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International Space Station Live Stream: Expedition 42 Takes Flight With 'ISSpresso' And Olaf The Snowman

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NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Roscosmos cosmonautAnton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency astronautSamantha Cristoforetti will launch to the International Space Station on Sunday. NASA will have a live stream of the launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan beginning at 3 p.m. EST, with the launch itself set for 4:01 p.m.

The three Expedition 42 crew members will join NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore and cosmonautsAlexander Samokutyaev andElena Serova, who are currently aboard the ISS. Wilmore will serve as the expedition commander. While the three astronauts on Earth prepare to launch toward the Soyuz spacecraft, the three astronauts already in space are conducting experiments involving the first 3D printer in space and plant growth in space.

For the3D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration (3D Printing In Zero-G) experiment, ISS crew members are testing the feasibility of the technology in space. A 3D printer can be a versatile tool for crew members as it could manufacture spare parts and reduce the need for additional cargo to be sent during resupply missions. The Seedling-2 Growth experiment examines the growth and development of plants in microgravity. The ability to grow plants in space could be an important component of future manned missions.

The Expedition 42 launch will also include some interesting cargo. The first espresso machine built for space will keepCristoforetti, the first Italian female astronaut, and her crew mates well caffeinated. The ISSpresso machine was developed by Lavazza and Argotec: It can also make tea and broths.

Shkaplerovs daughter chose an Olaf the snowman doll, from the film Frozen, to serve as the zero-G talisman, Space.com reported. Traditionally, Soyuz commanders choose a doll or toy that will be used to determine when the astronauts are in space. When the astronauts reach orbit, Olaf will begin to float. My youngest daughter is eight years old, and she selected that as a talisman, Shkaplerov said during a press conference.

The astronauts will orbit Earth four times before docking with the space station at 9:53 p.m. EST, with NASAs coverage beginning at 9:15 p.m. The hatch between the Soyuz spacecraft and the ISS will open at 11:30 p.m.

Beginning at 3 p.m. EST, NASAs International Space Station live-stream coverage can be viewed below.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

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International Space Station Live Stream: Expedition 42 Takes Flight With 'ISSpresso' And Olaf The Snowman

Soyuz prepped for flight with three bound for station

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The Soyuz TMA-15M crew during a pre-flight news conference Saturday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (left to right): NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Soyuz commander Anton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti. NASA TV

In clear but frigid weather, Russian engineers hauled a Soyuz rocket to the launch pad Friday, setting the stage for launch Sunday on a six-hour flight to ferry a veteran Russian cosmonaut, a NASA shuttle pilot and a European rookie to the International Space Station, boosting the lab's crew back to six and kicking off a busy winter of research and assembly work.

Soyuz TMA-15M commander Anton Shkaplerov, flanked by flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronaut Terry Virts, are scheduled for liftoff from complex 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:01:14 p.m. EST (GMT-5; 3:01 a.m. Monday local time), roughly the moment Earth's rotation moves the pad into the plane of the station's orbit.

Soyuz flights are more commonly launched from pad 1, the same firing stand used by Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age, but required maintenance prompted the Russians to use complex 31 for the TMA-15M launch, the first use of the facility for a piloted Soyuz flight since a station-bound crew took off from there in October 2012.

If all goes well, Shkaplerov and his crewmates will oversee an autonomous four-orbit rendezvous with the space station, moving in for docking at the Earth-facing Rassvet module Sunday around 9:53 p.m. Standing by to welcome them aboard will be Expedition 42 commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore, Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova, who were launched to the outpost September 25.

Wilmore and company have had the station to themselves since Nov. 9 when Maxim Suraev, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman departed and returned to Earth. With the arrival of the TMA-15M crew, the focus of station operations will shift back to a full slate of research activity and a series of spacewalks next year to prepare the lab for dockings by new commercial crew ferry craft now under development in the United States.

Serova is the first female cosmonaut assigned to a long-duration flight aboard the station. A half-dozen female NASA astronauts have lived aboard the complex during the 14 years it has been staffed, but Cristoforetti is the first woman assigned to a long-duration flight by the European Space Agency.

A veteran fighter pilot and a captain in the Italian air force, Cristoforetti's resume reads like a roadmap to orbit, with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, expertise in aerospace propulsion technology, and more than 500 hours flying time in a variety of military aircraft, including the AM-X ground-attack fighter-bomber. During a pre-flight news conference, she described herself as "somebody who looks forward to a challenge."

"Learning how to be a flight engineer on the Soyuz was extremely gratifying," she said. "It kind of brought me back a little bit to flying a new airplane, where you have to learn, get familiar with all the systems, the procedures and what you do in a nominal case, what you do if something goes wrong. I've always been trained as a single-seat aircraft pilot so it was interesting to learn how to be a three-seater where you have a crew you have to work with. A very different mindset. Fun!"

Virts served as pilot of the shuttle Endeavour during a 2010 space station assembly mission. Like Cristoforetti, he is a veteran Air Force test pilot with 45 combat missions to his credit flying F-16 fighters. But in his case, moving from the shuttle to the Soyuz meant adapting to a smaller crew -- and a smaller, more nimble spacecraft.

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Soyuz prepped for flight with three bound for station

'Space plane' readies for launch

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The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle. Photo: ESA

Europe's first-ever "space plane" will be launched on February 11 next year, rocket firm Arianespace says after a three-month delay to fine-tune the flight plan.

The unmanned, car-sized vessel will be sent into low orbit by Europe's Vega light rocket, on a 100-minute fact-finding flight to inform plans to build a shuttle-like, reusable space vehicle.

Dubbed IXV, for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the plane will be boosted from Europe's space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, and separate from its launcher at an altitude of 320 kilometres.

ISV's misison overview. Photo: ESA

The European Space Agency website says it will attain an altitude of around 450k kilometres before re-entering the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 kilometres - representative of a return mission from low orbit.

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The vessel is expected to collect data on its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean with a parachute.

The initial launch had been scheduled for November 18, but Arianespace in October announced a postponement "to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses".

"Based on joint work by ESA [the European Space Agency] and CNES [the French space agency], the date for the IXV mission to be launched by Vega has been set for February 11, 2015," the company said in a statement on Friday.

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'Space plane' readies for launch

Site Last Updated 9:58 am, Saturday

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A replica of the ESAs space plane IXV is on display during the presentation at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, on September 9, 2014 - ANP/AFP/File

PARIS: Europes first-ever space plane will be launched on February 11 next year, rocket firm Arianespace said Friday after a three-month delay to fine-tune the mission flight plan.

The unmanned, car-sized vessel will be sent into low orbit by Europes Vega light rocket, on a 100-minute fact-finding flight to inform plans to build a shuttle-like, reusable space vehicle.

Dubbed IXV, for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the plane will be boosted from Europes space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, and separate from its launcher at an altitude of 320 kilometres (200 miles).

According to the European Space Agency website, it will attain an altitude of around 450 km, allowing it to reach a speed of 7.5 km/s (4.7 miles/s) when reentering the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km fully representative of any return mission from low orbit.

The vessel is expected to collect data on its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean with a parachute.

The initial launch had been scheduled for November 18, but Arianespace in October announced a postponement to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses.

Based on joint work by ESA (the European Space Agency) and CNES (the French space agency), the date for the IXV mission to be launched by Vega has been set for February 11, 2015, the company said in a statement Friday.

Arianespace will resume launch preparations in early 2015.

Developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($190 million), the IXV is the testbed for a reusable vehicle that may one day be able to land on a conventional runway on Earth after a mission to space.

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Site Last Updated 9:58 am, Saturday

European space plane set for February launch

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14 hours ago A replica of the ESA's space plane IXV is on display during the presentation at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, on September 9, 2014

Europe's first-ever "space plane" will be launched on February 11 next year, rocket firm Arianespace said Friday after a three-month delay to fine-tune the mission flight plan.

The unmanned, car-sized vessel will be sent into low orbit by Europe's Vega light rocket, on a 100-minute fact-finding flight to inform plans to build a shuttle-like, reusable space vehicle.

Dubbed IXV, for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the plane will be boosted from Europe's space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, and separate from its launcher at an altitude of 320 kilometres (200 miles).

According to the European Space Agency website, "it will attain an altitude of around 450 km, allowing it to reach a speed of 7.5 km/s (4.7 miles/s) when reentering the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 kmfully representative of any return mission from low orbit."

The vessel is expected to collect data on its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean with a parachute.

The initial launch had been scheduled for November 18, but Arianespace in October announced a postponement "to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses".

"Based on joint work by ESA (the European Space Agency) and CNES (the French space agency), the date for the IXV mission to be launched by Vega has been set for February 11, 2015," the company said in a statement Friday.

"Arianespace will resume launch preparations in early 2015."

Developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($190 million), the IXV is the testbed for a reusable vehicle that may one day be able to land on a conventional runway on Earth after a mission to space.

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European space plane set for February launch

First Orion flight will assess radiation risk as NASA thinks about human Mars missions

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17 hours ago by Elizabeth Howell, Universe Today The Mars Societys prototype Mars habitat in Utah. Image Credit: Mars Society MRDS

If you wanna get humans to Mars, there are so many technical hurdles in the way that it will take a lot of hard work. How to help people survive for months on a hostile surface, especially one that is bathed on radiation? And how will we keep those people safe on the long journey there and back?

NASA is greatly concerned about the radiation risk, and is asking the public for help in a new challenge as the agency measures radiation with the forthcoming uncrewed Orion test flight in December. There's $12,000 up for grabs across at least a few awards, providing you get your ideas into the agency by Dec. 12.

"One of the major human health issues facing future space travelers venturing beyond low-Earth orbit is the hazardous effects of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)," NASA wrote in a press release.

"Exposure to GCRs, immensely high-energy radiation that mainly originates outside the solar system, now limits mission duration to about 150 days while a mission to Mars would take approximately 500 days. These charged particles permeate the universe, and exposure to them is inevitable during space exploration."

Here's an interesting twist, toomore data will come through the Orion test flight as the next-generation spacecraft aims for a flight 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) above Earth's surface. That's so high that the vehicle will go inside a high-radiation environment called the Van Allen Belts, which only the Apollo astronauts passed through in the 1960s and 1970s en route to the Moon.

While a flight to Mars will also just graze this area briefly, scientists say the high-radiation environment will give them a sense of how Orion (and future spacecraft) perform in this kind of a zone. So the spacecraft will carry sensors on board to measure overall radiation levels as well as "hot spots" within the vehicle.

Explore further: Radiation monitors tested on space station to fly on Orion

More information: http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-inno ssions/#.VG9GeJDF_SZ

Already tested on the International Space Station (ISS), six radiation detectors developed by a team from the University of Houston physics department and their NASA colleagues have paved the way for two ...

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First Orion flight will assess radiation risk as NASA thinks about human Mars missions

Supernova Shock Waves, Neutron Stars And Lobsters: NASA

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November 20, 2014

Provided by Janet Anderson Marshall Space Flight Center and Megan Watzke, Chandra X-ray Center

A supernova that signals the death of a massive star sends titanic shock waves rumbling through interstellar space. An ultra-dense neutron star is usually left behind, which is far from dead, as it spews out a blizzard of high-energy particles. Two new images from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory provide fascinating views including an enigmatic lobster-like feature of the complex aftermath of a supernova.

When a massive star runs out of fuel, the central regions usually collapse to form a neutron star. The energy generated by the formation of the neutron star triggers a supernova. As the outward-moving shock wave sweeps up interstellar gas, a reverse shock wave is driven inward, heating the material ejected by the star.

Meanwhile, the rapid rotation and intense magnetic field of the neutron star, a.k.a. a pulsar, combine to generate a powerful wind of high-energy particles. This so-called pulsar wind nebula can glow brightly in X-rays and radio waves.

A long observation with Chandra of the supernova remnant MSH 11-62 (above) reveals an irregular shell of hot gas, shown in red, surrounding an extended nebula of high energy X-rays, shown in blue. Even though scientists have yet to detect any pulsations from the central object within MSH 11-62, the structure around it has many of the same characteristics as other pulsar wind nebulas. The reverse shock and other, secondary shocks within MSH 11-62 appear to have begun to crush the pulsar wind nebula, possibly contributing to its elongated shape. (Note: the orientation of this image has been rotated by 24 degrees so that north is pointed to the upper left.)

MSH 11-62 is located about 16,000 light years from Earth. The foreground of MSH 11-62 is speckled with hundreds of sources associated with the open stellar cluster Trumpler 18, located at a distance of about 5,000 light years, revealing a vast collection of stars.

The supernova remnant G327.1-1.1, located about 29,000 light years from Earth, is another spectacular debris field left behind when a massive star exploded. The Chandra image of G327.1-1.1 (below) shows the outward-moving, or forward, shock wave (seen as the faint red color), and a bright pulsar wind nebula (blue). The pulsar wind nebula appears to have been distorted by the combined action of the reverse shock wave, which may have flattened it, and by the motion of the pulsar, which created a comet, or lobster-like tail. An asymmetric supernova explosion may have given a recoil kick to the pulsar, causing it to move rapidly and drag the pulsar wind nebula along with it.

Image Above: A Chandra image of G327.1-1.1, a supernova remnant about 29,000 light years from Earth. Credit: NASA/CXC/GSFC/T. Temim et al. [ Larger Image ]

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Supernova Shock Waves, Neutron Stars And Lobsters: NASA

Asteroid Bennu, We Are Going To Explore – Strange Journeys into Space Exploration – Video

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Asteroid Bennu, We Are Going To Explore - Strange Journeys into Space Exploration
(101955) 1999 RQ36 - "We are going to Bennu because we want to know what it has witnessed over the course of its evolution," said Edward Beshore of the University of Arizona, Deputy Principal...

By: Stargazer Nation

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Asteroid Bennu, We Are Going To Explore - Strange Journeys into Space Exploration - Video

Galaxy Smash-Up ‘Ejects’ Supermassive Black Hole | Animation – Video

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Galaxy Smash-Up #39;Ejects #39; Supermassive Black Hole | Animation
Full Story: http://goo.gl/A0cQxZ 90 million light-years away, the Markarian 177 dwarf galaxy shows signs of having kicked its supermassive black hole out into a wide orbit, after encountering...

By: VideoFromSpace

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Galaxy Smash-Up 'Ejects' Supermassive Black Hole | Animation - Video

New Animation Follows Long, Strange Trip Of Bennu

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Provided by Bill Steigerwald, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Born from the rubble of a violent collision, hurled through space for millions of years and dismembered by the gravity of planets, asteroid Bennu had a tough life in a rough neighborhood: the early solar system. Bennus Journey, a new animation created at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, shows whats known and what remains mysterious about the life of Bennu and the origin of the solar system.

[ Watch the Video: Asteroid Bennus Journey ]

We are going to Bennu because we want to know what it has witnessed over the course of its evolution, said Edward Beshore of the University of Arizona, Deputy Principal Investigator for NASAs asteroid-sample-return mission OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security Regolith Explorer). The mission will be launched toward Bennu in late 2016, arrive at the asteroid in 2018, and return a sample of Bennus surface to Earth in 2023. Bennus experiences will tell us more about where our solar system came from and how it evolved. Like the detectives in a crime show episode, well examine bits of evidence from Bennu to understand more completely the story of the solar system, which is ultimately the story of our origin.

The video opens with an establishing shot of the galaxy and moves in to a nebula a vast cloud of gas and dust ejected from the explosions of dying stars. From observations of other star-forming regions in our galaxy, scientists have a good idea of the basic outlines of how our solar system came to be, according to Beshore. As shown in the animation, a nearby exploding star disrupts material in the nebula, causing part of it to collapse under its own gravity and form a disk of material surrounding the infant Sun.

Within this disk, bits of dust are flash heated to molten rock and solidify to become chondrules some of the building blocks of the solar system. Chondrules are shown in the animation as they clump together via electrostatic and gravitational forces to become asteroids and planets.

Chondrules may make up a large part of the material in Bennu. On planets like Earth, the original materials have been profoundly altered by geologic activity and chemical reactions with our atmosphere and water. We think Bennu may be relatively unchanged, so this asteroid is like a time capsule for us to examine, said Beshore. By analyzing the sample collected from Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx team will be able to examine some of the most pristine material to be found anywhere in the solar system.

Bennu may also harbor organic material from the young solar system. Organic matter is made of molecules containing primarily carbon and hydrogen atoms and is fundamental to terrestrial life. The analysis of any organic material found on Bennu will give scientists an inventory of the materials present at the beginning of the solar system that may have had a role in the origin of life. By bringing this material back to Earth, we can do a far more thorough analysis than we can with instruments on a spacecraft, because of practical limits on the size, mass, and energy consumption of what can be flown, said Beshore. We will also set aside returned materials for future generations to study with instruments and capabilities we cant even imagine now.

The mission also will contribute to NASAs Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which will identify, capture and redirect a near-Earth asteroid to a stable orbit around the moon, where astronauts will explore it in the 2020s, returning with samples. ARM is part of NASAs plan to advance new capabilities needed for future human missions to Mars. OSIRIS-REx also will support the agencys efforts to understand the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects and characterize those suitable for future asteroid exploration missions.

The early solar system was quite chaotic. Giant impact craters throughout the inner solar system indicate there may have been a late heavy bombardment by asteroids approximately 4.1 billion to 3.8 billion years ago, right around the origin of life on Earth. The video illustrates one theory for this. The massive gas giant planet Jupiter began to migrate inward closer to the Sun due to gravitational interactions with the outer gas giant planets. Jupiters gravity disrupted the asteroid belt, tossing many asteroids closer to the Sun, where some collided with the terrestrial planets, including Earth. This asteroid bombardment may have been a significant source of organic matter and water for the early Earth.

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New Animation Follows Long, Strange Trip Of Bennu

[Orbiter] Orbits – Part 1, Rendezvous and Docking with the ISS – Video

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[Orbiter] Orbits - Part 1, Rendezvous and Docking with the ISS
In this video, I discuss the basics of space travel and orbital maneuvers with a transfer from the Mir space station to the International Space Station. Orbiter - Space Flight Simulator http://or...

By: Dan Quinlivan

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[Orbiter] Orbits - Part 1, Rendezvous and Docking with the ISS - Video

Webb Space Telescope promises astronomers new scientific adventures

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By Eric Niiler November 17

Inside a very big and very clean room at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., nearly 30 workers dressed in white protective suits, goggles and blue booties cluster around the parts of a time machine.

These parts gold-covered mirrors, tennis-court-size sun shields, delicate infrared cameras are slowly being put together to become the James Webb Space Telescope.

Astronomers are hoping that the Webb will be able to collect light that is very far away from us and is moving still farther away. The universe has been expanding ever since the big bang got it started, but scientists reckon that if the telescope is powerful enough, they just might be able to see the birth of the first galaxies, some 13.5 billion years ago.

This is similar to archaeology, says Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who helped plan Webbs science mission. We are digging deep into the universe. But as the sources of light become fainter and farther away, you need a big telescope like the James Webb.

Named for a former NASA director, the 21-foot-diameter Webb telescope will be 100 times as powerful as the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990. Although Hubble wasnt the first space telescope, its images of far-off objects have dazzled the public and led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as determining how fast the universe is expanding.

The Webb will be both bigger and located in a darker part of space than Hubble, enabling it to capture images from the faintest galaxies. Four infrared cameras will capture light that is moving away from us very quickly and that has shifted from the visible to the infrared spectrum, described as red-shifted. The advantage of using infrared light is that it is not blocked by clouds of gas and dust that may lie between the telescope and the light. Webbs mirrors are covered in a thin layer of gold that absorbs blue light but reflects yellow and red visible light, and its cameras will detect infrared light and a small part of the visible spectrum. As objects move away from us, the wavelength of their light shifts from visible light to infrared light. Thats why the Webbs infrared cameras will be able to see things that are both far away and moving away from us.

The cameras will also probe the atmospheres of planets that revolve around nearby stars, known as exoplanets, for the chemical signatures of life: water, oxygen and maybe even pollution from alien civilizations.

But before any of that dazzling science happens, theres a lot of testing to do at Goddard, in the clean room and a nearby cryo-chamber.

Various tests will squeeze, shake, freeze and twist thousands of individual parts in an effort to make sure the spacecraft will survive blastoff from a spaceport in French Guyana and the cold environment of its orbiting position almost a million miles from Earth. By comparison, Hubble circles just 375 miles above our planet, depending on its orbit.

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Webb Space Telescope promises astronomers new scientific adventures

A window into space through NASA's online sensation

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Astronaut Reid Wiseman is getting used to life back on Earth after recently returning from 166 days in orbit. In between space walks and research, Wiseman shared a remarkable view from the International Space Station. He picked up 330,000 followers on Twitter before landing in Kazakhstan last week.

"This was my first space flight, so I'd never looked down on the Earth from 260 miles up, and when you do that the first couple times, you're taken to a special place," Wiseman told "CBS This Morning" from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "You're breathless, really, just looking out at the horizon is so beautiful."

It was that beauty that led him to begin his social media campaign.

"You have this extreme desire to share it," Wiseman said. "And I was lucky enough to have a conduit to share this journey with everyone, and it really caught fire and it was great. It was great for me, and I'm really happy it happened that way."

Among the scenes he captured were sunsets, typhoons and pyramids, but he shared his most memorable sight on nearly every platform, sending out multiple Vines, Instagram posts, and Tweets.

"Really I think the aurora and lightning storms, just watching how amazing that event is, just kind of flying through the swimming aurora," Wiseman said. "And we saw some really powerful aurora, much more than my fellow astronauts have been able to see, so we were just super lucky."

He said some of the most extraordinary things about being in space were watching changes on Earth from an entirely knew perspective.

"Doing all the science is amazing, and then any spare time you have, you get to go down to the greatest window humanity has ever known and look back at our planet," Wiseman said. "Just watching our planet over an entire six months, watching summer turn to winter, seeing the aurora thunderstorms, it's just, it's magnificent, it really is magnificent."

Even adjusting to life on the ISS was an experience for him.

"Being weightless, trying to learn, watching your body change while you're up there," he said.

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A window into space through NASA's online sensation


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