Stories tagged International Space Station
Have you heard about the problem on the International Space Station? The only toilet on board is plugged and astronauts have to come up with alternative ways of relieving themselves. You can read more about it right here.
Tags : Drinking where others have gone before: ISS to convert urine into drinking water
Would this make you less likely to want to join a space exploration crew on the International Space Station? On its next mission, space shuttle Endeavor will be delivering equipment that NASA has developed that will recycle astronauts' eliminations -- more specifically urine -- into drinking water. With crews of the space station growing from three to six people in the near future, the technology is needed to keep up with the water demands for a larger crew. You can get all the details here from USA Today.
Dextre robot addition to ISS
Courtesy Canadian Space Agency
STS-123's 16 day mission
The space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 crew is on track for a March 11 launch to the space station for a marathon construction flight expected to last about 16 days. The busy construction flight will include five spacewalks to assemble the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robot Dextre, install the first segment of Japan's massive Kibo laboratory, test a shuttle heat shield repair method and deliver spare parts to the ISS. Europe's maiden ISS cargo ship Jules Verne will hover nearby, waiting to deliver its load of cargo.
Japan will add components to the ISS
Japanese astronaut Takao Doi will help deliver the storage room for his country's Kibo laboratory to the ISS for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Japan's Kibo facility consists of a storage pod, a massive pressurized laboratory and an external platform equipped with its own robotic arm.
Canadian Space Agency will assemble a huge robot
Putting together Dextre, a Canadian robot, will be one of the main jobs for the seven Endeavour astronauts. Standing 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide, Dextre has two 7 jointed arms that are each 11 feet long.
Repairing heat shield tiles
When the space shuttle Atlantis flies to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in August, any damage to its space tiles will need to be repaired in space. Waiting for rescue at the space station will not be an option. A practice run of such a repair will be carried out on this mission.
Learn more - 114 page info packet
For a really complete information package describing the STS-123 mission in detail you might check out this 114 page press release (4.4MB, pdf).
The crew of STS-120: Image courtesy NASA.NASA space shuttle mission STS-120 this October will be brining more to the International Space Station (ISS) than the Harmony module, which will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules. In addition, it will bring the original prop lightsaber from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The prop is being flown to the ISS to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise, which began with 1977’s Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
As both a Star Wars nut and a fan of most things space related, I read this story with mixed feelings. Is this more a PR opportunity for Star Wars or NASA? Star Wars can almost do no wrong in my mind (except possibly with Jar-Jar Binks) and I wonder if this story, while giving props to Star Wars, isn’t really more of a boost to NASA for being associated with something cool like Star Wars. Personally, I think a lot of stuff NASA does is cool but I know a lot of people who could care less about NASA and space in general (I call them “space haters”).
And, hey, its something fun. I’ve read a few blogs that are accusing NASA of wasting funds on this, but I doubt this cost NASA much in terms of money, and probably has exposed them in a fun and positive light. I’m all for it.
The cost of flying to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship has increased from $25 million earlier this year to $30 million. Trips planned in 2008 and 2009 will cost $40 million. Five space tourists have paid $20 million to $25 million to visit the space station via the Soyuz vehicles through trips arranged by Space Adventures. The company announced Wednesday that two more Soyuz seats have been purchased for tourists to fly in 2008 and 2009.
Live video from space
Space shuttle detaches from ISSI have been watching NASA TV which is broadcast live via the internet from the International Space Station and the space shuttle, Atlantis. Atlantis detatched from the ISS last night and is now preparing for its landing tomorrow. On board is Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman.
Failure of two ISS computers added tension.
When two computers which controlled life support and space station positioning failed at the same time, the ten astronauts needed to either fix them or abandon the space station. 
Internation Space Station, June 2007An out of position thermal blanket also need to be repaired before landing. In addition to emergencies, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate the S3/S4 and assist in the retraction of solar array on the Port 6 truss. These large structures may have been what caused the computer glitches.
You can watch, too.
If you have medium high speed internet (mine is 1.5mbps) you can see live video from space. Last night I saw that the Atlantis was passing over the Great Lakes just after sunset so I ran outside to see if I could see them (it wasn't dark enough). Both the Atlantis and the space station will be visible tonight as they pass overhead. The NASA TV launch page is here. I recommend the Windows Media viewer which allows full screen viewing.
STS-117 solar panelsAtlantis' crew installed a new set of solar arrays on the starboard side of the International Space Station. More photos can be seen in the STS-117 mission photo gallery.
An unmanned Russian cargo ship carrying 5000 pounds of supplies, equipment and gifts blasted off Saturday en route to the international space station. The cargo included oxygen, water, food, books, movies, gifts and other personal items for the crew, and snails intended for biological experiments.
Fast in space: NASA astronaut Suni Williams ran a marathon Monday on a treadmill in the Intenrational Space Station concurrently with Earth-bound runners doing the Boston Marathon. Due to the weightless conditions in space, she had to be bungee-corded to the treadmill. (Photo courtesy of NASA)In real time and space, NASA astronaut Suni Williams completed Monday’s Boston Marathon in about five seconds. That’s impossible, you say?
Actually, Williams ran the marathon while on a treadmill in the International Space Station. She started her 26-plus mile effort at the same time that runners in Boston began the Earth-based marathon. It actually took her 4 hours, 24 minutes to cover the marathon’s distance on the treadmill. She was running in an orbit 210 miles above the surface of the Earth.
But when you factor in that the space station is orbited Earth at 17,500 miles per hour, Williams’ body passed over the actual length of a marathon in just five seconds.
Running a marathon in space required some other special accommodations as well. Bungee cords were used to keep Williams connected to the treadmill because of the weightless conditions of space. And she followed the progress of the actual marathon going on in Boston with a laptop computer.
Two of her friends were running in the actual marathon on Earth, as well. Williams is an experienced marathoner and ran a three-hour-29-minute marathon in Houston last year.
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