Tag: ISS
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Successful EVA likely to have resolved ammonia leak
Spacewalkers Chris Cassidy (EV-1) and Tom Marshburn (EV-2) ventured outside of the Quest Airlock on Saturday, in search of the source of an ammonia leak. The duo investigated the cooling loop of power channel 2B on the P6 Truss of the Station, and while the system appeared to be clean, the installation of a new…
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Ammonia leak on ISS prompts contingency spacewalks
A sudden increase in a previously small ammonia leak in the coolant lines of a power channel on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) has prompted ground teams to enter into a state of rapid investigations and replanning, in order to stop the ammonia from leaking away into space as soon as is…
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Cygnus ISS debut provisionally moved to September
The debut mission for Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft – known as ORB-D – is now tracking a provisional launch date of September 28. The slip relates to an engine change out on the Antares that will launch Cygnus en route to the ISS, along with the Station’s busy Visiting Vehicle schedule and Solar Beta Angle cut-out…
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NASA’s Commercial Crew Catch 22 as another $424m heads to Russia
NASA administrator Charlie Bolden emphasized the need for Congress to fully support funding for the Agency’s Commercial Crew Program, after signing a $424m extension for the use of Russian Soyuz vehicles to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The deal, which reaches through to June 2017, is likely to receive further extensions. Domestic…
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Europe’s ATV-4 prepares for launch amid contributions to future exploration
Europe’s latest space freighter, the Automated Transfer Vehicle-4 (ATV-4), is currently undergoing preparations for a realigned launch date following the replacement of a faulty unit inside the spacecraft. While the primary mission of ATV-4 will be to deliver a large load of cargo and propellants to the International Space Station, it will also help to…
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Progress M-19M docks with ISS despite antenna issue
The Russian Progress resupply vehicle that launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) two days later, despite some concerns about M-19M/51P’s KURS antenna – which failed to deploy on orbit. Progress M-19M: As per usual, an old Progress – in this case, M-17M (49P)…
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Cosmonauts successfully conclude Russian spacewalk
Two Russian cosmonauts have been hard at work outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, conducting a spacewalk for the purposes of routine maintenance on the Russian Segment (RS). The spacewalk, known as Russian Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA)-32, got underway at 2:03 PM GMT and lasted over six and half hours. EVA procedures: The…
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Sochi Winter Olympics torch relay to include ISS spacewalk
In what will be a truly unique event, the Olympic torch for the 2014 Winter Games will ride up to the International Space Station on Soyuz TMA-11M in November. The simulated flame will then be taken outside of the orbital outpost during Russian EVA-36, before returning to Earth on Soyuz TMA-09M. ISS and the 2014…
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ISS gets communications overhaul to boost scientific output
The International Space Station (ISS) has been undergoing an extensive internal communications hardware overhaul over the past week, designed to greatly boost the orbiting laboratory’s capacity for transmitting experiment data to Earth. The modifications will allow for increased scientific output from the station, which has up until now been running at maximum capacity for data…
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USCV-1: NASA planners slip first ISS commercial crew mission to late 2017
The first NASA crew to ride to the International Space Station on a commercial spacecraft may have to wait until at least the end of 2017, after NASA’s planning group realigned the US Crew Vehicle -1 (USCV-1) mission to a launch date of November 30, 2017. The new schedule includes the Russian Soyuz manifested as…