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

** ISS National Lab Mission Overview: SpaceX CRS-20

The International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory is sponsoring more than 20 payloads slated to launch onboard SpaceX’s 20th commercial resupply services (SpaceX CRS-20) mission. These payloads represent a diverse mix of research and development seeking to leverage the unique space-based environment of the orbiting laboratory to improve life on Earth. The SpaceX CRS-20 mission is slated for launch no earlier than March 6 at 11:50 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This video highlights many of the ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations on this mission.

** “What’s on Board” Science Briefing – SpaceX CRS-20 Mission

This is NASA’s “What’s on Board” science briefing at held on Thursday, Feb. 20 at Kennedy Space Center, FL where the science investigations launching on the next SpaceX commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station are presented.]

** Jessica Meir speaks with students in Seattle

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir discussed life and research on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight education event March 2 with middle school students from the greater Seattle, Washington region preparing for a Microsoft Education-hosted design challenge at Seattle’s Museum of Flight. Meir has been in orbit since September and will return to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in mid-April.

** Expedition 62: Live Interviews Jessica Watkins and Anne Roemer – next astronaut selection.

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

** “Down to Earth – A Work of Art

In this episode of “Down to Earth – A Work of Art,“ former NASA astronaut Nicole Stott recalls seeing home below during her time aboard the station. Stott explains how she experienced a shift in worldview known as “the Overview Effect,” a term coined by space philosopher Frank White.

** Jessica Meir speaks with students in Florida

In-flight event — Expedition 62 flight engineer Jessica Meir speaks with the Lee County School District in Florida.

** Space Station Crew Member Swears in Army Recruits

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Drew Morgan of NASA, a colonel in the U.S. Army, swore in new Army recruits gathered at the Space Center Houston visitors center in a ceremony conducted from orbit Feb. 26. Morgan, who launched to the orbital complex last July, is slated to return to Earth April 17 to complete a 272-day mission.

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station

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

** NASA & Axiom Space Designing Commercial Expansion Of Space Station – Scott Manley

It’s been 4 years since NASA first seriously suggested the idea of commercial expansion of the International Space Station, and at the end of January they announced an agreement with Axiom Space to begin designing the extension with launches happening possibly as early as 2024. The specific details of the agreement are not clear at this time, however it’s known that the initial phase is a design study and business case analysis with reviews required before approving the next phase. https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/issport

** NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir discusses the Zero-G Oven with Michigan students

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir of NASA discussed the revolutionary Zero-G oven recently used on the orbital outpost during an in-flight question and answer session Feb. 19 with students from the East Middle School in Grand Blanc, Michigan. The oven was launched on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship last November, and, along with cookies baked in the oven, was returned to Earth in January on a SpaceX/Dragon resupply vehicle.

** OSCAR: NASA is developing tech for recycling in space

The Orbital Syngas Commodity Augmentation Reactor, or OSCAR, is an Early Career Initiative project funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in 2018. Work on OSCAR has demonstrated new ways to manage trash and waste in space by offering new options for safe disposal and the potential to transforming it into useful resources.

OSCAR has a reactor that uses heat, oxygen and steam to turn things like food packaging, old clothing and even human waste into water and a gas mixture. Industry calls this mixture synthetic gas or syngas, and it is primarily carbon dioxide with small amounts of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. Molecules from syngas can be used as building blocks for beneficial products like fuel for the spacecraft. The crew can also vent these gases for easy trash disposal.

On Dec. 11, 2019, OSCAR reached a major milestone when it launched on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. This suborbital flight added around three minutes of valuable microgravity performance data to OSCAR’s previous data from lab and drop tests. During the flight, OSCAR was able to autonomously inject trash into the high temperature reaction chamber and collect targeted product gases.

To learn more about NASA’s investments in space technology, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/spacetech

See also:

• Waste Handling in a Microgravity Environment Challenge | NASA
• Team Prepares OSCAR Technology for Suborbital Flight Test | NASA
• Rocket Ranch – Episode 7: Turning Space Trash into Gas | NASA

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station

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

** Down to Earth – Enjoy the View

In this episode of “Down to Earth – Enjoy the View,” NASA astronaut Mike Foreman shares how his perception of Earth changed during his time in space. He explains a shift in his worldview known as “the Overview Effect,” a term coined by space philosopher Frank White. #SpaceStation20th

** NASA ready to sending more plants and a new way to handle seeds to the International Space Station

Sending people to the Moon and Mars requires understanding how to provide nutrition for astronauts who may be away from Earth for extended periods of time. One solution is growing food in space, which can be challenging. To learn more, scientists will send three types of leafy greens and a new way to handle seeds in space to the International Space Station.

Launching from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Northrop Grumman’s 13th cargo resupply mission, the VEG-03 series of experiments will send a new crop, amara mustard, to the orbiting laboratory. Red romaine lettuce and ‘extra dwarf’ pak choi – which astronauts have grown and eaten in space – also will return to the station.

Researchers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida planted the pak choi and amara seeds in containers called plant pillows, but for red romaine lettuce, they inserted the seeds into a new type of seed-handling material called seed film. This water-soluble, dissolving film is the same material as a breath freshener strip. It will allow the crew to plant the seeds into pillows themselves, something that has never been done in orbit before. This could allow astronauts to pick and choose what crops they want to grow from a collection of seeds on the space station.

** Pre-Launch Briefing for the Antares Cygnus CRS-13 Mission

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