The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond

Glaucus · 16 Feb 2015 at 23:35

Elon is going to write a book about Earth and mars for Penguin.

Earth bit will be about issues facing earth, like sustainability
And mars will be about becoming multi planet species.

He's getting 3.5m to write it, only thing is, it's going to be at least a couple if years

http://uk.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-is-getting-35-million-for-a-book-2015-2?r=US

Cosimo · 17 Feb 2015 at 11:29

Rosetta Update:

On 14 February 2015, Rosetta made its closest encounter with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasemenko at just 6 km from the surface. The spacecraft is no longer orbiting the comet, it is now performing a series of flybys to continue its science.

This video explains the next stage of the Rosetta mission, the science that will be done during 2015 by the orbiter’s flybys, and assesses the possibility of the Philae lander’s reactivation from hibernation

Cosimo · 17 Feb 2015 at 12:14

Progress M-26M launch, start @ 15:25:

Cosimo · 17 Feb 2015 at 15:17

Progress M-26M launch without the text:

Cosimo · 18 Feb 2015 at 15:23

Progress M-26M arrives at the station:

Cosimo · 19 Feb 2015 at 08:00

A look at how Kennedy Space Center is changing:

Cosimo · 19 Feb 2015 at 11:37

Nice timelapse of IXV preparation and launch on the 11th:

Cosimo · 20 Feb 2015 at 07:16

A look at the upcoming spacewalk by Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts.

Preparation to ready the International Space Station for a pair of international docking adapters (IDAs) that will allow future commercial crew vehicles to dock. During US EVA #29, Wilmore and Virts will work to route more than 360 feet of cables that will provide power and communication capabilities with the new IDAs. Planned to last six and a half hours, it will be the first of three consecutive spacewalks the duo is marked for.

Cosimo · 21 Feb 2015 at 09:15

Cosimo · 26 Feb 2015 at 08:07

Preview of the final spacewalk:

Wilmore and Virts will work to install the Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) system which will aid future visiting commercial crew vehicles during rendezvous and docking. The system consists of two booms with four antennas and three specialized reflectors that will require 400 feet of new cabling to be routed from the center of the station structure out to the two booms.

Cosimo · 26 Feb 2015 at 09:38

Another amazing picture from Mars:

Curiosity Self-Portrait at 'Mojave' Site on Mount Sharp

This self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the "Mojave" site, where its drill collected the mission's second taste of Mount Sharp.

The scene combines dozens of images taken during January 2015 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the rover's robotic arm. The pale "Pahrump Hills" outcrop surrounds the rover, and the upper portion of Mount Sharp is visible on the horizon. Darker ground at upper right and lower left holds ripples of wind-blown sand and dust.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

More:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19142

Cosimo · 26 Feb 2015 at 11:44

Some of yesterday's spacewalk, the 2nd:

... continue rigging cables for the future installation of new docking ports that will greet U.S. commercial crew vehicles in the years ahead. Working around Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 at the forward end of the Harmony module

Virts reported seeing a small amount of water floating in his helmet at the end of the walk:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/02/25/virts-reports-small-amount-of-water-in-helmet/

Cosimo · 27 Feb 2015 at 08:08

So you want to build a satellite... take a look at this timelapse:

http://youtu.be/DFzR***FU2M

Filter censors link, search for "NASA | GPM in a Minute"

Cosimo · 27 Feb 2015 at 08:45

The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) was installed on the station on the 22nd:

More:

http://cats.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Cosimo · 27 Feb 2015 at 11:03

Rollout of a Soyuz 2-1A rocket which will launch the first satellite in the classified Bars-M program:

Launch is at Plesetsk Cosmodrome this morning.

Trig · 27 Feb 2015 at 12:47

Classified by who?

Cosimo · 27 Feb 2015 at 13:21

Trig said:
Classified by who?

The Russian military. It's a spy satellite.

Trig · 27 Feb 2015 at 18:10

Oh right, because we need more of that sort of thing right now eh...

Cosimo · 28 Feb 2015 at 11:44

Trig · 28 Feb 2015 at 12:48

RapidScat, really, who names these things lol

** The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond **

The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond