Astronaut helmet camera captures video of NASA engineers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn replacing a pump on International Space Station suspected of leaking ammonia.

By Tariq Malik, Space.com

Two spacewalking astronauts may have fixed an ammonia leak outside the International Space Station on Saturday, perhaps bringing the outpost's vital cooling system back up to full strength.

Clad in bulky spacesuits, NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn replaced a pump control box thought to be responsible for theleak of ammonia, which cools down the orbiting lab's systems. It looks like this fix did the trick, as no ammonia flakes were seen streaming into space when Mission Control turned on the newly installed gear.

"We're not seeing anything," Cassidy said at around 12:35 p.m. ET, several minutes after the pump was turned on. "No snow." [Emergency Spacewalk to Fix Space Station Leak in Photos]

NASA officials stopped short of declaring total victory, however, saying that time will tell if the fix holds.

"It will take some diagnostics, still, over the course of the next several days by the thermal systems specialists to fully determine that we have solved the problem of theammonia leak,"NASA spokesperson Rob Naviassaid during live mission commentary. "But so far, so good."

An emergency spacewalk Cassidy and Marshburn floated outside the space station at 8:44 a.m. ET Saturday, beginning what officials described as a six-hour detective's investigation to find and hopefully fix the ammonia leak.

Cassidy, who led the spacewalk, reported seeing "no smoking gun" as he and Marshburn began their inspection of the old ammonia pump control box, one of several on the space station's far left segment, known as the Port 6 truss. It is part of the cooling system for the two wing-like solar arrays extending from the Port 6 segment.

Upon removing the box, the spacewalkers still saw no signs of ammonia flakes.

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NASA is hopeful that spacewalkers fixed space station's coolant leak

Astronaut helmet camera captures video of NASA engineers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn replacing a pump on International Space Station suspected of leaking ammonia.

By Tariq Malik, Space.com

Two spacewalking astronauts may have fixed an ammonia leak outside the International Space Station on Saturday, perhaps bringing the outpost's vital cooling system back up to full strength.

Clad in bulky spacesuits, NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn replaced a pump control box thought to be responsible for theleak of ammonia, which cools down the orbiting lab's systems. It looks like this fix did the trick, as no ammonia flakes were seen streaming into space when Mission Control turned on the newly installed gear.

"We're not seeing anything," Cassidy said at around 12:35 p.m. ET, several minutes after the pump was turned on. "No snow." [Emergency Spacewalk to Fix Space Station Leak in Photos]

NASA officials stopped short of declaring total victory, however, saying that time will tell if the fix holds.

"It will take some diagnostics, still, over the course of the next several days by the thermal systems specialists to fully determine that we have solved the problem of theammonia leak,"NASA spokesperson Rob Naviassaid during live mission commentary. "But so far, so good."

An emergency spacewalk Cassidy and Marshburn floated outside the space station at 8:44 a.m. ET Saturday, beginning what officials described as a six-hour detective's investigation to find and hopefully fix the ammonia leak.

Cassidy, who led the spacewalk, reported seeing "no smoking gun" as he and Marshburn began their inspection of the old ammonia pump control box, one of several on the space station's far left segment, known as the Port 6 truss. It is part of the cooling system for the two wing-like solar arrays extending from the Port 6 segment.

Upon removing the box, the spacewalkers still saw no signs of ammonia flakes.

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NASA waits to see if space station coolant leak is fixed after spacewalk

WASHINGTON (AFP) - NASA astronauts performed an emergency spacewalk Saturday to halt an ammonia leak on the International Space Station but it will take weeks or months to determine whether the problem has been permanently fixed.

The spacewalk was successfully completed an hour ahead of schedule at 1814 GMT, five and a half hours after flight engineers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy ventured outside the ISS.

During the maneuver, Marshburn and Cassidy attached a spare pump and flow control sub assembly box to replace the one suspected to be the source of an ammonia leak that affected the US segment of the orbiting laboratory on Thursday.

Ammonia is used to cool the station's power system.

The new pump was turned on about an hour later, and after about 30 minutes of careful observation by the astronauts and mission control, ISS commander Chris Hadfield of Canada tweeted: "No leaks! We're bringing Tom & Chris back inside."

Although the pump will continue to be observed through instruments, the early indications were positive that "we have climbed a big mountain on solving the ammonia leak," a commentator at mission control said on NASA television.

ISS flight director Joel Montalbano later told a press briefing the astronauts had done a "fantastic job."

"We're very happy, we didn't see any sign of leaks but it's going to take weeks to see if we did in fact stop the leak," Montalbano said.

Asked to put a timescale on when officials could be certain the problem had been repaired, Montalbano cautioned it could take several weeks.

"I expect it will take four weeks or five weeks, possibly longer before we have a real 100 percent characterization," he said.

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NASA astronauts on spacewalk to fix ammonia leak

NASA astronauts have replaced a pump during an emergency spacewalk to stop an ammonia leak at the International Space Station's power system, NASA television shows.

The spacewalk was successfully completed an hour ahead of schedule at 1814 GMT (0414 AEST Sunday) five and a half hours after flight engineers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy ventured outside the space station.

During the manoeuvre, Marshburn and Cassidy attached a spare pump and flow control sub assembly box to replace the one suspected to be the source of an ammonia leak that affected the US segment of the orbiting laboratory on Thursday.

Ammonia is used to cool the station's power system.

The new pump was turned on about an hour later, and after about 30 minutes of careful observation by the astronauts and mission control, ISS commander Canadian Chris Hadfield tweeted: 'No leaks! We're bringing Tom Chris back inside.'

Although the pump will continue to be observed through instruments, the early indications were positive that 'we have climbed a big mountain on solving the ammonia leak,' a commentator at mission control said on NASA television.

But he cautioned that it will take several months of investigation and observation before it can be confirmed that the pump was 'the smoking gun' that caused the leak.

Before re-entering the space station, the astronauts took precautions against ammonia contamination, despite not seeing any evidence of it in the area around the space station.

That included an hour-long 'bake-off' to allow the sun to burn off any ammonia traces on their space suits.

Officials said the emergency spacewalk set a precedent because it was conducted at such short notice.

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NASA astronauts finish spacewalk

NASA astronauts performed an emergency spacewalk Saturday to halt an ammonia leak on the International Space Station but it will take weeks or months to determine whether the problem has been permanently fixed.

The spacewalk was successfully completed an hour ahead of schedule at 1814 GMT, five and a half hours after flight engineers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy ventured outside the ISS.

During the maneuver, Marshburn and Cassidy attached a spare pump and flow control sub assembly box to replace the one suspected to be the source of an ammonia leak that affected the US segment of the orbiting laboratory on Thursday.

Ammonia is used to cool the station's power system.

The new pump was turned on about an hour later, and after about 30 minutes of careful observation by the astronauts and mission control, ISS commander Chris Hadfield of Canada tweeted: "No leaks! We're bringing Tom & Chris back inside."

Although the pump will continue to be observed through instruments, the early indications were positive that "we have climbed a big mountain on solving the ammonia leak," a commentator at mission control said on NASA television.

ISS flight director Joel Montalbano later told a press briefing the astronauts had done a "fantastic job."

"We're very happy, we didn't see any sign of leaks but it's going to take weeks to see if we did in fact stop the leak," Montalbano said.

Asked to put a timescale on when officials could be certain the problem had been repaired, Montalbano cautioned it could take several weeks.

"I expect it will take four weeks or five weeks, possibly longer before we have a real 100 percent characterization," he said.

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NASA astronauts end spacewalk to fix ammonia leak

NASA astronauts are performing an emergency spacewalk to try to stop ammonia from leaking from the International Space Station's power system, NASA television shows.

During the spacewalk, expected to last six and a half hours, flight engineers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy will inspect and possibly repair the ammonia leak that affected the US segment of the orbiting laboratory on Thursday.

'Spacewalk under way to repair ammonia leak,' said the headline of a US space agency statement. Ammonia is used to cool the station's power system.

However the astronauts did not detect any signs of ammonia leaking into space in the first hour of their mission, NASA television said, adding that they 'have reported nothing out of the ordinary so far.'

Officials said the emergency spacewalk will set a precedent because it was being conducted at such short notice.

It will be the 168th excursion in support of the orbiting laboratory and the fourth for both Marshburn and Cassidy, who have worked together before.

ISS commander Chris Hadfield and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov helped Marshburn and Cassidy suit up for the excursion, inspecting their gear and harnesses and making a series of elaborate checks.

'Good Morning, Earth! A complex vital day on Space Station,' Hadfield tweeted before the spacewalk began.

'Busy day!'

NASA has stressed that the lives of the multinational crew were not in danger, but both Russian and US space experts called the leak 'serious'.

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NASA astronauts on spacewalk to fix leak

NASA #39;s Heliophysics Fleet Captures Prominence Eruption and CME Many Eyes On the Sun http://WWW.GOODNEWS.WS
http://goodnews.ws/ Several missions within NASA #39;s Heliophysics observatory captured images of a gigantic eruption on the sun on May 1, 2013. Working togethe...

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NASA's Heliophysics Fleet Captures Prominence Eruption and CME Many Eyes On the Sun http://WWW.GOODNEWS.WS - Video

NASA #39;s 2013 Career Days
CAREER DAY -- LARC (CP) Sasha Congiu Reporting. It was a day filled with duct tape boats and coffee filter lunar landers at NASA #39;s 2013 Career Days. The even...

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NASA's 2013 Career Days - Video

NASA #39;s Heliophysics Fleet Captures May 1, 2013 Prominence Eruption and CME /1080p HD
On May 1, 2013, NASA #39;s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) watched as an active region just around the left edge of the sun erupted with a huge cloud of solar m...

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NASA's Heliophysics Fleet Captures May 1, 2013 Prominence Eruption and CME /1080p HD - Video

NASA #39;s Many Eyes On the Sun
Several missions within NASA #39;s Heliophysics observatory captured images of a gigantic eruption on the sun on May 1, 2013. Working together, such missions pro...

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NASA's Many Eyes On the Sun - Video

Feeling nasa miami beach lol
This video was uploaded from an Android phone.

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Feeling nasa miami beach lol - Video

Solar Eruption Caught by NASA #39;s Fleet of Satellites | Space Science Full HD
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - when a huge solar eruption occurred on May 1, 2013, NASA #39;s fleet of solar satellites provided excellent views...

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Solar Eruption Caught by NASA's Fleet of Satellites | Space Science Full HD - Video

TIME, GOOGLE AND NASA: Timelapse of the Earth over the last 30 Years
The story behind the Google and NASA partnership that reveals How Earth is radically changing over the decades.

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TIME, GOOGLE AND NASA: Timelapse of the Earth over the last 30 Years - Video

NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Report -- May 9, 2013
A NASA Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecra...

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NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Report -- May 9, 2013 - Video

The International Space Station is leaking ammonia from its P6 truss structure but the crew is "in no danger," NASA reported this week.

The Expedition 35 crew reported seeing "white flakes floating away from an area of the International Space Station's P6 truss structure" on Thursday at around 11:30 a.m. Eastern, according to the space agency.

As of Thursday, NASA said that "the rate of the ammonia leaking from this section of the cooling system has increased" but maintained that the "station continues to operate normally otherwise and the crew is in no danger."

The leaking ammonia was coming from the same solar array cooling loop that sprung a leak last year. The ISS crew "attempted to troubleshoot" that leak on Nov. 1, 2012, according to NASA, which didn't specify whether they had been successful.

"It is not yet known whether this increased ammonia flow is from the same leak, which at the time, was not visible," the space agency said.

Mission Control and the ISS crew have apparently narrowed down the location of the leak but have not isolated its exact location. NASA said "[p]lans are being developed to reroute other power channels to maintain full operation of those and other systems normally controlled by the solar array that is cooled by this loop."

NASA reported Thursday that its thermal control systems team was projecting a shutdown of the affected cooling loop in "about 48 hours" due to the leak.

"The team is looking at whether any additional imagery is needed to isolate the leak's location," the space agency said.

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NASA: ISS Leaking Ammonia But Crew is Safe

NASA flight controllers were monitoring an ammonia coolant leak on one of the International Space Station's solar panel arrays, NASA officials said late Thursday. The space agency said the crew of the ISS was not in any danger due to the leak on the station's left-side power truss.

The leak was reported by the station crew around 11:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday. Video, sources said, showed a stream of white flakes dissipating into the vacuum of space.

The leak is in the system used to cool electronics associated with solar array power channel 2B, one of eight fed by the station's huge solar panels. Ammonia flowing through a large radiator is used to carry away heat generated by the array's batteries and electrical systems.

The coolant system requires at least 40 pounds of ammonia to operate normally. Based on the observed leak rate, NASA said in a web update, the channel 2B coolant loop could drop below that level and shut down within 48 hours if nothing is done to resolve it.

In that case, the station's six-man crew would be forced to reconfigure the station's cooling systems. While the crew would lose redundancy in the cooling system, flight controllers do not believe any major systems would have to be shut down to reduce cooling requirements.

The space station can operate without the full complement of cooling channels, but the total loss of a coolant loop would require a significant reconfiguration to prevent electrical systems on the affected loop from overheating.

The station is equipped with spare parts for the coolant system and the U.S. astronauts are trained for possible spacewalk repair jobs. But as of this writing, it is not known whether a spacewalk might be required at some point or whether some other repair option might be implemented.

A spacewalk would require two U.S. astronauts. At present, two U.S. astronauts, a Canadian flier and three Russians are aboard the outpost. But NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn, Canadian space station commander Chris Hadfield and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko are scheduled to return to Earth early Tuesday aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams during a speacewalk outside the International Space Station, Nov. 1, 2012, to perform work and to support ground-based troubleshooting of an ammonia leak.

"We don't see anything technically that we can't overcome," astronaut Doug Wheelock radioed the crew from Houston. "But we are still getting our arms fully around that issue."

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NASA: Coolant leak on ISS no threat to crew

May 10, 2013 The team operating NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has selected a second target rock for drilling and sampling. The rover will set course to the drilling location in coming days.

This second drilling target, called "Cumberland," lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) west of the rock where Curiosity's drill first touched Martian stone in February. Curiosity took the first rock sample ever collected on Mars from that rock, called "John Klein." The rover found evidence of an ancient environment favorable for microbial life. Both rocks are flat, with pale veins and a bumpy surface. They are embedded in a layer of rock on the floor of a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay."

This second drilling is intended to confirm results from the first drilling, which indicated the chemistry of the first powdered sample from John Klein was much less oxidizing than that of a soil sample the rover scooped up before it began drilling.

"We know there is some cross-contamination from the previous sample each time," said Dawn Sumner, a long-term planner for Curiosity's science team at the University of California at Davis. "For the Cumberland sample, we expect to have most of that cross-contamination come from a similar rock, rather than from very different soil."

Although Cumberland and John Klein are very similar, Cumberland appears to have more of the erosion-resistant granules that cause the surface bumps. The bumps are concretions, or clumps of minerals, which formed when water soaked the rock long ago. Analysis of a sample containing more material from these concretions could provide information about the variability within the rock layer that includes both John Klein and Cumberland.

Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., recently finished upgrading Curiosity's operating software following a four-week break. The rover continued monitoring the Martian atmosphere during the break, but the team did not send any new commands because Mars and the sun were positioned in such a way the sun could have blocked or corrupted commands sent from Earth.

Curiosity is about nine months into a two-year prime mission since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. After the second rock drilling in Yellowknife Bay and a few other investigations nearby, the rover will drive toward the base of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometers) layered mountain inside the crater.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project, of which Curiosity is the centerpiece, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl . To follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter visit: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

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NASA Curiosity rover team selects second drilling target on NASA

WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- A comprehensive safety review of a commercial, human space flight services system for NASA has been completed.

The system is called the Dream Chaser Space System and is being developed by Sierra Nevada Corp. Space Systems of Louisville, Colo., under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

The Integrated Systems Safety Analysis Review provides NASA with hazard reports and safety and reliability plans for the major components of the company's integrated crew transportation system, including the Dream Chaser spacecraft, launch rocket and flight and ground systems.

"Safety review milestones are critical to ensuring safety and reliability techniques and methods are incorporated into space systems design," said Ed Mango, NASA's CCP manager. "NASA's participation in these reviews provides our partners with critical design experiences from past human spaceflight activities."

Added Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC's Space Systems: "Dream Chaser is making substantial progress toward flight with the help of our NASA team.

"The ability to openly exchange information through the work on these CCiCap milestones is invaluable for many reasons, such as communicating Dream Chaser development plans and receiving timely feedback from NASA, all of which help to improve our design and maximize safety and reliability."

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NASA Safety review for SNC's Dream Chaser

May 10, 2013

Image Caption: This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines 66 exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Two prominent aerospace industry organizations are recognizing the contributions of NASA, especially the achievements of the team that landed NASAs Curiosity rover on Mars in August, with coveted awards.

The National Aeronautic Association will present its Robert J. Collier Trophy to the Mars Science Laboratory Team of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., at an event in Arlington, Va., Thursday night. At an event in Washington on Wednesday, the team received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation Award. Several individuals from NASA were also honored by the AIAA.

Its wonderful to see NASAs people and their accomplishments recognized by the aerospace community, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. In particular, the Curiosity landing was the hardest NASA mission ever attempted in the history of robotic planetary exploration. These prestigious awards are a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire worldwide team.

AIAA also conferred its highest recognition, the title of honorary fellow, on William Gerstenmaier, NASAs associate administrator for human exploration and operations and presented NASAs associate administrator for science, astronaut John Grunsfeld, with its AIAA National Capitol Section Barry Goldwater Educator Award. AIAA recognized Ray G. Clinton of NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., and Laurence D. Leavitt of NASAs Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., as fellows.

The National Aeronautic Association established the Collier Trophy in 1911 and presents it yearly to recognize the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America. The AIAA awards recognize the most influential and inspiring individuals in aerospace, whose outstanding contributions merit the highest accolades. Past honorees have included Orville Wright, Neil Armstrong, the team that designed the space shuttle and the astronauts who carried out the first Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in 1993.

The NAAs Collier citation notes the Mars Science Laboratory teams extraordinary achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the nations technological and engineering capabilities, and significantly improving humanitys understanding of ancient Martian habitable environments.

More than 7,000 people in at least 33 U.S. states and 11 other countries have worked on the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiosity, the laboratorys centerpiece, carries 10 science instruments to investigate the environmental history inside Gale Crater on Mars. In March, rover scientists announced an analysis of a rock sample collected there shows Mars could have supported living microbes in an ancient freshwater environment. Curiositys mission is expected to last at least two years.

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Prestigious Awards Won By NASA Curiosity Rover

Two prominent aerospace industry organizations are recognizing the contributions of NASA, especially the achievements of the team that landed NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars in August, with coveted awards.

The National Aeronautic Association will present its Robert J. Collier Trophy to the Mars Science Laboratory Team of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., at an event in Arlington, Va., Thursday night. At an event in Washington on Wednesday, the team received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation Award. Several individuals from NASA were also honored by the AIAA.

"It's wonderful to see NASA's people and their accomplishments recognized by the aerospace community," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "In particular, the Curiosity landing was the hardest NASA mission ever attempted in the history of robotic planetary exploration. These prestigious awards are a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire worldwide team."

AIAA also conferred its highest recognition, the title of honorary fellow, on William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations and presented NASA's associate administrator for science, astronaut John Grunsfeld, with its AIAA National Capitol Section Barry Goldwater Educator Award. AIAA recognized Ray G. Clinton of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., and Laurence D. Leavitt of NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., as fellows.

The National Aeronautic Association established the Collier Trophy in 1911 and presents it yearly to recognize the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America. The AIAA awards recognize the most influential and inspiring individuals in aerospace, whose outstanding contributions merit the highest accolades. Past honorees have included Orville Wright, Neil Armstrong, the team that designed the space shuttle and the astronauts who carried out the first Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in 1993.

The NAA's Collier citation notes the Mars Science Laboratory team's "extraordinary achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the nation's technological and engineering capabilities, and significantly improving humanity's understanding of ancient Martian habitable environments."

More than 7,000 people in at least 33 U.S. states and 11 other countries have worked on the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiosity, the laboratory's centerpiece, carries 10 science instruments to investigate the environmental history inside Gale Crater on Mars. In March, rover scientists announced an analysis of a rock sample collected there shows Mars could have supported living microbes in an ancient freshwater environment. Curiosity's mission is expected to last at least two years.

"The prestigious Collier Trophy is a wonderful recognition for Curiosity, a phenomenal engineering and science achievement that has captured the hearts and minds of children and adults across America and around the globe," said Charles Elachi, director of JPL. "It's an honor to do missions like this one on behalf of NASA and the nation."

Two other teams from JPL that manage NASA spacecraft, the Dawn mission to the asteroid belt and the Voyager mission to interstellar space, were finalists for the 2012 Collier Trophy. "JPL is a hub of technological ingenuity, and we're honored that the accomplishments of multiple JPL teams have been acknowledged," Elachi said.

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NASA Curiosity Rover Wins Prestigious Awards