Random news about ISS

[Rick]

ISS stuffed with full staff of six

Three more crew members boarded the International Space Station today from a Russian Soyuz capsule, doubling its permanent crew to six for the first time ever.

The TMA-15 space capsule carrying flight engineers engineers Roman Romanenko of Russia, Robert Thirsk of Canada, and Frank De Winne of Belgium spent two days in space before docking with the ISS's Zarya module at 12:34 GMT.

Unlike previous expeditions, existing ISS residents, commander Gennady Padalka of Russia, American Michael Barratt, and Japan's Koichi Wakata will stay aboard until October rather than immediately return to terra firma.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/29/iss_expedition_20_docks/

[Rick]

Commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Mike Barratt will tomorrow venture outside the International Space Station to prep the Pirs docking module for the arrival of the Russian Mini-Research Module 2.

The pair are tasked with installing a docking antenna to guide the module into place when it finally arrives aboard an unmanned Soyuz, slated to blast off on 10 November. The unit will act as an extra docking port for Russian vehicles.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/04/iss_spacewalk/

[Rick]

The International Space Station has become home to the first node in the "interplanetary internet". The Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) system uses "store-and-forward techniques within the network in order to compensate for intermittent link connectivity".

As NASA explained during ground-based simulation tests last year, DTN "differs significantly from the normal Internet's Transmission-Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, TCP/IP". It is designed to "cope with the huge latencies of space communication and the long interruptions which occur during solar storms or when a spacecraft moves behind a planet".

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/07/dtn_node/

[Rick]

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka took control of an unmanned supply capsule docking at the International Space Station this morning after the spacecraft's automated docking system botched its final approach.

From aboard the ISS, Padalka remotely steered Russia's Progress 34 (P34) cargo craft to a smooth coupling with the aft end of the station's Zvezda service module today at 7:12 am EDT.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/29/p34_docks_with_iss/

[Rick]

A Soyuz capsule has returned to Earth, ending a successful six-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for its three crew members.

Belgian Frank De Winne, Canadian Bob Thirsk and Russian Roman Romanenko touched down in Kazakhstan at 0715 GMT.

During his time on the ISS, Mr De Winne became the first European to take command of the orbiting outpost.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8388161.stm

[Rick]

After being jam-packed with a dozen astronauts last week, the International Space Station will look mighty empty with only a two-man skeleton crew holding down the orbiting outpost for most of December.

Expedition 21 crew aboard the ISS are spending Monday preparing to bid adieu to three of its members. The trio's ticket to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft follows the exit of seven astronauts in NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis last week.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/01/iss_crew_down_to_2/

[mickw]

Europe wants a decision in 2010 on an extension to the life of the International Space Station (ISS).
At the moment, no programme for its use nor any funding has been put in place to support the platform beyond 2015.
But the European Space Agency's (Esa) Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, told the BBC the uncertainty was undermining best use of the ISS.
He said he was persuaded of its worth, and expressed the desire to keep flying the station until at least 2020.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8456632.stm

[Rick]

Russian Progress space freighter lost

An unmanned freighter launched to the International Space Station (ISS) has been lost.

The Russian space agency said the Progress M-12M cargo ship was not placed in the correct orbit by its rocket and fell back to Earth.

The vessel was carrying three tonnes of supplies for the ISS astronauts.

With the retirement of the US space shuttle, there is now a critical reliance on robotic freighters to keep the station supplied.

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14653371

[Rick]

ISS performs debris avoidance maneuver

U.S. Space Command recommended the space station perform a debris avoidance maneuver on Friday, January 13, 2012 to move out of harms' way and dodge a possible collision with the piece of space junk, said to be about 10 centimeters in diameter. The thrusters on the Zvezda service module fired at 1610 UTC on Friday to raise the orbit of the ISS.

More here