** Asteroid mining company Planetary Resources is launching its Arkyd-6 satellite on an Indian rocket next month. The satellite will test out a water ice sensor that will be used on later spacecraft to prospect for water rich asteroids:
** SpaceX posted this video highlighting its test facility in McGregor, Texas:
Here’s the latest “Space to Ground” report from NASA on activities related to the International Space Station:
A video of the rendezvous and docking of the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship at the ISS two days after its launch from Wallops Island, Virginia:
Crew members talk about Thanksgiving:
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and his crewmates, NASA’s Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency (ESA) offered their thoughts about being in orbit during the Thanksgiving holiday and the meals and food they will enjoy in orbit during a series of messages downlinked on Nov. 15. Bresnik and Nespoli are in the final weeks of their five and a half month mission on the station, heading for a landing in Kazakhstan on Dec. 14, while Acaba and Vande Hei will remain in orbit through late February.
Here is this week’s Space to Ground report from NASA on the latest news about the International Space Station:
As mentioned in the video, an Orbital ATK Antares rocket is set to blast off from Wallops Island, Virginia on Saturday morning at 7:37 am EST. It will send a Cygnus cargo module to the ISS with over 3.3 metric tons of supplies, experiments, and equipment. The launch will be webcast on NASA TV. Updates on the mission can be found at OA-8 Mission Page and Orbital ATK (@OrbitalATK) | Twitter.
The rocket was lifted upright on the pad yesterday:
Weather permitting, the launch should be visible to some degree over much of the East Coast of the US. Here is a
Viewing Map for OA-8 Launch: Weather permitting, the launch of Antares from Wallops Island, Virginia, on November 11, 2017 may be widely visible along the East Coast. However, because this is an early morning launch, it is likely that the sun will interfere with viewing from most locations.
Here is the latest episode of Space to Ground from NASA about activities related to the International Space Station:
Here is a video of Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineers Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei of NASA talking “with KARE-TV in Minneapolis and the “Fox and Friends” morning talk program on the Fox Network”:
And here they talk with students in California:
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA discussed life and research on the outpost during an in-flight educational event Oct. 30 with students at the Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California. Acaba, who is a native of southern California, and Bresnik are in various stages of their respective five-and-a half-month missions on the orbital laboratory.
