the-star-stuff:

That Streak in the Sky? Astronaut Trash

OurAmazingPlanet StaffDate: 14 November 2011 Time: 12:41 PM ET

From NASA’s Earth Observatory:

Have you ever wondered how the astronauts and cosmonauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) take out the trash? Several times a year, robotic spacecraft carrying a variety of items—including food, water, fuel, oxygen, medical supplies, replacement parts, and research materials—are launched from Earth to dock with the ISS. These spacecraft are built andlaunched by ISS international partners in Russia, Japan, and the Europe. After the cargo has been transferred to the ISS, the spacecraft is refilled with refuse, and then undocked and de-orbited—essentially using the Earth’s atmosphere as an incinerator for both the spent spacecraft and the refuse.

This astronaut photograph highlights the reentry plasma trail of one such spacecraft, the ISS Progress 42P supply vehicle (Russian designation M-10M). The Progress is based on the Soyuz design, and can fly autonomously or under remote control from the space station. Progress 42P docked at the ISS on April 29, 2011, and was undocked and de-orbited on October 29, 2011. Astronauts on the ISS took a time lapse sequence of the event; the image above is part of that sequence. (read more)

inothernews:

WITHOUTER SPACE   The space shuttle Endeavour is shown docked with the International Space Station on May 23, 2011, in this photo by NASA astronaut Paolo Nespoli.  With recent problems plaguing the Russian space program — namely, two of their most recent rocket launches exploding after launch — the $100 billion ISS, which can be operated remotely — may soon have to go without a crew for the time being.  (Photo: Nespoli / NASA via NPR)

xevilious:

ISS Astronaut Catches Picture of Falling Star

This has been one of the more eventful and high profile missions since the program returned to flight. I’m sure there are some experiments to work on, and there are worse things than a day off 350 miles in orbit. So tonight there will again be two sets of people working and sleeping in space. One set aboard the ISS, the other on Atlantis!

NASA has really embraced interactive media with this mission, and there have also been quite a few independent companies that have popped up to support public interest in the program. And then, of course, there’s “Astro” Mike Massimo’s twitter stream, which I imagine will be pretty lively today. I’ll see if I can get a movie review from him!

I always leave a TV on in my office tuned to NASA on launch and landing day. It’s a tradition I’ve kept up for 4 years now, and it’s kind of nice that I can do that online as well. The talking you may be hearing is live coverage from Mission Control. You can get this feed yourself from http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts125/status.html and you can shut it up by scrolling down a bit until you see the box with the talking people.

Here are the current landing opportunities for this weekend. KSC = Kennedy Space Center. EDW = Edwards Air Force Base, NOR, White Sands, New Mexico. Orbit = the number of times the ship has gone round. Looks like tomorrow morning is a good shot!

ORBIT…SITE…LANDING

Saturday, May 23:

180…..KSC….09:16 AM
181…..EDW….10:46 AM
181…..KSC….10:54 AM
182…..EDW….12:24 PM

Sunday, May 24:

196…..EDW….10:01 AM
196…..NOR….10:04 AM
196…..KSC….10:10 AM
197…..EDW….11:39 AM
197…..NOR….11:42 AM
197…..KSC….11:48 AM