Daily Archives: December 20, 2012

VVVVVV (1): Space Station One
Up up and away! No, wait, back down. No, back up again? What? Wait, there #39;s just a cat sitting on the V key. Let #39;s hurry and get back to our ship. Game info here: thelettervsixtim.es Soundtrack here: http://www.souleye.se Preview tracks heard in the video here: souleyedigitalmusic.bandcamp.com souleyedigitalmusic.bandcamp.comFrom:SAPhiggleViews:112 4ratingsTime:08:31More inGaming

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VVVVVV (1): Space Station One - Video

ISS Update: Plants in Space
NASA Public Affairs Officer Kelly Humphries talks with Camille Alleyne, International Space Station Program Scientist, about the plant research taking place aboard the station. Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul, a research associate professor from the University of Florida, joins the conversation by phone to discuss the Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System experiment.From:ReelNASAViews:804 28ratingsTime:15:52More inScience Technology

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ISS Update: Plants in Space - Video

New Trio Launches to Join Expedition 34
The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 7:12 am EST on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Credit: NASAFrom:Michael500caViews:0 0ratingsTime:03:47More inScience Technology

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New Trio Launches to Join Expedition 34 - Video

Event - Expedition 34/35 Launch with astronaut Chris Hadfield
The CSA celebrated the launch of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to the International Space Station during a media event hosted by astronauts Robert Thirsk and David Saint-Jacques. Hadfield, NASA #39;s Tom Marshburn and Russia #39;s Roman Romanenko #39;s Soyuz spacecraft launched on December 19, 2012 from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. http://www.asc-csa.gc.caFrom:canadianspaceagencyViews:22 3ratingsTime:32:30More inScience Technology

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Event - Expedition 34/35 Launch with astronaut Chris Hadfield - Video

Let #39;s Fail Kerbal Space Program! Episode 20ish!
Did you enjoy this video? Please subscribe and like if you did! I may be stalling because I never hit the fucking space station... Where you can find me: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com My Blog: http://www.hxgdan.blogspot.com Twitch : http://www.twitch.tv What is Kerbal Space Program? It #39;s a fun/goofy space game (and to an extent, a simulator) about Kerbals (The little green characters) building space ships. Buy it at: http://www.kerbalspaceprogram.comFrom:HxgDanViews:7 2ratingsTime:22:07More inGaming

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Let's Fail Kerbal Space Program! Episode 20ish! - Video

Three astronauts blast off for ISS in Russian craft
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying Russian, American and Canadian astronauts blasted off on Wednesday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan bound for the International Space Station (ISS).From:Emirates247channelViews:269 1ratingsTime:00:48More inNews Politics

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Three astronauts blast off for ISS in Russian craft - Video

Soyuz TMA-07M Blasts Off to the Space Station | NASA ISS Expedition 34 Video
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - Wednesday, Dec. 19; the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the Space Station. Please rate and comment, thanks! Video Credits NASAFrom:CoconutScienceLabViews:1 0ratingsTime:03:47More inScience Technology

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Soyuz TMA-07M Blasts Off to the Space Station | NASA ISS Expedition 34 Video - Video

Now that Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has embarked on a six-month mission to the International Space Station, earthlings wanting to catch a glimpse of the orbital research laboratory can easily see it if they know where to look.

Orbiting a mere 370 kilometres above the Earth, the ISS can easily be seen by the naked eye as it passes over the Earth if you know where to look.

Hadfield, along with two fellow astronauts, blasted off into space Wednesday morning from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.

According to NASA, the space station is one of the most visible man-made objects in the sky because its large surface area reflects lots of sunlight. From the ground, it looks like a steady white pinpoint of light moving slowly just 7.71 kilometres per second across the night sky.

The best time to spot the space station is near dawn or dusk, when the sky is dark but the spacecraft is still reflecting light from the setting or rising sun.

NASA uses sophisticated computer software to track the space station's path and predict when and where it will be visible to people on the ground.

In November 2012, the agency launched a service called Spot the Station that lets users sign up to receive text message or email alerts whenever the spacecraft is visible overhead from their location.

It also offers an online tool called Skywatch (which is currently under maintenance) to help space enthusiasts track and observe the space station as well as other satellites orbiting the Earth.

The space station's next visible pass over Toronto is on Wednesday at around 4:45 p.m. ET. People in Saskatchewan can try to catch a glimpse at around 5:20 p.m. CT. At 4:55 p.m. PT, the space station will make a visible pass over Vancouver.

According to NASA, the ISS usually appears over the western horizon and disappears over the eastern horizon in a matter of a few minutes.

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How to spot the International Space Station from Canada

When Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk was strapped inside a tiny Soyuz capsule on his way to the International Space Station in May 2009, his mind drifted back to a movie he saw in his youth.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, there is a scene with a shuttle craft from Earth carrying an international crew approaching an orbiting space station. Strauss's Blue Danube waltz is playing in the background.

"Here I was doing something very similar to what I saw in that movie 20 or 30 years ago, so I felt like the world was unfolding as it should and also that I was very fortunate to be doing this," Thirsk recalled recently.

Thirsk, the first Canadian to take part in a long space mission, was looking back at his own experience in anticipation of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's launch for the ISS today.

"It's a once-in-lifetime opportunity to fly up to the station," Thirsk says. "Not very many Canadians have the chance to do that. I felt very grateful."

It is a pretty select club those who have lived aboard the 12-year-old ISS, in its orbit roughly 400 kilometres above the Earth. Hadfield, in fact, will become its first Canadian commander in March.

Thirsk remembers every moment of his "wonderful experience" with pride.

When he floated through the hatch to enter the station, other crew members were waiting, their cameras flashing.

"It felt like I was entering inside a Salvador Dali painting because the station was just so surreal compared to the spacecraft simulators that I'd trained in for the previous two and a half years."

Simulators are orderly and clean. The space station less so.

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What is it like to live on the International Space Station?

NASA is getting ready to send astronauts on yearlong missions to the International Space Station, doubling the duration of a typical orbital stay. These long-term missions will be sending spaceflyers into largely uncharted territory, and some of the biggest unknowns are how the human mind and body will react to that much time in space.

NASA has long known that weightlessness wreaks havoc on the body, with astronauts losing muscle mass and bone density, and even suffering eyesight degeneration, after spending time in space.

"While it's definitely new territory for NASA, I wouldn't expect the challenges of a yearlong mission to be substantially different from those of a six-month mission," said former space station commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, who is now president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. "A yearlong mission will be beneficial to Human Research Program scientists as they continue to expand the envelope of human spaceflight so that one day we can undertake the longer missions that we think will be necessary to voyage beyond cis-lunar space," or the region between Earth and the moon.

Another health risk associated with spaceflight is radiation: Beyond the protective confines of Earth's atmosphere, astronauts are exposed to potentially dangerous radiation from the sun, and the longer they spend in space, the more radiation they receive. [Most Extreme Human Spaceflight Records]

And the health risks are just one side of the challenge. Psychologically, the isolation and confinement of life on the space station can be tough to deal with as well.

Though exercise machines installed on the space station can mitigate the body issues, and phone calls and emails home can help the mind, both of these problems should be more severe for crews spending twice the normal mission length in orbit.

"For the crew, the biggest challenge would be psycho-social," another former space station commander, Leroy Chiao, wrote in an email. "It is difficult to be away for a long period of time. Fortunately, the ISS features excellent communication tools for crews to keep in touch with friends and loved ones."

Though some cosmonauts spent a year or longer on previous space missions to the Russian Mir station, no one has ever lived for a year at the International Space Station. The first ISS yearlong crew will be NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who are due to launch in 2015.

Kelly, a former U.S. Navy test pilot with combat experience, said he thinks he's up to the challenge.

"We have a really good group of people here, the behavioral health and performance group, that works with us to try to mitigate the psychological impact of being away from home and isolated for a long time," Kelly told SPACE.com during an interview earlier this month. "I kind of recognize what I need in that regard and what I can do to make it better."

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Yearlong Space Missions Will Present Physical and Mental Challenges