Monthly Archives: November 2012

Dragon #39;s Safe Return on This Week @NASA
The SpaceX Dragon capsule that splashed down Sunday in the Pacific off Mexico #39;s Baja California coast is back on dry land. Its recovery ship returned the spacecraft to San Pedro, California, laden with more than 3-quarters of a ton of cargo from the International Space Station, much of it related to science experiments conducted in space to benefit us here on Earth. Also, successful spacewalk; Endeavour #39;s new digs; Atlantis #39; final move; KSC #39;s future; Curiosity report; and more!From:MysteriesHunterViews:0 0ratingsTime:09:39More inScience Technology

Continued here:
Dragon's Safe Return on This Week @NASA - Video

Sunita Williams on the International Space Station OR4ISS
ARISS school contact HB9TSO with International Space Station OR4ISS. This QSO was listetning in Croatia on 145.800 MHz FM, 2nd of Nov. 2012, More info http://www.ariss-eu.orgFrom:losradiofanatikViews:5 0ratingsTime:06:38More inScience Technology

Original post:
Sunita Williams on the International Space Station OR4ISS - Video

SS13 Memorial Drydock Kappa! P1
Space Station 13! Here we are at station "Memorial Drydock Kappa", this is part 1 of 3 on Kappa, And we finally have some audio, too.From:Trevor RobertsViews:0 0ratingsTime:11:12More inGaming

See more here:
SS13 Memorial Drydock Kappa! P1 - Video

Good news, space nerds! NASA will forward viewing info to your phone.

This composite of 70 exposures shows the trail of the ISS (with gaps between exposures) as it moved left to right over the city of Tbingen in southern Germany on February 7, 2008. As seen from Tbingen, the passage took about 4 minutes. (Till Credner via NASA)

The International Space Station is, after the sun and the moon, the third brightest object in the sky. If you know where to look for it, you can easily see it -- no telescope required.But: if you know where to look for it. Since the station takes different orbital paths as it circles the planet, its position in the sky at any given moment is hard to know for sure.

You know who always knows where the ISS is, though? NASA. Several times a week, Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston determines sighting opportunities for 4,600 locations worldwide -- places from which the space station is visible for a long distance. Now, NASA is publicizing that list. Spot the Station lets you sign up for email or text-message alerts that will let you know, a few hours before the fact, when the ISS will be passing over your area.

"This service will only notify you of 'good' sighting opportunities, NASA says -- "sightings that are high enough in the sky (40 degrees or more) and last long enough to give you the best view of the orbiting laboratory." That viewing opportunity could come as often as once or twice a week or as rarely as once or twice a month, depending on the Earth's rotation and on sky clarity. (So "don't worry," NASA says, "if there are big gaps in between sightings!")

I just signed up for the service. For Washington, D.C., Spot the Station offered location options down to the neighborhood level. And it allowed me to choose morning or evening sighting opportunities. (I chose both, because why not.) We'll see how well it works. For the moment, though, it's a nice, thoughtful feature: a way to take work that NASA is already doing ... and transform it into public wonder and goodwill.

More From The Atlantic

Read more from the original source:
When the International Space Station Passes Over Your House, NASA Will Send You a Text Message

This story was updated at 3:25 p.m. EDT.

NASA's first commercial cargo flight ended with a splash today (Oct. 28), when the SpaceX Dragon capsule landed after a landmark mission to the International Space Station.

The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the U.S. company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California at 3:22 p.m. EDT (1922 GMT), ending a three-week visit to the orbiting laboratory.

Dragon began its descent with a de-orbit burn at 2:28 p.m. EDT (1828 GMT), after departing the station at 9:29 a.m. EDT (1329 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 255 miles (410 kilometers) above Burma. The station's crew used the outpost's robotic arm to release the spacecraft.

"It was nice while she was on board. We tamed her [and] took her home," space station commander Sunita Williams of NASA radioed Mission Control in Houston as the Dragon capsule departed. "Literally and figuratively, there are pieces of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth."

The Dragon capsule is returning hundreds ofastronaut blood and urine samples from the space station amid the 1,673 pounds (758 kilograms) of experiments and gear loaded on board. Some of those samples have been waiting for more than a year. NASA's final space shuttle mission landed in July 2011, leaving the agency without a way to return big cargo deliveries to Earth until Dragon's flight. [Photos: Dragon's 1st Space Cargo Delivery]

The spacecraft is expected to be retrieved by a SpaceX recovery crew so the cargo can be delivered to NASA. The mission is the first of 12 commercial resupply flights by SpaceX under a $1.6 billion deal with NASA.

The Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX (short for Space Exploration Technologies) launched the Dragon capsule toward the space station on Oct. 7 using one of the company's own Falcon 9 rockets and a pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The capsule was packed with 882 pounds (400 kg) of supplies to for the station, including 260 pounds (117 kg) of crew gear, 390 pounds (176 kg) of scientific equipment, 225 pounds (102 kg) of hardware and several pounds of other cargo, NASA officials said.

The cargo returning home on Dragon are 163 pounds (74 kg) of crew supplies, 866 pounds (392 kg) of scientific research and 518 pounds (235 kg) of other hardware, they added.

SpaceX is the first robotic spacecraft ever to be capable of returning cargo to Earth.

Link:
Private SpaceX Capsule Lands After Historic Mission to Space Station

Galactic tourism may still be a daydream for most of us, but for anyone interested in a glimpse of the International Space Station sooner, NASA is ready to help.

The US space agency, celebrating the 12th anniversary of astronauts living and working on the orbiting lab, launched a new service Friday that alerts people when the space station is visible from their back yard.

Those who sign up will get an email or a text message with a few hours warning.

Then, when the moment is right, NASA said, you just go outside and look up -- no fancy equipment required.

"It's really remarkable to see the space station fly overhead and to realize humans built an orbital complex that can be spotted from Earth by almost anyone looking up at just the right moment," William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said in a statement.

The space station is typically visible right at dawn or dusk, when the moon is the only brighter object visible in the night sky, NASA said.

It looks like a fast moving point of light, similar to Venus.

"Spot the Station" service is available worldwide, the agency said, adding the station's trajectory carries it over more than 90 percent of the Earth's population.

To sign up, visit spotthestation.nasa.gov.

This March 7, 2011 NASA image shows a close-up view of the International Space Station photographed by an STS-133 crew member on the space shuttle Discovery. The US space agency, celebrating the 12th anniversary of astronauts living and working on the orbiting lab, launched a new service Friday that alerts people when the space station is visible from their backyard.

View original post here:
NASA launches alerts for spotting space station

Galactic tourism may still be a daydream for most of us, but for anyone interested in a glimpse of the International Space Station sooner, NASA is ready to help.

The US space agency, celebrating the 12th anniversary of astronauts living and working on the orbiting lab, launched a new service on Friday that alerts people when the space station is visible from their backyard.

Those who sign up will get an email or a text message with a few hours warning.

Then, when the moment is right, NASA said, you just go outside and look up - no fancy equipment required.

'It's really remarkable to see the space station fly overhead and to realise humans built an orbital complex that can be spotted from Earth by almost anyone looking up at just the right moment,' William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said in a statement.

The space station is typically visible right at dawn or dusk, when the moon is the only brighter object visible in the night sky, NASA said.

It looks like a fast moving point of light, similar to Venus.

'Spot the Station' service is available worldwide, the agency said, adding the station's trajectory carries it over more than 90 per cent of the Earth's population.

To sign up, visit spotthestation.nasa.gov.

Read more:
NASA launches Space Station alert

In this photo, Expedition 1 crew members (from left to right) Commander Bill Shepherd, and Flight Engineers Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev pose with a model of their home away from home (Nov. 2, 2000). Image Credit: NASA

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

The International Space Station (ISS) officially opened for business twelve years ago today, marking a milestone in international efforts to expand life beyond Earth.

Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev (Expedition 1) made history on November 2, 2000 when their Russian Soyuz capsule docked with the orbiting lab, making them the first crew to live and work on the space station.

From the moment the crew entered the space station, there have been people living and working in orbit ever since. The crew has been operational inside the laboratory now for 4,383 days, and counting.

The space station is a collaborative effort of five space agencies, representing 15 nations. Construction on the station first began in November, 1998, when the Zarya module was delivered.

Like satellites, the orbiting laboratory can be spotted in the night sky, without the use of any specialized equipment.

Over the past 12 years, the station has seen many records broken, including the record of being continuously occupied. Russias Mir space station held the previous record after it had been in operation for 10 years.

Sergei Krikalev holds the record for the most time spent in space, lasting a total of 803 days and 9 hours and 39 minutes. Commander Michael Fincke is the U.S. space endurance record holder, with a total of 382 days.

The space station has also hosted the first space tourists, which are people who pay their own way to get into space. So far, the ISS has hosted seven space tourists, reaching the station via Russias Soyuz crafts.

View original post here:
Space Station Celebrates 12 Years Of Operation