n-a-s-a:

ISS and the Summer Milky Way

Image Credit & Copyright: Luis Argerich 

Orlando Sentinel:

NASA and Bigelow Aerospace to announce plans for inflatable station modules

Sentinel exclusive: inflatable station module? $18M room with a view

WASHINGTON — NASA is expected to announce today the terms of a landmark deal that will allow Bigelow Aerospace, a private company based in North Las Vegas, to attach one of its inflatable habitats to the International Space Station.

The deal gives the company, founded by hotelier Robert Bigelow, the opportunity to test a new type of space dwelling — essentially a balloon made of Kevlar-like material that is inflated once it reaches orbit — that would stay attached to the station for at least two years.

Under the agreement, NASA would pay Bigelow Aerospace nearly $18 million for the module, which is about the size of a large bedroom. It would be used to increase the amount of living space aboard the station, which itself is about as big as a football field.

A rocket built by SpaceX, another commercial company under contract with NASA, would blast the module to the station from Cape Canaveral as soon as mid-2015. Bigelow would become the first private company to have one of its modules purchased by NASA and added to the $100 billion, government-run observatory.

“This partnership … 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 Administrator Lori Garver said in a statement.

How station astronauts will use the Bigelow module still is under discussion. NASA officials said the prime goal is to see how the technology works.

Unlike other, rigid parts of the station, the module is comparable to a live-in balloon. It would be launched, uninflated, to the station, attached to an air lock with help from one of the station’s robotic arms and then blown up with pressurized air.

The module’s major benefit is that it is lightweight — only about 3,000 pounds — and thus far cheaper to launch than a rigid module that can weigh 10,000 pounds or more.

Though the material would appear vulnerable to hits from space debris, Bigelow officials said the module is equipped with a shield that hypervelocity tests have shown is “superior” to the aluminum walls of the station. The softer, Kevlar-like material also reduces the effect of “secondary radiation,” according to the company.

If the Bigelow module proves effective, then it could be considered for other, long-range missions, NASA officials said.

Stratocumulus Clouds

ISS034-E-016601 (4 Jan. 2013) —- On Jan. 4 a large presence of stratocumulus clouds was the central focus of camera lenses which remained aimed at the clouds as the Expedition 34 crew members aboard the International Space Station flew above the northwestern Pacific Ocean about 460 miles east of northern Honshu, Japan. This is a descending pass with a panoramic view looking southeast in late afternoon light with the terminator (upper left). The cloud pattern is typical for this part of the world. The low clouds carry cold air over a warmer sea with no discernable storm pattern.

ISS029-E-008433 (17 Sept. 2011) —- This is one of a series of night time images photographed by one of the Expedition 29 crew members from the International Space Station. It features Aurora Australis, seen from a point over the southeast Tasman Sea near southern New Zealand. The station was located at 46.65 degrees south latitude and 169.10 degrees east longitude

smithsonianmag:

Stunning Star Trail Photographs from International Space Station

NASA astronaut Don Pettit recently uploaded a gallery of photos to the Johnson Space Center’s Flickr page. Pettit on how he captured these amazing images:

“My star trail images are made by taking a time exposure of about 10 to 15 minutes. However, with modern digital cameras, 30 seconds is about the longest exposure possible, due to electronic detector noise effectively snowing out the image. To achieve the longer exposures I do what many amateur astronomers do. I take multiple 30-second exposures, the ‘stack’ them using imaging software, thus producing the longer exposure.”

Ed note: Here are the Hubble Space Telescope’s finest photos.

(via discoverynews)

jtotheizzoe:

A Dragon Approaches

Superb shot of the SpaceX Dragon capsule as it approached the ISS last week, taken by Don Pettit. Biggified version here.

Previously: The photography coming from the ISS expeditions is just superb, as this collection shows. Also don’t miss this feature on how all that great photography is done.

(↬ NASA)

(via n-a-s-a)

fuckyeahspaceshuttle:

Chute Deployed

With its drag chute deployed, space shuttle Columbia touches down on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility at 6:46:34 a.m. EDT. During the Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 mission, the Spacelab module was used to test some of the hardware, facilities and procedures that are planned for use on the International Space Station while the flight crew conducted combustion, protein crystal growth and materials processing experiments. 

This mission was a reflight of the STS-83 mission that lifted off from Kennedy in April of the same year. That space flight was cut short due to indications of a faulty fuel cell. 

shortformblog:

SpaceX and NASA prepare for historic spacecraft launch

NASA says everything’s on schedule for SpaceX’s world-first commercial robotic flight to the International Space Station, currently scheduled for April 30. The flight is a test of sorts, for SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft’s capabilities, and the company’s ability to deliver on the promise of unmanned transportation of goods to/from the ISS. If all goes to plan, SpaceX officials hope to begin regular deliveries for NASA by the end of 2012. (Photo by Robert Goodwin) source

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scejas:

“For its first mission to the International Space Station, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will use deployable solar arrays as its primary power source for running sensors, driving heating and cooling systems, and communicating with SpaceX’s Mission Control Center and the Space Station. Dragon’s solar arrays generate up to 5,000 watts of power — enough to power over 80 standard light bulbs. The solar arrays, shielded by protective covers during launch, deploy just minutes after Dragon separates from the Falcon 9 second stage, as it heads towards its rendezvous with the Space Station.”

Click Here for Press Release

cwnl:

Windows 7

Credit: NASA

Earth gleams through the seven windows of the Cupola in the International Space Station. A lake, Egirdir Golu in Turkey, seems to float just above the camera (on bracket) at center.

Also, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docks to the station at lower right, and part of the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) appears just above it. An Expedition 30 crew member took the picture on Dec. 29, 2011.

(via ikenbot)

inothernews:

The International Space Station is seen as a small object in the upper left of this photo of the Moon, in the skies over the Houston area.  (Photo: Lauren Harnett / NASA via the Telegraph)