Three astronauts from ISS landed safely in Kazakhstan this morning. Meanwhile, the next crew contingent passed its exams in Russia.
This week the Russians will give “final exams” to the main and backup crews for the next expedition to ISS.
Though NASA constantly rates its astronauts, it does not give them “exams.” This whole procedure (as well as how this Russian article is written) gives a nice flavor of the cultural differences between the U.S. and Russia.
Except for the failure to install a video camers, two Russian astronauts successfully completed a six hour spacewalk on ISS today, doing a variety of construction tasks on the station’s exterior.
On October 22, the International Space Station passed Mir’s record for the longest continuous occupancy, just short of 10 years.
Russian mission controllers have shifted the orbit of ISS about a half mile in order to avoid an unidentified piece of space junk.
SpaceX is now targeting November 18 for the second test flight of its Falcon 9 rocket, which will also be the first test flight of its Dragon capsule.
If Congress does end up appropriating money for that last extra shuttle mission, NASA managers are considering delaying it as long as possible, until the fall of 2011. Key quote:
[Shuttle Program Manager John] Shannon said if the shuttle is retired prematurely, the ISS will not be properly supplied.
In other words, Congress and the President should never have retired the shuttle in the first place, at least not until a replacement was ready to go.
Next week will mark the tenth anniversary of what is now the continuous human presence in space, since the first crew occupied ISS on November 2, 2000.
Because of damage sustained during the railroad trip from Russia to Kazakhstan, the Russians are flying in a replacement descent module for the Soyuz capsule scheduled for launch to ISS on December 13.
More details about the Chilean mine rescue. Updated and bumped. The first few miners are up on the surface, safe and sound, with the rescue operation continuing.
The various partners running the ISS are considering using it as a platform to launch an orbital manned mission to the Moon.
The December Soyuz flight to ISS will be delayed due to the damage the capsule received during its transport by rail to Baikonur.
A Soyuz rocket launched a new crew of three astronauts to ISS today. Fun quote:
The six [astronauts on ISS] on Nov. 1 will celebrate the 10th anniversary of continuous human presence on the station.
Faced with the loss of the space shuttle yet committed to the ISS at least through 2020, the European Space Agency is moving forward in its plans to upgrade its Automated Transfer Vehicle, which is only able to bring cargo to ISS, to what they call an Advanced Re-entry Vehicle, which will be able to also bring cargo back.
After a 24 hour delay due to an undocking problem, the Soyuz capsule with its three astronauts landed safely last night without a hitch.
The scheduled return of three astronauts on a Soyuz spacecraft has been delayed tonight because of a malfunction in the docking port.
Update: The return to Earth has definitely been canceled for tonight. The problem was caused when latches on the Soyuz, designed to secure it safely to ISS, refused to release on command. As of 12:43 am the plan was to recycle and try to land on Friday evening.
NASA has now officially extended Boeing’s contract to operate the International Space Station through 2015.
Engineers are reviewing the life expectancy of the International Space Station, in light of the desire of politicians to keep it operating through the 2020s. Intriguing quote:
Airlines and airplane contractors commonly inspect aircraft for such fractures, but with the space station out of reach more than 200 miles up, engineers rely on complex models to predict their growth in orbit.
NASA managers have decided to defer that spacewalk to finish up the work items leftover from the spacewalks to repair the station’s cooling system, leaving the work to the space shuttle astronauts during the upcoming the November shuttle flight.
Japan and Europe are both considering an upgrade to their unmanned cargo carriers so that each can also return cargo from ISS.
The cooling system on ISS is finally running normally again after the three spacewalks to replace the system’s failed pump.
Though this only confirms what the Russians learned on Mir, scientists have determined that long periods in weightlessness cause a significant loss in muscle strength. More research like this — to both study the problem as well as possibly solve it — is exactly what we need to do on ISS. Key quote:
Damage caused to the tissue is such that it is equivalent to a 30- to 50-year-old crew member’s muscles deteriorating to that of an 80-year-old. Despite in-flight exercise, the report warns that the destructive effects of extended weightlessness to skeletal muscle poses a significant safety risk for future manned missions to Mars and further afield.
This space.com report by Tariq Malik gives a good overview of today’s successful spacewalk on ISS.
The spacewalk on ISS is not quite finished, but the astronauts are wrapping up after successfully installing the replacement pump to the cooling system. Ground controllers have tested the system and it appears to be working.
Boeing is hoping to do the first test flight of its privately developed cargo/crew capsule by late in 2013.
NASA managers have delayed by one day the next spacewalk to repair ISS’s cooling system. Now set for August 16, this spacewalk will install the new pump. The date of a fourth spacewalk to finish up the work is as yet unscheduled.
The Japanese are considering upgrades to their unmanned HTV freighter that carries cargo to ISS. The upgrades would allow HTV to return large cargo to Earth, as well as possibly become a manned vehicle.
An evening pause: Mike Finke’s tour of ISS continues in the Progress freighter, moves through the Zarya functional cargo module into the Zvezda service module at the aft end of the station, showing us a Russian crew cabin and the station’s main bathroom facilities.
An evening pause: Astronaut Mike Finke’s tour of ISS continues, taking us through the Unity module and into the Russian part of the station, showing us the inside of a Soyuz lifeboat, the Zarya functional cargo module, the Piers docking module/airlock, and ending looking into the hatch of a Progress freighter.
With the success of yesterday’s spacewalk, NASA engineers have revamped their remaining spacewalk plans for replacing that failed pump. The third spacewalk has been moved from Sunday to Monday to give everyone more time to prepare, and they are now planning a fourth spacewalk after that to finish things up.
