STS-127 Endeavor crew completes first walk

(NASA) – In a complex and choreographed activity, the crews of Endeavour and the International Space Station installed the Exposed Facility on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory today, the top priority for the mission, and completed the first of five spacewalks planned.

Though plagued by communication problems, crew members Dave Wolf and Tim Kopra completed all of their primary tasks during a 5 hour, 32 minute spacewalk. STS-127 lead spacewalker Dave Wolf and the newest space station crew member Tim Kopra began the spacewalk at 12:19 p.m. EDT, when they switched their spacesuits to battery power. The spacewalk ended at 5:51 p.m.

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STS-127 Day five planned activities

10:33 GMT (6:33 am EDT) – Endeavour / ISS Crew Wake Up
12:33 GMT (8:33 am EDT) – SSRMS Grapple & Unberth OBSS
13:48 GMT (9:48 am EDT) – SSRMS Handoff OBSS To SRMS
14:38 GMT (10:38 am EDT) – SRMS / OBSS Focused Inspection Of Endeavour TPS Begins
18:03 GMT (2:03 pm EDT) – SRMS Handoff OBSS To SSRMS
18:18 GMT (2:18 pm EDT) – OBSS Berth In Endeavour’s Payload Bay
19:38 GMT (3:38 pm EDT) – SRMS Grapple & Unberth ICC From Endeavour’s Payload Bay & Maneuvers To Handoff Position
22:08 GMT (6:08 pm EDT) – CSA PAO Event
22:28 GMT (6:28 pm EDT) – EVA #2 Procedure Review
0:58 GMT (8:58 pm EDT) – EVA #2 Campout Begins (Wolf & Marshburn)
2:03 GMT (10:03 pm EDT) – ISS Crew Sleep Begins
2:33 GMT (10:33 pm EDT) – Endeavour Crew Sleep Begins

Source: Spacefellowship

NASA/space technology helping our soldiers: LED technology for pain relief

Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

Red light-emitting diodes are growing plants in space and healing humans on Earth.

Red light-emitting diodes are growing plants in space and healing humans on Earth. The LED technology used in NASA space shuttle plant growth experiments has contributed to the development of medical devices such as award-winning WARP 10, a hand-held, high- intensity, LED unit developed by Quantum Devices Inc. The WARP 10 is intended for the temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain, arthritis, stiffness, and muscle spasms, and also promotes muscle relaxation and increases local blood circulation. The WARP 10 is being used by the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Navy as a noninvasive “soldier self-care” device that aids front-line forces with first aid for minor injuries and pain, thereby improving endurance in combat. The next-generation WARP 75 has been used to relieve pain in bone marrow transplant patients, and will be used to combat the symptoms of bone atrophy, multiple sclerosis, diabetic complications, Parkinson’s disease, and in a variety of ocular applications.

(Spinoff 2005, 2008)

Source: NASA, Spinoff 2008 report. More info

NASA releases new images of Apollo landing sites

NASA reports:

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions’ lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon’s surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules’ locations evident.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.

The satellite reached lunar orbit June 23 and captured the Apollo sites between July 11 and 15. Though it had been expected that LRO would be able to resolve the remnants of the Apollo mission, these first images came before the spacecraft reached its final mapping orbit. Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution.

Source: NASA

This graphic shows the approximate locations of the Apollo moon landing sites.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Next shuttle launch – STS-128 – set for a mid-August launch

The next NASA shuttle launch is STS-128 and is set for August 18th, 2009.

Image above: Seated are Commander Rick Sturckow (right) and Pilot Kevin Ford. From the left (standing) are mission specialists José Hernández, John “Danny” Olivas, Nicole Stott, European Space Agency’s Christer Fuglesang and Patrick Forrester. Stott is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on STS-128.

Commander Rick Sturckow will lead the STS-128 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery with Kevin Ford serving as pilot. Also serving aboard Discovery are mission specialists Patrick Forrester, José Hernández, John “Danny” Olivas, Christer Fuglesang and Nicole Stott.

Stott will remain on the station as an Expedition 20 flight engineer replacing Timothy Kopra. Kopra will return home aboard Discovery as a mission specialist.

Discovery is carrying the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module containing life support racks and science racks. The Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier will also be launched in Discovery’s payload bay.

This is Discovery’s 37th mission to space and the 30th mission of a space shuttle dedicated to the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station.

Aldrin and Kranz honored at KCPA

Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, left, meets with Gene Kranz, retired NASA Flight Director and manager, back stage after the “Salute to Apollo” ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, July 18, 2009 in Washington. The event was part of NASA’s week long celebration of the Apollo 40th Anniversary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR (STS-127)

Endeavour’s flight will deliver the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. The 16-day mission will include five spacewalks and the installation of two platforms outside of the Japanese module. One platform is permanent and will serve as a type of porch for experiments that require direct exposure to space. The other is an experiment storage pallet that will be detached and returned with the shuttle. During the mission, Kibo’s robotic arm will exchange three experiments from the palette to the platform. Future experiments also can be transferred to the platform from the inside using the laboratory’s airlock. Endeavour  also will deliver a new crew member and bring back another after more than three months aboard the station.

Source: NASA

Space shuttle Endeavour is in place at Launch Pad 39A, Friday, June 12, 2009 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Endeavour is undergoing final preparations for its upcoming 16-day mission to the International Space Station. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Station Arm Installs Cargo Carrier on Mobile Base System

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:05:46 PM CDT

Robotic arm operators in space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station installed the Integrated Cargo Carrier – Vertical Light Deployable, or ICC-VLD, on the port side of the space station’s mobile base system. Station arm operators Julie Payette and Tim Kopra finished the move at 12:55 p.m. EDT.

The ICC-VLD contains three on-orbit spares that spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn will move to a stowage platform on the outside of the Port 3 truss during Monday’s second spacewalk.

On NASA Television at 6:08 p.m., Canadian astronauts Julie Payette and Bob Thirsk will talk with Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement, Canadian Space Agency President Steve MacLean and reporters in St. Hubert, Quebec.

Source: NASA

Image above: The Integrated Cargo Carrier is transferred from space shuttle Endeavour’s cargo bay by the shuttle’s Canadarm robotic arm. Photo credit: NASA TV

Follow STS-127 astronauts through live tweets

How cool is it that we can follow the live activity of the crew  of STS-127 via Twitter?

A crew spokesperson had the following words for the patch.  “Bathed in sunlight, the blue Earth is represented without boundaries to remind us that we all share this world.  In the center, the golden flight path of the space shuttle turns into the three distinctive rays  of the astronaut symbol culminating in the  star-like emblem characteristic of the Japanese Space Agency, yet soaring further into space as it paves the way for future voyages and discoveries for all humankind.”

STS-127 crew currently on the ISS

Image above: Front row, Commander Mark Polansky (right) and Pilot Doug Hurley. Back row (left to right), astronauts Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Canadian Space Agency’s Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Tim Kopra, all mission specialists. Kopra is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station with the STS-127 crew. Image credit: NASA