Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Watch SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon fly away from space station after undocking – VideoFromSpace
SpaceX’s CRS-22 cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station on July 8, 2021. It is scheduled to splashdown off the coast of Florida on July 9.
** Expedition 65 SpaceX CRS 22 Undocking – July 8, 2021 – NASA Video
Loaded with scientific experiments and supplies, the unpiloted SpaceX CRS-22 cargo ship undocked from the International Space Station July 8, completing a month-long resupply mission to the outpost. With NASA Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough looking on, the SpaceX spacecraft undocked from the space-facing port of the Harmony module, headed for a splashdown in the Atlantic to complete its month-long flight. SpaceX CRS-22 launched last month, delivering several tons of experiments and hardware to the station, including the first pair of ISS Roll Out Solar Arrays (IROSAs) that were installed on the port truss of the complex during three spacewalks to augment the station’s power output.
** European Robotic Arm ready for space – European Space Agency, ESA
The European Robotic Arm (ERA) will be launched to the International Space Station together with the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, called ‘Nauka’. ERA is the first robot able to ‘walk’ around the Russian segment of the Space Station. It has the ability to anchor itself to the Station and move back and forward by itself, hand-over-hand between fixed base-points. This 11-metre intelligent space robot will serve as main manipulator on the Russian part of the Space Station, assisting the astronauts during spacewalks. The robot arm can help install, deploy and replace elements in outer space ERA is 100% made-in-Europe. A consortium of European companies led by Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands designed and assembled it for ESA. The robotic arm is largely funded by the Dutch government.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/EuropeanRoboticArm
** Science so cool it is freezing! – European Space Agency, ESA
Interviews with the “Cold Stowage” team at @NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, that ensure science on the International Space Station stays cool. Many experiments run on the Space Station require freezing samples for analysis later on Earth, or are sent into space frozen and thawed out in orbit. The European-built MELFI (Minus Eighty Lab Freezer for ISS) keeps these samples at the right temperature. From a virus to algae or muscle biopsies, many samples have been sent and stored in space over a decade years that the freezers have been operating. The technology behind keeping the science cool in space has found its way back to Earth too, limiting losses when transporting liquid gas in tankers. Built by ESA and transferred to NASA and @JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構, MELFI is a versatile storage freezer. The four compartments can be set at different temperatures ranging from −98 °C to +4 °C to preserve biological samples such as blood and urine that will be returned to Earth. …
** Expedition 65 WFLA – July 8, 2021 – NASA Video
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 65 Flight Engineers Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA discussed life and work on the complex and the view of the Earth from orbit during an in-flight interview July 8 with WFLA-TV, Tampa, Florida. The two astronauts launched in April on the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” for a planned six-month mission.
** China conducts first spacewalk outside new space station! See the highlights – VideoFromSpace
Chinese astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo performed a spacewalk outside the space station core module Tianhe on July 4, 2021. Full Story: https://www.space.com/china-space-sta... The spacewalkers installed foot restraints and an extravehicular working platform on the mechanical arm,” according to the China Manned Space Agency.
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A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station