NASA Astronauts Begin Urgent Spacewalking Repairs

Posted on by

Astronauts removed an old space station pump Saturday, sailing through the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line.

The two Americans on the crew, Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, successfully pulled out the ammonia pump with a bad valve well ahead of schedule. That task had been planned for the next spacewalk, originally scheduled for Monday but now delayed until Tuesday, Christmas Eve, because of the need for a suit swap.

"An early Christmas," observed Mission Control as Mastracchio tugged the refrigerator-size pump away from its nesting spot.

If Mastracchio and Hopkins keep up the quick work, two spacewalks may be enough to complete the installation of a spare pump and a third spacewalk will not be needed as originally anticipated.

Several hours after Saturday's spacewalk ended, Mission Control bumped spacewalk 2 to Tuesday to give Mastracchio enough time to prepare a spare suit. His original suit was compromised when he inadvertently turned on a water switch in the air lock at the end of Saturday's excursion. NASA officials said Saturday night that it's unclear whether a third spacewalk will be needed and when it might occur, if required. A third spacewalk had been slated for Christmas Day before the latest turn of events. NASA requires a day off between spacewalks for astronaut rest.

The space station breakdown 10 days earlier left one of two identical cooling loops too cold and forced the astronauts to turn off all nonessential equipment inside the orbiting lab, bringing scientific research to a near-halt and leaving the station in a vulnerable state.

Mission Control wanted to keep the spacewalkers out even longer Saturday to get even further ahead, but a cold and uncomfortable Mastracchio requested to go back. The spacewalk ended after 5 hours, an hour short on time but satisfyingly long on content.

Earlier, Mastracchio managed to unhook all the ammonia fluid and electrical lines on the pump with relative ease, occasionally releasing a flurry of frozen ammonia flakes that brushed against his suit. A small O-ring floated away, but he managed to retrieve it.

"I got it, I got it, I got it. Barely," Mastracchio said as he stretched out his hand.

"Don't let that go, that's a stocking stuffer," Mission Control replied.

Visit link:

NASA Astronauts Begin Urgent Spacewalking Repairs

NASA Astronauts Begin Urgent Spacewalks

Posted on by

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) Astronauts ventured out Saturday on the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line at the International Space Station.

The two Americans on the crew, Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, will need to perform two and, quite possibly, three spacewalks to replace an ammonia pump containing a bad valve.

Next will be one Monday, followed by the third on Christmas Day.

The breakdown 10 days ago left one of two identical cooling loops too cold and forced the astronauts to turn off all nonessential equipment inside the orbiting lab, bringing scientific research to a near-halt and leaving the station in a vulnerable state.

Mastracchio, making his seventh spacewalk, and Hopkins, making his first, wore extra safety gear as they floated outside. NASA wanted to prevent a recurrence of the helmet flooding that nearly drowned an astronaut last summer, so Saturdays spacewalkers had snorkels in their suits and water-absorbant pads in their helmets.

Beautiful day, Mastracchio said as the orbiting complex approached the west coast of Africa.

And then: The ammonia tank over here looks familiar.

The pump replacement is a huge undertaking attempted only once before, back in 2010. The two astronauts who tackled the job three years ago were in Mission Control, offering guidance, as Saturdays drama unfolded 260 miles up.

The 780-pound pump is about the size of a double-door refrigerator and extremely cumbersome to handle, with plumbing full of toxic ammonia. NASAs plan fine-tuned over the past several days called for the pump to be disconnected Saturday, pulled out Monday and a fresh spare put in, and then all the hookups of the new pump completed Wednesday.

It would be the first Christmas spacewalk ever for NASA.

Read more:

NASA Astronauts Begin Urgent Spacewalks

Molecular Medicine PhD Program – Graduate Training in …

Posted on by

The Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic is home to the Molecular Medicine Ph.D. Program. The Cleveland Clinic is consistently rated among the top 4 U.S. Hospitals according to U.S. News & World Report and has been rated #1 in cardiac care for 18 consecutive years. Molecular Medicine Ph.D. students train in a state-of-the-art facility with over 700,000 square feet of research space and nearly 200 investigators.

The Molecular Medicine Ph.D. Program integrates medical knowledge into graduate training. The goal of this program is to train research scientists who are effective members of translational research teams working along side physicians. Our students are engaged in basic or applied research that is relevant to human health and can lead to new understanding of disease, clinical and diagnostic tools, medications, and therapies.

Molecular Medicine Ph.D. students have the opportunity to learn from faculty members at the Lerner Research Institute, the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University. Our students focus on medically relevant research and train with research leaders in their fields of study as well as world-class clinicians.

We encourage all interested applicants to visit our FAQ's. If you have additional questions regarding the application process, please feel free to contact us!

View original post here:

Molecular Medicine PhD Program - Graduate Training in ...

Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine – Home

Posted on by

The mission of the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM) is to undertake internationally competitive research into the processes underlying normal cell and molecular biology and to determine the mechanisms by which these processes are perturbed in inherited and acquired human diseases. It is also our mission to translate this research to improve human health. The WIMM is uniquely placed among biomedical institutes throughout the world in its pioneering vision of combining outstanding clinical research with excellent basic science. The WIMM Faculty currently includes an equal mixture of scientists and clinicians working together and in collaboration with the National Institute of Health Research, the NHS and commercial companies with the aim of improving the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. The major topics of current research include haematology, immunology, stem cell biology, oncology and inherited human genetic diseases.

The Institute values communication with members of the broader scientific community and the general public and with the support of the MRC we have commissioned three short videos to explain our mission.

The following awards and a fellowship have recently been announced for WIMM researchers. Andrew Wilkie - Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award, Alison Simmons -Wellcome Trust New Investigator Award, Adam Mead - MRC Senior Clinical Fellowship, Rui Monteiro - BHF Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship, Marella de Bruijn, Catherine Porcher and Wojciech Niedzwiedz have all been awarded the title of University Research Lecturer in ...

News Archive

Grade 6: Salary 26,527 - 31,644 p.a. We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Research Assistant to work under the direct supervision of Dr Rui Monteiro. The post is funded by the British Heart Foundation until December 2017 with an immediate start. Dr Monteiro works in the Stem Cell Ontogeny Group of Professor Roger Patient within the Molecular Haematology Unit and is interested in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms ...

Continue reading here:

Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine - Home

Unsung Hero: Piano teacher has coached children for 50 years

Posted on by

Unsung Hero: Berrylands piano teacher has coached children for 50 years

6:00am Sunday 22nd December 2013 in News By Eleanor Steafel

A piano teacher has coached children to prizewinning success for half a century, and even helps organise the music festival they enter.

Mavis Wilton, who has lived in Berrylands for more than 50 years, has spent that time giving piano lessons after making her mind up in 1943.

She said: It certainly doesnt feel like 50 years, but this is a dream that I have been playing out since I was 10 years old, when I decided I wanted to be a piano teacher.

My piano teacher used to visit. She used to have a music case bulging with new music.

Now I have got drawers full of lovely new music ready for teaching.

Miss Wilton, 80, said she knew she wanted to play the instrument for a living when she took part in the Kingston Performing Arts Festival as a child.

She said: I actually entered the competition myself in 1942 when I was nine years old and still at school.

Now I have pupils of my own in the festival every year and my daughter has carried on the tradition too.

More here:

Unsung Hero: Piano teacher has coached children for 50 years

20 for the 20th: Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine – Video

Posted on by


20 for the 20th: Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Susan Hilsenbeck, the first biostatistician on the Scientific Advisory Board, passes the V to Dr. Trey Westbrook, V Scholar recipient, and Dr. Lisa Wang,...

By: The V Foundation for Cancer Research

Read the original:

20 for the 20th: Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine - Video