. They train for both specific and generic spacewalks, and this particular one they have trained for. So they have some familiarity with the tasks they will be asked to do.”
Additionally all the operations teams have been working around the clock to prepare for the fix. “The ops team is full up for support,” Suffredini said. “If you were to go in the control room, it looks more like a shuttle flight is going on right now. We do train for these kinds of anomalies, and have been fortunate that we haven’t had to deal with anything like this before, but we have good plans in place.” Spare Pump Module, with grapple fixture. Credit: NASA
The pump — which was installed in October 2002 — failed Saturday night after a spike in electrical current tripped a circuit breaker. When the 350 kg (780-pound) pump failed, it shut down half of the station’s cooling system. Efforts to restart the pump, which feeds ammonia coolant into the cooling loops to maintain the proper temperature for the station’s electrical systems and avionics, were not successful. Suffredini said data suggests the motor is not frozen, as it did begin to pump when they did the restart, so that tells them there is likely a short in the electrical system.
The station’s crew worked with Mission Control to put the station in a stable configuration. The crew, which is in no danger, has resumed normal work activities and most of the systems are up and running. One freezer was shut down, but frozen specimens which are to be returned to Earth were transferred to another freezer.
McMillan said astronauts Cady Coleman and Sunny Williams are working today in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab — the big pool where astronauts train for EVAs — doing development runs for the emergency EVAs.
“They are doing the tasks that they forsee we’ll need to do, trying to work out details of the timeline,” she said. “And depending on how things go today we’ll see if we’ll be ready for the EVA.”
There are spare pump modules already on board the station, and Suffredini said that if more modules are needed, they can fit on board the Japanese HTV resupply vehicles or SpaceX’s cargo vehicle, and don’t need to be brought up by the space shuttle.
A Russian spacewalker works outside the Pirs docking compartment after beginning the first Expedition 24 spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV
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Two Expedition 24 cosmonauts conducted a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station earlier today, outfitting the newest module for future dockings of Russian vehicles. Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Mikhail Kornienko set up the Kurs automated rendezvous on the Rassvet module, which was delivered on the last space shuttle mission to the ISS. Additionally, the pair of spacewalkers routed and mated Command and Data Handling cables on the Zvezda and Zarya modules. While they also purposefully jettisoned an old camera, two other objects got loose and floated away from the astronauts. The objects are being tracked to make sure they will not pose a threat to the station later.
One was tentatively identified as a cable clamp, left outside the station from a previous Russian spacewalk, and the other object was not conclusively identified.
This was the 147th spacewalk at the ISS for station assembly and maintenance. This was Kornienko’s first spacewalk and Yurchikhin’s fourth. Yurchikhin’s first three spacewalks occurred when he was commander of Expedition 15 in 2007.
The camera that was tossed away was replaced, and the new camera will provide better television views of the final approach and docking of future European Automated Transfer Vehicles carrying cargo to the station.
Another spacewalk will take place next week, on August 5, with US astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson getting the chance to go outside. They will install a power cable to the Unity module in preparation for the installation of the Permanent Multipurpose Module during the STS-133 mission in November. A Portable Data Grapple Fixture will be installed on the Zarya module that will extend the reach of Canadarm2, the station’s robotic arm, and increase a spacewalker’s access for assembly or maintenance work. They also will jettison multi-layer insulation removed for the grapple fixture installation and will mate power connectors to Zarya.
NASA’s Robonaut 2 will be the first human-like robot to go to space, and teams from Johnson Space Center have been putting “R2” through a battery of tests to make sure this futuristic robot is ready for its first mission. R2 will become a permanent resident of the International Space Station, and will launch on space shuttle Discovery as part of the STS-133 mission, currently planned for November 1, 2010.
The 136 kg (300-pound) R2 consists of a head and a torso with two arms and two hands. R2 Once aboard the station, engineers will monitor how the robot operates in weightlessness. R2 is undergoing extensive testing in preparation for its flight, including vibration, vacuum and radiation testing. Watch the video for more information on how R2 operates. Continue reading “Robonaut Getting Ready for ISS Mission”
I just took a look at Heaven’s Above to check on when I could see the International Space Station this weekend, and got the surprise of my life! On Saturday (June 26) I have 5 — count ’em — 5 opportunities to see it! That is completely unusual, so what’s up? For the next few days, the International Space Station (ISS) will be orbiting Earth in constant sunlight, as its orbit lines up with Earth’s day-night terminator. Therefore, the ISS will be putting on an incredible show the next few nights, since it will be constantly illuminated, and will be visible in the night sky every single time it passes overhead. Some observers will be able to see the space station 3, 4 — or like me — even 5 times a night. Check on Heaven’s Above, or NASA’s NASA has a Skywatch page where you can find your specific city to look for satellite sighting info.
Spaceweather.com, has a Satellite Tracker Tool. Just put in your zip code (good for the US and Canada) to find out what satellites will be flying over your house.
I’m expecting you all are going to be submitting some great astrophotos of the ISS during the next few days! Send ’em in!
Sunrise as seen by Doug Wheelock (Astro_Wheels on Twitter) from the ISS.
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Expedition 23 astronaut Soichi Noguchi took and shared so many amazing images during his 6-month stay on board the International Space Station, and I was a little worried that his return to Earth would result in a bit of a let-down in the space imaging department. I now see I had nothing to fear: Three new members of the Expedition 24 crew arrived at the ISS late last week and Doug Wheelock seems to have filled Soichi’s shoes (or socks, since they don’t wear shoes on the ISS) quite nicely. He posted two new images today on his Twitpic page that are nothing short of stunning. This image, above of an orbital sunrise provides a great look at the ISS bathed in “morning” light.
“A stunning sunrise aboard the International Space Station, as seen from the Russian MRM1 Module. We’re blessed with 16 sunrises each day!” Wheelock, a.k.a Astro_Wheels wrote.
See below for an aurora he captured over the South Pole.
An aurora seen over the South Pole, from the ISS. Credit: Doug Wheelock, NASA.
“A breath-taking masterpiece being painted in the sky over the South Pole. ‘The Southern Lights’…like brush strokes from the Master’s hand…” wrote Wheelock.
A recent image of a sunset taken from the ISS, is also incredibly beautiful. It wasn’t taken by Wheelock, but made NASA’s Earth Observatory’s website “Image of the Day” feature. Marvelous! The NASA page doesn’t say which astronaut took the image. Click the image for a larger, non-annotated view.
Sunset from the ISS shows the different layers of the atmosphere. Credit: NASA
And here’s a video I found of an orbital sunrise taken in 2006 on the STS-116 space shuttle mission.
The Soyuz TMA-19 vehicle blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today to bring three new crew members to the International Space Station. This was the 100th launch of missions in support of space station assembly, resupply and crew exchanges. The rocket lit up the early morning sky in Kazakhstan at 3:35 a.m. Wednesday local time, (5:35:19 p.m. EDT and 9:35 pm GMT on Tuesday). The Soyuz took eight and a half minutes to reach orbit, but it will take about 2 days to catch up to the ISS. Continue reading “100th Launch to the International Space Station”
