Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – Apr.1.2022

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-19NASA

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 beginsAxiom 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 TasksCCTV 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