Tag: International Space Station (ISS)

NASA, Mission Partners to Discuss Starliner Crew Flight Test Progress

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky As NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) continue to evaluate a path toward launching the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, they will host a joint media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, May 24. The agency is working toward a launch at 12:25 p.m., Saturday, June 1, for the first crewed flight…

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Welcome Back to Planet Earth, Expedition 70 Crew! 

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On May 16, 2024, a crowd of more than 500 people gathered at Space Center Houston’s IMAX theater for the Expedition 70 crew debrief and awards ceremony. Crew members from NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 and Soyuz MS-24 missions shared reflections from their voyage aboard the International Space Station and bestowed well-deserved recognition upon Johnson Space Center employees and partners whose dedication and support contributed to the expedition’s success.  A group photo of participants from the Expedition 70 crew debrief and awards ceremony on May 16, 2024, at Space Center Houston’s IMAX theater. Credit: NASA/David…

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NASA, Sierra Space Deliver Dream Chaser to Florida for Launch Preparation

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Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space’s uncrewed cargo spaceplane, is processed inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 20, 2024. The spaceplane arrived inside a climate-controlled transportation container from the agency’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio. Final testing and prelaunch processing will be completed inside the high bay of the SSPF ahead of Dream Chaser’s inaugural launch atop a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.   Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett As part of NASA’s efforts to…

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Astronaut Exercise

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Science in Space: May 2024 Future missions to the Moon and Mars must address many challenges, including preventing loss of bone and muscle tissue in astronauts. Research on the International Space Station is helping to address this challenge. Without Earth’s gravity, both bone and muscle atrophy, or become smaller and weaker. Early on, scientists realized that exercise is a critical part of maintaining healthy bones and muscles in space, just as it is on Earth. From simple elastic bands on early missions, exercise hardware has become increasingly advanced. Current equipment…

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NASA Names Deputy Station Manager, Operations Integration Manager

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NASA has selected Dina Contella, left, as the International Space Station Program deputy manager, based at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Contella succeeds Dana Weigel, who became the space station program manager in April. NASA has also selected Bill Spetch, right, as the space station operations integration manager, a role most recently held by Contella. Credits: NASA NASA selected Dina Contella as the deputy program manager and Bill Spetch as the operations integration manager for the agency’s International Space Station Program, effective Sunday, June 2. “Dina’s depth of…

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Station Science 101 | Research in Microgravity: Higher, Faster, Longer

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5 Min Read Station Science 101 | Research in Microgravity: Higher, Faster, Longer NASA astronaut Megan McArthur services donor cells inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox for the Celestial Immunity study. Credits: NASA The International Space Station provides unique features that enable innovative research, including microgravity, exposure to space, a unique orbit, and hands-on operation by crew members. Microgravity The space station provides consistent, long-term access to microgravity. Eliminating the effects of Earth’s gravity on experiments is a game-changer across many disciplines, including research on living things and…

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Arizona, New York Students to Hear from NASA Astronauts Aboard Station

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(March 26, 2024) — Five NASA astronauts wear eye-protecting specs in anticipation of viewing the April 8 solar eclipse from the International Space Station’s cupola. Credits: NASA Students from Arizona and New York will have separate opportunities next week to hear from astronauts aboard the International Space Station. At 12:10 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 14, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Tracy C. Dyson will answer prerecorded student questions from Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson, Arizona, in partnership with the TRiO Upward Bound Program, PIMA Community College, Desert Vista…

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NASA Mission Strengthens 40-Year Friendship 

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As NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore launches aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station Monday, May 6 on its first crewed flight, one of his best friends will have played a key role in getting him there.  Billy Stover, chief safety officer for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and Wilmore have been friends for more than 40 years. The pair’s friendship began in the 1980s at Tennessee Tech University on the football field.  “We would do weight training and we would get paired up,” said Stover. “If he did 50…

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NASA Sets Coverage for Boeing Starliner’s First Crewed Launch, Docking

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Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will launch aboard Starliner on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Credits: NASA NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, which will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to and from the International Space Station. Launch of the ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket and Boeing Starliner spacecraft is targeted for 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday,…

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