Space Station Archives

February 9, 2008December 26, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Medical Problem Delays Spacewalk

A medical issue with a member of the space shuttle crew has forced a change in personnel for the first scheduled spacewalk of the STS-122 shuttle mission to the International Space Station. The switch has also mandated that the spacewalk be delayed one day to Monday. NASA officials would not say which astronaut was experiencing any medical problems, but did confirm that Stan Love has replaced Hans Schlegel for the initial spacewalk.

“There was a medical issue with the crew,” said John Shannon, deputy shuttle program manager. “The flight surgeons do private medical conferences with the crew throughout the mission. The crew called down and asked for one during the rendezvous, which was a little bit of a surprise to us. They talked to the crew members, they understood what the issue was. I will just say it is not going to impact any of the objectives of this mission.”

In video shown on NASA TV, Schlegel showed no noticeable illness as the shuttle crew come on board the ISS after shuttle docking. Reports on news wires suggested that Schlegel lost his voice, but that claim was not corroborated by Shannon.

Communication during the spacewalk would be critical. Schlegel appeared to talk with the ISS crew as he entered the station, and floated easily through the Harmony node. About half of all people who fly in space experience Space Adaptation Syndrome, which include symptoms such as nausea, dizziness and headaches. But citing medical privacy policies, Shannon refused to answer any questions about the nature of the medical issue, or whether Schlegel would be available for the second spacewalk of the mission, now slated for Wednesday.

“You guys can fish all day, but I won’t bite,” Shannon said.

The spacewalk will help install the new Columbus science module, brought up in Atlantis’ payload bay. Installation of the module is the primary goal of this mission.

The shuttle docked at 12:17 pm EST on Saturday. As the shuttle approached the station, the ISS crew took photos of the shuttle to check for any damage to Atlantis. They were asked to take special note of a small tear in the insulation blanket of the Orbital Maneuvering System rocket pod along the tail of the shuttle. Shannon said the tear is probably not critical, but that it’s being looked at.

“Nobody is very excited about this one,” he said. “I don’t expect this to be an issue but the team will continue to work it.”

The insulation blankets on the OMS pods experience temperatures around 700 to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit during peak heating of re-entry. A similar tear on an earlier shuttle flight was repaired by a spacewalking astronaut using surgical staples. Three spacewalks are planned during Atlantis’ current mission and a staple gun is on board if needed.

On a final note, for any Prairie Home Companion fans out there, the shuttle crew wake-up call on Saturday morning was the Powdermilk Biscuit song.

Original News Source: NASA TV

February 5, 2008December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Cargo Ship Launches to the Station

Although Atlantis is getting ready for its trip back to the International Space Station, it won’t be the only visitor. An unmanned Progress cargo ship blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today, bringing fresh supplies to the International Space Station. The Americans call it Progress 28, while the Russians have designated it M-63.

Let’s pick a designation and call it Progress M-63. The spacecraft lifted off at 4:03 p.m. local time, carrying a load of oxygen, water and food for the crew: US astronauts Peggy Whitson and Daniel Tani and Russian cosmonaut Yiri Malenchenko. It’s also carrying scientific equipment and experiments.

To make room for the inbound cargo ship, the previous Progress M-62 undocked from the station on Monday. It had been docked to the station since December 26, 2007. It will now spend the next few weeks performing a series of autonomous tests.

And in late February, another cargo ship, M-60 will be discarded into the Pacific Ocean, 3,000 km from New Zealand.

Original Source: NASA News Release

February 4, 2008December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Atlantis Will Fly, Despite Bent Hose

On Wednesday I reported that NASA was looking into a bent coolant hose on the space shuttle Atlantis. They weren’t sure if this might cause a potential launch delay while it was repaired. Shuttle managers met over the weekend, and decided that it wasn’t enough of a problem to delay the launch.

The problem is with one of the shuttle’s four braided hoses that carry the coolant needed to dissipate heat generated while in space. During a routine inspection, workers noticed that this hose had a bit of a kink in it.

The worry is that the hose could be bent further, or even snapped when the shuttle’s payload bays are closed up Sunday night to prepare for next week’s launch. In order to prevent a problem, a worker will use a long pole with a hook to guide the hose into its retraction box with the bays are closed up. Assuming that goes as planned, the shuttle’s launch won’t be delayed.

And even if the hose does break while the shuttle’s in orbit, it’s not a huge problem, according to NASA. There are a total of 4 of these hoses on Atlantis, and it can get by with the remaining ones.

With that worry out of the way, Atlantis is still scheduled for its Thursday launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The shuttle is carrying Europe’s main contribution to the International Space Station: the Columbus science lab. During their time in space, the astronauts will perform three spacewalks to install the laboratory and perform some experiments.

The astronaut crew arrived in Florida today, and the countdown is expected to begin later Monday afternoon. The weather might be a problem, however. Meteorologists are predicting that there’s only a 40% chance of suitable weather on launch day. Friday should be better, though. Even if rain and clouds hold back the launch, there’s an 80% chance the shuttle will be able to lift off at the end of the week.

NASA has already canceled two launch attempts back in December because of problems with the shuttle’s fuel tank sensors. With an already crowded launch schedule, this additional delay pushes back the rest of the shuttle launches.

Original Source: NASA Status Report

January 30, 2008December 26, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

“Suits and Ties” Collaborate on Successful Space Station Repair

At the end of Wednesday’s successful spacewalk to change out a faulty motor on one of the International Space Station’s solar array positioning devices, the astronauts outside the ISS and flight controllers in Houston were congratulating each other on the group effort it took to pull off this particularly tricky and potentially dangerous repair job.

“You guys looked really good to us. Thanks for making it look so easy,” Mission Control in Houston radioed up to the spacewalkers after their seven-hour and 10 minutes EVA.

“Yeah,” said ISS astronaut Dan Tani. “And we did’t even have to put on a tie.”

This spacewalk really was a collaboration between the “suits and ties” at NASA. The suits — spacesuits, that is — were worn by astronauts Tani and Peggy Whitson. The ties were sported by the engineers and astronauts in Mission Control who planned the repair and guided the spacewalkers during the entire EVA.

Tani and Whitson were thanking one tie-wearing astronaut in particular. Tom Marshburn had practiced the choreography of the spacewalk in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, and shared his insights with the spacewalkers. Usually astronauts get to practice their own EVA’s in the enormous pool that contains a mock-up of the ISS. But the Bearing Motor Roll Ring Module on the starboard solar array quit working in December when Whitson and Tani were already on board the station. So the plan and nuances of the EVA were tested in the pool by Marshburn and former ISS resident Suni Williams and relayed up to Tani and Whitson.

The spacewalk was especially hazardous because of the risk of electrical shock from 160 volts of electricity that flows through the arrays. For safety, Whitson and Tani waited until the International Space Station was on the dark side of Earth, giving them only 33 minute increments to complete their tasks. Whitson had to squeeze inside the station’s truss girder to swap out the 250 pound (113 kilograms) garbage can-sized motor.

The new motor successfully performed a 360-degree test spin during the spacewalk. It’s power-generating capabilities were tested successfully as well.

“Yay, it works!” exclaimed Whitson as she and Tani watched the solar wing turn. “Excellent, outstanding…isn’t that cool?”

The successful repair means the station should be able to generate enough power to support the new modules that will be brought on the next shuttle missions, the European Columbus science lab, and the Japanese Kibo labratory.

“Given the complexity of this spacewalk and the risks that we had to manage … we are exceptionally pleased with how things went,” flight director Kwatsi Alibaruho said after the EVA.

In addition to the motor repair, Whitson and Tani also performed another inspection of the station’s starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, a 10-ft wide gear that keeps the solar wings pointing toward the sun The SARJ is not working and is contaminated with metal shavings. The spacewalkers evaluated damage from the debris and collected samples from areas previously unseen.

Alibaruho said the new debris samples will help determine what repairs will be done, perhaps later this year. NASA hopes to launch up to five shuttle flights to the ISS this year.

Wednesday’s EVA was the final planned spacewalk of the Expedition 16 mission and the 101st dedicated to space station assembly and maintenance. The spacewalk also marked the sixth career EVA’s for both Whitson and Tani.

So, there’s just one question for Dan Tani: Which is harder — donning a 280 lb spacesuit or tying a Windsor Knot?

Original News Source: NASA TV

January 29, 2008December 26, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Tricky January 30 Spacewalk to Repair ISS Solar Array

Space station astronauts will conduct a spacewalk on January 30 to replace a faulty positioning motor at base of the station’s two starboard solar arrays. ISS Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani will change out the motor in hopes of regaining more power-generating ability of the orbiting laboratory’s expansive solar wings. But the astronauts will have to work fast, since they can only work on the electricity-producing arrays when the sun isn’t shining on them. That only allows 33 minute increments of time to conduct the repairs.

Because of the faulty motor, the solar arrays have been unable to track the sun continuously since early December, when the joint motor suffered a series of electrical shorts. In an earlier spacewalk, Tani and Whitson surveyed the damage and ruled out meteorite damage to the motor. Without the repair, the space station would have enough power to make it through at least the next shuttle mission, currently scheduled for a Feb. 7 launch, but not much further said Kirk Shireman, NASA’s ISS deputy program manager.

If the Wednesday spacewalk is successful, the ISS will have power to last through the planned arrival of a massive Japanese laboratory in April and into the summer, Shireman added.

The broken motor controls a beta gimbal joint that pivots one of the station’s two starboard solar wings to face the sun. NASA hopes replacing the whole motor, a garbage-can sized device that weighs about 250 pounds (113 kilograms), with a backup will fix the problem. The replacement motor was already on board the station, brought up on an earlier flight.

For safety reasons, the astronauts can only work while orbiting on the night side of Earth. If the sun was shining on the solar panels while Whitson and Tani were working on the joint, they would be at risk of shocks due to the high power levels surging through the arrays. They will only have about 33 minutes of total â€œshadeâ€? at a time to conduct their work. If they can’t replace the motor during one night side pass, they’ll have to wait and finish their task on the next pass. The station continuously orbits the Earth every 90 minutes.

NASA officials said the repair is possible to do in one 33 minute segment, but only if everything goes as planned. Since the damage only occurred recently, Whitson and Tani have not rehearsed the spacewalk in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, a giant swimming pool where astronauts train for spacewalks. However, other astronauts on the ground have rehearsed the repair and shared their insights with the astronauts on board the ISS.

Wednesday’s EVA will be the sixth career spacewalk for both Whitson and Tani, and the fifth for the station’s Expedition 16 crew.

This spacewalk is unrelated to on-going analysis of problems with a massive Solar Alpha Rotary joint on the right side of the station’s main power truss that is needed to turn outboard arrays to track the sun. Astronauts discovered metal shavings in the gear’s attached metal ring during past spacewalks, and engineers do not yet understand the cause of the unusual erosion. Whitson and Tani will take another look at the 10-foot (3-meter) wide gear if they have extra time during Wednesday’s excursion, mission managers said.

NASA will broadcast the Expedition 16 crew’s fifth spacewalk live on NASA TV beginning at 4:00 a.m. EST (0900 GMT) on Jan. 30.

Original News Source: NASA TV, Space.com

January 28, 2008December 26, 2015 by Nicholos Wethington

Paper Boomerang will be Tested on Space Station

You know this is a burning question on the minds of eight-year olds everywhere: if you threw a boomerang in zero-gravity, would it come back to you? Japanese astronaut Takao Doi plans to test this very premise when he travels to the International Space Station in March 2008.

Doi plans to bring a paper boomerang to the ISS to test whether it will perform the trick of returning to the thrower in zero-gravity. He reportedly decided to test the boomerang at the behest of Yasuhiro Togai, a world boomerang champion from Osaka, Japan. With the announcement that a paper airplane will be launched from the ISS, space is beginning to look like an unruly high school classroom. But these experiments aren’t all fun and games, as there are underlying physical principles that can be explored by such simple tests.

A returning boomerang â€“ when thrown properly â€“ will travel in a circular path which brings it back around to the thrower. The two (or three) fins of a boomerang are shaped like an airplane wing, so when thrown the shape provides lift and causes the boomerang to fly.

Boomerangs fly in a circle because of the lift provided by the leading fin of the boomerang. Because it is spinning around a central axis, one fin provides lift in the direction of travel, then the other does the same. This force in the same direction makes the path of the boomerang form a circle, and as it loses energy because of the pull of gravity the boomerang comes back down to the ground.

Now, the question remains as to what will happen if the force of gravity is not present. The zero-gravity environment of the ISS is a perfect place to test this. The atmosphere of the ISS will still allow the boomerang to generate lift, but will it return to the sender, bounce off the walls, or just spin in place?

Source: Space Travel report

January 17, 2008December 26, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

Britain Proposes New International Space Station Modules

British scientists hope to improve living conditions on the International Space Station (ISS) by designing a new addition: the Habitation Extension Module (HEM). Although the plan is currently unofficial, it is hoped the proposal will get accepted and built for a 2011 launch. This would be a massive victory for UK space aspirations, as the nation currently does not have its own space agency and depends on project collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop new space technology. The new HEM design features the UK national flag, the Union Jack, perhaps a symbol for the beginning of a British foothold in space.

The proposed habitat design would actually consist of two modules attached to the Node 3 segment of the station. Intended to provide extra accommodation for six crew members (the station currently holds a complement of three astronauts), this design should be welcomed as the ISS is scheduled to accommodate six people in 2009, signifying that the station will move into a “fully operational” phase of its construction.

As the Space Shuttle would have retired by the time HEM is sent to the station, launch will depend on the Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket, and final approach to the station would use a built-in propulsion system. In addition to the module, three tons of supplies will be on board, stocking the ISS with food and equipment.

The proposed design will be 12.5 feet in diameter and 18.7 in length, adding a total of 3,531.5 cubic feet of living space. This 24% increase in space from the current living volume of 15,000 cubic feet would surely be a welcomed relief to the ISS occupants, making our only space station a more comfortable place to live and work.

The project would come with a pretty heavy price tag. Convincing the UK government to invest approximately Â£1 billion ($2 billion) in the construction and running of the module till 2015 might, however, stall the British desire for a strongÂ presence in space.

Â Source: Space.com

January 15, 2008December 26, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

A New Supply Ship for the ISS

remplissage_ergol_atv_071_h.thumbnail.jpg

The International Space Station (ISS) depends on regular deliveries of food, air and water, as well as equipment and spare parts to keep the station and its occupants happy and in peak operating condition. Of course, the space shuttle brings supplies on its visits for construction and crew exchange missions, and the Russian Progress spacecraft faithfully brings supplies and equipment to the station approximately every six months. But beginning in February 2008 the ISS will have a new supply ship: Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The first of seven planned ships, known as the “Jules Verne,” is currently undergoing fueling to ready the craft for its journey to the space station. Launch is tentatively scheduled for February 22.

The ATV pressurized cargo carrier is based on the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), (aka Leonardo, Donatello and Raffaello) which has already been carried to the station via the space shuttle as a “space barge,” transporting equipment to and from the station. The ATV, which is equipped with its own propulsion and navigation systems combines full automatic capabilities of an unmanned vehicle with human spacecraft safety requirements. Its mission in space will resemble the combination of a tugboat and a river barge.

Every 12 months or so, the ATV will haul 7.5 tons of cargo to the Station 400 km above the Earth. The ATV will launch on board a Arianne 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. An automatic navigation system will guide the ATV on a rendezvous trajectory towards ISS, to automatically dock with the station’s Russian service module. The ATV will remain docked to the station as a pressurized “waste basket” for up to six months until its final mission: a fiery one-way trip into the Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of up to 6.5 tons of station waste.

The ATV is a cylinder 10.3 meters long and 4.5 meters in diameter. The exterior is covered with an insulating foil layer on top of anti-meteorite Whipple Shields. The X-shaped extended solar arrays look like a metallic blue wings. Inside, the ATV consists of two modules, the propulsion spacecraft and the integrated cargo carrier which docks with the ISS.

The ATV’s will become especially important during the time period between after the shuttles are retired and before the next generation of US space craft, can bring supplies and crew to the station. The ESA also sees the ATVs as a way for Europe to pay its share in ISS running costs. Depending on the operational lifetime of the Space Station, ESA will build at least 7 ATVs.

Original News Source: ESA Press Release

December 26, 2007December 26, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Fast Food Delivery: Progress Docks With ISS

A new Progress cargo carrier docked to the International Space Station’s Pirs docking compartment early Wednesday, bringing almost 2.5 tons of fuel, air, water and other supplies to the station and its three-member crew. One of the first items unpacked were fresh tomatoes and lettuce, to be used for an anticipated culinary treat of “space hamburgers” for the crew.

This is the ISS’s 27th unpiloted Progress spacecraft to bring supplies to the station. The Progress launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 23 at 2:21 am EST, and docked with the ISS on Dec. 26 at 3:14 am EST. About three hours later, the crew began unloading the supplies, which includes more than 1,900 pounds of propellant, over 100 pounds of oxygen and 2,921 pounds of dry cargo. Part of the dry cargo are Christmas presents for Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani, as well as birthday gifts for Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko, who turned 46 on Saturday.

In an earlier press conference Whitson mentioned she was especially looking forward to receiving the â€œfixingsâ€? for hamburgers, especially since the crew wouldn’t be able to enjoy the Christmas meal that space shuttle Atlantis was supposed to bring on its flight, originally scheduled for early December. The shuttle will now launch no earlier than January 10 due to problems with engine cutoff sensors in the shuttle’s external fuel tank. Whitson said she had created space hamburgers during her previous stay on the station, Expedition 5, and wanted to reproduce the meal for her current crew.

The previous Progress ship was undocked from the station last Friday, after it was filled with trash and unneeded equipment from the station. It will be deorbited for destruction on re-entry in mid-January after conducting Earth observation experiments.

Original News Source: NASA Press Release

December 20, 2007December 26, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

ISS Astronaut Dan Tani’s Mother Killed

Our condolences to space station astronaut Dan Tani, whose mother was killed on Wednesday in a car/train accident. Tani has been on board the ISS since October, and in all likelihood would have returned back to earth on Wednesday if space shuttle Atlantis had been able to launch as originally scheduled on Dec. 6. However, the shuttle has been grounded because of malfunctioning engine cutoff sensors in the external fuel tank. As it stands now, the earliest Tani could return home would be late January.

The Chicago Tribune reported that 90-year old Rose Tani was stopped at a railroad track behind a school bus carrying students from her sonâ€™s alma mater in Lombard, Illinois. The gates at the track were lowered, but Mrs. Tani honked her car’s horn and then drove around the bus and past the crossing gates when a freight train struck her car.

NASA officials called Tani over a secured connection to tell him the news, and then offered any help he might need. “He would get whatever personal, psychological and spiritual counseling he would need,” NASA spokesman Jim Rostohar told the Tribune. “He can talk it out through a private phone line.”

While the ISS is equipped with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to be used in an emergency as a rescue vehicle for the crew, the death of a family member does not fall under the conditions that the escape vehicle would be used. “Before anyone launches, they understand that unfortunate things could happen and that’s unfortunately part of the difficulties, hardships and risks of space flight,” said Rostohar.

Tani is the youngest of four children and his father passed away when Tani was young. A minister at a church in Lombard told the Tribune that Tani and his mother were “incredibly close.” During a spacewalk in November, Tani sent a greeting to his mother. “I know my mom’s watching on the Internet in Chicago, so hi Mom!” he said. “It’s always fun to have your folks watching you at work.”

Original News Source: Chicago Tribune