Coverage Set for Space Station Departure of European Cargo Ship

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington          

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

 

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- The departure of the third European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-3) cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station will be broadcast live on NASA Television beginning at 6:15 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 25.

The 13-ton "Edoardo Amaldi," named for the 20th-century Italian physicist regarded as one of the fathers of European spaceflight, launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on March 23. It arrived at the space station March 28 with several tons of supplies and experiments for the station's crew.

Now loaded with items no longer needed on the station, ATV-3 will undock from the aft docking port of the station's Russian Zvezda service module at 6:35 p.m., Sept. 25. The craft will back away from the orbiting laboratory to a safe distance for an engine firing that will enable it to make a planned destructive return through Earth's atmosphere.

ATV-3 will carry the Re-entry Breakup Recorder (REBR) as it descends into Earth's atmosphere. REBR is a system that records data during the re-entry and breakup of the vehicle and returns the data for analysis. Understanding how vehicles behave during re-entry can enhance design efficiencies and safety; potentially remove the need for deorbit propulsion, which could decrease cost and complexity and increase mission life of spacecraft; and could minimize hazards to people and property if spacecraft became uncontrollable and re-entered randomly.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For International Space Station information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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NASA Offers Opportunity to Use Communications Testbed on Space Station

Rachel Kraft

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1100

rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

 

Katherine K. Martin

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland

216-433-2406

katherine.martin@grc.nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- NASA is announcing opportunities for academia, industry and government agencies to develop and carry out research and technology demonstrations on the International Space Station using the newly installed Space Communications and Navigation (SCAN) testbed.

There are two announcements of opportunity. The SCAN Testbed Experiment Opportunity invites industry and other government agencies to enter into Space Act Agreements with NASA to use the space station's SCAN platform. The SCAN Testbed Cooperative Agreement Notice invites academia to develop proposals to use the orbiting laboratory's SCAN testbed research capabilities. NASA expects the first demonstrations by late 2013 or early 2014.

These opportunities will allow researchers to develop new software according to the Space Telecommunications Radio Standard (STRS) architecture for radios and reconfigure how radios communicate in space.

Experiments will provide waveforms and software components to the STRS waveform repository and enable future hardware platforms to use common reusable software modules. These new capabilities could enable greater scientific return from future NASA missions.

The SCAN testbed is a communications, navigation and networking demonstration platform based on the STRS. The experimental platform began its initial checkout activities on the space station Aug. 13 and will operate for as long as three years.

NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland leads the SCAN testbed multi-center team, which includes the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; and Johnson Space Center in Houston. General Dynamics of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., developed software-defined radios under cooperative agreements with NASA. The testbed is managed by the SCAN Program Office within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

For the SCAN Testbed Cooperative Agreement Notice and Experiment Opportunity, visit http://go.nasa.gov/QLp37U.

For more information about the SCAN testbed, visit http://go.nasa.gov/QdpciB.

For more information about the International Space Station research and technology, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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NASA TV to Cover Departure of Japanese Cargo Ship From Space Station Sept. 12

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington     

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

 

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

 

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will provide live coverage of the third Japanese "Kounotori" H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) cargo ship's departure from the International Space Station in two broadcasts Wednesday, Sept. 12. The first, covering unberthing, will begin at 6:30 a.m. EDT, and the second, covering release, will begin at 11:30 a.m.

HTV-3, launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) July 21, arrived to the orbiting laboratory July 27 with several tons of supplies and experiments. Departure, originally planned for Sept. 6, was delayed to accommodate a second spacewalk by Expedition 32 Flight Engineers Sunita Williams of NASA and Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA on Wednesday.

Hoshide and fellow Expedition 32 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA will be at the controls of the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to unbolt and disengage the cargo craft from the station's Harmony module. A few hours later the astronauts will release the cargo craft, which will be moved a safe distance away from the complex. JAXA flight controllers later will fire the spacecraft's engine, initiating its destructive entry back through Earth's atmosphere.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For more information about the International Space Station and its continuing research activities, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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The Italian Boot

This oblique, night time panorama of much of Europe was photographed by one of the Expedition 32 crew members aboard the International Space Station flying approximately 240 miles above the Mediterranean Sea on Aug. 18, 2012.

The country of Italy is visible running diagonally southward from the horizon across the center of the frame, with the night lights of Rome and Naples being visible on the coast near the center. Sardinia and Corsica are just above left center of the photo, and Sicily is at lower left. The Adriatic Sea is on the other side of Italy, and beyond it to the east and north can be seen parts of several other European nations.

Image Credit: NASA

Next Space Station Spacewalk to Be Broadcast on NASA TV

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

 

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- In the wake of an unsuccessful attempt to install a replacement power-switching unit on the truss of the International Space Station, two crew members will venture outside for a second time in six days to complete the work. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the spacewalk beginning at 6 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, Sept. 5. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin about 7:15 a.m.

Expedition 32 flight engineers Sunita Williams of NASA and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency again will don U.S. spacesuits and exit the Quest airlock to complete the installation of a spare Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU). The MBSU is a boxy, 236-pound component that relays power from the station's solar arrays to its systems. An 8- hour, 17-minute spacewalk on Aug. 30 -- the third longest in history -- ended with the spacewalkers unable to finish bolting the switching unit into its housing on the truss.

This spacewalk will be the 165th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the sixth in Williams' career and the second for Hoshide. Williams will wear the spacesuit bearing red stripes. Hoshide will be clad in the spacesuit with no markings. 

NASA will conduct a multi-center news conference following the conclusion of Wednesday's spacewalk. The news conference will be broadcast on NASA TV and include space station program and mission operations representatives. News media representatives who would like to participate by telephone must call the newsroom at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston 15 minutes before the news conference begins. Priority will be given to journalists participating in person. Questions by phone will be taken as time permits. Journalists should check the NASA TV schedule Wednesday for the news conference start time.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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