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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Astronauts Call Ohio Students From Space Station

Ann Marie Trotta

Headquarters, Washington                                        

202-358-1601

ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov

 

Tammie Letroise-Brown

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-4942

tammie.r.letroise-brown@nasa.gov

 

WASHINGTON -- Students at Wickliffe Progressive Community School in Upper Arlington, Ohio, will speak with Expedition 32 flight engineer Suni Williams aboard the International Space Station at 11:05 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 28. Media representatives are invited to attend the event.

Students will ask NASA's Williams questions about life, work and research aboard the orbiting space station. The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

Reporters wishing to attend must contact Dan Donovan at dandonovan@uaschools.org or 614-487-5007 ext.1119 by 8:30 am Aug. 28. Wickliffe Progressive Community School is at 2405 Wickliffe Road in Upper Arlington.

NASA activities have been incorporated into classes at the school in preparation for the conversation with Williams. Wickliffe uses learning practices that are grounded in experiential and integrated curricular activities and lessons. Linking Wickliffe directly to the space station astronaut will provide students with an authentic, live experience of space exploration, space study, and the scientific components of space travel and possibilities of life in space.

Williams, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, arrived at the space station July 17. This in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the United States and abroad to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching From Space education program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA's human spaceflight program.

The exact time of the downlink could change. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For information about NASA's education programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education.

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

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NASA Study Provides New Findings On Protecting Astronauts' Bones Through Diet And Exercise

Trent J. Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington          

202-358-0321

trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

 

William Jeffs                                        

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

william.p.jeffs@nasa.gov

 

HOUSTON -- Eating the right diet and exercising hard in space helps protect International Space Station astronauts' bones, a finding that may help solve one of the key problems facing future explorers heading beyond low Earth orbit.

A new study, published this month in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, evaluated the mineral density of specific bones as well as the entire skeleton of astronauts who used the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED), a 2008 addition to the space station that can produce resistance of as much as 600 pounds in microgravity. Resistance exercise allows astronauts to "lift weights" in weightlessness.

Researchers compared data measured from 2006 until the new device arrived, when astronauts used an interim workout that offered about half the total resistance of the ARED. The researchers found astronauts using the advanced exercise system returned to Earth with more lean muscle and less fat, and maintained their whole body and regional bone mineral density compared to when they launched. Crew members using ARED also consumed sufficient calories and vitamin D, among other nutrients. These factors are known to support bone health and likely played a contributing role.

"After 51 years of human spaceflight, these data mark the first significant progress in protecting bone through diet and exercise," said Scott M. Smith, NASA nutritionist at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston and lead author of the publication. 

Since the 1990s, resistance exercise has been thought to be a key method of protecting astronauts' bones. Normal, healthy bone constantly breaks down and renews itself, a process called remodeling. As long as these processes are in balance, bone mass and density stay the same. Earlier studies of Russian Mir space station residents found an increased rate of breakdown, but little change in the rate of regrowth that resulted in an overall loss in bone density. In the new study, researchers looked at preflight and postflight images of bone using X-ray densitometry, as well as in-flight blood and urine measurements of chemicals that reflect bone metabolism. In crew members who used the ARED device during spaceflight, bone breakdown still increased, but bone formation also tended to increase, likely resulting in the maintenance of whole bone mineral density.

"The increase in both bone breakdown and formation suggests that the bone is being remodeled, but a key question remains as to whether this remodeled bone is as strong as the bone before flight," said Dr. Jean Sibonga, bone discipline lead at Johnson and coauthor of the study.

Studies to evaluate bone strength before and after flight are currently under way.

Beyond bone strength, further study is required to determine the best possible combination of exercise and diet for long-duration crews. Dietary effects on bone are being studied on the space station right now, with one experiment evaluating different ratios of animal protein and potassium in the diet on bone health. Another is looking at the benefits for bone of lowering sodium intake.

To view the study, visit http://tinyurl.com/c8fy32w.

For more about space station research and the resulting benefits on Earth, visit http://www.nasa.gov/iss-science.

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NASA Kicks Off Asteroid Simulation; Media Invited to Observe

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

 

Brandi Dean

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov

HOUSTON -- A simulated mission to an asteroid is under way at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Journalists are invited to learn about the test and technologies on Thursday, Aug. 30.

Media will be able to learn about the test and see the technologies up close. Reporters interested in attending should email Brandi Dean at brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov. International media must apply for credentials by 5 p.m. CDT, Aug. 23. U.S. reporters should respond by 5 p.m. Aug. 29.

The Research and Technology Studies (RATS) test, a 10-day asteroid exploration simulation in Johnson's Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, kicked off this week. As NASA makes plans to send humans to asteroids by 2025, RATS and other mission simulations provide the agency with a way to test new operations, concepts and exploration techniques to influence the future of exploration.

The 2012 RATS test will use several technologies to simulate life and work on the surface of an asteroid. A crew of five scientists and flight controllers in pairs will take turns sleeping, eating, exercising and working inside the cabin of the multi-mission Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) for 3 days and 2 nights at a time. They will evaluate the cabin's displays, controls and views with the help of a video wall that contours around the vehicle's windows displaying a simulation of the asteroid surface as they steer across it.

Outside of the SEV, crew members will participate in simulated spacewalks on the asteroid surface using Johnson's virtual reality laboratory and its Active Response Gravity Offload System. The laboratory uses a virtual reality helmet and gloves to simulate movement on a virtual asteroid surface. The system suspends astronauts from a specialized crane designed to offset their weight and simulate microgravity.

The team will use these technologies to evaluate various modes of movement during spacewalks while the SEV-based crew members assist from inside the vehicle. A team of flight controllers and scientists also will support the tests from the nearby Mission Control Center, with a 50-second, one-way delay in communication between the two groups to mimic what astronauts working on an asteroid would experience.

For information about the RATS tests and links to follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter, visit http://www.nasa.gov/desertrats.

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NASA Completes Another Successful Orion Parachute Test

Trent J Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-0321

trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

 

Josh Byerly

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

josh.byerly@nasa.gov

HOUSTON -- NASA completed another successful test Wednesday of the Orion crew vehicle's parachutes high above the Arizona desert in preparation for the spacecraft’s orbital flight test in 2014. Orion will carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and ensure a safe re-entry and landing.

A C-17 plane dropped a test version of Orion from an altitude of 25,000 feet above the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in southwestern Arizona. This test was the second to use an Orion craft that mimics the full size and shape of the spacecraft.

Orion's drogue chutes were deployed between 15,000 feet and 20,000 feet, followed by the pilot parachutes, which deployed the main landing parachutes. Orion descended about 25 feet per second, well below its maximum designed touchdown speed, when it landed on the desert floor.

"Across the country, NASA and industry are moving forward on the most advanced spacecraft ever designed, conducting drop and splashdown tests, preparing ground systems, designing software and computers and paving the way for the future of exploration," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Today's parachute test in Yuma is an important reminder of the progress being made on Orion and its ultimate mission -- enabling NASA to meet the goal of sending humans to an asteroid and Mars."

Orion parachutes have so-called reefing lines, which when cut by a pyrotechnic device, allow the parachute to open gradually, managing the initial amount of drag and force on the parachute. The main objective of the latest drop test was to determine how the entire system would respond if one of the reefing lines was cut prematurely, causing the three main parachutes to inflate too quickly.

Since 2007, the Orion program has conducted a vigorous parachute air and ground test program and provided the chutes for NASA's successful pad abort test in 2010. All of the tests build an understanding of the chutes' technical performance for eventual human-rated certification.

In 2014, an uncrewed Orion spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Exploration Flight Test-1. The spacecraft will travel 3,600 miles above Earth's surface. This is 15 times farther than the International Space Station's orbit and farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans has gone in more than 40 years. The main flight objective is to understand Orion's heat shield performance at speeds generated during a return from deep space.

In 2017, Orion will be launched by NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS will enable new missions of exploration and expand human presence across the solar system.

For more information about Orion and for video and images of Wednesday's test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion.

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