As Covid-19 spreads across the globe, it’s interesting to think about how NASA would handle a viral outbreak in space. In fact, there have been rare occasions that astronauts have fallen ill while on a mission. The question is, how did NASA handle these situations, what’s changed since then, and how will this affect future missions in space?
While on board the International Space Station, geophysicist Alexander Gerst spent a lot of time looking back down to Earth from 205 miles above. In his tenure aboard the ISS he took loads of photographs, documenting hurricanes, floods, dust storms, and oil fields. One of his favorite things, however, was taking pictures of how clouds cast shadows. The results can be quite dramatic.
NASA’s newest spacecraft, Orion, will be launching into space for the first time this Thursday, December 4th, on a flight that will take it further than any spacecraft built to carry humans has gone in more than 40 years and through temperatures twice as hot as molten lava to put its critical systems to the test.
Continue reading
Mission: SpaceX-3 Commercial Resupply Services flight
Launch Vehicle: Falcon
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Launch Date: April 14, 4:58 p.m. EDT
NASA’s International Space Station resupply mission includes the legs for Robonaut, OPALS Lasercomm experiment and much more. I think, however, the most exciting and dramatic portion of the flight is the possible test of the ‘Grasshopper’ reusablility system.
Grasshopper Demonstration Flight
(SpaceX)
The launch will be webcast live, with commentary from SpaceX corporate headquarters in Hawthorne, CT at spacex.com/webcast and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
For a detailed description of the mission timeline, overview and SpaceX go to the SpaceX press kit. This is a wonderful resource.
| Wed Aug 28, 7:58 PM | 4 min | 77° | 36 above NW | 11 above SE |
| Thu Aug 29, 8:46 PM | < 1 min | 10° | 10 above SW | 10 above SW |
| Fri Aug 30, 7:57 PM | 3 min | 20° | 19 above WSW | 11 above S |
Tonight, Wednesday August 28, the International Space Station, ISS, will cross the Baton Rouge sky at 7:58pm for about 4 minutes. If you have not ever seen the ISS move like a star across the sky it is well worth the effort. Look for a faint object towards the northwest about 36 degrees above the horizon moving towards you. It will move towards the southeast for about 4 minutes and the peak height in the sky will be 77 degrees which is almost over head. As it travels towards you it will get brighter and it will dim as it passes until it fades from sight in the southeast at about 11 degrees above the horizon.
Here is the link to find the ISS anywhere in the world. There is a link in this NASA site to sign up for email or sms text sent to let you know when the ISS will be over your location.
Irene W. Pennington Planetarium 