US cargo ship departure from International Space Station

After delivering almost 5,000 pounds of supplies, experiments and equipment - including a docking adapter for future American commercial crew spacecraft - a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is set to leave the International Space Station Friday.

SpaceX's Commercial Resupply Service-9 mission arrived on station July 20. The Dragon spacecraft will be detached from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module using the station's Canadarm 2 robotic arm. Robotics controllers will send commands to maneuver the spacecraft into place before it's released by Expedition 48 Flight Engineers Kate Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency at 6:10 a.m. EDT.

The spacecraft will move to a safe distance from the station and fire its engines at 10:56 a.m. EDT to drop out of orbit and descend back to Earth. A parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific is expected at 11:47 a.m. EDT about 326 miles west of Baja California.

A recovery team will retrieve the capsule and about 3,000 pounds of cargo and experiments for researchers and investigators.

In the event of adverse weather conditions in the Pacific, the backup departure and splashdown date is Sunday.

US spacewalk will work on space station cooling system

On Sept. 1, two NASA astronauts will spacewalk outside the International Space Station for the second time in less than two weeks.

The six-and-a-half hour spacewalk is scheduled to begin about 8 a.m. EDT.

Working on the port side of the orbiting complex's backbone, or truss, Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA will retract a thermal radiator that is part of the station's cooling system. The radiator is a backup that had been deployed previously as part of an effort to fix an ammonia coolant leak. They'll also tighten struts on a solar array joint, and install the first of several enhanced high-definition television cameras that will be used to monitor activities outside the station, including the comings and goings of visiting cargo and crew vehicles.

This will be the 195th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the fifth of Williams' career and the second for Rubins. As was the case for their first spacewalk together Aug. 19, Williams will be designated as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1), wearing a spacesuit with a red stripe, while Rubins will be EV2, wearing a suit with no stripes.

Two Russian spacewalks planned aboard space station

On Aug. 16 and 22, Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin will install equipment for the arrival of a new Russian module and begin preparations for the installation later this year of an optical telescope on the International Space Station.

The two cosmonauts will venture outside the ISS at about 10:40 a.m. EDT on Aug. 16 for a spacewalk scheduled to last about 6.5 hours. They plan to continue routing power and Ethernet cables for the future arrival of the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, which will be launched aboard a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They also will install on the Poisk module a panel of experiments designed to collect data on the effects of the microgravity environment in low-Earth orbit.

The Aug. 22 spacewalk also is scheduled to begin at about 7:40 a.m. Yurchikhin and Misurkin will remove a space laser communications system from the hull of the Zvezda service module and install a pointing platform on which a small optical telescope will be installed on a future Russian spacewalk.

The spacewalks will be the 172nd and 173rd in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the seventh and eighth of Yurchikhin's career and the second and third for Misurkin. Yurchikhin will wear a Russian Orlan suit bearing red stripes, and Misurkin will wear a suit with blue stripes. Misurkin's suit also will be equipped with a U.S. helmet camera to provide close up views of the work he will be performing outside the station.

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Video: Japan launches fourth cargo ship to International Space Station

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's HTV-4 Transfer Vehicle was successfully launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on Saturday for a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS).



Once there, the HTV-4 will deliver 3.6 tons of dry cargo, water, experiments and spare parts to the ISS. Unlike a Russian Progress vehicle which docks automatically, the HTV-4 will be captured by the Canadarm2 and berthed to the ISS. The cargo ship is scheduled to reach the space station on Friday.

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University of Illinois football captain turned NASA astronaut

NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, is in the final phase of his mission training as he and his crewmates, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy, prepare for their Sept. 25 launch to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Hopkins enjoys numerous fitness-related hobbies such as weight lifting, hockey and football -- he was captain of the University of Illinois football team. To share his passion for lifelong fitness, Hopkins is inviting the public to train alongside him in the months leading up to his mission, while in space and through his post-flight rehabilitation.

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An astronaut's guide to life on Earth

Random House Canada is proud to announce that it will publish Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's first book on Oct. 29. The book, "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth," is the first in a two-book agreement that was completed with literary agent Rick Broadhead of Rick Broadhead & Associates.

“Chris has a delightful capacity to bring home the fascinating details of what it takes to be an astronaut and what it's like to live in microgravity, and then to dig deeper into all the surprising training and lessons learned that help him, and the whole astronaut corps, do the impossible as if it's another day at work,” said Anne Collins, the publisher of the Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group. Collins is working on the book with Hadfield.

Chris Hadfield

Chris Hadfield was a top graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School in 1988 and U.S. Navy test pilot of the year in 1991, Hadfield was selected by the Canadian Space Agency to be an astronaut in 1992. He was Capsule Communicator for 25 shuttle launches and served as director of NASA Operations in Star City, Russia from 2001-2003, Chief of Robotics at the Johnson SpaceCenter in Houston from 2003-2006, and Chief of International Space Station Operations from 2006-2008. Hadfield most recently served as commander of the International Space Station where, while conducting a record-setting number of scientific experiments and overseeing an emergency spacewalk, he gained worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking photographs and educational videos about life in space. His music video, a zero-gravity version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity," received over 10 million views in its first three days online.

In “An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth,” Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of real achievement--and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counter-intuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.

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NASA may partner with Space Florida to operate Shuttle Landing Facility

NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF).

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and the director of NASA's Kennedy SpaceCenter, Robert Cabana, announced the selection during a news conference Friday at Kennedy's Visitor Complex in Florida.

"This agreement will continue to expand Kennedy's viability as a multi-user spaceport and strengthen the economic opportunities for Florida and the nation," Bolden said. "It also continues to demonstrate NASA's commitment and progress in building a strong commercial space industry so that American companies are providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit destinations."

NASA issued a Request For Information document in August 2012 to identify new and innovative ways to use the SLF for current and future commercial and government mission activities. Space Florida's proposal is aligned closely with Kennedy's vision for creating a multi-user spaceport.

The SLF opened for flights in 1976. The concrete runway is 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide.

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