Daily Archives: June 8, 2017

June 8, 2017 by Jenny Howard This is the explosion of a massive star blazes, or a supernova, observed by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. The bright spot at top right of the image is a stellar blast, called a supernova. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) investigation, affixed to the exterior of the International Space Station, studies the physics of these stars, providing new insight into their nature and behavior. Credit: NASA, ESA, A.V. Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley), P. Challis (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), et al.

SpaceX is scheduled to launch its Dragon spacecraft for its eleventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station June 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39A. Dragon will lift into orbit atop the Falcon 9 rocket carrying crew supplies, equipment and scientific research to crewmembers living aboard the station.

The flight will deliver investigations and facilities that study neutron stars, osteoporosis, solar panels, tools for Earth-observation, and more. Here are some highlights of research that will be delivered to the orbiting laboratory:

New solar panels test concept for more efficient power source

Solar panels are an efficient way to generate power, but they can be delicate and large when used to power a spacecraft or satellites. They are often tightly stowed for launch and then must be unfolded when the spacecraft reaches orbit. The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA), is a solar panel concept that is lighter and stores more compactly for launch than the rigid solar panels currently in use. ROSA has solar cells on a flexible blanket and a framework that rolls out like a tape measure. The technology for ROSA is one of two new solar panel concepts that were developed by the Solar Electric Propulsion project, sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.

The new solar panel concepts are intended to provide power to electric thrusters for use on NASA's future space vehicles for operations near the Moon and for missions to Mars and beyond. They might also be used to power future satellites in Earth orbit, including more powerful commercial communications satellites. The demonstration of the deployment of ROSA on the space station is sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Investigation studies composition of neutron stars

Neutron stars, the glowing cinders left behind when massive stars explode as supernovas, are the densest objects in the universe, and contain exotic states of matter that are impossible to replicate in any ground lab. These stars are called "pulsars" because of the unique way they emit light - in a beam similar to a lighthouse beacon. As the star spins, the light sweeps past us, making it appear as if the star is pulsing. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload, affixed to the exterior of the space station, studies the physics of these stars, providing new insight into their nature and behavior.

Neutron stars emit X-ray radiation, enabling the NICER technology to observe and record information about its structure, dynamics and energetics. In addition to studying the matter within the neutron stars, the payload also includes a technology demonstration called the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT), which will help researchers to develop a pulsar-based, space navigation system. Pulsar navigation could work similarly to GPS on Earth, providing precise position for spacecraft throughout the solar system.

Investigation studies effect of new drug on osteoporosis

When people and animals spend extended periods of time in space, they experience bone density loss, or osteoporosis. In-flight countermeasures, such as exercise, prevent it from getting worse, but there isn't a therapy on Earth or in space that can restore bone that is already lost. The Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for osteoporosis (Rodent Research-5) investigation tests a new drug that can both rebuild bone and block further bone loss, improving health for crew members.

Exposure to microgravity creates a rapid change in bone health, similar to what happens in certain bone-wasting diseases, during extended bed rest and during the normal aging process. The results from this ISS National Laboratory-sponsored investigation build on previous research also supported by the National Institutes for Health and could lead to new drugs for treating bone density loss in millions of people on Earth.

Research seeks to understand the heart of the matter

Exposure to reduced gravity environments can result in cardiovascular changes such as fluid shifts, changes in total blood volume, heartbeat and heart rhythm irregularities, and diminished aerobic capacity. The Fruit Fly Lab-02 study will use the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to better understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the adverse effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity on the heart. Flies are smaller, with a well-known genetic make-up, and very rapid aging that make them good models for studying heart function. This experiment will help to develop a microgravity heart model in the fruit fly. Such a model could significantly advance the study of spaceflight effects on the cardiovascular system and facilitate the development of countermeasures to prevent the adverse effects of space travel on astronauts.

Investigation shapes the way humans survive in space

Currently, the life-support systems aboard the space station require special equipment to separate liquids and gases. This technology utilizes rotating and moving parts that, if broken or otherwise compromised, could cause contamination aboard the station. The Capillary Structures investigation studies a new method of water recycling and carbon dioxide removal using structures designed in specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures. As opposed to the expensive, machine-based processes currently in use aboard the station, the Capillary Structures equipment is made up of small, 3-D printed geometric shapes of varying sizes that clip into place.

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Using time lapse photography, on-ground research teams will observe how liquids evaporate from these capillary structures, testing the effectiveness of the varying parameters. Results from the investigation could lead to the development of new processes that are simple, trustworthy, and highly reliable in the case of an electrical failure or other malfunction.

Facility provides platform for Earth-observation tools

Orbiting approximately 250 miles above the Earth's surface, the space station provides views of the Earth below like no other location can provide. The Multiple User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) facility, developed by Teledyne Brown Engineering, hosts Earth-viewing instruments such as high-resolution digital cameras, hyperspectral imagers, and provides precision pointing and other accommodations.

This National Lab-sponsored investigation can produce data to be used for maritime domain awareness, agricultural awareness, food security, disaster response, air quality, oil and gas exploration and fire detection.

These investigations will join many other investigations currently happening aboard the space station. Follow @ISS_Research for more information about the science happening on station.

Explore further: Image: Eleventh SpaceX commercial resupply mission to space station set for launch

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft onboard, is seen shortly after being raised vertical at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Thursday, June 1, 2017. Liftoff ...

A new NASA mission, the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), is headed for the International Space Station next month to observe one of the strangest observable objects in the universe. Launching aboardSpaceX's ...

SpaceX is poised to blast off its next delivery of food, supplies and science experiments to the astronauts living at the International Space Station on Thursday.

SpaceX on Thursday will attempt its first-ever cargo delivery to the astronauts living in orbit using a vessel that has already flown to space once before, the California-based company said.

Nearly 50 years after British astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell discovered the existence of rapidly spinning neutron stars, NASA will launch the world's first mission devoted to studying these unusual objects.

A lightning strike near Cape Canaveral forced SpaceX to delay until Saturday its first-ever cargo delivery to the astronauts living in orbit using a vessel that has already flown to space once before, NASA said Thursday.

The moon hanging in the night sky sent Robert Hurt's mind into deep spaceto a region some 40 light years away, in fact, where seven Earth-sized planets crowded close to a dim, red sun.

A University of Oklahoma post-doctoral astrophysics researcher, Billy Quarles, has identified the possible compositions of the seven planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. Using thousands of numerical simulations to identify the ...

Two teams of astronomers have harnessed the power of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to detect the prebiotic complex organic molecule methyl isocyanate in the multiple star system IRAS 16293-2422. ...

Astronomers from the University of Amsterdam have offered an explanation for the formation of the Trappist-1 planetary system. The system has seven planets as big as the Earth that orbit close to their star. The crux, according ...

NASA chose 12 new astronauts Wednesday from its biggest pool of applicants ever, hand-picking seven men and five women who could one day fly aboard the nation's next generation of spacecraft.

With high-pressure experiments at DESY's X-ray light source PETRA III and other facilities, a research team around Leonid Dubrovinsky from the University of Bayreuth has solved a long standing riddle in the analysis of meteorites ...

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SpaceX Dragon to deliver research to Space Station - Phys.Org

For a little while earlier this month, astronauts on the International Space Station had a spooky companion: a spy satellite that circled just outside its danger zone.

Dutch satellite-watcher Marco Langbroek (whose day job is at Leiden University) analysed the orbit of USA 276, a spy satellite owned by the US National Reconnaissance Office and hoisted aboard the May 1 SpaceX mission.

It's something of a vindication for the (now) amateur astronomer, since in late May he speculated that a close approach was feasible.

Just such a pass came to pass happened on June 3, and after doing the mathematics on the orbit, Langbroek reckons the spy-sat came within 6.4 km of the ISS with a 2 km error margin.

(That margin is so large, he explains, because TLE, the two-line element set that describes a satellite's orbit, has a typical 1 km positional accuracy.)

For a few of the approaches Langbroek analysed, the satellite circled the ISS in two plans both laterally (cross-track) and along-track.

USA 276 circling the ISS, along-track. Plot by Langbroek

As he explains, the danger zone the point at which an avoidance manoeuvre is required is in a box 4 x 4 x 10 km around the space station, and US 276 stayed just outside that box.

While Langbroek refrains from speculating on why the NRO would take the satellite so close to the ISS, it's clear that there was no hope of hiding its position, because of the satellite's brightness. USA 276 is shown in the frame below, captured from a video made by Langbroek.

Too bright to hide: USA 276 (circled) recorded from Earth by Langbroek

While USA 276 remained just outside the safety concern box, it is weird to have your just launched classified payload pass so close (6.4 2 km) to a high profile, crewed object like the ISS, he writes.

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US spook-sat buzzed the International Space Station The Register - The Register

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In this frame from NASA TV, a SpaceX Dragon arrives at the International Space Station on Monday, June 5, 2017, making an unprecedented second trip to the orbiting outpost. The Dragon supply ship, recycled following a 2014 flight, was launched from Florida on Saturday.

The International Space Station welcomed its first returning vehicle in years Monday a SpaceX Dragon capsule making its second delivery.

Space shuttle Atlantis was the last repeat visitor six years ago. It's now a museum relic at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer noted "the special significance" of SpaceX's recycling effort as soon as he caught the Dragon supply ship with the station's big robot arm.

"That's right, it's flying its second mission," Fischer said. "We have a new generation of vehicles now led by commercial partners like SpaceX."

SpaceX is working to reuse as many parts of its rockets and spacecraft as possible to slash launch costs. The California-based company launched its first recycled booster with a satellite in March; another will fly in a few weeks.

The Dragon pulled up two days after launching from Florida. This same capsule dropped off a shipment in 2014. SpaceX refurbished it for an unprecedented second trip, keeping the hull, thrusters and most other parts but replacing the heat shield and parachutes.

Until their retirement in 2011, NASA's shuttles made multiple flights to the space station.

This new 6,000-pound shipment includes live lab animals: 40 mice, 400 adult fruit flies and 2,000 fruit fly eggs that should hatch any day. The mice are part of a bone loss study, while the flies are flying so researchers can study their hearts in weightlessness. Even more than mice and rats, the hearts of fruit flies are similar in many ways to the human heart, beating at about the same rate, for instance.

Some of these animals will return to Earth aboard the Dragon in about a month.

SpaceX officials anticipate using Dragon capsules as many as three times.

"It's starting to feel kinda normal to reuse rockets. Good. That's how it is for cars & airplanes and how it should be for rockets," SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said via Twitter following Saturday's liftoff of the Dragon and landing of the Falcon rocket's first stage.

Musk said the latest touchdown was "pretty much dead center" at the SpaceX landing zone at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff occurred next door at Kennedy Space Center.

The Dragon is the only station supply ship capable of returning items, like science samples. On Sunday, an Orbital ATK cargo ship named in honor of the late John Glenn departed the station. It will remain in orbit a week before burning up in the atmosphere upon re-entry. Glenn, the first American to orbit the world, died in December at age 95.

"Godspeed & fair winds S.S. John Glenn," Fischer wrote in a tweet.

Published at 12:10 PM EDT on Jun 5, 2017 | Updated at 12:21 PM EDT on Jun 5, 2017

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Space Station Welcomes 1st Returning Vehicle Since Space Shuttle - NBC Connecticut

A reused SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station today (June 5), becoming the first privately built spacecraft to make a repeat delivery to the orbiting laboratory.

The Dragon capsule, which lifted off on Saturday(June 3) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is packed with nearly 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kilograms) of supplies and science experiments for the Expedition 52 and 53 astronauts.

Inside the space station's Cupola module, NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer remotely operated the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to seize the spacecraft at 9:51 a.m. EDT (1351 GMT). [In Photos: SpaceX's 1st Reused Dragon Spacecraft]

SpaceX's 11th cargo resupply mission arrives at the International Space Station, where NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer operated the robotic Canadarm2 to grapple the spacecraft.

With the Dragon captured, NASA's mission controllers in Houston will operate the robotic arm to install the spacecraft at its docking port on the space station's Harmony module, where crewmembers will then unload the cargo.

This is the 11th mission under SpaceX's commercial cargo contract with NASA. In 2014, SpaceX flew the same Dragon capsule for itsfourth cargo mission. After the Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, SpaceX retrieved it and refurbished it so it could be reused.

"These people have supplied us with a vast amount of science and supplies, really fuel for the engine and innovation we get to call home, the International Space Station," Fischer said shortly after capture was confirmed. "We also want to note the special significance of the SpaceX-11, which if we follow the naming convention of the artist Prince, could be called the SpaceX formerly known as SpaceX-4."

SpaceX's 11th cargo resupply mission arrives at the International Space Station.

Along with food, water and other essentials for the crewmembers, the Dragon contains several thousand pounds of research equipment and even some live cargo, including 40 mice and thousands of fruit flies. The mice will be testing out a new drug for osteoporosis, or loss of bone density, while the fruit flies will help scientists study the effects of spaceflight on the cardiovascular system.

Other equipment onboard includes a new, more compact and efficient solar panel called the Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA), and an experiment that will study a new type of intergalactic GPS system called theNeutron star Interior Composition ExploreR(NICER).

This SpaceX Dragon will stay at the station for about a month and is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean in early July, returning with about 3,400 lbs. (1,500 kg) of science, hardware and other supplies.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookand Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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SpaceX Dragon Capsule Makes History with 1st Repeat Delivery to Space Station - Space.com