Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – May.15.2023

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

** Russian Spacewalk 58 Animation – May 23, 2023 – NASA Johnson

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin conducted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station May 12 to assist in the deployment and activation of a radiator on the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module that was installed in April. It was the 263rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades, the 6th for Prokopyev and the 4th for Petelin.

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** LIVE: Russian cosmonauts step out of the ISS [May.12.2023] – Reuters

Russian cosmonauts step out of the International Space Station to deploy and activate a radiator on one of its modules.

** Hypnotic stars view from the International Space Station – European Space Agency, ESA

Our astronaut Thomas Pesquet filmed this timelapse during his second mission to the International Space Station.

https://youtube.com/shorts/kcr9nCGoOPg?feature=share

** VAST Announces the HAVEN-1 and VAST-1 Missions – VAST

Scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station, Haven-1 and subsequent human spaceflight missions will accelerate access to space exploration

Press release: https://www.vastspace.com/updates/vas…

Vast, a pioneer in space habitation technologies, announced today their plans to launch the world’s first commercial space station, called Haven-1. Scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to low-Earth orbit no earlier than August 2025, Haven-1 will initially act as an independent crewed space station prior to being connected as a module to a larger Vast space station currently in development. The mission will be quickly followed by Vast-1, the first human spaceflight mission to Haven-1 on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The vehicle and its four-person crew will dock with Haven-1 for up to 30 days while orbiting Earth. Vast also secured an option with SpaceX for an additional human spaceflight mission to Haven-1.

This represents the first time in history that a commercial space station company has both a contracted launch for its space station and a visiting human spaceflight mission.

** Axiom Mission 2: ISS National Lab-sponsored Science – ISS National Lab

The second launch of an all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) by Axiom Space builds on the new era of privatized utilization of the orbiting laboratory.

Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) will send four private astronauts to the space station. It will also carry more than 20 payloads sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory that will be performed during the space expedition onboard the orbiting outpost. These investigations span diverse disciplines, from life sciences to biomanufacturing, materials science, technology demonstrations, and education projects.

** Tianzhou-6 docking – SciNews

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft docked to the rear docking port of the Tianhe Core Module (天和核心舱), on 10 May 2023, at 21:16 UTC (11 may, at 05:16 China Standard Time). Tianzhou-6 (天舟六号) is the fifth cargo mission to the China Space Station (中国空间站).

** Chinese Astronauts Enter Tianzhou-6 to Unload Cargo – CCTV Video News Agency

China’s Shenzhou-15 astronauts have entered the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft on Friday morning to unload goods and equipment after the cargo craft’s docking with the orbiting Tiangong space station.

** More Material Space Testing to Be Conducted Thanks to China’s Newly Launched Tianzhou-6 – CCTV Video News Agency

China’s cargo craft Tianzhou-6, which has just successfully docked with the space station complex, has carried a variety of materials which will be used for experiments and tests in the lab cabin or on the extravehicular platform.

** Live Video from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream) – NASA

Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed.

The space station orbits Earth about 250 miles (425 kilometers) above the surface. An international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries operates the station, and it has been continuously occupied since November 2000. It’s a microgravity laboratory where science, research, and human innovation make way for new technologies and research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. More: https://go.nasa.gov/3CkVtC8

Did you know you can spot the station without a telescope? It looks like a fast-moving star, but you have to know when to look up. Sign up for text messages or email alerts to let you know when (and where) to spot the station and wave to the crew: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov