Videos: “Space to Ground” + Other ISS reports – Oct.29.2021

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

** Know Your Crew…Three! – NASA Johnson

The astronauts flying on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission have been working together for months and months now to prepare for their launch, and then six months together on the International Space Station. You’d think they’ve gotten to know each other pretty well by now. Watch as Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer declare who on the crew is the funniest, who has an annoying habit, and who is the clear front-runner to beat the others in a race. Also, which crew member is the most perspicacious and what type of “smorgasbord” are they planning? Let’s find out!

** Quick Questions with Crew-3 – NASA Johnson

Astronauts are public figures and much of their history is well known, but not all of it. We “grilled” the astronauts flying to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission – Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer – with a dizzying series of rapid-fire questions to discover the truth about their favorite foods, guilty pleasures, and what these explorers would do with a free day on the Moon. Be on the lookout for the one thing that all four of them unanimously agree on!

** Expedition 66 inflight with Seeker.com – October 25, 2021 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 66 Commander Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight event October 25 with Seeker.com. Pesquet and Kimbrough are in the midst of long duration missions 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.

** Announcing Orbital Reef – Your Address in Orbit – Blue Origin – Possible commercial successor to the ISS. – Orbital Reef press release (pdf)

Blue Origin and Sierra Space have announced plans for Orbital Reef, a commercially developed, owned, and operated space station to be built in low Earth orbit. The station will open the next chapter of human space exploration and development by facilitating the growth of a vibrant ecosystem and business model for the future. Orbital Reef is backed by space industry leaders and teammates including Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University. Designed to open multiple new markets in space, Orbital Reef will provide anyone with the opportunity to establish their own address on orbit. This unique destination will offer research, industrial, international, and commercial customers the cost competitive end-to-end services they need including space transportation and logistics, space habitation, equipment accommodation, and operations including onboard crew. The station will start operating in the second half of this decade. Learn more at OrbitalReef.com

**Starlab: The first free-flying, continuously crewed commercial space station. – Starlab – The Starlab is a commercial space station project led by Nanoracks, Voyager Space, and Lockheed-Martin. The goal is to be in orbit by 2027. See announcement: Nanoracks, Voyager Space, and Lockheed Martin Teaming to Develop Commercial Space Station – Nanoracks.

** Axiom Rewind September 2021 – Axiom Space – Brief update on the projects by Axiom Space, which is developing commercial space habitat modules, which initially will attach to the ISS and then form an Axiom free-floating station.

** Blastoff! Progress 79 cargo spacecraft launches to space station – VideoFromSpace

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched the Progress 79 cargo resupply spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station on Oct. 27, 2021 (Oct. 28 local time).

** Soyuz MS-18 departure timelapse – European Space Agency, ESA on Youtube

Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”. On 17 October 2021 at 01:14 GMT the Soyuz MS-18 undocked from the Space Station to return to Earth, inside were @Roscosmos Media cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy (who had spent 191 days in space) and actress Yulia Peresild and Russian producer-director Klim Shipenko (who both spent 11 days in space). The trio landed on Earth just over three hours later. The camera for this timelapse was setup to take pictures at intervals of two a second, and the pictures are then edited into this video that plays at 25 pictures a second. The video is around 12 times faster than real speed. …