Category Archives: Space Station

NASA has officially signed a deal to attach an inflatable private module to the International Space Station, space agency officials confirmed today (Jan. 11).

Under the new deal, NASA will pay $17.8 million to the Nevada-based private spaceflight firm Bigelow Aerospace for the company's Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which will be affixed to the orbiting lab as a technology demonstration.

"This partnership agreement for the use of expandable habitats represents a step forward in cutting-edge technology that can allow humans to thrive in space safely and affordably, and heralds important progress in U.S. commercial space innovation," NASA deputy chief Lori Garver said in a statement.

Today's announcement confirms reports thatsurfaced earlier this week. Garver and Bigelow founder and president Robert Bigelow will discuss the BEAM program at a media event Jan. 16 at Bigelow Aerospace facilities in North Las Vegas, NASA officials said.

BEAM is likely to be similar to Bigelow's Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 prototypes, which the company launched to orbit in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Both Genesis modules are 14.4 feet long by 8.3 feet wide (4.4 by 2.5 meters), with about 406 cubic feet (11.5 cubic m) of pressurized volume.

NASA officials have said that BEAM could be on orbit about two years after getting an official go-ahead. The module will likely be launched by one of the agency's commerical cargo suppliers, California-based SpaceX or Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp.

Bigelow's dreams don't stop at the International Space Station. The company wants to launch and link up several of its larger expandable modules to create private space stations, which could be used by a variety of clients.

Tenants could get to orbiting Bigelow habitats in several different ways. The company has set up a partnership with SpaceX for use of its Dragon spacecraft and another one with Boeing, to use the aerospace giant's CST-100 capsule.

Bigelow is also eyeing a possible outpost on the moon, for which the company envisions using its BA-330 modules (so named because they offer 330 cubic meters of usable internal volume). Several BA-330 habitats, along with propulsion tanks and power units, would be joined together in space and then flown down to the lunar surface.

Lunar dirt would be piled over the modules to protect against radiation, thermal extremes and micrometeorite strikes. Then clients be they explorers, scientists or tourists could move in and set up shop on the moon.

Continued here:
NASA Buys Private Inflatable Room for Space Station

Let #39;s Play Space Station Silicon Valley - Part 10
Part 10: Give a Dog a Bonus In our first bonus mission of the game, Evo must take the form of an bi-plane poodle and retrieve one of his missing body parts

By: voltageman65

See the original post here:
Let's Play Space Station Silicon Valley - Part 10 - Video

NASA | Space Station Robots Test Techniques of the Future.
Engineers practice precise maneuvers for the Robotic Refueling Mission and animations of various robotic tasks to be preformed at International Space Station. This video is public domain and can be downloaded at: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov Like our videos? Subscribe to NASA #39;s Goddard Shorts HD podcast: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov Or find NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on facebook: http://www.facebook.com Or find us on Twitter: twitter.com

By: NASAexplorer

Read more from the original source:
NASA | Space Station Robots Test Techniques of the Future. - Video

KSP episode 4 (space station fail)
so i tryed to launch a space station and well we failed

By: 460fpsGameing

Read more:
KSP episode 4 (space station fail) - Video

SPACE STATION 13 IN 108P

By: Ben L.

Read the original post:
SPACE STATION 13 IN 108P - Video

January 10, 2013

Image Caption: ESA astronaut Andr Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, works with the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites Zero Robotics experiment in the Kibo laboratory on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/ESA

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

On the International Space Station this Friday, January 11, a squadron of mini satellites will wake up to obey remote commands from students across Europe. Space enthusiasts can watch a live broadcast as teams make the droids compete in a space game called RetroSpheres.

The students have been running their code in a virtual world until this point, but the high school finals will be held this Friday using the real thing: robotic droids on the International Space Station. The RetroSpheres scenario this year involves using the Spheres, which move using jets of compressed gas, to push simulated space debris out of orbit. Students from Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal, grouped into six alliances, will confront each other and see their computer code operate robots in space for the first time.

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andre Kuipers will be providing commentary from ESTEC ESAs space research and technology center in the Netherlands. NASAs Kevin Ford and Tom Mashburn will set up the games on the Station. Andre will be with approximately 130 students at ESTEC to learn more about robotics and run their code on the Spheres floating in the Space Station.

You can follow this event via ESA web-tv, Friday from 8:30 am to 11:30am EST (14:30 to 17:30 CET).

Source: April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online

Read more:
Students To Compete In Zero Gravity Robot Games On The Space Station

LONGUEUIL, Que. - Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield says everyone would benefit from seeing the world through the eyes of astronauts who are aboard the International Space Station.

During his first news conference since arriving at the giant orbiting space lab three weeks ago, the 53-year-old space veteran was asked about the conflict in Syria.

He responded that it was hard to reconcile the beauty of the world as seen from space with the terrible things that people do to each other.

Hadfield earlier tweeted a picture of the Middle Eastern country to his followers a number that had reached more than 160,000 on Thursday.

When the prolific tweeter blasted into space on Dec. 19, he had only 20,000 followers on Twitter.

The native of Sarnia, Ont., is making this third space flight after two earlier missions.

His first space trip was in November 1995 when he visited the Russian Space Station Mir. His second voyage was a visit to the International Space Station in April 2001, when he also performed two space walks.

He adds that there's a big difference between brief space visits and living in space and that's not having to rush everything this time around.

Hadfield is currently on a five-month visit and will become the first Canadian to take command of the space station in mid-March.

The rest is here:
Hadfield delves into world conflicts during news conference from space station

Students of all ages, educators and pre-service teachers will gather at Eastern Kentucky University to speak with International Space Station astronaut Tom Marshburn on Friday, Jan. 11. The long-distance conversation is scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m. EST and can be seen live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Students will ask Marshburn, a member of the space station's Expedition 34 crew, about his experiences living, working and conducting research aboard the orbiting laboratory. He arrived at the station last month to begin a six-month stay.

Media representatives interested in attending the event should contact Marc Whitt at marc.whitt@eku.edu or 859-200-6976. Eastern Kentucky University is located at 521 Lancaster Avenue in Richmond.

In anticipation of the downlink conversation with Marshburn, educators have been preparing students by incorporating NASA activities into the classroom, creating awareness about the station, and encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

This in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the United States and abroad to improve teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching from Space education program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA's human spaceflight program.

The exact time of the event could change because of real-time operational activities. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about NASA's education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education

For information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

Visit link:
Kentucky Students to Speak with Space Station's Tom Marshburn

Chris Hadfield via Google+

Australian wildfire: Look closely, you can see the flames from orbit ...

By Alan Boyle

Astronaut Chris Hadfield is making a name for himself as the International Space Station's first Canadian commander, the "Singing Spaceman" and Star Trek skipper William Shatner's Twitter buddy but he's also one heck of a photographer.

Since his arrival at the station on Dec. 21, Hadfield has posted more than 100 pictures to Twitterand Google+, most of them showing amazing views of Earth below. Between his official duties and his unofficial Earth-watching sessions, how does he find time to sleep?

"Yes,I should sleep more on station," he told one follower, "but the view from the window is like a perpetual magnet, too wondrous to ignore."

The space station's six residents all take turns behind the lens, but some astronauts take the job way more seriously than others: Notable shooters from past orbital stints include NASA's Scott Kelly,Douglas Wheelock,Ron Garan andDon Pettit, as well as Japan's Soichi Noguchi and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers. Hadfield is sure to take his place among them.

His favorite hangout is the seven-windowed Cupola observation deck, which provides an unparalleled view of Earth. His favorite camera? "We use primarily Nikon F2s and F3s, with a variety of lenses," he said on Twitter. "We even take them out on spacewalks, into the hard vacuum."

To get those awesome pictures of Earth landscapes, he brings out the Big Lens. "The big lens is Nikkor 600 mm, used with a 2-fold converter = 1200 mm," he tweeted. "Available for just US$10,300."

When you consider that the space station's crew is delivering pictures that no one on Earth can, that seems like a small price to pay. Check out a few of the recent masterpieces from outer space:

Read more:
Space station skipper beams down beautiful views

WASHINGTON NASA and Bigelow Aerospace have reached an agreement that could pave the way for attaching a Bigelow-built inflatable space habitat to the International Space Station, a NASA spokesman said.

The $17.8 million contract was signed in late December, NASA spokesman Trent Perrotto told SpaceNews Monday (Jan. 7). Perrotto declined to provide other terms of the agreement, except to say that it centers around the Bigelow Expanded Aerospace Module(BEAM). He said a formal announcement is in the works.

That inflatable space habitat, which is similar to the Genesis-model prototypes Bigelow launched in 2006 and 2007, could be used for extra storage at the space station and provide flight data on the on-orbit durability of Bigelows inflatable modulescompared to the outposts existing metallic modules.

Bigelow and NASA have been discussing an inflatable addition to the space station for years.

The deal signed in December follows a nonpaying NASA contract Bigelow got in 2011, under which the North Las Vegas, Nev., company worked up a list of procedures and protocols for adding BEAM to the space station. Bigelow got that contract, which did not call for any flight hardware, in response to a 2010 NASA Broad Agency Announcement seeking ideas for support equipment and services meant to help the U.S. portion of the International Space Station live up to its billing as a national laboratory.

Last March, NASA spokesman Josh Buck said the agency would tap one of its Commercial Resupply Services contractors, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) or Orbital Sciences Corp., to get BEAM to the space station.

SpaceX and Orbital are under contract for space station cargo deliveries through 2016. So far, only SpaceX has flown to the station. The company, which flies Dragon cargo capsulesatop Falcon 9 rockets, completed its first contracted run in October. Orbital, which is developing a cargo freighter called Cygnus for launch aboard its new Antares rocket, is now scheduled to launch a demonstration cargo run in February from NASAs Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia.

SpaceX and Orbital both signed Commercial Resupply Services contracts in 2008. SpaceXs $1.6 billion resupply pact calls for 12 flights. Orbitals $1.9 billion deal is for eight flights.

This story was provided bySpace News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

Go here to see the original:
NASA Deal May Put Inflatable Private Module on Space Station