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Spacewalk Friday: Installing a New "Parking Spot" on Station

This Friday, Aug. 19, two U.S. astronauts will install a new gateway for American commercial crew spacecraft at the International Space Station. 

Commercial crew flights from Florida’s Space Coast to the International Space Station will restore America’s human spaceflight launch capability and increase the time U.S. crews can dedicate to scientific research.

The adapter being installed (imaged below) was launched on a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft and arrived on orbit July 20. NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins will perform the spacewalk to install the equipment this Friday, Aug. 19. This will be the fourth spacewalk in Williams’ career and the first for Rubins.

Four previous spacewalks…like the one below…helped set the stage for installation of this docking adapter. During those previous spacewalks, other crew members laid hundreds of feet of power and data cables outside the space station. 

On Wednesday, the robotics team using the Canadarm2 and its attached “Dextre” manipulator, will reach into the SpaceX Dragon trunk and pull out the docking adapter and position it for Friday’s spacewalk activities.

The morning of the spacewalk, while the astronauts are getting suited up, the robotic arm will position the docking adaptor near the port so that it will be ready for installation.

The two astronauts will venture outside the space station to install the first International Docking Adapter (IDA). This new adapter port will provide a parking space for U.S. Commercial Crew vehicles.

Watch LIVE!

Coverage of the spacewalk begins at 6:30 a.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 19; with the spacewalk scheduled to begin at 8:05 a.m. EDT. Stream live online HERE. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Is Genesis History?

On February 23rd, I reluctantly attended the showing of a film called “Is Genesis History?”

IS GENESIS HISTORY? is a comprehensive documentary featuring creationist scientists and scholars looking at the world and explaining how it intersects with the history recorded in Genesis. From rock layers to fossils to lions to stars, this film attempts to challenge and change the way you see the world.

I…

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John Mather (Nobel Prize in Physics-2006) of NASA explains why the James Webb Space Telescope will allow us to finally see the birth of stars. Recorded live at Goddard Space Flight Center on 07/29/2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U-y7GpBvU38

07/18/2016: Successful SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launch & First Stage Recovery

Early this morning, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying nearly 5,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station.

Ken Ham, the Anti-Science Sham and his Ark.

Orbital ATK Antares Rocket Returns to Flight (Full Video)

Orbital ATK Antares Rocket Returns to Flight (Full Video)

The Orbital ATK Antares rocket returned to flight on October 17th with a launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. I was on-site to witness and document the event for Science Strike Force as part of the NASASocial program. The attached video is one of the results.

The launch was actually scheduled for the previous evening, but an underperforming ground cable (not part of the Antares…

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This unprocessed image shows features in Saturn’s atmosphere from closer than ever before. The view was captured by our Cassini spacecraft during its first Grand Finale dive between the planet and its rings on April 26, 2017.

As Cassini dove through the gap, it came within about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) of Saturn’s cloud tops (where the air pressure is 1 bar – comparable to the atmospheric pressure of Earth at sea level) and within about 200 miles (300 kilometers) of the innermost visible edge of the rings.

See all the unprocessed images from Cassini: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/raw-images/ 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Robert DeNiro: Why He Wants Anti-Vax Film Shown Robert De Niro, a co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, released a statement Friday on the film festival’s Facebook page in which he explains why he wants “Vaxxed” to be shown.

The 363-foot-tall Apollo 12 Saturn V rocket rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral, September 8, 1969. (NASA)