ALTA LOMA >> Forget putting a class project on the refrigerator: A group of Alta Loma Christian middle school students have their work orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station.

Aboard the ISS is a cube designed and programmed by the Alta Loma SpaceEagles space science and engineering team. The cube has a light that turns on and off based on input from a pair of heat sensors. Alta Loma Christian was one of 11 middle schools nationwide taking part in the Quest for Space Beta ISS Project, organized by the San Jose-based Quest Institute for Quality Education.

It was a bag of parts, made for prototyping, said Boeing engineer Jim DellaNeve, who was an adviser for the students.

Students used software from Lego Mindstorms and Microsoft to develop their project, which was then copied onto hardware that was launched into space June 3 aboard SpaceX mission CRS-11 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

I knew going into it, that if it was going to be a stretch, we had the perfect kids coming to handle it, said science teacher and STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) coordinator Michelle Martinez. And they did amazing.

The SpaceEagles got a more authentic engineering experience than the project developers envisioned.

It also didnt help that Quest didnt have the right diagrams at first, said Jeffrey Kotz, 14, who served as project manager and head electrical engineer as a then-eighth grader. I tried to build my own, but it didnt work any better.

Things going wrong, of course, was an education all its own.

More of my role than anything was peacemaker when things got stressful, said math teacher Jasmine Royse. There was absolutely just as much learning in the teamwork process and in the team building process as in the engineering process.

And those skills were needed:

I can be challenging working with a team, laughed Samuel Bement, 14, who was an eighth grader during the projects construction and who served as one of two coders on the project. But it was a great experience, learning how to work with people.

And ultimately, thats the most valuable skill learned on an ambitious project like the Quest for Space.

When the pressures on, do you behave yourself, do you finger point? Those are real-world things that are invaluable, DellaNeve said.

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This likely wont be the last time Alta Lomas SpaceEagles fly:

When its time to re-up, we wont wait, said Vance Nichols, Alta Loma Christians Head of School, whose father was an aerospace design engineer. Were in as soon as its available.

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International Space Station hosts Alta Loma middle school students' experiment - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

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A future experiment on the International Space Station is taking the recipe instruction allow the dough to rise to all new heights. Scheduled to launch in 2018 during Horizons, Alexander Gersts second science mission as a European Space Agency astronaut, Bake in Space will experiment with a specialty bread dough in a microgravity oven to bake in orbit for the first time ever.

Baking where nobody baked before, said the team behind Bake In Space. Bake In Space seeks to address the scientific and technical challenges relating to the production of fresh bread in space. The Bake in Space team behind the experiment is compromised of former shuttle astronaut Gerhard Thiele, German scientists, and engineers but its not about augmenting the current station crews diet. Instead, researchers are exploring options for future space travel, when spaceflight is available for private tours.

As space tourism takes off and people spend more time in space, we need to allow bread to be made from scratch, said Sebastian Marcu, CEO, and founder of Bake In Space, based in Bremen Germany. The main difficulty with bread in space and the driving force behind the experiment is the tiny, innocuous breadcrumb. While perfectly innocent on Earth, in the microgravity of space, they can cause a laundry list of issues including complications with ventilation filters or electrical system failures. A breadcrumb could even cause health problems if inhaled by an astronaut or space tourist.

In past missions, crumb-less bread solutions, as developed by NASA, have been unappetizing, to say the least. After crews on the Mercury and Gemini missions snuck sandwiches on board, astronaut food supplies included pre-cut bread cubes coated in gelatin to encapsulate the crumbs. Eventually, bread was removed from the equation entirely and replaced with tortillas space shuttle era missions.

Bake in Space will attempt to make a type of German bread roll using a unique dough and a small convection or vacuum oven that requires little power. In a video recorded earlier this year, astronaut Shane Kimbrough explained from aboard the space station, The first thing we need for a sandwich is a piece of bread. Well, up here, we dont have bread like you have on Earth, but we have tortillas. So we use tortillas a lot for our sandwiches.

However, breadcrumbs alone are not the only difficulties Bake in Space will face in testing their new bread dough. The dough must produce a bread that is not only nutritious but also enjoyable to consume and emotionally satisfying, emitting the warm and pleasant smell of freshly baked bread. A goal described on the companys website: Besides [being] a source for nutrition, the smell of fresh bread evokes memories of general happiness and is an important psychological factor. It is a symbol of recreational time and procedure down on Earth.

This is the biggest challenge, agreed Florian Stukenborg with the research firm TTZ Bremerhaven. Similar food-based experiments have already been performed previously for fresh produce grown in a plant chamber called Veggie, and a microgravity coffee makes called ISSPresso. Besides baking bread, Bake in Space also hopes to form a sourdough batter in space, which will later be baked on Earth and become the first space-born loaf sold on the planet.

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A robotic Russian cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station Friday (June 16), delivering tons of fresh food and other supplies for the orbiting lab's crew.

The Progress 67 spacecraft linked up with the space station in a smooth docking at 7:37 a.m. EDT (1137 GMT) as both vehicles sailed 258 miles (415 kilometers) over the Philippine Sea.

"Progress completes as smooth a journey as you can imagine," NASA spokesman Rob Navias said during live commentary. [The Space Station's Robotic Cargo Ship Fleet (Photo Guide)]

The Russian-built Progress 67 (far left) is seen by an HD camera on the International Space Station just before docking to deliver 3 tons of supplies for the outpost's crew on June 16, 2017.

The Progress spacecraft is carrying more than 3 tons (2.7 metric tons) of fresh food, fuel and other vital supplies for the space station's Expedition 52 crew. The craft parked itself at the aft end of the station's Russian-built Zvezda service module.

"The cargo vehicle is now in a gentle, but very firm embrace thanks to the station," cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin of Russia, who commands the station's Expedition 52 crew, radioed in Russian to flight controllers at Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

Progress 67 is the third robotic cargo ship to either arrive at or depart from the space station in recent weeks. On Sunday (June 11), an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up as planned to end its resupply mission. A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the space station on June 5 and is expected to parachute back to Earth on July 2.

Progress 67 launched to the station Wednesday (June 16) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, sparking a deadly fire that killed one worker and injured another at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. A fragment of the Soyuz rocket that launched the cargo ship ignited grass on the Kazakh steppes, starting the blaze, according to a BBC News report.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him@tariqjmalikandGoogle+.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

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This photo from NASA shows the International Space Station as it streaks across the night sky. The station is visible as often as once or twice a week or as rarely as once or twice a month, depending on the Earths rotation and on sky clarity.

Greenvilles stargazers may be able to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station from their own backyards tonight if they look up at the right time.

If the weather cooperates, the station maybe visible at 9:27 p.m. above Greenville and the surrounding areas. The station, which is the third brightest object in the sky, will move across the northwest sky and pass out of sight at 9:30 p.m., according to NASA.

You dont need a telescope or pair of binoculars to see the station. Its usually visible to the naked eye, said Thomas Riddle, assistant director of Roper Mountain Science Center. Its definitely brighter than an airplane.

Amber Porter, a lecturer in Clemson Universitys Department of Astronomy and Physics, said the Upstates stargazers may have to look a little harder than usual to see the station.The best sightings happen when the station is high enough in the sky about 40 degrees or more, said Porter.The station will be flying at 11 degrees on Friday night.

The orbiting laboratory, which travels 17,000 mph, typically looks like a small bright star during a flyover. In fact, it only takes about 90 minutes for the station to make a complete trip around the Earth, according to Riddle.

The astronauts who are working and living on the station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day. The space station currently houses Expedition 52, which includes three NASA astronauts.The crew, set toreturn in September, plans to perform experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, Earth science, and more.

According to Porter, the space station is visible as often as once or twice a week or as rarely as once or twice a month, depending on the Earths rotation and on sky clarity.

NASAs Spot the Station website lets people sign up for email or text-message alerts that let them know, a few hours before, when the space station will be visible from their own city, how long it should be visible, and at what point in the sky.

This service will only notify you of good sighting opportunities, says NASA.

For more information, visit spotthestation.nasa.gov.

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NASA astronaut Jack Fischer checks out science gear inside Japans Kibo laboratory module.

Russias Progress 67 (67P) cargo craft is orbiting Earth and on its way to the International Space Station Friday morning carrying over three tons of food, fuel and supplies. Meanwhile, the three member Expedition 52 crew researched a variety of space science on Thursday while preparing for the arrival of the 67P.

Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer will monitor the automated docking of the 67P to the Zvezda service module Friday at 7:42 a.m. EDT. NASA TV will broadcast live the resupply ships approach and rendezvous beginning at 7 a.m. The 67Ps docking will mark four spaceships attached to the space station.

Fischer spent the morning photographing mold and bacteria samples on petri dishes as part of six student-led biology experiments that are taking place inside a NanoRacks module. In the afternoon, he removed protein crystal samples from a science freezer, let them thaw and observed the samples using a specialized microscope.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson tended to rodents Thursday morning cleaning their habitat facilities and restocking their food. In the afternoon, she moved to human research swapping out samples for the Cardiac Stem Cells study that is exploring why living in space may accelerate the aging process.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The Russian Progress 67 cargo craft launch ascends to space after a flawless launch Wednesday from Kazakhstan. Credit: Roscosmos

Carrying more than three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the International Space Station crew, the unpiloted ISS Progress 67 cargo craft launched at 5:20 a.m. EDT (3:20 p.m. local time in Baikonur) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

At the time of launch, the International Space Station was flying about 258 miles over the south Atlantic southeast of Uruguay.

Less than 10 minutes after launch, the resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned.The Russian cargo craft will make 34 orbits of Earth during the next two days before docking to the orbiting laboratory at 7:42 a.m. Friday, June 16.

Beginning at 7 a.m. on Friday, NASA Television will provide live coverage of Progress 67s arrival to the space stations Zvezda Service Module.

Watch live on NASA TV and the agencys website.

To join the conversation about the space station and Progress 67 online, follow @space_station on Twitter.

The Progress 67 cargo craft rests atop the Progress MS-06 rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: Roscosmos

Russias Progress 67 (67P) cargo craft stands at its launch pad in Kazakhstan ready for liftoff Wednesday at 5:20 a.m. EDT. NASA TV will broadcast the launch live from the Baikonur Cosmodrome including the docking of the 67P Friday at 7:42 a.m. to the Zvezda service module.

Two external experiments have been extracted from the trunk of the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship and attached to the outside of the International Space Station. Ground controllers commanded the Canadarm2 to reach inside Dragon, grapple both experiments and install them on EXPRESS logistics carriers.

The first experiment, MUSES, or Multiple User System for Earth Sensing, was removed June 6 the day after Dragons arrival. It was installed two days later on the starboard side of the stations truss structure. MUSES is an Earth-imaging platform that may improve navigation, agriculture and benefit emergency responders and the petroleum industry.

NICER, or Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, was extracted Sunday afternoon and will be installed this evening. It will search for new insights into the physics of neutron stars and help scientists develop a pulsar-based, space navigation system.

A third experiment will be extracted June 17 to test a new advanced solar array. The roll-out solar array, or ROSA, rolls out like a tape measure with solar cells on a flexible blanket. The ROSA, which could power future NASA spaceships and communication satellites, will be stowed back inside Dragons trunk after seven days of data collection while attached to the stations robotic arm.

Get weekly video highlights at:http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The Progress 67 rocket rolls out Sunday to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: Roscosmos

The Expedition 52 crew of two NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut is in its second week aboard the International Space Station. Also, as one station resupply ship completed its mission in space on Sunday another rolled out to its pad for a launch this week.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson started Monday measuring her shoulders, back, chest and hips for the Body Measures experiment. Scientists are researching how living in space changes body shape and size which may influence the design of future crew suits.

Jack Fischer of NASA studied how plants sense light and grow in space for the Seedling Growth-3 experiment. He also worked on removing and replacing a bolt that jammed after the last SpaceX Dragon cargo craft left the station back in March. The maintenance work is being done ahead of the departure of the newest Dragon which arrived June 5. Dragon will remain attached to the Harmony module until July 2.

The Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft deorbited into Earths atmosphere Sunday at 1:12 p.m. EST after its release from the station a week earlier. The same day, Russias Progress 67 (67P) cargo ship rolled out to its launch pad in Kazakhstan where it will liftoff Wednesday at 5:20 a.m. EDT. The 67P will dock Friday at 7:42 a.m. to the Zvezda service modules aft port.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm moments after it was captured early Monday.

The three-member Expedition 52 crew is settling down with science and cargo transfers this week after a trio of space ships arrived and departed at the International Space Station. NASA also introduced 12 new astronaut candidates Wednesday who could fly farther into space on newer spacecraft than any astronaut before them.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson looked after a student experiment today that is exploring how molds and bacteria adapt to microgravity. Afterward, she measured the lighting in the Destiny and Kibo lab modules to help engineers understand how light affects the habitability of spacecraft.

Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA installed and activated new science hardware delivered aboard the latest SpaceX Dragon cargo craft. Fischer also joined Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin to prepare the station for the departure and arrival of a pair of Russian cargo ships next week. The Progress 66 resupply ship will depart June 13 followed three days later with a new space delivery aboard the Progress 67 cargo craft. Both spaceships are uncrewed.

On Wednesday, NASA celebrated the introduction of 12 new astronaut candidates. The 2017 class will officially report for duty in August and begin training for potential missions aboard NASA spacecraft as well as SpaceX and Boeing commercial spaceships.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship is installed to the Harmony module. The Progress 66 cargo craft is docked to the Pirs docking compartment and the Soyuz MS-04 crew vehicle is docked to the Poisk module.

A little over two hours after it was captured by Expedition 52 Flight Engineers Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson, the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon cargo craft was attached to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module of the International Space Station. Ground controllers at Mission Control, Houston reported that Dragon was bolted into place at 12:07 p.m. EDT as the station flew 258 statute miles over central Kazakhstan.

Earlier, the Dragon was grappled by Fischer and Whitson using the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 9:52 a.m. EDT at the completion of a flawless two-day journey for the resupply vehicle following its launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Saturday.

The station crew expects to open Dragons hatch later today to begin transferring time-critical scientific experiments. Dragon will remain attached to the complex until July 2, when it will be detached from Harmony and robotically released for its deorbit back into the Earths atmosphere and a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The SpaceX Dragon is seen seconds away from its capture with the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV

While the International Space Station was traveling about 250 miles over the south Atlantic ocean east of the coast of Argentina, Flight Engineers Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson of NASA captured Dragon a few minutes ahead of schedule at 9:52 a.m. EDT.

Following its capture, the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship will be maneuvered by ground controllers operating the International Space Stations robotic arm for installation onto the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. For updates on installation and more information about the SpaceX CRS-11 mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spacex.

To join the online conversation about the International Space Station and Dragon on Twitter, follow @Space_Station and use #Dragon.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The Cygnus cargo craft, with its prominent Ultra Flex solar arrays, is pictured moments after being released from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA commanded the International Space Stations Candadarm2 robotic arm to release the Cygnus spacecraft at 9:10a.m. EDT while the space station was flying above the south Atlantic Ocean. Earlier, ground controllers detached Cygnus from the station and maneuvered it into place for its departure.

The spacecraft spent 44 days at the station after delivering approximately 7,600 pounds of supplies andscience experiments to the orbiting laboratory and its Expedition 51 and 52 crew members for Orbital ATKs seventh NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission.

Dubbed the SS John Glenn after the iconic Mercury and shuttle astronaut and U.S. Senator from Ohio, Cygnus will remain in orbit for a week in support of theSAFFIREexperiment and the deployment of four small Nanoracks satellites before Orbital ATK flight controllers send commands June 11 to deorbit the spacecraft for its reentry into the Earths atmosphere, where it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean. NASA TV will not provide a live broadcast of the Saffire experiment or the Cygnus deorbit burn and reentry, but imagery from Saffire will be posted onNASA.govas it becomes available.

As Cygnus departs, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched yesterday will close in on the station for its capture by Fischer and Whitson Monday, June 5. Using the Canadarm2 robotic arm, they will grapple the SpaceX cargo spacecraft at 10 a.m. NASA TV coverage will begin at 8:30 a.m.

Get more information about the International Space Station at:http://www.nasa.gov/station

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft onboard, launches from pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Saturday, June 3, 2017. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5:07 p.m. EDT, and Dragon has begun its journey to the International Space Station with an arrival scheduled for June 5. Dragon separated from Falcon 9 about 10 minutes after launch, and solar arrays successfully deployed shortly after separation from the second stage. A post-launch news conference is scheduled to begin on NASA TV at approximately 6:30 p.m.

Before Dragon arrives at the space station, the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft will depart the station Sunday, June 4. Expedition 52 Flight Engineers Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson of NASA will be at the controls of the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release Cygnus at 9:10 a.m. NASA TV coverage of the spacecrafts departure will begin at 8:30 a.m.

For more information on the SpaceX CRS-11 mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spacex. For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

The Expedition 51 crew descends to a parachuted landing inside the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft. Credit: European Space Agency

After spending 196 days in space, Expedition 51 crew members Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) landed their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft in Kazakhstan at approximately 10:10 a.m. EDT. Russian recovery teams are helping the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and adjust to gravity after their stay in space.

The duo arrived at the International Space Station on Nov.19, 2016, along with NASAs Peggy Whitson, who will remain on the space station and return home with NASAs Jack Fischer and Roscosmos Fyodor Yurchikhin. That landing is targeted for September.

At the time of undocking, Expedition 52 began aboard the station under Yurchikhins command. Along with Whitson and Fischer of NASA, the three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of three new crew members. Randy Bresnik of NASA, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli of ESA are scheduled to launch July 28 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

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

You can follow the crews activities in space on social media. Follow space station activities via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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What it takes to bake bread at the International Space Station - The ... The Hindu A German commercial Space start-up is working on innovative ways to engineer crumb-free bread so astronauts can bake in space. and more »

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An uncrewed Russian cargo ship launched toward the International Space Station today (June 14), kicking off a two-day trip to deliver tons of fresh food and other supplies.

The automated Progress 67 spacecraft launched into orbit atop a Russian Soyuz rocket at 5:20 a.m. EDT (0920 GMT). The mission lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time was 3:20 p.m., NASA officials said.

The Progress spacecraft is carrying nearly 3 tons of fresh food, fuel and other vital supplies for the space station's Expedition 52 crew. It will arrive at the space station on Friday (June 16) at 7:42 a.m. EDT (1142 GMT), NASA officials said. [The Space Station's Robotic Cargo Ship Fleet (Photo Guide)]

"Less than 10 minutes after launch, the resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned," NASA officials wrote in a mission update. "The Russian cargo craft will make 34 orbits of Earth during the next two days before docking to the orbiting laboratory at 7:42 a.m. Friday, June 16."

The Progress 67 launch comes on the heels of a two other cargo ship events at the space station. On Sunday (June 11), an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship burned up in Earth's atmosphere to end its own recent resupply mission for NASA. On June 5, a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the station two days after launching into orbit. Dragon will stay linked to the orbiting laboratory until July 2, when it will return to Earth to make an ocean splashdown.

An international fleet of robotic cargo ships periodically deliver supplies to the International Space Station. That fleet includes Russia's Progress spacecraft, the U.S. commercial vehicles like SpaceX's Dragon and Orbital ATK's Cygnus, as well as Japan's H-2 Transfer Vehicle.

The European Space Agency also flew five cargo missions to the station using its huge Automated Transfer Vehicles. The last European cargo ship flew in 2015.

Of all these robotic spacecraft, only SpaceX's Dragon is capable of returning cargo to Earth. The rest are disposed of by being intentionally burned up in Earth's atmosphere. Progress 67 will stay docked at the International Space Station until December, when it will depart to meet its fiery end in Earth's atmosphere.

NASA will stream live video of Progress 67's space station arrival on Friday. The webcast will begin at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) ahead of the docking. You can watch the docking live here, courtesy of NASA TV.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him@tariqjmalikandGoogle+.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

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Russia Launches Robotic Cargo Ship to Space Station - Space.com

Enlarge / SpaceX launches a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office on May 1.

About six weeks ago, SpaceX launched a spy satellite into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center. As is normal forNational Reconnaissance Office launches, not much information was divulged about the satellite's final orbit or its specific purpose in space. However, a dedicated group of ground-based observers continued to track the satellite after it reached outer space.

Then something curious happened. In early June,the satellite made an extremely close pass to the International Space Station. One of the amateur satellite watchers, Ted Molczan,estimated the pass on June 3 to be 4.4km directly above the station. Another, Marco Langbroek, pegged the distance at 6.4km. "I am inclined to believe that the close conjunctions between USA 276 and ISS are intentional, but this remains unproven and far from certain," Molczan later wrote.

In recent days, Ars has run these observations by several officials and informed sources. They are credible, these officials say, and curious indeed. "This is strange," said one astronaut who hascommanded the International Space Station. "I don't really believe in coincidences. But I can't really think of anything that would be worth highlighting a close approach."

One expert in satellite launches and tracking, Jonathan McDowell, said of the satellite's close approach to the station, "It is not normal." While it remains possiblethat the near-miss was a coincidence due to the satellite being launched into similar orbit, that would represent "gross incompetence" on the part of the National Reconnaissance Office, he said. Like the astronaut, McDowell downplayed the likelihood of a coincidence.

Another option is that of a deliberate close flyby, perhaps to test or calibrate an onboard sensor to observe something or some kind of activity on the International Space Station. "The deliberate explanation seems more likely, except that I would have expected the satellite to maneuver after the encounter," McDowell said. "But it seems to have stayed in the same orbit."

Another question, if the maneuver was deliberate, is whether the US government informed Russia or other international partners on the space station. The Russian segment of the station controls the thrusters that generally are used to maneuver the station away from orbital debris, so such coordination might seem prudent.

In regard to these questions, so far the US government has declined to provide answers. A NASA spokesman offered to look into the matter on Monday but as of Wednesday afternoon had nothing to say. A query sent to public affairs at theNational Reconnaissance Office went unanswered. We will update this story if we receive any official responses.

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A spy satellite buzzed the space station this month, and no one knows why - Ars Technica

In 1969, astronaut Buzz Aldrin showed a TV audience back on Earth how to make a sandwich in zero gravity.

The aroma and warmth of freshly baked bread are such sensory delights.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station may soon enjoy this elusive reminder of home if a new food experiment succeeds.

A German company calledBake In Space is testing both a new dough mixture for German bread rolls and an oven specially designed for the ISS and microgravity.

"We are working to produce a bread machine that will be capable of baking bread rolls and a dough mixture that will be suitable for the space environment," the Bake In Space site states.

While bread on the space station may not sound all that exciting, astronauts must worry about any food that creates crumbs or particles that can float around and damage equipment.

In fact, when astronauts on NASA's 1965 Gemini 3 mission ate a corned beef sandwich smuggled on board, crumbs of rye bread began to float around the cabin, jeopardizing the gear and potentially the astronauts themselves -- think crumbs in eyes. Bread has always been banned from the ISS, though currentlytortillas are allowed.

The baking experiment will take place next April during the European Space Agency's Horizon mission on the ISS. Ground crew will monitor live video feeds from inside the oven, so astronauts won't have to worry about their loaves while performing their regular duties.

As space tourism takes off and people spend more time in space, we need to allow bread to be made from scratch," Sebastian Marcu, CEO and founder of Bake In Space, told New Scientistlast week.

Perhaps cookies and brownies are next.

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Baking crumb-free bread on the International Space Station - CNET

New frontiers for recycling

NanoRacks

By Leah Crane

A long-dormant plan for a space station built in space from recycled parts may be getting new legs. NASA has signed an estimated $10 million contract to study the possibility of turning used rocket stages into functioning labs with support for a crew.

Before Skylab, the first US space station, went into orbit in the 1970s, Wernher von Braun proposed to separately send parts for a space station and astronauts aboard two Saturn IB rockets, which would launch within a day of one another. Launching separate payloads would be key to saving weight, given the rockets capacity limitations.

When both rockets were in orbit, astronauts would remotely vent any remaining fuel from the uncrewed rockets hydrogen tank, install life-support equipment, and move in. This would reuse a fuel tank that would otherwise be discarded.

Although von Brauns idea was eventually abandoned in favour of launching Skylab fully equipped, the cost-saving benefits of this low-Earth-orbit manoeuvre have once again become attractive.

A group of three US companies NanoRacks, United Launch Alliance and Space Systems Loral has now been contracted to examine whether building a recycled space station will work, amid a push from other private spaceflight companies for reusable rockets.

United Launch Alliance will provide the used second stages of Atlas V rockets, for which NanoRacks will prefabricate a lab and living space, with robotic outfitting from Space Systems Loral. As with the previous plan, the idea is to use two rockets, with the astronauts assembling the lab equipment in space once the fuel tank is used.

This innovative approach offers a pathway that is more affordable and involves less risk than fabricating modules on the ground and subsequently launching them into orbit, wrote NanoRacks founder and CEO Jeff Manber in a blog post. The upper stages of Atlas V rockets are currently discarded after a single use, so turning them into mini space stations could be free money in the bank.

Although the financial risks are lower, the human ones may not be. Turning spent shells into environments capable of supporting both astronauts and experiments will be a challenge, as will asking astronauts to retrofit them for life and use while in orbit. But if NanoRacks and its partners can manage this, reviving von Brauns concept could significantly lower costs for space stations, either in orbit or further into deep space.

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NASA revives 50-year-old idea to recycle space stations in orbit - New Scientist

GREENVILLE, S.C.

If you looked up at the right time Monday night, you might have been able to see the International Space Station fly over.

The space station was visible starting at 9:43 p.m. in Greenville and Asheville and the surrounding areas. Weather permitting, it was visible in the northwest sky for about three minutes.

It moved across the sky and pass out of sight at 9:47 p.m.

The space station looked like a small, bright star moving across the sky. It was traveling at more than 17,000 mph as it passes by. It only takes 90 minutes for the laboratory to make a complete circuit of Earth. Astronauts working and living on the station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.

The Expedition 52 crew of two NASA astronauts and one cosmonaut from Russia's space corporation, Roscosmos, is in its second week aboard the International Space Station.

To track the International Space Station, click here.

The tracker, developed by the European Space Agency, shows where the space station is right now and its path 90 minutes ago and 90 minutes ahead. Because of the Earth's rotation the space station appears to travel from west to east.

More here:

Space station flyover visible from Greenville, Asheville Monday night - WYFF Greenville

Carol Vaughn, cvaughn@delmarvanow.com Published 5:56 p.m. ET June 12, 2017 | Updated 11 hours ago

Wallops executives give an update concerning Antares and Cygnus missions. Produced by Ralph Musthaler

Dan Givens, Anteres Field Site Manager, speaks to the media during a press event at the Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)Buy Photo

Orbital ATK's next cargo supply mission to the International Space Station, OA-8, is set to launch from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in September, officials said at a briefing thereMonday.

Another mission, OA-9, is slated for later this year, likely in November.

Orbital ATK currently has contracts with NASA for a total of 10 cargo missions, all of which are set to be launched from Wallops.

"Right now, all the missions we have on the schedule are intended to go on the Antares (rocket) and go out of the Wallops Flight Facility," said Frank Culbertson, Orbital ATK Space Systems Group president.

Orbital ATK's most recent cargo supply mission, OA-7, was launched from Florida in April.

The Wallops facility is one of two spaceports in the United States from which the commercial cargo supply missions are launched, along with Cape Canaveral in Florida.

READ MORE: NASA Wallops: Predawn sounding rocket launch a success

The date set for the launch of the OA-8 mission is Sept. 12, but the rocket could be ready for launch earlier than that if NASA needs to bump up the date, said Kurt Eberly, Orbital ATK Antares vice president.

The last mission to the International Space Station launched from Wallops was OA-5 in October 2016.

That mission was the first to the space station launched from Wallops since an Antares rocket exploded shortly after liftoff on Oct. 28, 2014, after amotor malfunction happenedas the spacecraft began to clear the launchpad. After that, Orbital ATK replaced the first-stage engines on the rocket.

Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space, speaks to the media in front of a launch pad on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017.(Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)

"Wallops continues to be a neat place where we do a wide variety of things for both commercial and government customers," said Bill Wrobel, NASA Wallops Flight Facility director.

The facility "at any given time (has) about 50 different missions" in the works, ranging from balloon missions to sounding rocket launches, among others.

Wrobel called Orbital ATK "a strong partner with us here for a number of years now," noting the company, in addition to the more widely publicized missions to the International Space Station, also handles the sounding rocket and balloon programs at Wallops.

Wrobel also noted the first small satellite built at Wallops recently was deployed off the International Space Station.

"We look forward to a lot more of these things coming up in the future," Wrobel said of the upcoming cargo mission.

"It is a real pleasure to be back here at Wallops ... It's a great place to be," Culbertson said.

The company is "very much committed to completing our CRS-1 contract," Culbertson said, noting there are four more flights to be completed under that contract.

Additionally, six flights are slated to happen under the CRS-2 contract with the first of those planned for 2019.

A view of the inside of the Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)

The company in that second phase will be able to carry more cargo on each mission, he said. "That's going to really help ... keep things here at Wallops moving," Culbertson said.

The Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island currently holds two Antares rockets slated for the OA-8 and OA-9 missions.

Orbital's plan is "to build two at a time, basically, and we plan to have them ready in advance of when they are needed," Eberly said.

The rocket for the OA-8 mission is ready for the Cygnus cargo module to be installed, putting it at about the three-week mark from readiness for launch.

"We're at that milestone now, so we'll be ready for September; we'll even be ready a little earlier if they need us in the August time frame," he said.

Data from the last ISS mission launched from Wallops in October the first mission using the Antares' new stage one engines has been analyzed and the verdict is "it was a very clean mission," Eberly said.

The engines have 13 percent higher thrust than the ones formerly used on Antares and they come with 10 seconds of additional specific impulse a measure of how efficiently the propellants are burned.

The improved performance will allow each future mission to carry more cargo the next two missions are each scheduled to carry 3,350 kilograms of cargo and by the OA-11 mission, the goal is to carry 3,500 kilograms.

In addition to the cargo supply missions, the company is hoping Antares will be on track to perform other NASA missions in the future, Eberly said.

Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space, said the launch pad for OA-8 should be in launch configuration by the end of July.

"The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport ... is ready to support the upcoming OA-8 mission," said Nash.

READ MORE:1st in flight: Va. governor opens Wallops drone facility

Launch pad O-A, the pad used for the Antares launches, after the last mission in October, "came through that very well," Nash said, adding, "There's always some wear and tear as you come through the mission, but it came through in remarkably good shape."

Among reasons for the good result is that with the new, more powerful engines, the rocket got off the launch pad "very fast the faster it can get off, the less damage you have," Nash said.

Additionally, the spaceport goes through a thorough analysis after each launch, including looking at where the pad was damaged, and "we harden the launch pad."

The spaceport advertises that it can support a 30-day turnaround between launches from both launchpads it operates one for liquid-fueled rockets like Antares and the other for solid-fueled rockets.

"We probably could have done it quicker on the last one," Nash said.

The spaceport is at the point now where it has proven performance under its belt.

Nash mentioned by way of example two successful high-profile missions launched there within days of each other in September 2013.

"We have already proven that we can launch off launchpad A to the International Space Station and then, 12 days later, launch a mission to the moon off launchpad B."

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Next Wallops mission to International Space Station set for September - Delmarva Daily Times

GREENVILLE, S.C.

If you looked up at the right time Monday night, you might have been able to see the International Space Station fly over.

The space station was visible starting at 9:43 p.m. in Greenville and Asheville and the surrounding areas. Weather permitting, it was visible in the northwest sky for about three minutes.

It moved across the sky and pass out of sight at 9:47 p.m.

The space station looked like a small, bright star moving across the sky. It was traveling at more than 17,000 mph as it passes by. It only takes 90 minutes for the laboratory to make a complete circuit of Earth. Astronauts working and living on the station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.

The Expedition 52 crew of two NASA astronauts and one cosmonaut from Russia's space corporation, Roscosmos, is in its second week aboard the International Space Station.

To track the International Space Station, click here.

The tracker, developed by the European Space Agency, shows where the space station is right now and its path 90 minutes ago and 90 minutes ahead. Because of the Earth's rotation the space station appears to travel from west to east.

Read more here:

Space station flyover visible from Greenville, Asheville tonight - WYFF Greenville

At 9:43 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2017 the ISS will fly over Asheville, and if you know where to look, you can see it fly by. It will look like a bright, fast-moving star. (Image credit: MGN)

At 9:43 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2017 the ISS will fly over Asheville, and if you know where to look, you can see it fly by.

It will look like a bright, fast-moving star.

If skies are clear in your area, look northwest at 9:43 and wait for the ISS to clear the horizon. This pass will move out of sight into the southeast, and the ISS will be visible for about three minutes.

The ISS travels at about 17,150 mph as it flies by, and you can view how many people are aboard it right here.

You can track where the ISS is here. There's even a livecam on the ISS, and you can see what the international astronauts are seeing here.

(If you're seeing this story ahead of the flyover, a good way to remember to watch the ISS is to set an alarm on your cell phone.)

Go here to see the original:

LOOK UP! The International Space Station flies over Asheville Monday night - WLOS

Sometimes the stars align just right and for Graham Truelove, a fan of both music and the International Space Station, this week is one of those times.

By happenstance, the ISS will be traveling above Chattanooga every night of Riverbend, meaning fans watching the show can look to the heavens at just the right time to see the ship fly over, weather permitting, of course. It will happentonightat9:42and will be visable for four minutes. There will be another good opportunityon Wednesday.

"We saw iton Fridayduring Boz Scaggs," Truelove said.

"I told everyone around us and they didn't believe me, but they were impressed. People like science I guess."

Tonight, the ISS will come from the north traveling towards the east. Riverbend moves to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevardtonight, so you will have to turn around to see it. "When the music is on the Coke Stage, you just have to look up," Truelove said.

Normally, the ISS is viewable a couple a nights a month. It's rare to see it this many days in a row, Truelove says.

"It's just an accident of science that it is viewable during the entire Riverbend festival."

He said his family has been following the ISS for 25 years. You can check for information and the station's path atspotthestation.nasa.gov.

Follow this link:

View the International Space Station during Riverbend - Chattanooga Times Free Press

BBC News

Space station pictured crossing sun from Guernsey BBC News A rare series of clear photos of the International Space Station (ISS) crossing the face of the sun have been taken in the Channel Islands. David Le Conte took the five images from an observatory in Guernsey on 10 June. He managed to take the pictures ... Incredible image shows International Space Station passing in front of the sunTelegraph.co.uk INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATIONDaily Mail Astronauts can soon bake crumb-free bread on International Space StationFinancial Express Eyewitness News -collectSPACE.com -Southgate Amateur Radio Club all 15 news articles »

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Space station pictured crossing sun from Guernsey - BBC News

China will open its space station to scientists worldwide after the station is completed around 2022, according to a Chinese space expert.

Wei Chuanfeng, a researcher at the Institute of Manned Space System Engineering under the China Academy of Space Technology, said the China Manned Space Engineering Office has drafted a strategic framework with United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to offer opportunities on the application of Chinese space station to members of United Nations.

Wei made the remarks on Thursday at the 2017 Global Space Exploration Conference, which was held in Beijing.

Under the framework, China will open its experimental resources on the Chinese space station to serve payloads from other countries. UN members, especially developing countries, could conduct scientific and technological experiment on Chinese space station, Wei said.

China's first astronaut Yang Liwei, who is also deputy director of China Manned Space Engineering Office, said the nation would launch the first core module of the space station in 2019, followed by two experiment modules. The space station will enable astronauts to stay in space for up to six months.

At the conference, the designers behind the Chinese space station proposed possible technical approaches that could help scientists from other countries utilize and perform experiments on the space station. China will also help astronauts and payloads specialists from developing countries to enter into space, Wei said.

The Chinese space station will be composed of three modules, including a core module and two experiment modules. The space station will have three docking sites, enabling the dock and berth of the "Shenzhou" manned spacecraft, the "Tianzhou" cargo spacecraft and other vehicles, according to Wei.

Source: Xinhua News

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China to open space station to scientists worldwide - Space Daily - Space Daily

China will develop and launch a two-meter-caliber space telescope, which will share the same orbit with the country's future space station, said Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Agency.

The telescope will dock with the co-orbital space station for refueling as well as maintenance and exchange, Yang revealed at the ongoing Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2017) which began Tuesday in Beijing.

Used for large-scale, multi-color imaging and seamless spectroscope surveying, the space telescope is expected to provide observation data for astronomical and physical studies, said Yang, who is also China's first astronaut.

China will launch the core module of the country's manned space station in 2019 as the first step in completing the country's first space outpost.

The station, expected to begin operation by 2022 and orbit for at least 10 years, will be composed of three modules: core module, experiment module I and experiment module II. Each module will weigh more than 20 tonnes and together the three will be structured in a T shape, with the core module in the middle and an experiment module on each side.

The three modules will be equipped with advanced multipurpose facilities for scientific experiments in many fields, including space life science and biotechnology, microgravity fluid physics and combustion, and material science in space, Yang said.

With the International Space Station set to retire in 2024, the Chinese space station will offer a promising alternative, and China will be the only country with a permanent space station.

The station, orbiting 340 to 450 kilometers above the Earth's surface, will usually accommodate three crew members, with a maximum crew capacity up to six during rotations, Yang said.

The crew will be transported to the station by Shenzhou spaceships, and airtight cargo, large extravehicular payloads and experiment platform will be delivered by cargo ships, he said.

China sent its first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into space in April. Cargo ships will be sent to help maintain a space station.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

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If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

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China's space station to help maintain co-orbital telescope - Space Daily

SpaceX is scheduled to launch its Dragon spacecraft for its eleventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station June 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39A. Dragon will lift into orbit atop the Falcon 9 rocket carrying crew supplies, equipment and scientific research to crew members living aboard the station. The flight will deliver investigations and facilities that study neutron stars, osteoporosis, solar panels, tools for Earth-observation, and more.

New solar panels test concept for more efficient power source

Solar panels are an efficient way to generate power, but they can be delicate and large when used to power a spacecraft or satellites. They are often tightly stowed for launch and then must be unfolded when the spacecraft reaches orbit. The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA), is a solar panel concept that is lighter and stores more compactly for launch than the rigid solar panels currently in use. ROSA has solar cells on a flexible blanket and a framework that rolls out like a tape measure. The technology for ROSA is one of two new solar panel concepts that were developed by the Solar Electric Propulsion project, sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.

The new solar panel concepts are intended to provide power to electric thrusters for use on NASA's future space vehicles for operations near the Moon and for missions to Mars and beyond. They might also be used to power future satellites in Earth orbit, including more powerful commercial communications satellites. The demonstration of the deployment of ROSA on the space station is sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Investigation studies composition of neutron stars

Neutron stars, the glowing cinders left behind when massive stars explode as supernovas, are the densest objects in the universe, and contain exotic states of matter that are impossible to replicate in any ground lab. These stars are called "pulsars" because of the unique way they emit light - in a beam similar to a lighthouse beacon. As the star spins, the light sweeps past us, making it appear as if the star is pulsing. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload, affixed to the exterior of the space station, studies the physics of these stars, providing new insight into their nature and behavior.

Neutron stars emit X-ray radiation, enabling the NICER technology to observe and record information about its structure, dynamics and energetics. In addition to studying the matter within the neutron stars, the payload also includes a technology demonstration called the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT), which will help researchers to develop a pulsar-based, space navigation system. Pulsar navigation could work similarly to GPS on Earth, providing precise position for spacecraft throughout the solar system.

Investigation studies effect of new drug on osteoporosis

When people and animals spend extended periods of time in space, they experience bone density loss, or osteoporosis. In-flight countermeasures, such as exercise, prevent it from getting worse, but there isn't a therapy on Earth or in space that can restore bone that is already lost. The Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for osteoporosis (Rodent Research-5) investigation tests a new drug that can both rebuild bone and block further bone loss, improving health for crew members.

Exposure to microgravity creates a rapid change in bone health, similar to what happens in certain bone-wasting diseases, during extended bed rest and during the normal aging process. The results from this ISS National Laboratory-sponsored investigation build on previous research also supported by the National Institutes for Health and could lead to new drugs for treating bone density loss in millions of people on Earth.

Research seeks to understand the heart of the matter

Exposure to reduced gravity environments can result in cardiovascular changes such as fluid shifts, changes in total blood volume, heartbeat and heart rhythm irregularities, and diminished aerobic capacity. The Fruit Fly Lab-02 study will use the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to better understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the adverse effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity on the heart. Flies are smaller, with a well-known genetic make-up, and very rapid aging that make them good models for studying heart function. This experiment will help to develop a microgravity heart model in the fruit fly. Such a model could significantly advance the study of spaceflight effects on the cardiovascular system and facilitate the development of countermeasures to prevent the adverse effects of space travel on astronauts.

Investigation shapes the way humans survive in space

Currently, the life-support systems aboard the space station require special equipment to separate liquids and gases. This technology utilizes rotating and moving parts that, if broken or otherwise compromised, could cause contamination aboard the station. The Capillary Structures investigation studies a new method of water recycling and carbon dioxide removal using structures designed in specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures. As opposed to the expensive, machine-based processes currently in use aboard the station, the Capillary Structures equipment is made up of small, 3-D printed geometric shapes of varying sizes that clip into place.

Using time lapse photography, on-ground research teams will observe how liquids evaporate from these capillary structures, testing the effectiveness of the varying parameters. Results from the investigation could lead to the development of new processes that are simple, trustworthy, and highly reliable in the case of an electrical failure or other malfunction.

Facility provides platform for Earth-observation tools

Orbiting approximately 250 miles above the Earth's surface, the space station provides views of the Earth below like no other location can provide. The Multiple User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) facility, developed by Teledyne Brown Engineering, hosts Earth-viewing instruments such as high-resolution digital cameras, hyperspectral imagers, and provides precision pointing and other accommodations.

This National Lab-sponsored investigation can produce data to be used for maritime domain awareness, agricultural awareness, food security, disaster response, air quality, oil and gas exploration and fire detection.

These investigations will join many other investigations currently happening aboard the space station. Follow @ISS_Research for more information about the science happening on station.

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NASA: SpaceX Dragon to Deliver Ground-Breaking Science Research to Space Station --"Neutron Stars to Human ... - The Daily Galaxy (blog)