Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Nov.17.2017

Here’s the latest “Space to Ground” report from NASA on activities related to the International Space Station:

A video of the rendezvous and docking of the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship at the ISS two days after its launch from Wallops Island, Virginia:

Crew members talk about Thanksgiving:

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and his crewmates, NASA’s Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency (ESA) offered their thoughts about being in orbit during the Thanksgiving holiday and the meals and food they will enjoy in orbit during a series of messages downlinked on Nov. 15. Bresnik and Nespoli are in the final weeks of their five and a half month mission on the station, heading for a landing in Kazakhstan on Dec. 14, while Acaba and Vande Hei will remain in orbit through late February.

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Crowd-funding a statue to Félicette, the first cat in space

A crowdfunding campaign to honor the first cat in space is undereway: A statue to Félicette, the first cat in space. by Matthew Serge Guy — Kickstarter

Over the last 54 years, the story of the first and only cat to go to space has been largely forgotten. She deserves a proper memorial.

With 14 hours left, the campaign has gotten pledges of $51,292 towards the $52,681 goal. (If they don’t reach the goal, they get no money.) 

Félicette suborbital spaceflight was part of a French study of weightlessness:

On the 18th of October 1963, she blasted off from a base in Hammaguir, Algeria. Her short flight included 5 minutes of weightlessness and reached a height of 157 kilometres. Her capsule then parachuted back down to Earth, where she was met by a helicopter recovery team, just 13 minutes after launch. 

After her successful flight, reports indicate Félicette returned to the French space programme’s laboratory for 2 or 3 months of further study. She was then sadly put to sleep, in order to further analyse the electrodes implanted in her brain.

The campaign will fund a statue from sculpture Gill Parker:

Gill Parker is one of the most acclaimed animal sculptors of our time. Should this project be fully funded, Gill has kindly offered to help us bring this statue to life.

A group photo with Félicette after the flight:

Videos: TMRO Orbit 10.42 – Commercial Crew update for 2018

The latest episode of the TMRO.tv program has been released: Commercial Crew Update for 2018 – Orbit 10.42 – TMRO

The Space Mike Hologram is still out for repair, but we expect engineering to have it functioning again soon. Until then we’re joined by Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut and Benjamin live from the Star Ship Benterprise to talk about Commercial Crew and what we can look forward to in 2018.

Launches and space news reviewed:

Long March 3B – Chinasat 9A
Vega – Mohammed VI-A
Nearby Asteroids “Photobomb” Hubble Images
SpaceX loses an engine on a test stand
Jupiter’s Aurorae Are Different

TMRO is viewer supported:

TMRO:Space is a crowd funded show. If you like this episode consider contributing to help us to continue to improve. Head over to http://www.patreon.com/tmrofor information plus our all new goals and reward levels

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Two recent TMRO SpacePod short reports:

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