Posted on April 17, 2012, at 12:31 pm .
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (March 22, 2012) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research on the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, announced today that it is stepping up efforts to maximize use of the ISS, and will be issuing formal solicitations beginning in June for space research projects for osteoporosis, muscle wasting, immune system compromise, antigenicity and protein crystallization. This follows last week’s announcement regarding a June solicitation for external ISS research opportunities in materials, observation and biological sciences on NanoRacks’ NanoLabs hardware outside the Station.
Continue reading ‘CASIS to Issue Call for ISS Life Sciences Experiments in June’
Posted on April 9, 2012, at 4:15 am .
Astronaut Shannon Walker activates an experiment aboard the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA
From Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Office
Florida Center Picked to Fulfill Contract is Not Performing the Type of Work Needed to Manage Laboratory; Brown Leads Members of the Ohio Delegation in Encouraging NASA to Reopen the Competition for Contract – Space Laboratory Associates—a Partnership Between the Universities Space Research Association and Battelle Memorial Institute—is Ready to Begin Space Launch System Work Immediately
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The center selected to manage the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory is not performing the type of work necessary to fulfill NASA’s requirements, spurring U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to urge NASA to reconsider the contract awarded to Center for Advancement in Science and Space (CASIS). In light of the resignation of the head of CASIS, which is located at the Kennedy Space Station in Florida, Brown today led members of the Ohio delegation on a letter to NASA encouraging the agency to reopen the competition for the contract and to consider the strong application made by Space Laboratory Associates. Space Laboratory Associates (SLA) is a joint partnership between the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and Battelle Memorial Institute.
Continue reading ‘Ohio Delegation Urges NASA to Dump CASIS as ISS National Lab Manager’
Posted on March 7, 2012, at 12:59 pm .
Richmond, B.C. (MDA PR) – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., a provider of essential information solutions, announced today that it has signed a contract amendment worth CA$14.7 million with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for logistics and sustaining engineering requirements for the Mobile Servicing System. This amendment extends the work through March 2013, bringing the total contract value to CA $152.7 million.
Continue reading ‘CSA Extends MDA Contract for ISS Support’
Posted on March 7, 2012, at 5:30 am .
This artistic representation shows Dextre (right) performing a robotic refueling task on RRM (center) task box, mounted to ELC4. (Image: NASA)
Robotic Refueling Mission Begins: March 7, 2012
Follow Dextre on Twitter
CSA PR — Satellites are designed to withstand a variety of challenges to ensure that the sensitive electronics on board can survive the effects of launch and perform for years in the harsh conditions of space. One of the major hurdles engineering teams face when designing a satellite is how much fuel it can carry to operate throughout its lifetime. Many satellites are left to die and then become space debris after they run out of fuel. But what if we were able to refuel them?
Continue reading ‘Dextre to Begin Robotic Refueling Mission Today’
Posted on March 5, 2012, at 6:40 am .
Support for bringing China, India and other nations into the International Space Station partnership appears to be growing following a meeting of the five families space agency heads in Canada last week:
“We are not a closed club, our doors are wide open,” Vladimir Popovkin, the head of the Russian Space agency, said after a meeting Thursday of the leaders of the organizations involved in the station.
Popovkin ventured that the day will come when China and India will work together with the five ISS partners — Canada, the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency.
Continue reading ‘Will China, India Join International Space Station Partnership?’
Posted on March 2, 2012, at 6:20 am .
Québec City, Quebec, February 29, 2012 (CSA PR) – The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency, today announced Canada’s intention to renew its commitment to the International Space Station (ISS). Alongside Steve MacLean, President of the Canadian Space Agency, Minister Paradis also unveiled two unique space projects, Microflow and Lab on a CD, designed to accelerate how patients are diagnosed, in space and on Earth.
Continue reading ‘Canadian Government Renews ISS Commitment, Introduces Two New Space Projects’
Posted on February 19, 2012, at 7:11 am .
HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA, Astrium Space Transportation and NanoRacks LLC are teaming up to expand the research capability of the International Space Station through delivery of a small commercial centrifuge facility that will conduct molecular and cellular investigations on plant and animal tissue.
The centrifuge enhances NanoRacks’ existing suite of lab equipment aboard the space station, which includes microscopes and a plate reader used to detect biological, chemical or physical activity in samples.
Continue reading ‘NASA to Deliver Commercial Centrifuge to Station’
Posted on February 9, 2012, at 12:47 pm .
Houston, Texas (Astrium NA/NanoRacks PR) – Astrium North America is proud to announce that Astrium Space Transportation and NanoRacks LLC have teamed up to offer a cost‐effective, commercial centrifuge facility for the International Space Station.
Astrium Space Transportation is handing over on the 14th of February to NanoRacks LLC a gravitational research centrifuge marking a new era of commercial utilization of the U.S. National Lab. The handover will take place at Astrium North America’s Houston facility.
The centrifuge will allow researchers to perform research under various gravity levels, including Mars and Moon conditions or as 1‐G control to contrast results with microgravity projects conducted on the space station.
Continue reading ‘NanoRacks Commercial Centrifuge Ready for ISS’
Posted on January 28, 2012, at 9:48 am .
International Space Station
More quality control problems with Russia’s human spaceflight program.
A planned March 30 launch of a new three-man crew to the International Space Station could be delayed about a month due to an air leak discovered during vacuum testing of the crew’s Soyuz capsule, RIA Novosti reports.
The new crew of Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin and Joseph Acaba was set to dock at the station on April 1. They would replace Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin, and Dan Burbank, who were schedule to leave the station before the new crew’s arrival. The Padalka crew would join a three-member team launched in December and return the station contingent to six members.
An official told RIA Novosti that Burbank’s crew would probably extend its mission. That team was launched in mid-November, meaning it has until mid-May before its Soyuz return vehicle reaches its six-month limit in space.
Posted on January 27, 2012, at 6:25 am .
International Space Station
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel’s annual report includes a fascinating section about the risk of losing a mission related to the International Space Station (ISS).
“Analyses presented to the ASAP on several occasions, most recently in May 2011, stated that the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) related to ISS Loss of Mission (LOM) was 1 in 55 for a 180-day mission. Since there are approximately 20 180-day missions in the currently projected ISS Program, this means that there is a greater-than-30-percent chance that the ISS could sustain a LOM sometime during its projected operating life,” ASAP wrote.
That’s a lot higher than you might think. And if it happened, the result could be quite dire.
“Should such an event occur, the result could arise that the ISS would have to be abandoned—potentially without the possibility of a return to nominal operation. Thus, a premature ISS de-orbit is one potential outcome. This can occur in either a controlled or an uncontrolled manner, with the latter clearly the more dangerous. While this possibility has been known for some time, NASA has not yet shared with the Panel an explicit plan to deal with this situation,” the report reads.
ASAP recommends that NASA begin immediate planning for various contingencies and that those plans be shared and coordinated with the other ISS partners.
Read the full report.
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