Monthly Archives: February 2014

Beyond the Rainbow on the International Space Station: Megan Harvey at TEDxSpenceSchool – Video

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Beyond the Rainbow on the International Space Station: Megan Harvey at TEDxSpenceSchool
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TED...

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Beyond the Rainbow on the International Space Station: Megan Harvey at TEDxSpenceSchool - Video

Space Station Streaks Across Pleiades Star Cluster in Striking Amateur Photo

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The International Space Station streaks through the night sky over Pisa, Italy, as the bright blue Pleiades star cluster glitters in the background in this amazing photo recently submitted to Space.com.

Amateur astronomer Giuseppe Petricca took this image of thePleiades star cluster, which is also known as M45. It is an open star cluster formed about 100 million years ago and its brightest stars glow a hot blue color. Scientists estimate the young, recently formed stars in the cluster will burn out quickly, likely in the next 200 million years.

"It's always a waypoint in the winter skies, opening the way from Perseus to Orion," photographer Petricca said of Pleiades in an email to Space.com. "But, yesterday, above Pisa, Italy, the International Space Station made a beautiful passage, and it crossed next to the cluster." [See more amazing February night sky photos by stargazers]

The Pleiades clusteris a group of 800 stars located in the constellation Taurus, about 410 light-years from Earth. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).

To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by Space.com readers, visit ourastrophotography archive.

Editor's note:If you have an amazingnight skyphoto you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik atspacephotos@space.com.

Follow Space.com on Twitter@Spacedotcom. We're also onFacebook&Google+. Original story on Space.com.

Star Quiz: Test Your Stellar Smarts

Though they look serene and silent from our vantage on Earth, stars are actually roiling balls of violent plasma. Test your stellar smarts with this quiz.

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Space Station Streaks Across Pleiades Star Cluster in Striking Amateur Photo

3rd Annual International Space Station Research & Development Conference Abstract Deadline Extended

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Discoveries, Applications and Opportunities Organized by the American Astronautical Society with the support of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and NASA Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Chicago, Illinois

The annual International Space Station (ISS) Research and Development Conference will be held June 17-19, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago. Abstracts and poster proposals are solicited under the categories of Discoveries in Microgravity Science; Discoveries in Space Science, Earth Science, Engineering and Education; Applications Benefiting Earth; Applications Enabling Exploration; Applications in Technology; Commercial Applications; and Opportunities. Topics should relate to science, exploration and technology activities (past, present, planned or under development) on the International Space Station.

One of NASAs top strategic goals is to sustain the operation and full use of the International Space Station and expand efforts to utilize the ISS as a National Laboratory for scientific, technological, diplomatic and educational purposes and for supporting future objectives in human space exploration (2011 NASA Strategic Plan).

NASAs International Space Station websitehttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments_category.html

Biology and Biotechnology: In microgravity, controls on the directionality and geometry of cell and tissue growth can be dramatically different to those on Earth. Various experiments have used the culture of cells, tissues and small organisms on orbit as a tool to increase our understanding of biological processes in microgravity.

Earth and Space Science: The presence of the space station in low-Earth orbit provides a unique vantage point for collecting Earth and space science data. From an average altitude of about 400 km, details in such features as glaciers, agricultural fields, cities, and coral reefs taken from the ISS can be layered with other sources of data, such as orbiting satellites, to compile the most comprehensive information available.

Educational Activities: The space station provides a unique platform for inspiring students to excel in mathematics and science. Station educational activities have had a positive impact on thousands of students by involving them in station research, and by using the station to teach them the science and engineering that are behind space exploration.

Human Research: The space station is being used to study the risks to human health that are inherent in space exploration. Focal research questions address the mechanisms of the risks and develop test countermeasures to reduce these risks. Research on space station addresses the major risks to human health from residence in a long-duration microgravity environment. Results from this research are key enablers for future long-duration missions beyond low Earth orbit.

Physical Sciences: The space station provides the only place to study long-term physical effects in the absence of gravity. This unique microgravity environment allows different physical properties to dominate systems, and these have been harnessed for a wide variety of physical sciences.

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3rd Annual International Space Station Research & Development Conference Abstract Deadline Extended

NASA, International Space Station Partners Announce Future Crew Members

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NASA and its international partners have appointed crew members for a 2016 mission to the International Space Station.

NASA astronautJeff Williamsis scheduled to launch in spring 2016 and return to Earth in fall 2016. He will join space station Expedition 47 crew members in orbit and will remain aboard as part of Expedition 48 with cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). Williams will assume command of the orbiting outpost upon the departure of Expedition 47's commander, Sergei Zaletin of Roscosmos.

This will be the fourth spaceflight and third long-duration mission for Williams, a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and graduate of theU.S. Military Academy. Williams was a flight engineer aboard the station during Expedition 13 in 2006. He later served as a flight engineer during Expedition 21 and commander of Expedition 22 in 2010.

This will be the first flight for Ovchinin, a former Russian Air Force pilot and graduate of the Eisk Air Force Pilot School. Ovchinin has been a cosmonaut since 2009.

This will be the second long-duration flight for Skripochka, who served as a flight engineer during Expeditions 25 and 26 in 2010 and 2011. The former mechanical engineer has been a cosmonaut since 1999.

The crew for Expedition 47 will be: --Tim Kopra, NASA -- Sergei Zaletin, Roscosmos --Tim Peake, European Space Agency

The crew of Expedition 48 will be: --Jeff Williams, NASA -- Alexey Ovchinin, Roscosmos -- Oleg Skripochka, Roscosmos

For complete astronaut biographical information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts

For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

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NASA, International Space Station Partners Announce Future Crew Members

Scientists to Create Coldest Spot in Universe on Space Station (Video)

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The icy chill of empty space will soon be trumped by the temperatures aboard the International Space Station. Using NASA's Cold Atom Lab, scientists plan to reach temperatures only a few degrees above absolute zero on the station, allowing them to study challenging aspects of quantum mechanics.

"We're going to study matter at temperatures far colder than are found naturally," JPL's Rob Thompson said in a statement. Thompson is the Project Scientist for the Cold Atom Lab, an atomic 'refrigerator' planned to make the orbiting laboratory its new home in 2016. You can watch a video describing NASA's Cold Atom Lab experiment here.

He said, "We aim to push effective temperatures down to 100 pico-Kelvin"one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero. [In Photos: The Coldest Places on Earth]

When atoms of rubidium and sodium reach temperatures near absolute zero, they, they behave as both particles and waves, merging into a single wave of matter. Known as Bose-Einstein Condensates (BCEs), the new material was predicted by both Albert Einstein and Satyendra Bose in the early 20th century. Mixing two BCEs isn't like blending ordinary gases the condensates instead behave like waves, interfering with one another so that two atoms combined together can result in no atom at all.

"The Cold Atom Lab will allow us to study these objects at perhaps the lowest temperatures over," Thompson said.

Researchers will also be able to mix super-cool atomic gases on board the space station. Atoms will float free of perturbations, which will allow for extremely sensitive measurements of the weak interactions that occur.

"This could lead to the discovery of interesting and novel quantum phenomena," Thompson said.

The International Space Station is a prime location to perform such experiments because of lack of interference from the pull of gravity.

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Scientists to Create Coldest Spot in Universe on Space Station (Video)

Why Are Astronauts Flushing Chocolates Down the Toilet?

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This Valentines Day, when many on Earth are giving chocolates to their sweethearts, the astronauts on the International Space Station are flushing them down their toilet -- all in the name of science.

ABC News obtained exclusive video of this experiment from orbit.

It's part fun and games on the space station and part science. There's a little kid in every one of us who wants to know how you go" in space. Astronaut Cady Coleman spent much of her time on orbit honing her plumbing skills - if the toilet isnt working, well, Houston, we have a problem.

One day when she finished her repairs, she started playing with candy coated chocolates and the toilet. Coleman said it turned into a giant physics experiment

In order to make anything work up there we have to have something that either pushes it, or pulls it, so we have a vacuum cleaner," she said. "Trust me you dont want to try this at home. When I turn on the toilet there is a switch that I throw that pulls everything in.

The astronauts train extensively at the Johnson Space Center in their high-tech outhouse. Zero gravity means the space station toilet is much more complicated than anything we have at home. The astronauts have to position themselves on the toilet seat, using leg restraints and thigh-bars. And instead of flushing there is a vacuum with fans that suck air and waste into the commode. The waste is disposed of and the liquids recycled into drinking water.

It's part of the quirkiness of living in space. The views are great, the work is challenging, but no hot showers, pizza deliveries or ice cream, or a even a cold beer at the end of the day.

Bartering is big on orbit, since money is useless. Where are you going to spend it? But the astronauts do swap food for more variety.

So how does a highly qualified astronaut feel about being a plumber in orbit? Coleman said she was proud of learning a new skill. I did spend a lot of time with the toilet, and it made me think it is a very human thing to use the toilet. You need to know that it is going to work right and you wont be embarrassed if it doesnt."

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Why Are Astronauts Flushing Chocolates Down the Toilet?

NASA Currently Testing New Technologies For Robotic Refueling

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Image Caption: In space, a robot servicer could use propellant transfer technologies to extend the life of orbiting satellites (depicted, artists concept). Credit: NASA

Dewayne Washington/Adrienne Alessandro NASA

[ Watch The Video: Another Step Toward Servicing Satellites in Space ]

Its corrosive, its hazardous, and it can cause an explosion powerful enough to thrust a satellite forward in space. Multiple NASA centers are currently conducting a remotely controlled test of new technologies that would empower future space robots to transfer this dangerous fluid satellite oxidizer into the propellant tanks of spacecraft in space today.

Building on the success of the International Space Stations landmark Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) demonstration, the ground-based Remote Robotic Oxidizer Transfer Test (RROxiTT) is taking another step forward in NASAs ongoing campaign to develop satellite-servicing capabilities for space architectures and human exploration.

On Earth, RROxiTT technologies could one day be applied to robotically replenish satellites before they launch, keeping humans at a safe distance during an extremely hazardous operation.

Building on the Past to Set the Stage for the Future

In January 2013, RRM demonstrated that remotely controlled robots using current-day technology could work through the caps and wires on a satellite fuel valve and transfer fluid into existent, orbiting spacecraft that were not designed to be serviced. To meet the safety requirements of space station, ethanol was used as a stand-in for satellite fuel. For the team that conceived and built RRM, the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the successful conclusion of this refueling demonstration was not the end of their work only the beginning.

We were immensely pleased with RRM results. But doing more was always part of the plan, says Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager of SSCO. There were certain aspects of satellite refueling that couldnt be demonstrated safely while we were using space station as a test bed aspects that we chose to defer to a later test date. RROxiTT is the next step in that technology development.

Taking lessons learned from RRM, the SSCO team devised the ground-based RROxiTT to test how robots can transfer oxidizer, at flight-like pressures and flow rates, through the propellant valve and into the mock tank of a satellite that was not designed to be serviced in space.

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NASA Currently Testing New Technologies For Robotic Refueling

NASA: Governments Intent on Destroying Humanity, Truth of Spirit, Love, Nature, Consciousness – Video

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NASA: Governments Intent on Destroying Humanity, Truth of Spirit, Love, Nature, Consciousness
You better wake up wake up FAST. If you want a clear picture, I strongly urge you to read this description links provided, or stay asleep- as governments...

By: Robert Demeter

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NASA: Governments Intent on Destroying Humanity, Truth of Spirit, Love, Nature, Consciousness - Video