International Space Station Archives

September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 by Andy Tomaswick

Space Stations Get Pretty Moldy. How Can We Prevent it?

Ask any property inspector, and they’ll tell you one of the maxims of their profession – where there’s moisture, there’s mold. That relationship also holds true for the International Space Station. The interior climate on the ISS is carefully controlled, but if thrown out of whack, potentially dangerous mold could sprout overnight. A new paper by researchers at The Ohio State University explains why – and provides some insights into how we might prevent it if it does happen.

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by Evan Gough

Archaeological Methods Reveal How Astronauts Work on the International Space Station

Archaeology is the study of human prehistory, so it seems incongruous to use its methods to study how humans behave in space. But that’s what astronauts aboard the International Space Station are doing.

September 3, 2024September 3, 2024 by Matt Williams

There Was a Strange Sound Coming From Starliner. It Was Caused by a Speaker in the Capsule

The Starliner spacecraft is pictured docked with the Harmony module at the International Space Station high above the Mediterranean Sea. Credit: NASA

As part of the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), NASA contracted with commercial space partners to develop crew-capable spacecraft to restore domestic launch capability to U.S. soil. In addition to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicle, which was validated in 2020 and has been transporting crews to the International Space Station (ISS) ever since. Concurrently, Boeing developed the CT-100 Starliner, which has suffered a seemingly endless string of technical issues and delays. After undergoing a long checklist of fixes, the Starliner completed its first orbital flight test (OFT-1) in May 2022.

The Starliner then made its first crewed flight to the ISS on June 5th, 2024, carrying two astronauts – Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. Unfortunately, malfunctions with the spacecraft’s RCS thrusters have forced it to remain in orbit until the necessary fixes were made. In addition to its thrusters, astronaut Butch Wilmore identified a strange pulsing sound coming from the Starliner crew capsule. That sound has since been identified as feedback from one of the capsule’s speakers, apparently due to an audio configuration between the ISS and Starliner.

August 27, 2024August 27, 2024 by Evan Gough

How Can Astronauts Avoid Vision Loss from Spaceflight?

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson floats through the Unity module aboard the International Space Station. The microgravity on the ISS can cause vision damage and even loss in astronauts. Credit: NASA

Human bodies are sacks of fluids supported by skeletons. The entire human organism has evolved over billions of years on Earth in harmony with the planet’s specific gravity. But when astronauts spend too much time on the ISS in a microgravity environment, the organism responds, the fluids shift, and problems can occur.

One of those problems is with vision, and scientists are working to understand how it happens and what they can do about it.

July 20, 2024July 20, 2024 by Matt Williams

SpaceX Reveals the Beefed-Up Dragon That Will De-Orbit the ISS

Artist's impression of the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle currently being developed by SpaceX. Credit: NASA

The International Space Station (ISS) has been continuously orbiting Earth for more than 25 years and has been visited by over 270 astronauts, cosmonauts, and commercial astronauts. In January 2031, a special spacecraft designed by SpaceX – aka. The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle – will lower the station’s orbit until it enters our atmosphere and lands in the South Pacific. On July 17th, NASA held a live press conference where it released details about the process, including a first glance at the modified SpaceX Dragon responsible for deorbiting the ISS.

June 30, 2024June 30, 2024 by Cathrine Versfeld

The Space Station Now Has Blisteringly Fast Internet

A collage of the pet photos sent over laser links from Earth to LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) to ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal) on the space station. Credit: NASA/Dave Ryan

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation programme (SCaN) has demonstrated the first two way end-to-end laser relay system, deployed through an innovative network. To test SCaN, they sent data to the International Space Station at the impressive speed of 1.2 gigabits per second. Using bandwidth that would normally be reserved for more important communications, the chosen message for the test was a set of adorable images and videos featuring the pets of NASA astronauts and staffers.

June 5, 2024June 6, 2024 by Matt Williams

Starliner Finally Launches, Carrying Two Astronauts Into Orbit

Boeing's CTS-100 Starliner taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 5th, 2024. Credit: NASA

After many delays and two scrubbed launch attempts, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner successfully launched earlier today! The Crewed Flight Test (CFT) took off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 10:52 a.m. EDT (07:52 PDT) atop a ULA Atlas V rocket. For this mission, the capsule is carrying two NASA astronauts: Barry “Butch” Wilmore (commander) and Sunita “Suni” Williams (pilot). They are expected to reach the International Space Station (ISS) at 12:15 p.m. EDT (09:15 a.m. PDT) on Thursday, June 6th.

June 5, 2024June 5, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Metal is 3D Printed on the Space Station

I have always wanted a 3D printer but never quite found a good enough reason to get one. Seeing that NASA are now 3D printing metal is even more tantalising than a plastic 3D printer. However, thinking about it, surely it is just a computer controlled soldering iron! I’m sure it’s far more advanced than that! Turns out that the first print really wasn’t much to right home about, just an s-curve deposited onto a metal plate! It does however prove and demonstrate the principle that a laser can liquify stainless steel and then deposit it precisely in a weightless environment.

April 18, 2024April 18, 2024 by Evan Gough

NASA Confirms that a Piece of its Battery Pack Smashed into a Florida Home

This is the pallet loaded with disused batteries that was jettisoned from the International Space Station with the station's robotic arm. HTV9 is the signature of the Japanese resupply craft that carried new batteries to the ISS. The same pallet used during delivery was used to discard the batteries. Image Credit: NASA

NASA is in the business of launching things into orbit. But what goes up must come down, and if whatever is coming down doesn’t burn up in the atmosphere, it will strike Earth somewhere.

Even Florida isn’t safe.

March 6, 2024March 6, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Crew-8 Arrives at the ISS, Despite a Crack in the Capsule

Space travel seems to be a fairly regular occurrence now with crews hopping up and down to the International Space Station. This week, another crew arrived on board a SpaceX Dragon capsule known as Endeavour. On board were NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps along with cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. The ISS already had seven people on board so this brought the total crew to eleven. The launch almost got cancelled due to a crack in the hatch seal.