ISS Fan Club - ISS News

U.S. Billionaire to Make Second Private Spaceflight

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:04:42 -0400

American billionaire Charles Simonyi, a computer software executive who paid more than $20 million to fly to the International Space Station aboard a Russian-built Soyuz capsule in spring 2007, will train for a second Soyuz trip to the space station in spring 2009.

Vienna, Va.-based Space Adventures announced Tuesday that Simonyi will be the first repeat customer since the company began organizing space missions for private citizens in 2001.

http://www.space.com/news/080930-simonyi-spacetourist.html

Cosmonauts Set For Return Home Aboard Soyuz

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:50:37 -0400

Cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station are preparing to return home next month aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, while Russian engineers believe they've isolated the glitch that sent the last two landings careening off-course, mission managers said Thursday.

Expedition 17 station commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineer Oleg Kononenko are due to land on Oct. 23 to end a six-month mission that included spacewalk surgery on their Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft to help engineers understand why one of five separation explosive bolts on similar vehicles failed to fire during the recent landings.

Progress Launches to Space Station

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:22:26 -0400

A new Progress cargo carrier launched to the International Space Station at 3:50 p.m. EDT Wednesday with almost 2.7 tons of fuel, air, water, propellant and other supplies and equipment aboard.

The Expedition 17 crew members set up video cameras and reviewed rendezvous procedures for Friday's docking of the ISS Progress 30 (P30) cargo ship.

The station's 30th Progress unpiloted spacecraft brings to the orbiting laboratory more than 1,900 pounds of propellant, more than 110 pounds of oxygen, almost 465 pounds of water and 2,865 pounds of dry cargo. Total cargo weight is 5,357 pounds.

Astronauts Update Space Station Antivirus Software

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 15:09:49 -0400

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took some time to update their orbiting laboratory’s antivirus software to ensure their laptops are safeguarded against intrusions like one caught in July.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko spent some time today updating the antivirus protection software on laptop computers in the station’s Russian segment, said NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The activity is one that would be familiar to computer owners on Earth with machines that use constantly updated commercial antivirus software, he told me.

Make Contact: Ask the Astronaut on Space Station a Question

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:12:36 -0400

Astronaut Greg Chamitoff, aboard the International Space Station 220 miles above Earth, is ready to take your questions. Here's your chance to hear direct from space. Chamitoff's schedule will not allow him to answer many questions, but he will attempt to answer a few each week. To submit your question, post it as a comment below. Please include your name, age and location. Questions will be transmitted to Greg from Mission Control each week and his answers to a few of them will be available here.

Many past shuttle and station crews have answered questions from the web. You can take a look at those archives at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/index.html.

Space Station Invaded By Students From Outer Space Base

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:17:55 -0400

Arizona Kids and teens are set to blast their local libraries into orbit after completing Outer Space Base, a library series of space science programs in Tucson. Nine- to thirteen-year-olds will participate in a live educational downlink with Expedition 17 astronaut Greg Chamitoff aboard the International Space Station on Friday, Aug. 15, from 1:10 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. CDT.

The Pima County Public Library is the first public library system to host a space station downlink. The downlink also will be a first for the State of Arizona.

Outer Space Base programs are the product of a partnership between the library, NASA, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and the Mars Education Program at Arizona State University, in Phoenix.

New Gear to Boost Space Station Population

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:13:34 -0400

Some new high-tech gear slated for launch this year will prepare the International Space Station (ISS) to permanently double its current three-astronaut population.

A new toilet, a pair of astronaut bedrooms and a handy new system that recycles urine into pure, drinkable water are on the docket for a fall shuttle flight to the space station, where they'll be tested before the outpost can scale up to six-person crews next year.

"Our biggest question right now is getting our life support systems working so we have enough for six-person crew," said NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, who will launch to the station in October to command the Expedition 18 crew that will oversee the new equipment's installation. "Right now, we're running kind of a water deficit and it's being supplemented by the shuttle."

Next Space Tourist, Station Crew Eager to Fly

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 17:54:47 -0400

America's next space tourist and a new space station crew are gearing up for an October launch to the International Space Station (ISS).

Computer game developer Richard Garriott, along with U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov are slated to launch Oct. 12 aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome spaceport.

Garriott, the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who flew aboard the U.S. Skylab station and a U.S. shuttle, is set to become the first second-generation U.S. spaceflyer. He is flying under a $30 million deal brokered with Russia's Federal Space Agency by the Virginia-based firm Space Adventures to visit the ISS for about a week.

ASA, USDA Sign Space Station Research Agreement

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:46:05 -0400

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) hosted NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Secretary of Agriculture Edward T. Schafer during the signing of a memorandum of understanding to enable the USDA's Agricultural Research Service to conduct plant related research on the International Space Station.

The research will improve our understanding of biological cellular mechanisms and may lead to creative new ways to improve American agriculture, protect the environment and contribute to better human health. The agreement reflects NASA's ongoing efforts to develop the space station as a national laboratory, with the ability to serve a broad range of users.

Heads of Agency International Space Station Joint Statement

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:08:27 -0400

The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States met at European Space Agency (ESA) Headquarters in Paris on July 17, 2008, to review ISS cooperation. As part of their discussions, they noted the significantly expanded capability that the ISS now provides for on-orbit research and technology development activities and as an engineering test bed for flight systems and operations that are critical to future space exploration initiatives. These activities improve the quality of life on Earth by expanding the frontiers of human knowledge.

NASA Assigns Crew for Equipment Delivery Mission to Space Station

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:37:56 -0400

NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-128. The flight will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station.

Marine Corps Col. Frederick W. "Rick" Sturckow will command space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-128 mission, targeted for launch July 30, 2009. Retired Air Force Col. Kevin A. Ford will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists are NASA astronauts John D. "Danny" Olivas, retired Army Col. Patrick G. Forrester, Jose M. Hernandez and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Christer Fuglesang. The mission will deliver a new station crew member, Nicole Stott, to the complex and return Tim Kopra to Earth. Ford, Hernandez and Stott will be making their first trips to space. Stott and Kopra were previously assigned in February to station missions.

Cosmonauts' Second Spacewalk Goes Smoothly

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:34:53 -0400

Two Russian spacewalkers installed a docking target and changed out science experiments during their second career spacewalk on Tuesday outside the International Space Station.

The almost six-hour spacewalk began on schedule at 1:08 p.m. EDT (1708 GMT) and allowed space station commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineer Oleg Kononenko to finish their tasks on time — despite an added, impromptu fix to a disabled ham radio antenna.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080715-spacewalk-wrap.html

Spot the Space Station

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:46:23 -0400

If you're out watching the twilight sky in the time frame from 45 to 90 minutes before sunrise, or 45 to 90 minutes after sunset, you'll might see a few "moving stars." They are most likely artificial satellites.

The brightest of all is the International Space Station, and this month provides some great opportunities to see it from just about anywhere.

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/080711-ns-space-station.html

Spacewalkers Remove Explosive Bolt from Russian Craft

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:41:30 -0400

Cosmonauts successfully removed an explosive bolt from a Russian Soyuz spacecraft during a Thursday spacewalk.

Space station commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineer Oleg Kononenko dealt calmly with the unusual operation outside the International Space Station (ISS) as first-time spacewalkers, despite early troubles setting up a Strela hand-powered crane to reach the work site.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080710-spacewalk-wrap.html

NASA Extends Space Station Cargo Delivery Contract

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:45:40 -0400

NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems Inc. in Houston, a one-year contract extension valued at $42 million to provide integration services for cargo delivery to and from the International Space Station.

Lockheed Martin has held the station's cargo mission contract since January 2004. The one-year extension will bring the total value of the contract to $338 million.

The contract provides cargo packing for delivery to and from the space station, consisting of pressurized and unpressurized science and logistics carriers, assembly hardware and crew support. It also involves determining the most efficient way to pack the cargo, verifying the adequacy of the integrated carriers, packing the pressurized cargo into sub-carriers and returning the cargo to the providers once it returns to Earth. The contract also provides sustaining engineering for NASA carriers.