Monthly Archives: January 2013

The International Space Station continues to orbit 240-miles above earth and UND's Agricam has just wrapped up it's first mission aboard the Space Station.

It was a project enabled by retired astronaut, Mario Runco, who lectured at UND this past week.

Mario Runco, Astronaut: "You can have an asset to help monitor the crops in the field as they develop and get data, images to the user, the farmer, so that if there's a problem they can detect. It's like early cancer detection. You detect it early you can do something about it."

Images from the agricam aboard the Space Station were relayed to this UND control room. It's thermal pictures can be used to point out disease in crops and the need for different types of fertilizers.

Now, disaster workers around the globe are interested in refitting the UND camera already aboard the Space Station, so it can zoom in on disasters, like floods.

Doug Olson, UND Aerospace: "If you're trying to determine in a mud slide whether you have something like a buried car or a rock, you need something with a higher resolution."

Olson says they're still waiting to see if their agricam that's already aboard the Space Station, will now be refitted to become a disaster cam.

VIEW THE SPACE STATION THIS WEEK

If there are clear skies and you're an early riser you be able to see the International Space Station pass over the Valley this week.

Each pass lasts only 2 to 4 minutes. You'll need to be looking south by southeast, 30-degrees above the horizon. It will look like at bright star moving to the east.

Excerpt from:
UND Camera on Space Station Wraps 1 Mission, May Get Another

WASHINGTON -- NASA wants to know how you can improve the International Space Station as a technology test bed.

NASA's International Space Station National Laboratory and Technology Demonstration offices are asking for proposals on how the space station may be used to develop advanced or improved exploration technologies. NASA also is seeking proposals about how new approaches, technologies and capabilities could improve the unique laboratory environment of the orbiting outpost.

The NASA Research Announcement, "Soliciting Proposals for Exploration Technology Demonstration and National Lab Utilization Enhancements," may be viewed at: http://go.nasa.gov/Uqkccz

The annoucement will provide successful proposers access to the space station's microgravity environment, crew support and robotic servicing. It closes Sept. 30.

"The space station is a world-class facility and critical to NASA's plan to extend humanity's presence beyond low-Earth orbit," said Andrew Clem of the Technology Demonstration Office in the International Space Station Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This is an opportunity for researchers, inventors and designers to demonstrate a technology needed for future human spaceflights or to improve an existing space station capability."

NASA will review submissions throughout the year as they are received. The agency will cover launch and integration costs for selected proposals. Successful submissions also may be eligible for limited additional funding.

Proposed technologies should help advance exploration and research capabilities aboard the space station. Concepts must fit within existing NASA standards for mass and volume to meet requirements for current launch vehicles. Suggested areas include in-space propulsion; space power and energy storage; components of highly reliable, closed-loop, human health, life support and habitation systems; thermal systems; robotics, telerobotics, and autonomous systems; and human exploration destination systems.

Proposals for new exploration technologies could include strategies to reduce mass, maintenance and power requirements, while also increasing efficiency, reliability and safety. The idea could be a new technology or a new, improved use of existing space hardware. Proposals also may have the potential to yield benefits for humanity, such as testing a new material or stimulating economic growth.

Alternately, proposers could address improvements to the existing capabilities of the U.S. National Laboratory, such as new uses for existing experiment tools and infrastructure aboard the orbiting outpost, or potential efficiencies like advances in data communications. Other possibilities include ground equipment for space studies, in-orbit analytical tools, three-dimensional cell and tissue culture hardware, or improvements or new uses for existing station research resources.

The enhancements sought in this announcement will further efforts by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to promote research aboard the station's U.S. National Laboratory.

The rest is here:
NASA Solicits Ideas for International Space Station Research