Daily Archives: April 18, 2013

"Waste Away" in Departed Space Station Freighter
An unpiloted Russian resupply vehicle undocked from the International Space Station April 15 after spending five months attached to it. After delivering 2 ...

By: NASAtelevision

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"Waste Away" in Departed Space Station Freighter - Video

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. - A private company contracted by NASA to make supply runs to the International Space Station scrubbed a Wednesday test launch of an unmanned rocket, saying cables linked to the rocket's second stage apparently detached too early in blustery winds.

The towering Antares rocket had been scheduled to blast off Wednesday afternoon from Wallops Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore when the countdown clock was halted 12 minutes before a 5 p.m. launch window was to have opened.

Barry Benesky, a spokesman for Dulles-based Orbital Sciences Corp., said it wasn't immediately clear when officials would attempt a launch.

He said officials initially suspected brisk winds had caused a premature separation of a cord linked to the second stage of the rocket. But he said experts were investigating what happened and would release more details later about what prompted the launch to be called off.

The company had said earlier that low cloud cover hugging the Virginia coast was a vexing concern during the day. Amid weather concerns, officials had already shortened their window for a possible launch to just 10 minutes starting Wednesday afternoon.

The planned launch by the Washington area commercial firm was designed to test whether a practice payload could reach orbit and safely separate from the rocket.

Orbital, based near Washinton, D.C., is one of two private companies contracted to restock the space station by NASA, which ended its shuttle program in 2011. California-based SpaceX completed its third supply run to the station last month.

Orbital executives have said they are conducting the tests as they prove their capability to carry out several supply runs.

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Private firm contracted to deliver space station supplies scrubs Wednesday test rocket launch

Robert Z. Pearlman / collectSPACE.com

The new International Space Station exhibition at Space Center Houston introduces visitors to the past, present and future of the outpost using artifacts, videos and a live show.

By Robert Z. Pearlman Space.com

NASA has a new "stage" to expose and educate the public about the work behind and on board the International Space Station.

More than a year in the making, NASA and Space Center Houston, the visitor center for the agency's Johnson Space Center in Texas, put the final touches on a new interactive exhibit and special effects live stage show that highlights how the orbiting outpost came to be, what life is like on board and how it is being used to conduct science.

The 3,000-square-foot (280 square meters) display was inspired by NASA's traveling exhibit "Destination Station" (hosted currently at Atlanta's Fernbank Science Center until May 18). But instead of simply re-creating the mobile exhibition, NASA's International Space Station Program worked with the external relations office at Johnson and Space Center Houston to enhance and expand the display into a brand-new experience for guests. [Building the International Space Station (Photos)]

"This (new) exhibition highlights, through the use of a live performance, static graphic elements, hardware, astronaut personal effects, video content and interactive software programs, the international partnership which assembled this orbiting laboratory, its human presence which works and lives on board, and the complex research and science that is taking place which benefits all humankind," NASA wrote about the exhibit.

Destination Station 2.0Space Center Houston began building the exhibit about a year ago by reconfiguring the International Space Station or rather a large detailed model of the orbiting complex.

Suspended from the ceiling, the scale model was updated to reflect the final assembly of the space station, including removing a once-docked replica of the now-retired space shuttle. The model was then re-hung in front of a mural of the Earth, placing it into the context of the new display.

Underneath the not-so-miniature station is a new mockup of a Mission Control console. Nearby, one of the canisters used to transport the orbiting laboratory's power-providing solar arrays is also on display with a sample strip of the cells used to generate electricity for the station.

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Hop aboard the space station in Houston -- at NASA exhibit

NASA has a new "stage" to expose and educate the public about the work behind and on board the International Space Station.

More than a year in the making, NASA and Space Center Houston, the visitor center for the agency's Johnson Space Center in Texas, put the final touches on a new interactive exhibit and special effects live stage show that highlights how the orbiting outpost came to be, what life is like on board and how it is being used to conduct science.

The 3000-square-foot (280 square meters) display was inspired by NASA's traveling exhibit "Destination Station" (hosted currently at Atlanta's Fernbank Science Center until May 18). But instead of simply recreating the mobile exhibition, NASA's International Space Station Program worked with the external relations office at Johnson and Space Center Houston to enhance and expand the display into a brand-new experience for guests. [Building the International Space Station (Photos)]

"This [new] exhibition highlights, through the use of a live performance, static graphic elements, hardware, astronaut personal effects, video content and interactive software programs, the international partnership which assembled this orbiting laboratory, its human presence which works and lives on board, and the complex research and science that is taking place which benefits all humankind," NASA wrote about the exhibit.

Destination Station 2.0

Space Center Houston began building the exhibit about a year ago by reconfiguring the International Space Station or rather a large detailed model of the orbiting complex.

Suspended from the ceiling, the scale model was updated to reflect the final assembly of the space station, including removing a once-docked replica of the now-retired space shuttle. The model was then re-hung in front of a mural of the Earth, placing it into the context of the new display.

Underneath the not-so-miniature station is a new mockup of a Mission Control console. Nearby, one of the canisters used to transport the orbiting laboratory's power-providing solar arrays is also on display with a sample strip of the cells used to generate electricity for the station.

The Mission Control monitors display the "Space Station Live!" website, which provides access to live data from the real space station as received through the real Mission Control, located nearby at the Johnson Space Center. Not only can visitors use the replica console to learn what the astronauts and cosmonauts on board the station are doing in space in real time, but they can find when the orbiting complex can be seen flying over their homes.

Venturing further into the exhibit, guests can see a training mockup of the space station's multi-window Cupola, a full-size model of the outpost's robotic resident Robonaut 2, and look inside both a crew member's living quarters and the onboard waste containment system, or toilet.

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Space Station Lands in Houston in State-of-the-Art NASA Exhibit