Earth Day 2014 Space Station Live: Earth Observation From Space #GlobalSelfie #EarthRightNow – Video

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Earth Day 2014 Space Station Live: Earth Observation From Space #GlobalSelfie #EarthRightNow
Space Station Live commentator Kyle Herring interviews Dr. William Stefanov from the Earth Science Remote Sensing Unit at Johnson Space Center about Earth Observations from space and methods...

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Space station astronauts pop outside to replace crippled computer

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SANS - Survey on application security programs

Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station have taken a wander over the outside of the station to replace a critical backup computer that conked out.

NASA doesn't do beige boxes, it prefers grey

Flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson swapped out the multiplexer/demultiplexer (MDM) control box in a 90 minute space walk along the side of the ISS. The computer is the backup controller for the station's robotic arm, solar panel controls, and railway system* and failed on April 11 during testing.

The microwave oven-sized grey control box is designed to be switched out easily, given a working environment that makes most Earthbound data centers look pleasant. The MDM has seven four-pin connectors on its base and is fixed with three retaining bolts, so the team simply slid the old one out and replaced it with a spare unit.

After completing the switchover, the unit was tested by crew inside the ISS to make sure all functions were normal. Meanwhile,Mastracchio trimmed a sheet of thermal shielding to protect the unit against heat stress as it moves in and out of sunlight.

"Nice and clean. Great job," Mission control's Jeremy Hansen told the crew after they completed the job in less than half the time allotted.

Although the main external MDM is still working fine, NASA believes in having backup systems ready at all times. The ISS has nearly 50 of the boxes spotted around the station, each handling critical systems, with primary control boxes having between two and four backup MDMs ready to take over.

The spacewalk was made possible thanks to equipment delivered to the ISS by SpaceX's Dragon capsule on Easter Sunday. The 5,000 pounds of cargo delivered included a replacement top half of one of the space suits needed to survive outside of the space station, and replacement parts for the rest, including new cooling units.

Last year, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano nearly drowned on a spacewalk after his suit's cooling system started venting coolant into his helmet. Just to be on the safe side, both Mastracchio and Swanson both wore helmets padded with absorbent material and with snorkels built in to allow for extra breathing time if problems should reoccur, Reuters reports.

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Space station astronauts pop outside to replace crippled computer

Astronauts replace computer outside space station

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Flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson left the station's Quest airlock just after 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) for what was expected to be a 2-1/2-hour spacewalk. They carried with them a spare computer to be installed in the central section of the station's exterior power truss.

"It looks like a great day to take a walk in space," Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed to the crew from NASA's Mission Control in Houston.

NASA scheduled the abbreviated outing - most U.S. spacewalks last more than six hours - after the computer failed on April 11.

Replacing the computer is "pretty straightforward," astronaut and former space station crewmember Chris Cassidy said in an interview last week on NASA Television.

"We anticipate it to go quickly, but as with anything in space operations ... you never know what's going to be thrown at you," Cassidy said.

Except for emergency repairs, such as the computer replacement, NASA spacewalks remain suspended while engineers continue to assess the spacesuit failure last year that caused the helmet worn by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano to fill with water, nearly drowning him.

The leak was later traced to a blocked filter. NASA flew new parts to the station for astronauts to make spacesuit repairs. Before two emergency spacewalks in December to fix the station's cooling system, astronauts also outfitted their helmets with absorbent pads and snorkels for breathing if the leak reoccurred.

Those spacewalks were completed with no problems. Mastracchio, who is making his ninth spacewalk, and Swanson, on his fifth, also included the snorkels and pads in their helmets for Wednesday's outing.

A new spacesuit was among the cargo aboard the Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon capsule that reached the station on Sunday.

NASA expects to resume routine spacewalks for maintenance and less-pressing repairs in July.

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Astronauts replace computer outside space station

SpaceX opens doors at Stennis

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HANCOCK COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -

It was an event in Hancock County that could one day send men further into space than ever before. Monday afternoon the ribbon was cut for a new program to test rocket components for SpaceX, a commercial space flight company. The test program is an important step towards the future of space travel.

It's high tech gadgetry that will test rockets that could eventually blast astronauts to Mars.

"SpaceX and others like them, with the help of NASA, will one day take man to Mars and bring him back safely, but you know and I know they are going to have to pass through Hancock County to get there," said Governor Phil Bryant.

Work crews have spent the past several months modifying the E-2 test stand at Stennis Space Center. The stand will test a methane powered rocket engine. Company leaders say there will be nothing else like it in the world.

"What looks like a modest E-2 test stand, but actually it's going to be one of the most capable high pressured test facilities on the planet," said SpaceX President and COO, Gwynne Shotwell.

Rep. Steven Palazzo, who is chairman of the congressional space subcommittee, says it's partnerships between NASA and commercial companies like SpaceX that will help the nation regain space superiority.

"Most Americans have no idea we are currently paying the Russians $70 million a seat to maintain a U.S. presence on the International Space Station. U.S. leadership in space is not just a matter of national pride but a matter of national security," said Palazzo.

Initially, SpaceX will employ a handful of people at Stennis, but the company hopes to increase its staff as the need for its product grows.

SpaceX hopes to send its first manned flight to Mars within the next 13 to 15 years.

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SpaceX opens doors at Stennis

Space station astronauts step outside to replace dead computer

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In a spacewalk lasting less than an hour, two members aboard the International Space Station successfully restoreda critical computer system.

A pair of NASA astronauts replaced a dead backup computer on the International Space Station during a short spacewalk Wednesday (April 23) to restore a critical computer system back to full strength.

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NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson made quick work of their repair during the spacewalk, removing the faulty station computer and installing a spare less than an hour after floating outside the orbiting laboratory at 9:56 a.m. EDT (1356 GMT).

"It looks like a good day for you guys to take a walk in space," Mission Control radioed the astronauts as the spacewalk began. The spacewalk was slated to last only 2.5 hours. [See photos from today's spacewalk]

Mastracchio and Swanson replaced a computer known in NASA parlance as a Multiplexer-Demultiplexer, or MDM. The device is a backup computer for routing commands to systems supporting the space station's solar arrays, robotic arm rail car and other critical systems along the station's backbone-like main truss.

The 10-year-oldMDM computer failed on April 11during a standard test. The primary computer in the system is working fine, but NASA station flight controllers ordered today's repair spacewalk to restore redundancy in the system.

"Looks like we've got a new MDM," Mastracchio said as he finished the job.

A quick test showed the new computer was working fine.

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Space station astronauts step outside to replace dead computer

Apollo 16 LEM Photo Is Proof Of NASA Photoshop, April 23, 2014, UFO Sighting News. – Video

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Apollo 16 LEM Photo Is Proof Of NASA Photoshop, April 23, 2014, UFO Sighting News.
Date of discovery: April 2014 Source LEM photo: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/AS16-118-18894HR.jpg Details: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/ I found this photo and was confused at why space...

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Andrew Chaikin – NASA Consultant, Acclaimed Author of Man on the Moon – Video

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Andrew Chaikin - NASA Consultant, Acclaimed Author of Man on the Moon
Andrew Chaikin -NASA Consultant, Acclaimed Author, and Internationally Renowned Space Expert. Andrew Chaikin knows space like no one else. Author of A Man on the Moon, the definitive history...

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