Station power upgrade preparations continue with EVA-72 nasaspaceflight.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nasaspaceflight.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
February 28, 2021
Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) conducted a spacewalk to begin the process of increasing the station’s electrical power generation output.
The spacewalk, US EVA-71, was conducted by NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover, who officially began the sojourn at 06:12 EST/11:12 UTC and completed it 7 hours 04 minutes later at 13:16 EST/18:16. UTC
Solar array background:
The ISS is equipped with eight Solar Array Wings (SAWs), each of which were designed to produce around 30 kilowatts (kW) of power, for a total of about 250kW across all eight arrays.
The oldest array, attached to the P6 truss, was launched in 2000 on the STS-97 mission of the Shuttle Endeavour, with the additional arrays launching in 2006, 2007, and 2009 onboard the STS-115 and STS-117 missions of Atlantis and the STS-119 mission of Discovery, respectively..
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 22 December, 2020 - Physics Phenomena Status Report - Source: SpaceRef
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 22 December, 2020 - Physics Phenomena.
The seven-member Expedition 64 crew, consisting of five astronauts and two cosmonauts, will spend the rest of the year conducting valuable space research aboard the International Space Station.
Tuesday s slate of science investigations explored a range of space biology and physics phenomena to benefit human health and manufacturing. Results from these microgravity studies could also boost the commercialization of space.
The crew has been looking at tiny organisms including microbes and fruit flies today to gain insights into immunology and genetic expression. These experiments will return to Earth on Jan. 11 for analysis when the SpaceX Cargo Dragon undocks from the Harmony module and splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean.
Space holding company Voyager to acquire Nanoracks, which added an airlock to the space station CNBC 12/23/2020 Michael Sheetz
Voyager Space Holdings intends to take a majority stake in the parent company of Nanoracks, a space services and hardware specialist that has sent more than 1,000 missions to the International Space Station.
The stake in Nanoracks marks Voyager s fourth deal since its establishment in October 2019. With Voyager, we have a platform that allows us to grow into the entire in-space services infrastructure development, with a financial sophistication and synergy that we just frankly would not have on our own, Nanoracks CEO Jeff Manber told CNBC.
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 December, 2020 - New Research Airlock Status Report - Source: SpaceRef
The new NanoRacks Bishop research airlock is installed on the port side of the Tranquility module and significantly expands the capacity for commercial space research on the outside of the orbiting lab. Credit: NASA.
Science operations continue to expand aboard the International Space Station with the installation of a new research airlock over the weekend.
The seven-member Expedition 64 crew also stayed busy exploring a variety of space biology and physics phenomena.
Robotics controllers on Earth spent Saturday remotely commanding the Canadarm2 robotic arm to install the new NanoRacks Bishop science airlock delivered Dec. 7 aboard the SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship. During a series of hours-long maneuvers, Bishop was extracted from Dragon s unpressurized trunk and installed on the port side of the Tranquility module adjacent to BEAM, the Bigelow Expanda