Category Archives: Living in Space

Living in Space, Space Systems, Space TV

Videos: ISS astronauts on spacewalk to work on robotic arms

February 16, 2018 TopSpacer

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai are currently on an EVA outside the International Space Station. They are re-positioning two robotic arm grappling mechanisms, which were repaired during spacewalks late last year. The astronauts can be watched live on NASA TV:

This animation shows the tasks they are undertaking:

From the caption:

The first task for spacewalkers Mark Vande Hei and Norishige Kanai is to move a Latching End Effector (LEE), or hand, for the Canadian-built robotic arm, Canadarm2, from a payload attachment on the station’s Mobile Base System rail car to the Quest airlock. This LEE was replaced during an Expedition 53 spacewalk in October 2017 and will be returned to Earth to be refurbished and relaunched to the orbiting laboratory as a spare.

Once they have completed that activity, they will move an aging, but functional, LEE that was detached from the arm during a Jan. 23 spacewalk and move it from its temporary storage outside the airlock to a long-term storage location on the Mobile Base System, which is used to move the arm and astronauts along the station’s truss structure.

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Living in Space, Space Systems, SpaceCasts

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report + Feb.9.2018

February 9, 2018 TopSpacer

The latest “Space to Ground” report from NASA on activities related the ISS:

This short video from NASA Kennedy Space Center illustrates the huge size of the Vehicle Assembly Building :

Eyes in the Sky, Living in Space, SpaceCasts

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Feb.2.2018

February 3, 2018 TopSpacer 1 Comment

Here is NASA’s latest “Space to Ground” report on activities related to the International Space Station:

For finding when the station is flying over your location, click on the SpotTheStation.nasa.gov link mentioned in the program.

In this video, we see photos taken by NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik of spots on Earth, which he then matched up “with pictures he’d taken of the same locations when he’d visited them previously. ”

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Living in Space, Mars, Space Settlement

Mars: Building a Martian house + A play about a Martian beekeeper + Curiosity’s scenic overlook of Gale Crater

January 30, 2018 TopSpacer 1 Comment

An overview of technologies and designs for Building on Mars: The Construction Industry Space Race:

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This March in Dublin, Niamh Shaw, “one of Ireland’s leading science communicators”, will present her theater work about a Mars base: Diary of a Martian Beekeeper – Niamh Shaw – Mar 2018

It’s now 2036.

Niamh is on Mars and a member of Crew 173, on a long duration mission to investigate new ways of growing food in this arid foreign land. As their 2 year mission comes to an end, one crucial experiment remains for Niamh. But will she overcome her personal struggles or put the whole crew and the mission in danger?

A highly visual exploration of future interplanetary human exploration, Shaw and her creative team create a new world order, reminding us of the power of the collective, the fragility of the solitary human and the united will behind all major breakthroughs. Because we may one day leave the cradle of Earth, but we will always be human.

The show about Niamh’s dream to go to Space has been inspired by Elon Musk’s grand design for a future interplanetary civilisation, testimonies of ESA employees, and Niamh’s personal space journey.

Created by Niamh Shaw & Sarah Baxter in collaboration with CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, ESERO Ireland, European Space Agency & ESA Astronaut Centre. Funded by Science Foundation Ireland Discover Programme 2017.

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Check out this marvelous panorama taken by the Curiosity rover as it takes a break from the trek up Mount Sharp and looks back from “Vera Rubin Ridge” at the route it has taken since landing in Gale Crater in August of 2012: