Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Doing Bigger and Better Things All the Time – NASA Johnson

There’s a new American record-holder for longest single spaceflight: NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is back on Earth after 355 consecutive days off of the planet. Although pleased with the achievement, Vande Hei expects someone will break his record soon as America tackles new frontiers in space exploration. Take a look at some of the highlights of Vande Hei’s almost-a-year in space on his second mission to the International Space Station.

** Record-breaking NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Returns to Earth Aboard the Soyuz MS-19 – NASA

Vande Hei and two Roscosmos cosmonauts, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, are scheduled to end their mission aboard the International Space Station and return to Earth on Wednesday, March 30. Vande Hei broke the record for longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut, previously held at 340 days. He will wrap up his second spaceflight with a total of 523 days in space.

** Expedition 66 Soyuz MS-19 Undocking from International Space Station – March 30, 2022 – NASA Video

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov departed the International Space Station March 30 and returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft for a parachute-assisted landing near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Vande Hei and Dubrov completed a 355-day mission spanning more than 150 million miles while Shkaplerov spent 176 days in space on this, his fourth mission to the ISS. During his mission, Vande Hei broke the record for longest single spaceflight for a U.S. astronaut and has spent 523 days in space on his two flights working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

** Expedition 66 International Space Station Change of Command Ceremony – March 29, 2022  – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov handed over command of the space station to NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn during a change of command ceremony between Expedition 66 and Expedition 67 March 29. Shkaplerov is headed home with NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov March 30 for a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan to wrap up their mission.

** Axiom Mission 1 – A new chapter begins – Axiom Space

NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are now looking at no earlier than (NET) April 6 for the launch of Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Launch is currently scheduled at 12:05 pm ET.

— — — Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leader in providing space infrastructure as a service, Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor – a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home. More information about Axiom can be found at www.axiomspace.com.

** Water experiments part 3 – food colouring | Cosmic Kiss (In German, English subtitles available) – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. Recently, he experimented with water in microgravity. In this water experiments video series, Matthias demonstrates the different behavior of water in weightlessness and how this research is applied to life on Earth. In part 3 of this series, Matthias adds a sugar-based food coloring to the floating water sphere alongside olive oil to investigate how the different ingredients mix. Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments in microgravity. Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss

** Water experiments part 4 – lens effect | Cosmic Kiss (In German, English subtitles available) – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

… In part 4 of this video series, Matthias takes a closer look at the lens effect and surface tension of water.…

** Water experiments part 5 – wrap-up | Cosmic Kiss (In German, English subtitles available) – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

… In part 5, Matthias explains how studying the behavior of water and other liquids on the International Space Station is important for numerous applications on Earth, such as in industry or food technology. …

** China’s Tianzhou-2 Cargo Spacecraft Completes Key Technical Verification Tasks – CCTV Video News Agency

China’s cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-2, which separated from the core module of the country’s space station on Sunday afternoon, completed multiple key technical tests when it operated in orbit, said Jiang Ping, deputy head of the spaceship’s design team.

** ISS Live video stream – IBM/ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment

Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!

====

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Mark Vande Hei: Breaking Records for Science – NASA Johnson

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is returning to Earth after living in space for 355 days, the record for the longest single spaceflight by a NASA astronaut. This extended mission aboard the International Space Station provides researchers an opportunity to observe effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body as the agency makes plans to return to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration at Mars. During his record-setting mission, Vande Hei spent many hours on scientific activities aboard the space station, conducting everything from plant research to physical sciences studies. Learn more about the research being conducted on the space station: https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

** Expedition 66 Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Talks About One-Year Mission – March 24, 2022 – NASA Video

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei discussed his mission and upcoming return to Earth during an interview March 24 on board the International Space Station. Vande Hei surpassed the record for a single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut on March 15 and is heading home March 30 with Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov having logged 355 days in space since he launched last April. Vande Hei will land in the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan having traveled more than 150 million miles as part of Expeditions 64-66 and with a total of 523 days in space on his two spaceflights.

** Astronauts Raja Chari & Matthias Maurer Spacewalk Outside the International Space Station – NASA

NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer are conducting a spacewalk on Wednesday, March 23 to install new hoses on the International Space Station’s Radiator Beam Valve Module, which helps regulate the station’s temperature. Chari and Maurer will also install a power and data cable on the station’s Bartolomeo science platform, replace an external camera, and conduct other upgrades to station hardware. Wednesday’s spacewalk is expected to begin around 8:50 a.m. EDT (12:50 UTC) and take about six-and-a-half hours. This spacewalk will be the second of Chari’s career and the first for Maurer. Get the latest updates on NASA’s Space Station blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

** Spacewalker transported by robotic arm outside space station – VideoFromSpace

NASA astronaut Raja Chari is transported to a workstation via robotic arm during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on March 23, 2022. Watch live: https://www.space.com/astronauts-spac…

 

** Crewed soyuz approaches space station in stunning over Earth view – VideoFromSpace

Watch the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonauts Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev, and Denis Matveev approach the International Space Station on March 18, 2022. Watch the launch: https://www.space.com/soyuz-ms21-cosm…

** Expedition 66-67 Soyuz MS-21 Docking to International Space Station – March 18, 2022 – NASA Video

Three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station March 18 a little more than three hours after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on their Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft. Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov docked to the Prichal module on the ISS for the start of a planned six-month mission as part of both the Expedition 66 and 67 crews.

** Expedition 66-67 Soyuz MS 21 Hatch Opening On International Space Station – NASA Video

Three Russian cosmonauts boarded the International Space Station March 18 after docking their Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft a little more than three hours after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov docked the Soyuz to the Prichal module on the ISS for the start of a planned six-month mission and were later greeted by members of the Expedition 66 crew.

** Expedition 66 Astronaut Tom Marshburn Answers Los Angeles Student Questions – March 21, 2022 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn answered pre-recorded questions about life and work on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight event March 21 with the Orville Wright STEAM Middle School in Las Angeles, California. Marshburn is in the midst of a planned six-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

** Water experiments part 1 – Paddles | Cosmic Kiss (In German, English subtitles available) – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. Recently, he has been experimenting with water in microgravity. In this water experiments video series, Matthias demonstrates the different behavior of water in weightlessness and how this research is applied to life on Earth. In Part 1, Matthias lets water spheres float inside the Columbus module of the Space Station and wets a paddle with a hydrophobic surface to take a closer look at the viscosity and surface tension of water. Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments in microgravity. Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss

** Water experiments part 2 – olive oil | Cosmic Kiss (In German, English subtitles available) – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. Recently, he experimented with water in microgravity. In this water experiments video series, Matthias demonstrates the different behavior of water in weightlessness and how this research is applied to life on Earth. In this second clip in the series, Matthias blows air into a floating water sphere and looks at what happens when he tries to mix it with olive oil. Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments in microgravity. Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss

** Shenzhou-13 Crew to Start Preparations Next Week for Return to Earth – CCTV Video News Agency

Crew members aboard the historic Shenzhou-13 mission are nearing the completion of their record-breaking six-month-long stay in orbit and will next week start their final preparations ahead of their expected return to Earth in April.

** Chinese Astronauts Demonstrate Tie-dye Art in Space During Science Lecture – CCTV Video News Agency

Chinese astronauts demonstrated the traditional art of tie-dyeing onboard the Tiangong space station and explained the principles behind the folk technique during a live science lecture on Wednesday.

** ISS Live video stream – IBM/ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment

Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!

====

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Soyuz MS-21 manual docking – SciNews

The Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft was docked to the Prichal module of the International Space Station (ISS) on 18 March 2022, at 19:12 UTC (22:12 MSK, 15:12 EDT). The Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft, Soyuz MS-21, with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov, is scheduled for hatch opening at 21:30 UTC (17:30 EDT; 19 March, at 00:30 MSK). Credit: NASA/Roscosmos Soyuz MS-21 docking to the ISS.

** U.S. Spacewalk 79 Animation – March 14, 2022 – NASA Johnson

Expedition 66 NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari will step outside the International Space Station for a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk to conduct preparation work for upcoming solar array upgrades for the station’s 3A power channel. The current solar arrays which were designed for a 15-year service life are functioning well, but have begun to show signs of degradation, as expected. The first pair of solar arrays were deployed in December 2000 and have been powering the station for more than 20 years. The new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSAs) will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts. Installation of the first two solar array upgrades were completed during spacewalks on June 20, 2021 and June 25, 2021.

** NASA astronauts begin spacewalk to prep ISS for solar array upgrades – VideoFromSpace – March 15th EVA

Spacewalking Expedition 66 astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari have begun “work for solar array upgrades for the station’s 3A power channel,” according to NASA.

** Spacewalk at the Space Station with NASA Astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari – NASA

NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari conduct a spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) to assemble and install brackets and struts kits for upcoming solar array upgrades. The new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays, or iROSAs, will increase the space station’s total available power. So far, two of six iROSAs have been deployed on the station with four additional arrays to be delivered. Barron will serve as extravehicular crewmember 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Chari will serve as extravehicular crewmember 2 (EV 2) and will wear a suit with no stripes. The spacewalk will be the second of Barron’s career and the first for Chari.

** U.S. Spacewalk 80 Animation – March 14, 2022 – NASA Johnson

On March 23, two Expedition 66 astronauts will step outside the International Space Station for a planned six-and-a-half hour spacewalk to replace hoses and other hardware for one of the radiator beam calve modules on the complex and to conduct other upgrades to station hardware.

** Expedition 66 Astronaut Kayla Barron Answers U.S. Navy, Student Questions – March 16, 2022  – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Kayla Barron of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight event March 16 with students in the U.S. Navy. Barron graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and was a member of the first class of women commissioned into the submarine community. She is now in the midst of a planned six-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

** ISS National Lab Sustainability Challenge: Viewer’s Choice Introduction – ISS National Lab – YouTube

We are excited to officially announce the ISS National Lab Sustainability Challenge: Viewer’s Choice presentation and are featuring a week of sustainability-related content leading up to the virtual event on March 25. Beginning on March 14, the finalists’ videos will be featured on the ISS National Lab’s YouTube channel. Viewers will have the opportunity to vote on submissions. Voting will conclude on March 21, and the winning team will be announced during the virtual event. Vote HERE to cast your vote for the winning Viewer’s Choice presentation! https://bit.ly/issnlscvote

Don’t miss the event! 2022 ISS National Lab Sustainability Challenge: Beyond Plastics Virtual Event 3/25 at 1pm EDT Register here: https://bit.ly/issnlscregister

The Sustainability Challenge is an open solicitation for U.S.-based entities to propose flight projects that leverage the space station to tackle plastics waste and enable scientific or technological advancements that improve Earth’s environment. The virtual event on March 25, 2022, will feature finalists’ recorded presentations and exciting guest speakers, culminating with an award ceremony recognizing the top ranked finalists. Following the event, finalists will be invited to submit a Full Proposal for a flight project leveraging the ISS National Lab, and the Final Determination for the selected team will be announced at the 2022 ISS Research and Development Conference July 25-28 in Washington, D.C.

Watch six brief proposal presentations at https://www.youtube.com/c/Iss-casisOrg/videos

** ISS Live video stream – IBM/ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment

Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!

====

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Axiom Space Ax-1! 1st all-private crew to space station explained – VideoFromSpace

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch Crew Dragon Endeavour with the Axiom Space Ax-1 crew no earlier than March 30, 2022. Learn more about the Ax-1 mission: https://www.space.com/ax-1-axiom-spac… Axiom VP & former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría will command SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour and is joined by fellow crew members Larry Connor (pilot), Mark Pathy (mission specialist) & Eytan Stibbe (mission specialist).

See also:

• Meet Ax-1, The Beginning of a New Era — Axiom Space
• Ax-1 Mission Updates — Axiom Space

** Inside the Columbus science lab | Cosmic Kiss (In German, English subtitles available)  – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer on a tour of Columbus, Europe’s science laboratory on the International Space Station. Cosmic Kiss is Matthias’s first mission to the Space Station and the Columbus module is one of his main workplaces. It is also where he sleeps in his crew quarters known as CASA. Columbus is Europe’s largest contribution to the orbital outpost and the first European laboratory for permanent, multidisciplinary research in space. It houses 16 standardised payload cabinets, known as racks, which host laboratory equipment and technical systems. This allows the facility to support research across a wide range of different scientific disciplines.

Work focuses on materials science, fluid physics, chemistry, remote sensing, biology, biotechnology, medicine and human physiology, as well as technology demonstrations to aid innovation on Earth. Once installed by an astronaut, many of the experiments that happen in Columbus can be remotely controlled and monitored by User Support Operations Centres on the ground.

Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments in microgravity. Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss

** Chinese astronaut delivers International Women’s Day message from space – VideoFromSpace

Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping, currently serving aboard the Tiangong space station, recorded an International Women’s Day message. Full Story: https://www.space.com/chinese-astrona…

** Russia’s space agency severs ties with the U.S. and its European partners – CBS News

Russia’s space agency has severed ties with the U.S. and its European partners. CBS News senior space analyst Bill Harwood joins Lana Zak to discuss more.

** Life As An Astronaut On The International Space Station [4K] | Cosmic Encounters – Spark

“Cosmic Encounters” tells one of mankind’s oldest dreams: to explore what is beyond our planet. For the first time in TV history a documentary has been filmed in 3D in space by the astronauts of the International Space Station. It is a tribute to the many scientists who made the dream of conquering space come true. Our guides on this voyage are the astronauts André Kuipers, who filmed on board, and Alexander Gerst, whose demanding training for the 2014 mission is recorded at the Johnson Space Center. — Subscribe to Spark for more amazing science, tech & engineering videos: https://goo.gl/LIrlur

** Spacewalk at the Space Station with NASA Astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari – NASA – Live streaming of ISS EVA scheduled for March 15th.

NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari conduct a spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) to assemble and install brackets and struts kits for upcoming solar array upgrades. The new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays, or iROSAs, will increase the space station’s total available power. So far, two of six iROSAs have been deployed on the station with four additional arrays to be delivered. Barron will serve as extravehicular crewmember 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Chari will serve as extravehicular crewmember 2 (EV 2) and will wear a suit with no stripes. The spacewalk will be the second of Barron’s career and the first for Chari. nasa.gov/iss

** ISS Live video stream – IBM/ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment

Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!

====

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Expedition 66 Space Station Crew Answers Ohio Student Questions – March 2, 2022 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 66 Flight Engineers Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn of NASA answered pre-recorded questions about life and work on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight event March 2 with the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Chari and Marshburn are in the midst of a planned six-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

** NLRA 2022-6: In-space Production Applications: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing – ISS National Lab – YouTube

On February 28, 2022, the ISS National Lab held a webinar to provide further background on NLRA 2022-6 and to answer any questions.

 

** Episode 58 – Geopolitics, Cooperation and the ISS – Space Thoughts

** Keeping it fluid(ics) | Cosmic Kiss 360°  – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

Europe’s Columbus laboratory is a hive of activity in this 360° timelapse as ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer works on an experiment called Fluidics and his @NASA colleague Raja Chari carries out activity in the Veggie plant habitat. Developed by French space agency @CNES and co-funded by @Airbus, the Fluidics experiment investigates how liquids behave in space. It was first run by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet in 2017 during his Proxima mission. Made up of six small, transparent spheres housed in the black centrifuge seen here, the experiment studies two phenomena. The first is ‘sloshing’ or how liquids move in enclosed spaces. The second is wave turbulence. Understanding the underlying physics of how liquids move in space will help improve the fuel economy of spacecraft and our knowledge of Earth’s oceans. By observing how surface forces behave in reduced gravity and singling out interactions, scientists aim to improve climate models for forecasting sea states and better understand wave formation on Earth. Fluidics is just one of many European and international science experiments Matthias is supporting throughout his six-month Cosmic Kiss mission.

Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss

See also: Keeping it fluid(ics) | Cosmic Kiss 360° – ESA

** Media Briefing: NASA, Axiom, & SpaceX Officials Discuss 1st Private Astronaut Space Station Mission – Axiom Space

Axiom Space will host a virtual press conference at 11 a.m. EST Monday, Feb. 28, to preview the launch of Ax-1, the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch is targeted for Wednesday, March 30 at 2:46 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

During the 10-day mission, which includes eight days aboard the space station, the four-person multi-national crew will complete more than 25 research experiments developed for microgravity in collaboration with leading health and science organizations across the globe. Axiom Space, a leader in human spaceflight and space infrastructure, is committed to the commercialization of low Earth orbit.

Briefing participants are:
• Michael Suffredini, President and CEO, Axiom
• Michael López-Alegría, Ax-1 Crew Commander, Axiom
• Christian Maender, Director, In-Space Research and Manufacturing, Axiom
• Kathy Lueders, Associate Administrator, Space Operations, NASA
• Robyn Gatens, Director, International Space Station, NASA
• Phil McAllister, Director, Commercial Spaceflight Division, NASA
• Benjamin Reed, Sr. Director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX

Ax-1’s crew includes Michael López-Alegría, Axiom vice president and former NASA astronaut, as commander; American entrepreneur and non-profit activist investor Larry Connor as pilot; investor and philanthropist Mark Pathy of Canada as mission specialist; and impact investor and philanthropist Eytan Stibbe of Israel as mission specialist. Axiom Space has contracted SpaceX to launch the Ax-1 crew to the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. Ax-1 is the first of several planned Axiom missions to the space station, each a critical step toward Axiom Station, the first private space station. This new method of access to low-Earth orbit is progress toward a next generation platform, which will serve as a center for scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to pursue revolutionary breakthroughs in the unique environment of microgravity.

For more information about Axiom Space and the Ax-1 mission, please visit: https://www.axiomspace.com

** ISS Live video stream – IBM/ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment

Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!

====

=== Amazon Ads ===

LEGO Ideas International Space Station Building Kit,
Adult Set for Display,
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====

Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station