A SpaceX Dragon Cargo spaceship will depart from the ISS on Saturday morning. The Dragon was launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral on April 2 and berthed to the station April 4th. The vehicle delivered over 2.5 mT of supplies, equipment, and science/technology experiments.
Welcome to the first official episode of TMRO:Science! Hosted by Lisa Stojanovski, Athena Brensberger and Jade Kim, TMRO:Science expands on many of the topics we cover in TMRO:Space. Live episodes air the first Saturday of each month at 20:00 UTC.
This week the crew talks about the impact that micro gravity has on the human body and how astronauts keep fit in space.
News topics discussed:
The Oceans Are Dying Cyborg bugs! Blueberries can cure cancer?! Teenager explains relativity, wins $250k Engineers hack biology to make 3D tissues SETI project–ALIENSSSSS
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This video was taken by the Expedition 53 crew on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots were taken on November 5, 2017 from 22:29:56 to 23:03:24 GMT, on a pass from the South Atlantic Ocean to Kazakhstan. The video begins with a calm, dark sky and the moon’s reflection lingering on the tops of clouds and the ocean surface. While travelling over Africa, the ISS passes several lightning storms that flash below like paparazzi. The lightning subsides when the ISS reaches the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf, and the Zagros Mountains that curve around off the coastline. The pass continues over Central Asia and Kazakhstan with heavy clouds, ending just before sunrise.
** Spectacular Aurora Borealis over Canada
This video was taken by the Expedition 53 crew on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken on September 28, 2017 from 07:38:56 to 07:55:34 GMT, on a pass from the northern Pacific Ocean, just south of Alaska, to the Gulf of Mexico, south of Florida. The north-facing camera catches the Aurora Borealis over Canada as the ISS travels from northwestern United States southeast. Large cities like Chicago, Nashville, and Atlanta stand out as the ISS flies southeast toward Florida.
— Challenge Allows Students Ages 13-18 to Submit
Flight Concepts for Microgravity Research —
–Two Student Projects Will be Selected and Launched
to the International Space Station —
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (January 10, 2018) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and Marvel Entertainment today announced the Guardians of the Galaxy Space Station Challenge is open for American students ages 13-18 to submit microgravity flight experiment concepts that could be conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory. The contest focuses on Rocket and Groot, characters from the Guardians of the Galaxy comic book franchise, and students are encouraged to develop flight proposals based on the attributes of these Super Heroes. The contest will run through January 31, 2018. After the contest concludes, two student-submitted flight concepts will see their vision turned into reality and become an official ISS National Lab investigation, launching to the space station in 2018.
In 2016, CASIS and Marvel partnered to develop a mission patch featuring Rocket and Groot that represented all ISS National Lab investigations from the calendar year. Now the two entities seek to engage and excite American students by providing a truly unique opportunity to send experiments to the space station inspired by Rocket and Groot in far-reaching scientific areas.
The contest is divided into two separate research opportunities: TeamRocket, and Team Groot. Students with an interest in materials sciences, engineering and enabling technology development are encouraged to submit flight concepts through Team Rocket – Who has strong ties to innovation and engineering. Students interested in fundamental biological and regenerative science concepts are encouraged to submit flight proposals under Team Groot – Who is the embodiment of genetics and plant biology.
The student(s) who submit flight concepts through the challenge will be asked to explain their flight experiment proposal, and ultimately how microgravity has the potential to enhance findings that otherwise can be explored on Earth-based laboratory settings. Additionally, students will be asked to consider the size of their proposal experiment. Winning concepts will be housed in a NanoRacks NanoLab (in partnership with education partner DreamUp) and Space Tango’s TangoLab, which are both project facilities that are currently flying aboard the ISS National Lab and provide investigators the ability to access microgravity for a wide variety of research.
“The ability to partner with a brand as recognizable as Marvel to bring awareness, opportunity and excitement to our nation’s students is a great way to bridge the comic book community with the space community to advance Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education,” said CASIS Director of Operations and Educational Opportunities Kenneth Shields. “Both Rocket and Groot have characteristics that are researched onboard the ISS daily, and to allow students to propose experiments based on their favorite Super Heroes will be an exciting way to engage our Nation’s youth about STEM principles and the space station.”
To learn more about this challenge, including previous experiments conducted on the ISS, and how to submit a proposal, please visit: www.spacestationexplorers/marvel
About CASIS: The Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is the non-profit organization selected to manage the ISS National Laboratory with a focus on enabling a new era of space research to improve life on Earth. In this innovative role, CASIS promotes and brokers a diverse range of research in life sciences, physical sciences, remote sensing, technology development, and education.
Since 2011, the ISS National Lab portfolio has included hundreds of novel research projects spanning multiple scientific disciplines, all with the intention of benefitting life on Earth. Working together with NASA, CASIS aims to advance the nation’s leadership in commercial space, pursue groundbreaking science not possible on Earth, and leverage the space station to inspire the next generation.
About the ISS National Laboratory: In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the International Space Station as the nation’s newest national laboratory to maximize its use for improving life on Earth, promoting collaboration among diverse users, and advancing STEM education. This unique laboratory environment is available for use by other U.S. government agencies and by academic and private institutions, providing access to the permanent microgravity setting, vantage point in low Earth orbit, and varied environments of space.
Some big commercial launch hardware has been on display this week:
** Elon Musk on Twitter posted photos of the first Falcon Heavy launcher in preparation in the hangar for a launch from Kennedy Space Center in January :
** Last weekend the giant Stratolaunch aircraft, which will be used to carry rockets to high altitudes for launch, took its first taxi drive down a runway at the Mojave Air & Space Port:
