Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – Jan.21.2023

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

** The Age of Private Space Stations – Bloomberg Quicktake: Explained

Voyager Space CEO Dylan Taylor shares his vision for the future of the space industry, from travel to commercial space stations. “I’m super excited about where we are, and even more excited about where we’re headed.”

** U.S. Spacewalk 84 Animation – January 20, 2023 – NASA Johnson

Expedition 68 astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will step outside the International Space Station for a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk to conduct preparation work for upcoming solar array upgrades for the station’s 1A and 1B power channels. The current solar arrays which were designed for a 15-year service life are functioning well, but have begun to show signs of degradation, as expected. The first pair of solar arrays were deployed in December 2000 and have been powering the station for more than 20 years. The new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSAs) will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.

Learn more about the research being conducted on the space station: https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

** Spacewalk with Astronauts Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata at the Space Station (Jan. 20) – NASA

Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) will step outside the International Space Station for their first spacewalk to finish work preparing for solar array additions planned for this summer.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 UTC) and will last up to seven hours.

Follow the space station blog for more updates: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation

** Spacewalk begins to prep space station for new solar arrays – VideoFromSpace

Expedition 68 astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and JAXA’s Koichi Wakata. began a spacewalk on Jan. 20, 2023. They will “conduct preparation work for upcoming solar array upgrades for the station’s 1A and 1B power channels,” according to NASA. Watch live: https://www.space.com/space-station-f…

** NASA’s Plan To Rescue Stranded Astronauts – Playing Sardines In A Space Capsule – Scott Manley

In 1973 there were concerns that the crew on Skylab may be stuck without a ride home after half the thrusters on the Service module failed. In response NASA turned to its existing Skylab Rescue plans which involved squeezing 5 people into a capsule designed for 3, and assigned Vance Brand and Don Lind to train for this mission. Over the next few days this crew showed the rescue was possible, but as they analyzed the problem in with the spacecraft they also showed that there were safe ways to return the damaged spacecraft without needing the rescue mission. This story is of course relevant 50 years later because Soyuz MS22 has a crippled cooling system and the crew will have to wait for a replacement.

** Care in Space – Axiom Space

Together with Boryung and Starburst, we are providing space start-ups with capital, business and technical guidance and access to space. All of this through the Care In Space Challenge!”

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.

** 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!

==================

Check out the
The Lurio Report
for news and analysis of key developments in NewSpace

The latest issue:
Moving, China’s Starship, Tracing New Space in India
Vol. 17, No. 7, December 31, 2022 (Issued January 2023)

Space Frontier Foundation Award for NewSpace Journalism

==================