Новости МКС

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SpaceX CRS-16: Dragon berthing

SciNews

Опубликовано: 8 дек. 2018 г.

(5:41)

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Dragon Rendezvous (CRS-16)

SpaceX

Трансляция началась 5 часов назад

(3:29:43)

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Anne McClain‏Подлинная учетная запись @AstroAnnimal 8:07 - 8 дек. 2018 г.

The number of Dragons on @Space_Station just doubled! Congratulations to @SpaceX on a successful launch, and to all the teams across the world who enable such amazing feats!

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2018/12/08/dragon-attached-to-station-returns-to-earth-in-january/

Dragon Attached to Station, Returns to Earth in January

Mark Garcia
Posted Dec 8, 2018 at 10:41 am


Dec. 8, 2018: International Space Station Configuration. Six spaceships are attached at the space station including the U.S. resuppy ships Northrop Grumman Cygnus and the SpaceX Dragon; and Russia's Progress 70 and Progress 71 resupply ships and the Soyuz MS-09 and MS-10 crew ships all from Roscosmos.

Three days after its launch from Florida, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft was installed on the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station's Harmony module at 10:36 a.m. EST.

The 16th contracted commercial resupply mission from SpaceX delivers more than 5,600 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory. Among the research it will bring to station, science investigations and technology demonstrations aboard Dragon include:

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The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) will provide high-quality laser ranging observations of the Earth's forests and topography required to advance the understanding of important carbon and water cycling processes, biodiversity, and habitat. GEDI will be mounted on the Japanese Experiment Module's Exposed Facility and provide the first high-resolution observations of forest vertical structure at a global scale. These observations will quantify the aboveground carbon stored in vegetation and changes that result from vegetation disturbance and recovery, the potential for forests to sequester carbon in the future, and habitat structure and its influence on habitat quality and biodiversity.

A small satellite deployment mechanism, called SlingShot, will be ride up in Dragon and then be installed in a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft prior to its departure from the space station. SlingShot can accommodate as many as 18 CubeSats of any format. After the Cygnus cargo ship departs from station, the spacecraft navigates to an altitude of 280 to 310 miles (an orbit higher than that of the space station) to deploy the satellites.

Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) will demonstrate the first transfer and long-term storage of liquid methane, a cryogenic fluid, in microgravity. The ability to replenish and store cryogenic fluids, which can function as a fuel or coolant, will help enable long duration journeys to destinations, such as the Moon and Mars.

Growth of Large, Perfect Protein Crystals for Neutron Crystallography (Perfect Crystals) crystallizes an antioxidant protein found inside the human body to analyze its shape. This research may shed light on how the protein helps protect the human body from ionizing radiation and oxidants created as a byproduct of metabolism. For best results, analysis requires large crystals with minimal imperfections, which are more easily produced in the microgravity environment of the space station.

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Dragon is scheduled to depart the station in January 2019 and return to Earth with more than 4,000 pounds of research, hardware and crew supplies.

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/coverage-set-for-russian-spacewalk-at-international-space-station

Dec. 6, 2018
MEDIA ADVISORY M18-184

Coverage Set for Russian Spacewalk at International Space Station


Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev lays cable for the installation of the Icarus animal-tracking experiment on the Zvezda service module during a spacewalk that lasted 7 hours 46 minutes. Fellow cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev (out of frame) joined Prokopyev during the spacewalk which also saw the deployment of four nano-satellites and the retrieval of a materials exposure experiment on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
Credits: NASA

Two Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the International Space Station at 11 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 11, to conduct a six-hour spacewalk. Live coverage will begin at 10 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Expedition 57 Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos will use this spacewalk to examine a section of the external hull of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft currently docked to the space station. In late August, a pressure leak occurred on the space station that was traced to the Soyuz. Within hours after finding the source of the leak, the Expedition 56 crew sealed the hole and the station has since maintained a steady pressure.

The cosmonauts will take samples of any residue found on the hull and take digital images of the area before placing a new thermal blanket over it. The samples and images will provide additional information that will aid the investigation into the cause of the pressure leak. The cosmonauts also will retrieve science experiments from Rassvet before heading back inside.

Kononenko, extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1), will wear a spacesuit bearing red stripes on this spacewalk, the fourth of his career. Prokopyev, on his second spacewalk, will bear blue stripes as EV2.

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Prokopyev, NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Alexander Gerst are scheduled to depart the station in the Soyuz MS-09 at 8:42 p.m. Dec. 19, returning home to Earth after a six-and-half-month mission. 

Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov

Gary Jordan
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
gary.j.jordan@nasa.gov

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Last Updated: Dec. 7, 2018
Editor: Sean Potter

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https://www.interfax.ru/world/641435

20:05, 8 декабря 2018
Американский космический грузовик привез на МКС угощение к рождественскому столу

Москва. 8 декабря. INTERFAX.RU - Помимо продовольствия, материалов и оборудования, доставленных в субботу на Международную космическую станцию (МКС), американский грузовой космический корабль Dragon компании SpaceX доставил экипажу угощения к рождественскому столу, сообщило Национальное управление по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства США (НАСА).

Среди них - копченая индейка, запеканка из стручковой фасоли, гарнир из сладкого запечённого картофеля, клюквенный соус и фруктовый кекс. В набор также включены песочное и сдобное печенье и тюбики с глазурью для его украшения.

По сообщению НАСА, на Рождество по григорианскому календарю, 25 декабря, у экипажа МКС планируется выходной.

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Однако половина нынешнего экипажа станции не сможет принять участия в праздничном застолье. Уже 20 декабря россиянин Сергей Прокопьев, немец Александр Герст и американка Серина Ауньен-Чэнселлор должны будут вернуться на Землю.

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Как сообщило НАСА, операция в субботу по стыковке грузового космического корабля Dragon с американским сегментом станции - модулем Harmony была завершена в 18:36 по Москве. Перед этим, в 15:21 мск, экипаж МКС захватил с помощью 17-метровой руки-манипулятора Canadarm-2 сблизившийся со станцией "грузовик" для последующей стыковки.

Первоначально захват планировался на 14:00 по Москве. Однако из-за нарушения космической связи с МКС через спутник-ретранслятор он была отложен. После переключения на резервный спутник связь была восстановлена и операция по захвату продолжилась.

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Dragon доставил на МКС более 2,5 тонн груза, в том числе продовольствие, а также оборудование и материалы для проведения десятков научных экспериментов.

Американский "грузовик" был выведен на орбиту в среду ракетой-носителем Falcon 9 компании SpaceX. Старт был осуществлен с 40 пускового комплекса на космодроме НАСА на мысе Канаверал в штате Флорида.

Это уже 16-я миссия космического корабля Dragon к МКС в рамках коммерческого контракта НАСА с компанией SpaceX по снабжению станции.

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Корабль Dragon пробудет в составе МКС около пяти недель. Затем, 13 января его спускаемый аппарат должен будет приводниться в Тихом океане вблизи Калифорнии. Он доставит на Землю результаты экспериментов, проведенных экипажем МКС на орбите.

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Alexander Gerst‏Подлинная учетная запись @Astro_Alex 7 ч. назад

Hard to decide which photo of the approaching @SpaceX #Dragon 16 is the most stunning / Schwer zu entscheiden, welches Foto des @SpaceX Raumtransporters das Beste ist... @ISS_Research #Horizons

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https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/schedule.html

NASA Television Upcoming Events
Watch NASA TV

All times Eastern

December 12, Wednesday

3 p.m.-4 p.m. – International Space Station Expedition 59-60 Crew News Conference (All Channels)

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Специальный выход в открытый космос

Пресс-Центр РКК Энергия

Опубликовано: 10 дек. 2018 г.

Специалисты РКК «Энергия» разработали циклограмму выхода в открытый космос и провели тренировку на земле. Олегу Кононенко и Сергею Прокопьеву предстоит выйти в безвоздушное пространство и провести работы на внешней стороне космического корабля «Союз». Выход запланирован на 11 декабря.

(5:00)

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https://ria.ru/20181210/1547754109.html

РКК "Энергия" опубликовала видео подготовки к осмотру "дырки" в "Союзе"
17:34

МОСКВА, 10 дек - РИА Новости. Ракетно-космическая корпорация "Энергия" продемонстрировала на видео, опубликованном на своей странице в подготовку космонавта Олега Кононенко к выходу в открытый космос для осмотра отверстия в бытовом отсеке корабля "Союз МС-09".

Мне вообще выход интересен, а тем более такая (работа - ред.), потому что действительно выход уникальный, сложный, сложный как в техническом, хотя кажется – разрежь ЭВТИ (экранно-вакуумная теплоизоляция - ред.), разрежь противометеороидную защиту, но это сложно технически сделать, сложно туда дойти, и физически тяжело. Такая задача - это вызов, поэтому мы с Сергеем Прокопьевым его принимаем", - сказал на видео Кононенко

В ролике показано, как Кононенко готовился к выходу, как ножом он будет вскрывать теплозащиту "Союза", а затем ножницами по металлу прорезать противометеоритную защиту. После этого Кононенко возьмет соскобы с внешней поверхности "дырки", которые будут отправлены на Землю для изучения.

В конце августа системы МКС зафиксировали утечку воздуха, а экипаж обнаружил отверстие в обшивке корабля "Союз МС-09", который пристыковался к станции 8 июня. Вечером того же дня по совету Центра управления полетами российские космонавты залили отверстие герметиком. Внутренняя комиссия РКК "Энергия" (производитель космического корабля) исключила версию производственного брака. Расследованием занялась комиссия Роскосмоса.

Выход отработан испытателями Ракетно-космической корпорации "Энергия", утверждается в видео.

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https://tass.ru/kosmos/5894211

10 ДЕК, 16:47
Эксперты: объем сверхнормативной работы современных экипажей МКС вырос в четыре раза

Согласно документации, в будни космонавты должны работать по шесть с половиной часов, а в выходные - не более двух часов

МОСКВА, 10 декабря. /ТАСС/. Переработки российских космонавтов на борту Международной космической станции (МКС) за последние полтора года увеличились в четыре раза, говорится в материалах XVII Конференции по космической биологии и медицине, проходящей в понедельник в Москве.

"Очевидно, после перехода в апреле 2017 года к полетам с двумя российскими участниками показатели сверхнормативной операционной занятости одного члена экипажа выросли в четыре раза", - говорится в тезисах доклада.

Согласно документации, в будни космонавты должны работать по шесть с половиной часов, а в выходные - не более двух часов. При этом изучение режима работы 10 экспедиций МКС, где летали трое россиян показало, что ежедневная переработка составляла 31 минуту в день.

Члены экипажа оценивали свой режим труда и отдыха в основном положительно. При этом врачи подчеркивают необходимость соблюдения медицинских требований по нагрузке, так как это влияет на работоспособность и здоровье участников полета и тем самым на успешную реализацию космических экспедиций.

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Anne McClain‏Подлинная учетная запись @AstroAnnimal 2 ч. назад

Arriving at @Space_Station was a major international technical feat, the culmination of a personal dream, and a sign of what humans can do when we work together. And floating did NOT disappoint!

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Alexander Gerst‏Подлинная учетная запись @Astro_Alex 2 ч. назад

Expedition 57 continues at full speed. We have a crew of 6 on board @Space_Station, a freshly docked @SpaceX #Dragon full of experiments to be installed, a Russian EVA tomorrow, crew return preparations, and one week of handover time left to prep the new crew. #Horizons

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Alexander Gerst‏Подлинная учетная запись @Astro_Alex 12 мин. назад

A rare sight: 4 different spaceships in one photo. Overall there are 6 spacecraft docked to the International @Space_Station right now, to utilise this unique laboratory to the max. 2 x Soyuz, 2 x Progress, a Cygnus and a Dragon.

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LIVE – CSA astronaut David Saint-Jacques answers questions from media

Canadian Space Agency

Трансляция началась 3 часа назад

(20:53)

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http://online.roscosmos.ru/

ON-LINE ТРАНСЛЯЦИЯ

ТРАНСЛЯЦИЯ ВЫХОДА В ОТКРЫТЫЙ КОСМОС

11 декабря, космонавты Роскосмоса Сергей Прокопьев и Олег Кононенко совершат выход в открытый космос по российской программе. Основные работы будут проводиться на внешней стороне пилотируемого корабля «Союз МС-09».

Специалисты РКК «Энергия» разработали специальную циклограмму выхода в открытый космос и провели тренировку на Земле.

19:00 ДМВ

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https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/cemsica_membrane_technology

Dec. 10, 2018

Improved Membrane Technology Creates Tiny Pores with Big Impact

Membranes – thin barriers that allow some things to pass through, but stop others – occur naturally in cells and tissues. Artificial membranes modeled after natural ones are used in a number of applications, including separating and removing carbon dioxide (CO2) fr om waste gases released in energy production.

An investigation on the International Space Station looks at whether making artificial membranes in microgravity can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Earth.

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The Cemsica investigation uses particles of calcium-silicate to make membranes with openings or pores smaller than 100 nanometers, known as nanoporous membranes, to separate carbon dioxide molecules from air and other gases. These membranes are as thin as a human hair. Membranes already represent one of the most energy-efficient and cost-effective technologies for separating and removing CO2 from waste gases.


Cemsica calcium silicate nanoparticles, which have diameters as small as a few nanometers.
Credits: Cemsica

The investigation takes its name from Houston-based Cemsica, LLC, a company that is commercializing this gas separation membrane technology. "Our technology not only controls the shape and size of the membrane pores," said Negar Rajabi, principal investigator and Cemsica founder and CEO. "It also creates an affinity to certain gases such as CO2, meaning those gases are drawn to the membrane." That gives the membranes significantly greater separation capability.

Creating these membranes in microgravity may resolve current challenges in the technology, including high-cost and manufacturing difficulties, Rajabi added. Resolving those challenges could lead to development of lower-cost membranes with improved performance and stability, as well as improved manufacturing techniques.

Large gaps or separation of the calcium-silicate particles and substrate material adversely affect membrane performance. Microgravity minimizes these problems since calcium-silicate crystals grow larger and in more organized structures in space, creating organized, defect-free pores and higher surface area.

Surface area plays a key role in gas separation in microgravity, wh ere separation occurs only through diffusion. The higher surface area remains a significant factor in improved gas separation even in Earth's gravity because it creates higher surface tension that facilitates affinity-based gas separation.

This investigation was sponsored by the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory. "Cemsica's novel approach to gas separation membranes in microgravity conditions provides the energy community a new avenue for evaluating unique ways to reduce the effects of CO2 emissions on our planet," said Patrick O'Neill with the National Lab. "The project also could reduce energy consumption while improving the chemical stability of products on Earth."


The rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In 2013, CO2 levels surpassed 400 ppm for the first time in recorded history.
Credits: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Lessons learned from the investigation may enable Earth-based production of membranes that can separate and capture CO2 from fossil-fuel power plants using half the energy of current methods. Roughly 40 percent of CO2 emissions in the U.S. come from these power plants. Other potential applications include oil and gas production and water treatment.
These membrane pores may be tiny, but they have very big potential.

Melissa Gaskill
International Space Station Program Science Office
Johnson Space Center

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Last Updated: Dec. 10, 2018
Editor: Michael Johnson

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/12/10/spacex-makes-another-space-station-cargo-delivery/

SpaceX makes another space station cargo delivery
December 10, 2018 | Stephen Clark


SpaceX's Dragon supply ship approaches the International Space Station on Saturday. Credit: Alexander Gerst/ESA/NASA

A commercial supply ship owned and operated by SpaceX arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, delivering a pair of NASA experiments to demonstrate satellite refueling techniques and monitor changes in Earth's forests, along with a special holiday menu of turkey, candied yams, cranberry sauce and shortbread cookies.

The arrival of the Dragon cargo capsule Saturday marked another event in a busy schedule for the space station's six-person crew, following the docking of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft with three fresh residents Dec. 3, and ahead of a spacewalk Tuesday to inspect the exterior of a different Soyuz capsule that developed a pressure leak in August.

Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev plugged the hole in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft's habitation module, ending the minor air leak. But Prokopyev and crewmate Oleg Kononenko will head outside the station in Orlan spacesuits Tuesday to inspect the outer hull of the spaceship for damage, before its scheduled departure Dec. 19 for landing in Kazakhstan with Prokopyev, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, and NASA flight engineer Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor.

Gerst took control of the space station's 58-foot-long (17.7-meter) to capture the Dragon spacecraft at 7:21 a.m. EST (1221 GMT) Saturday, more than an hour later than scheduled after a communications issue on the ground disrupted mission control's voice and data links with the orbiting research complex.

The crew sent commands for the Dragon spacecraft to retreat to a hold point around 100 feet (30 meters) fr om the station to wait for regular communications to be restored with ground controllers. Once the crew was back in contact with mission control, the Dragon resumed its approach to a position roughly 33 feet (10 meters) fr om the station, close enough for the Canadarm 2 to reach out and grapple the supply ship.

Engineers on the ground sent commands for the robotic arm to maneuver Dragon to a berthing port on the Harmony module, where latches and 16 bolts closed to create a firm connection with the space station for a planned 36-day stay.

Dragon is set to remain at the station until Jan. 13, when the robotic arm will remove the capsule fr om the Harmony module and release it for re-entry back into Earth's atmosphere. The cargo carrier will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, wh ere SpaceX teams will retrieve the capsule and return it to the Port of Los Angeles, wh ere workers will unpack experiment specimens and other hardware for return to NASA and science teams.

Gerst tweeted several photos Monday showing members of the station crew, wearing protective eyewear and masks, entering the Dragon spaceship to begin unpacking the cargo inside.

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Some of the first items to be removed by the station crew included fresh food. Holiday favorites such as turkey, candied yams, cranberry sauce and shortbread cookies were delivered by Dragon, according to NASA.


Expedition 57 commander Alexander Gerst (left), alongside NASA flight engineers Anne McClain and Serena Auñón-Chancellor, entered the Dragon spacecraft to begin unpacking the cargo inside. Credit: NASA/ESA

Saturday's arrival was the second time the same SpaceX Dragon cargo craft reached the space station, following a launch and berthing in February 2017. SpaceX recovered the spacecraft and refurbished it for another mission.

SpaceX's 16th operational resupply flight to the station lifted off Wednesday, Dec. 5, from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket to begin the three-day pursuit of the space station with 5,673 pounds (2,573 kilograms) of provisions and experiments.

Researchers sent 40 mice to the space station to study the effects of microgravity on the animals' immune systems, muscles and bones, information that scientists compare to the condition of a control group of mice kept on Earth. The mice sent to space are divided into young and old groups for comparative studies to chart how spaceflight affects aging processes in the body.

"Responses to spaceflight in humans and model organisms such as mice resemble certain aspects of accelerated aging," scientists wrote in a summary of the experiment on NASA's website. "This investigation provides a better understanding of aging-related immune, bone, and muscle disease processes, which may lead to new therapies for use in space and on Earth."

Also delivered to the space station aboard Dragon was a scientific investigation to grow protein crystals in microgravity, with the aim to help researchers understand how an antioxidant protein helps protect the human body from oxidizing radiation. Scientists also sent up experiments to study the causes of muscle abnormalities observed in spaceflight, and to examine the corrosion of carbon steel materials in space.

In addition to the biological experiments stowed inside the Dragon's internal compartment, the spaceship's rear cargo bay contains a pair of NASA payloads to be mounted outside the space station. One will demonstrate new tools and techniques that could lead to a future capability to refuel satellites with cryogenic propellants in space, and another will scan the planet with a laser to measure the height, density and structure of forest canopies, data that could tell scientists more about the role of forests in the carbon cycle.

The station's robotic arm and two-armed Dextre robotic handyman will extract each payload package from Dragon's trunk and move them to locations outside the station.

NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission 3, or RRM3, will demonstrate the transfer of super-cold, cryogenic fuel in space for the first time. The RRM3 package will be attached to an experiment platform on the station's port-side truss for a two-year series of experiments.

"Spacecraft are limited to the fuel they carry on-board," said Hsiao Smith, a deputy director of NASA's Satellite Servicing Projects Division responsible for technical matters. "In order to further space exploration, refueling spacecraft is a necessity. RRM3 will demonstrate the first transfer of liquid methane, which is a type of cryogenic fluid, in the microgravity of space. Cryogenic fluid can serve as a powerful fuel."


Edward Cheung, an engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, performs a fit check of RRM3's three external tools. After RRM3 is installed to the outside of International Space Station the Dextre robotic arm will mount the pedestal and tools, pre-assembled by astronauts on the space station. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn

Developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, RRM3 will attempt to transfer 42 liters (11 gallons) liquid methane from one tank to another, both held inside the washing machine-sized experiment package launched aboard Dragon.

The station's 12-foot-tall (3.7-meter) Dextre robot, equipped with two gripper-like hands, will use tools specially designed for the RRM3 experiment to connect a hose between the two storage tanks. A visual inspection tool will use a camera to verify the transfer hose is properly connected to the receiver tank.

"We have to remove the cap, (and) unscrew the valves before the actual refueling process can take place," Smith said. "We have designed special tools that will allow us to be able to do this effort. In addition to these tools, we also develped and designed cameras that will help us see what the robotic tools are doing to help do the work."

"By testing via multiple fluid interfaces, RRM3 will demonstrate methods for transferring cryogenic fluids to satellites that were not designed to be serviced as well as future satellites that were designed for robotic refueling," said Jill McGuire, project manager for RRM3.

"The ability to resupply cryogenic fuel in space could minimize the amount of fuel spacecraft are required to carry from Earth's surface, making it possible to travel farther into space for longer periods of time," Smith said.

Cryogenic fluids commonly used by space missions include methane, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

Capabilities available to future missions could include harvesting of resources — such as water on the moon or constituents of the Martian atmosphere — to be converted into cryogenic propellants. That could allow the development of refueling depots to replenish spaceships traveling to and from either destination.

RRM3 follows two prior Robotic Refueling Missions — RRM1 and RRM2 — that tested the transfer of liquid ethanol in space. The prior RRM accomplishments also included demonstrating the refilling of a satellite not designed to be serviced after launch, proving the use of tools to cut launch restraints and unscrew a fuel cap with the help of the space station's Dextre robot.

Smith said the technologies demonstrated by the RRM project could be used by future commercial satellite servicing efforts, and also could aid NASA's Restore-L tech demo mission, which is in development to rendezvous with the aging Landsat 7 Earth observation satellite and refuel it in orbit.

The NASA-funded Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation, or GEDI, experiment was also launched inside Dragon's rear cargo bay for the flight to the space station.


NASA's RRM3 and GEDI payloads (left and right) are fastened inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule's trunk in this image taken before launch. Credit: SpaceX

Using a set of three fast-firing lasers, GEDI will measure the height of forests across most of the planet, generating estimates of how much carbon is contained within the world's trees, and how that is linked with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and ultimately the changing climate.

"The overall goal of the GEDI mission, from a measurement perspective, is really fairly simple," said Ralph Dubayah, principal investigator for GEDI (pronounced like "Jedi" from "Star Wars") at the Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center and a professor at the University of Maryland in College Park. "We want to make a map of how tall the forests are around the world and characterize their vertical structure. By vertical structure, we want to know wh ere the leave and branches are, and how they're arranged vertically.

"Why do we want to know this information? Forests are important sources and sinks for carbon in terms of atmospheric CO2 (carbon dioxide). About 50 percent of a tree's weight — what we call its biomass — is composed of carbon, so if you cut down a tree and burn it, part of its mass — its biomass — will make it it up into the atmosphere (as) CO2, and this happens any time forests are destroyed or degraded."

Younger trees, such as those that grow after the clearing of an old-growth forest, take in more carbon dioxide than they produce, helping remove the gas from the atmosphere, according to Dubayah.

The $94 million GEDI instrument will be mounted on the exposed science deck outside the Japanese Kibo lab module for a two-year mission. GEDI will fire three near-infrared lasers down toward Earth 242 times every second from the space station's roughly 250-mile-high (400-kilometer) orbit, covering tropical and temperate forests under the station's orbital track, which ranges between 51.6 degrees north and south latitude.

Some of laser signals will be reflected off the forest canopies to return back to a receiver on the GEDI instrument, which will precisely measure how long it took for the light to travel from the space station, to Earth and back. That will give a measurement of the height of the forests.

GEDI is one of several new science instruments delivered to the space station in recent years. The instruments can plug into the station's power supply and tap into the orbiting lab's data relay capabilities, eliminating the need to build more expensive standalone satellites for the job.

Dubayah said GEDI's results will help scientists better predict how atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could change in the future, by gathering data on the balance between forest regions that consume carbon dioxide, and areas that add CO2 to the atmosphere.

"Without knowing what that balance is, we have a hard time predicting what future atmospheric CO2 concentrations might be like," he said in a conference call with reporters before the mission's launch.

"We will know, if we destroy a particular forest patch, how much carbon potentially could get released back into the atmosphere."

Data collected by the GEDI mission will also help scientists study how changes in forests driven by human activity and climate change affects habitats used by birds and other animals, Dubayah said.

Previous NASA missions, such as the ICESat 2 satellite launched in September, have flown similar laser ranging instruments for Earth observations. But GEDI is the first dedicated to forestry.

"We've been trying to get an instrument like this (in orbit) for over 20 years, so we're very, very excited to be right at the very cusp of getting these kinds of measurements," Dubayah said.

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 6:31 - 11 дек. 2018 г.

ARTICLE:
Russian EVA set to examine hole repair area in Soyuz MS-09 -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/12/russian-eva-hole-soyuz-ms-09/ ...

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[tnt22]

https://tass.ru/kosmos/5898715

11 ДЕК, 16:11
Хрящевую ткань человека напечатали на МКС на биопринтере "Орган.Авт"

Результаты эксперимента доставят на Землю 20 декабря, после чего будет проведено гистологическое исследование тканей и межклеточных соединений

МОСКВА, 11 декабря. /ТАСС/. Хрящевая ткань человека, а также ткань щитовидной железы мышей были напечатаны на МКС в ходе эксперимента с биопринтером "Орган.Авт". Об этом во вторник рассказал журналистам управляющий партнер компании - создателя биопринтера 3D Bioprinting Solutions Юсеф Хесуани на пресс-конференции в ТАСС.

"Хрящевую ткань человека, а также ткань щитовидной железы мышей печатали", - сказал Хесуани. Результаты эксперимента доставят на Землю 20 декабря, после чего будет проведено гистологическое исследование тканей, межклеточных соединений.

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Как отметил заместитель директора департамента бизнес-систем Роскосмоса Андрей Диваев, все расходы связанные с доставкой биопринтера взяла на себя госкорпораци. Сам эксперимент на орбите профинапсировали "Инвитро" и "3D Биопринтинг Солюшенс" (3D Bioprinting Solutions).

Магнитный биопринтер создан для выращивания живых тканей, а впоследствии и органов, но также его можно будет использовать для изучения влияния условий космоса на живые объекты в длительных полетах. Заявитель эксперимента - лаборатория биотехнологических исследований "3D Биопринтинг Солюшенс", российский стартап, являющийся "дочкой" компании "Инвитро".

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