The Space Show this week – Sept.4.2017

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week

1. Monday, Sept. 4, 2017: 2-3:30 pm PDT (5-6:30 pm EDT, 4-5:30 pm CDT): No show due to Labor Day Holiday.

SPECIAL TIME: 2. Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017: 9:30 AM-11 am PDT, (12:30-2 pm EDT; 11:30 am-1 pm CDT): We welcome back Dr. Kelvin Long of Icarus Interstellar in the UK.

3. Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2016: Hotel Mars. See Upcoming Show Menu and the website newsletter for details.

4. Friday, Sept. 8, 2017; 9:30 am-11 am PDT, (12:30-2 pm EDT; 11:30 am-1 pm CDT): We welcome back Dr. Pat Hynes regarding the upcoming Personal Spaceflight Symposium to be held in Las Cruces, NM.

5. Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017: 12-1:30 pm DST (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 pm CDT): No show as will be heading to AIAA 2017 in Orlando.

See also:
* The Space Show on Vimeo – webinar videos
* The Space Show’s Blog – summaries of interviews.
* The Space Show Classroom Blog – tutorial programs

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

The Space Show - David Livingston
David Livingston

Sci-Tech: Turtle Rover – “Waterproof open source RC robot designed by Mars rover engineers”

The Turtle Rover is a

remotely controlled mobile robot carefully designed to reach unseen places.

It’s a reliable open-source platform providing you infinite possibilities of modification and development.

Snap pictures, make videos and mount anything you like on its shell and inside its watertight case!

Development and production of the Turtle Rover will be accelerated by the Turtle Rover Kickstarter

The Turtle can be controlled remotely via a WiFi application program:

Drive anywhere you like, bring back what you find, snap pictures, and record live videos!

With our mobile app and long-range communication capabilities, you don’t have to be where Turtle is. The rover streams a live HD camera view and lets you see where you are going, even if it’s out of your sight. The app works on any device that has access to a web browser, including phones and tablets. The range is up to 200 meters (220 yards).

The Turtle is a spin-off of Mars rover projects at the Wroclaw University of Technology

From 2012, we’ve been involved in the development of Mars rover prototypes at the Wroclaw University of Technology. The rovers performed with top scores during the Mars Society University Rover Challenges, worldwide. We took a leap of faith in sending our Project FREDE experiment to the stratosphere with the support of ESA, DLR and SSC. Our team helped to design and manufacture electronic enclosures for the DREAM Project that was sent to space with the REXUS rocket.

Last year, we decided to make space technology available for everyone. Our idea is to bring personal robotics to a new level. We want to give you—makers, a simple, yet reliable platform to take your projects outdoors. That’s how the idea of Turtle Rover was born.

As of today, the Kickstarter has seen $37,611 pledged towards a $71,174 goal with 21 days left in the campaign.

Videos: Three ISS crew members return to earth

Last night a Russian Soyuz spacecraft landed with two US astronauts and a cosmonaut returning from long stays on the ISS:

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who set multiple U.S. space records during her mission aboard the International Space Station, along with crewmates Jack Fischer of NASA and Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, safely landed on Earth at 9:21 p.m. EDT Saturday (7:21 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, Sept. 3), southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

This video shows the return from undocking with the ISS to the parachute landing in Kazakhstan.

Here are a couple of videos showing the ISS crew marking the departure of the three station residents:

The rest of the NASA article:

While living and working aboard the world’s only orbiting laboratory, Whitson and Fischer contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science, welcomed several cargo spacecraft delivering tons of supplies and research experiments, and conducted a combined six spacewalks to perform maintenance and upgrades to the station.

Among their scientific exploits, Whitson and Fischer supported research into the physical changes to astronaut’s eyes caused by prolonged exposure to a microgravity environment. They also conducted a new lung tissue study that explored how stem cells work in the unique microgravity environment of the space station, which may pave the way for future stem cell research in space.

Additional research included an antibody investigation that could increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment, and the study of plant physiology and growth in space using an advanced plant habitat. NASA also attached the Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass Investigation (ISS CREAM) on the outside of the space station in August, which is now observing cosmic rays coming from across the galaxy.

The crew members received a total of seven cargo deliveries during their mission. A Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle launched to the space station in December 2016 delivering new lithium-ion batteries that were installed using a combination of robotics and spacewalks. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the station in April on the company’s seventh commercial resupply mission. Three SpaceX Dragon spacecraft completed commercial resupply missions to the station in February, June and August. And, Russian ISS Progress cargo spacecraft docked to the station in February and June.

Whitson’s return marks the completion of a 288-day mission that began last November and spanned 122.2 million miles and 4,623 orbits of the Earth – her third long-duration mission on the station. During her latest mission, Whitson performed four spacewalks, bringing her career total to 10. With a total of 665 days in space, Whitson holds the U.S. record and places eighth on the all-time space endurance list.

Fischer, who launched in April, completed 136 days in space, during which he conducted the first and second spacewalks of his career. Yurchikhin, who launched with Fischer, now has a total of 673 days in space, putting him seventh place on the all-time endurance list.

Expedition 53 continues operating the station, with Randy Bresnik of NASA in command, and Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) serving as flight engineers. The three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba, and Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos. Vande Hei, Acaba and Misurkin are scheduled to launch Sept. 12 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter at:

https://instagram.com/iss

and

https://www.twitter.com/Space_Station 

Satellite photos of Houston flooding

Check out the collection of side-by-side comparison of DigitalGlobe satellite images showing Houston before hurricane Harvey and after the flooding:  Interactive before and after satellite photos show Harvey’s extreme flooding from orbit – Mashable

The company Deimos Imaging also posted several photos on Tweeter of Houston taken by their satellites: Houston flooding captured by Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 – Deimos Imaging