Videos: “Space to Ground” + Other ISS reports – Aug.6.2021

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

** Expedition 65 National Park Service – August 6, 2021 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space station, Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Megan McArthur of NASA discussed life in space during an in-flight interview August 6 with the National Park Service. McArthur launched to the orbiting outpost on the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” in April and is in the midst of six-month mission.

** Nauka module’s hatch opened on space station – Peek inside – VideoFromSpace

Cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky & Pyotr Dubrov opened the hatch to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module on July 30, 2021. Russia’s Nauka module briefly tilts space station with unplanned thruster fire: https://www.space.com/nauka-module-th…

** Banjo time with Thomas Pesquet! – European Space Agency, ESA

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet shared this video on social media with the caption: “100 days in space for #MissionAlpha. It feels like a long time ago, but we also installed new toilets shortly after arriving. I was looking at the procedures on the tablet velcroed to my thigh, and yes, this filter looked so much like a banjo, I had to. The same video specialist at ESA who edits the timelapse videos (and much, much more!), Melanie Cowan, spotted this clip from the Space Station onboard camera views, added some music and the result is… perfectly embarrassing! . True story: I actually helped Mark on this day. A little. Maybe. No one knows.” Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency @CNES. Follow Thomas: http://bit.ly/ThomasPesquetBlog

** Everything You Need to Know about the Chinese Space Station – Dongfang Hour – YouTube

China has been swiftly assembling its Chinese space station, basically a large 60+ tons space laboratory that will be orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 350-450 km. Over the period 2021-2022 alone, 11 launches will take place, sending 3 core modules of the space station as well as 4 crewed missions (Shenzhou) and 4 cargo missions (Tianzhou). But did you know that China’s crewed spaceflight projects date all the way back to the 1960s? In the episode, we cover “everything you need to know” about the Chinese Space Station, from a historical perspective to a detailed timeline of the station assembly. All the essentials of the CSS should be covered here, but we will have other dedicated episodes to decipher more specific technical details and features of the space station.