Tag: Missions

Shooting for the Stars: NASA Lights Up the Court at Toyota Center 

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On Nov. 6, 2024, NASA Night brought cosmic excitement to the Toyota Center, where Johnson Space Center employees joined 16,208 fans who interacted with NASA as they watched the Houston Rockets claim victory over the San Antonio Spurs.  Energy soared as International Space Station Program Manager Dana Weigel stepped up to take the first shot.  International Space Station Program Manager Dana Weigel takes the first shot on Nov. 6, 2024, as the Houston Rockets go up against the San Antonio Spurs at Toyota Center. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas The ceremonial first…

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Station Science Top News: Nov. 15, 2024

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Anthocyanins protect seeds in space After exposure to space outside the International Space Station, purple-pigmented rice seeds rich in anthocyanin had higher germination rates than non-pigmented white rice seeds. This result suggests that anthocyanin, a flavonoid known to protect plants from UV irradiation, could help preserve seed viability on future space missions. Plants are key components for systems being designed to produce nutrients and recycle carbon for future sustained space habitation, but space has been shown to reduce seed viability. Tanpopo-3, part of a series of investigations from JAXA (Japan…

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NASA dealing with aging ISS and spacewalk hardware: ‘None of our spacesuits are spring chickens’

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The commander of SpaceX’s Crew-8 astronaut mission says that NASA continues to prioritize safety while co-managing an aging space station. The International Space Station (ISS) and the spacesuit that spacewalking NASA astronauts wear, known as the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU), are both decades old. And it’s the age of this hardware that has led to issues with both recently, NASA astronaut and Crew-8 commander Matthew Dominick told reporters on Friday (Nov. 8). “None of our spacesuits are spring chickens, as we would say, and so we will expect to see…

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Station Science Top News: Nov. 8, 2024

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Researchers demonstrated the feasibility of 3D bioprinting a meniscus or knee cartilage tissue in microgravity. This successful result advances technology for bioprinting tissue to treat musculoskeletal injuries on long-term spaceflight or in extraterrestrial settings where resources and supply capacities are limited. BFF Meniscus-2 evaluated using the BioFabrication Facility to 3D print knee cartilage tissue using bioinks and cells. The meniscus is the first engineered tissue of an anatomically relevant shape printed on the station. Manufactured human tissues have potential as alternatives to donor organs, which are in short supply. Bioprinting…

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NASA still mum about SpaceX Crew-8 astronaut’s medical issue

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NASA is not yet ready to tell us why one of its astronauts was hospitalized shortly after returning to Earth last month. That astronaut was one of the four members of SpaceX‘s Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which ended with a splashdown off the coast of Florida on Oct. 25. Everything appeared to go well with the landing. Shortly thereafter, however, all four astronauts — NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos — were taken to a Florida hospital for…

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Beyond the Console: Kenneth Attocknie’s Mission to Bridge Cultures at NASA

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From the Mission Control Center to community celebrations, Kenneth Attocknie blends safety expertise with a commitment to cultural connection.  For the past 25 years at NASA, Attocknie has dedicated his career to safeguarding the International Space Station and supporting real-time mission operations at Johnson Space Center in Houston.   As a principal safety engineer in the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, Attocknie ensures the safe operation of the space station’s environmental control and life support system. This system is vital for maintaining the life-sustaining environment aboard the orbiting laboratory— a critical…

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Watch 31st SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrive at the ISS today

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The space station will receive a new shipment of supplies this morning (Nov. 5), and you can watch the event live. A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft laden with 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of food, equipment and experiments will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) today around 10:15 a.m. EST (1415 GMT), if all goes according to plan. Coverage will run live on NASA+ and, if possible, Space.com will simulcast the events here. NASA’s broadcast will begin at 8:45 a.m. EST (1245 GMT). SpaceX launched the robotic Dragon aboard a…

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Watch SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts move Crew Dragon spacecraft to new ISS parking spot on Nov. 3

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Four astronauts will relocate a SpaceX spacecraft at the space station on Sunday (Nov. 3), and you can watch the event live. The SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts, including two crew members formerly aboard Boeing Starliner, will move their Crew Dragon at the International Space Station. ISS procedures dictate that all astronauts assigned to a spacecraft climb on board for relocations, on the tiny chance something arises that would force the group to come early back to Earth. Live coverage begins at 6:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT) courtesy of NASA+, and possibly…

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NASA astronaut snaps spooky photo of SpaceX Dragon capsule from ISS

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A SpaceX Dragon capsule looks a little ghostly in a new image taken from the space station. NASA astronaut Don Pettit snapped a picture of the Crew Dragon Freedom after the Crew-9 mission, SpaceX‘s ninth operational astronaut effort for the agency, docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sept. 29. The black-and-white image shows the belly of the Dragon, including windows with filters on board to lessen the bright sun. “I like how the sun shines through the stitching, personifying the composition,” Pettit wrote Oct. 24 on X, formerly…

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Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin endorses Trump for president

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One of the United States’ most famous space explorers is backing Donald Trump for president. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person ever to walk on the moon, endorsed Trump in a statement today (Oct. 30), less than a week before the Nov. 5 presidential election. “Over the years, I have seen our government’s approach to space wax and wane, a fluctuating dynamic that has disappointed me from time to time,” the former moonwalker wrote in the statement, which was released by Buzz Aldrin Ventures LLC. “But under the…

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