Fragile Oasis

Music on the Spectrum

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:27:26 -0500

There is always someone playing music somewhere! Recently, I was lucky to see the spectrum from one end to the other. First, I played onstage with the traditional Irish band The Chieftains at the Houston Symphony. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfied joined us from aboard the International Space Station. Chris has been my friend, a fellow astronaut and a fellow band member for 20 years. Then, later in the week, I was an enthusiastic member of the audience for "Music Night" at my son’s school. Chris Hadfield joined us from the International Space Station. That's Dan Burbank with his guitar on the right. More pictures here... Maybe it comes from the special view of our planet that I had when I lived aboard the space station, but it is clear to me that at any given moment in time, at concert halls, coffee houses and stages around the world, there are musicians sharing the magic of music. Careers will be made or broken; veterans of 50 years like the Chieftains or Jethro Tull, with a mere 40 years to their name, will continue. For others -- like me and my coffee-house band, Bandella -- we just love what happens when we make music together, and we are happy to share it. I played my flute when I lived on the space station and brought the flutes of others with me as well. We typically conduct a few hundred science experiments during our six month stays up on the station; but, in our limited spare time, we’re just people, and we have a need to express ourselves in whatever way feels right. For me, that’s music and sharing the wonder of the space station experience. I think the photos show just how special it was for me to play on stage with some of the folks that I "played" with while I was aboard the space station. The list of space musicians is too long to publish here, but Chris Hadfield is the most recent to join the ranks. It felt just like old times when Bandella and the Chieftains shared the stage last week with him! Somehow, being at my son’s school for Music Night brought the spectrum of musical experiences into focus for me. Many of these kids courageously stepped onstage for the first time. It could change their lives. And those of us who watched, who listened, who took the time to encourage them to share, we are part of making that difference for them. Look at some of our videos of music up in space! You’ll find music past and music present. As for music future, keep in mind that the space musicians who will play on Mars are probably taking their first steps onstage at a middle school near you at Music Night! Editor's note: Fragile Oasis is committed to inspiring everyone on planet Earth to use whatever skills and talents they have to take action to protect our planet. With Cady's call to action, we challenge the community to create projects in the Arts related to or inspired by space. We will soon unveil a toolkit to help you do just that!

To Be Continued ...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:19:00 -0500

"There is no escaping our obligations: our moral obligations as a wise leader and good neighbor in the interdependent community of free nations..." – John F. Kennedy, Nov. 3, 1961 in establishing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

I have often expressed the strong belief that the technology developed for space exploration and the research conducted in space can make huge contributions toward solving many of the problems facing our planet. Beginning tomorrow, I will act on that belief and go "on loan" to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). While there, I will help apply space technology to the challenges facing the developing world. President Kennedy's landmark speech at Rice University a little more than 51 years ago shifted the U.S. space program into high gear. "We Choose To Go To The Moon" became the mantra that set our nation on a peaceful path of space exploration and scientific achievement for the betterment of all humanity. A few weeks after the Rice speech, and with the same spirit of progress and innovation that would propel humans to the moon, President Kennedy established USAID to help lift millions out of poverty, alleviate suffering and advance the foreign policy interests of our nation. Today, NASA and its international partners continue to build on both legacies. The International Space Station is a premier and unique research facility that operates around the clock to improve life on Earth while it orbits our planet 16 times a day. The research conducted aboard the space station simply cannot be duplicated anywhere on Earth and is leading to new materials, new medicines, a better understanding of the human body, environmental issues facing our planet, and much more. USAID humanitarian commodities, being unloaded at Djerba, Tunisia. Credit: AFRICOM Public Affairs USAID seeks to "extend a helping hand to those people overseas struggling to make a better life, recover from a disaster or striving to live in a free and democratic country." It has embarked on an ambitious agenda that aims to change the way it does business by establishing new partnerships, emphasizing innovation and focusing relentlessly on results. This agenda provides the opportunity to transform USAID and unleash its full potential to achieve high-impact development. I'm looking forward to being part of the team that implements these new changes as we strive to more effectively help improve the lives of others. NASA and USAID already collaborate on significant programs to apply scientific and technological solutions to challenges facing millions around the world. My role will be to help USAID establish a broad applied research program and to act as program manager for USAID's participation in the Unity Node project. The Applied Research Program seeks to find innovative ways to advance technology development and to apply new technologies to development challenges. The Unity Node project seeks to build a universal open source collaborative platform that humanitarian organizations around the world can use to work together toward their common goals. USAID's goals are ambitious: protecting human rights, improving global health, advancing food security and agriculture, improving environmental sustainability, furthering education, helping societies prevent and recover from conflicts, and providing humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural and man-made disasters. NASA research and experience will greatly help USAID achieve its ambitious goals. I am excited to be a part of both teams, where I'll be able to help fulfill NASA's mission of bettering life on Earth by working with USAID to give it practical application in the developing world. By combining expertise from NASA and USAID, we will help meet even more sustainable development challenges on the ground, solving problems for the world community. I recently had the opportunity to fly what could be my last flight in a T-38 jet for a while. As I flew a few laps around the Gulf of Mexico, I remembered my last moments aboard the International Space Station before Andrey Borisenko, Sasha Samokutyaev, and I flew a few laps around our planet prior to returning to our Fragile Oasis. I felt then, and I feel now, that I'm completing one chapter of my life and about to begin a new one. It's an exciting moment, and I can't wait to see first-hand the results of applying space technology to development challenges. Suggested Viewing: Full Screen, 1080P, with the volume UP

Hunting Asteroids

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:28:16 -0500

I used to love looking out the window of the International Space Station when we were flying over the dark side of Earth, watching tiny asteroids leave bright trails as they hit the atmosphere hundreds of miles below us. These tiny asteroids also had bigger cousins who have left their mark on our fragile oasis, in places like the Manicouagan Crater in Canada. Countless other asteroids have hit Earth in the past, and we can expect countless more. Most will be harmless impacts but on occasion they’re not. The Manicouagan impact crater in northern Québec is one of the world’s largest and oldest known impact craters NASA researchers in the Near-Earth Object Program have their eyes on asteroids — characterizing scientific and exploration benefits while detecting, tracking and analyzing potentially hazardous asteroids and comets. So is B612 Foundation, where I am the chairman and CEO. This is exactly why we have set the Sentinel Project in motion. NASA and B612 are working together under a Space Act Agreement. B612's mission is to build, launch and operate a space telescope called Sentinel to be placed in orbit around the sun, which will find and track threatening asteroids before they find us. We have the technology to deflect asteroids (for example, kinetic impactors and gravity tractors) if we have sufficient warning. But for us to employ this technology, we first have to find these asteroids. After all, we can’t protect ourselves from something we haven’t mapped yet! Sentinel will map the orbits and locations of near-Earth asteroids and give us the decades of warning we need to protect Earth from harmful impacts. The Sentinel project’s interplanetary mission will complement NASA’s efforts to accomplish its overall NEO detection and tracking mission. By sending observations back to NASA, this model of research and education may enhance our knowledge base and provide additional mission options to inspire future exploration. We are glad to have our project join the Fragile Oasis community. We want to inspire you to create your own project that helps make our planet a better and safer place to live.

One Young World Summit - The Key Is We

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:42:02 -0500

Witnessing more than 1,000 young people from 200 countries building the foundation for the legacy of their generation is a remarkable experience I won’t soon forget. These young people were delegates to the 2012 One Young World Summit, which helped them make the lasting connections that produce the cooperation and collaboration necessary for positive and sustainable change on a global scale. I had the privilege of addressing the young delegates who were formulating the answer to the fundamental question, “What Kind of World Do You Want?” They debated, they listened to each other and they worked with counselors including Bob Geldof, Kofi Annan, Professor Muhammad Yunus, HKH Prince Haakon of Norway, Jamie Oliver, Jack Dorsey, Joss Stone and others. After three intensive days, they left the summit as One Young World ambassadors with a hard-core commitment to galvanize their communities and make an impact in education, sustainable development, health, human rights and leadership. Since the first summit in 2010, One Young World ambassadors have proven how effective collaboration is: they developed and presented The Missing Millennium Development Goal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and initiated the first-ever African Student Leaders Summit to pioneer African solutions to African challenges. To date, almost four million people have been directly impacted by the work of One Young World ambassadors. More than 125 projects and initiatives in 100 countries are underway. All involved with One Young World are proof that you don’t have to be in orbit to have the orbital perspective. These exceptional young leaders are building a legacy of positive change on our Fragile Oasis. This is a video of my remarks, and at about 20 minutes in you'll see why I am so optimistic about the future of our planet and its seven billion inhabitants.

Change

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:14:42 -0500

Well, we are essentially packed – we even put away our Harry Potter glasses…(medical glasses to adjust for ANY vision changes with one pair of glasses). Too bad they look dorky. 100 years ago or so, we started flying, Girl Scouts were established and the Oreo cookie was invented50 years ago or so, the first Satellite was launched

25 years ago, Aki graduated from high school, I became legal to drink and Yuri became a pilot…

10 years ago or so, the ISS was manned for the first time – people living in space continually now…

Where will we be in 10, 25, 50 or 100 years from now? It's hard to imagine, but I can’t wait to find out. In the meantime, it is time to go home to planet Earth. From one Earthling to another, I can’t think of a better planet to be from. ------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

With A Story To Tell

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:46:10 -0500

It’s been said a million times, “life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” It’s a beautiful quote by one of the most important and influential musicians, artists and humanitarians of all time, Mr. John Lennon. It ticks all the iconic quote boxes: it’s short, to the point and unequivocally accurate. I want to write a quote like that. Not fair John, not fair. In my relatively short time on this big blue ball, I have found there is real truth in John’s words. Sometimes the best laid plans just change, for better or for worse. It’s easy to get caught in your own net, thrashing about until you find a positive way out. And sometimes, just sometimes, that positive escape from your own little world leaks out and makes a positive impact elsewhere. What I really mean to say is, something positive you may have done for yourself has been interpreted completely differently by someone else and has become really meaningful to them. What a beautiful feeling that is. For me, that positive thing was a song I had written 8 years ago - when I was 17. It was a song all about leaving the beautiful Island I had grown up on - the Isle of Man. It was about being proud of where I came from, yet anxious and eager to see the world. The song “Roll Away” was born out of both love and frustration. Isle of Man, the island at the center, between Great Britain and Ireland - taken from the International Space Station and Tweeted to me by @Astro_Ron! Here’s the thing - I had written it purely selfishly - it made me feel better about the situation I was in. That was its purpose for me. It’s a cliche that songwriters use all the time, but it’s true. Sometimes it really is a therapy. I had no idea then that it would lead me on a fantastic journey. Between then and now, I have been lucky enough to start a career as a professional musician, and have ended up fulfilling that ‘Roll Away’ dream of seeing the world. As I said earlier, I grew up on the Isle of Man, in the British Isles - I now live in Chicago, USA, and I am writing this on a flight to Tokyo. This will count as my 5th time zone this month. This nomadic lifestyle has really changed the way I think, compared to my seventeen-year-old outlook! I’ve come to learn how small this world really is - how exposed we all are, the fragility of our situation. We are all one and the same, and certainly on the same big blue boat. I guess you could say that my experiences with music, and touring it, has really given me an orbital perspective of this wonderful planet - without having left it. A short while back I met some wonderful people who really go above and beyond, and I had to get involved. WhyHunger WhyHunger is an incredible organization and, in keeping with the ethos of Fragile Oasis, truly committed to making this planet a better place. In a nut-shell, WhyHunger helps source nutritious and sustainable food for those who simply don’t have easy access to it. They work with projects in the USA and all over the world to make sure that food is seen as a necessity, and not a luxury - and is available to all. WhyHunger has an orbital perspective itself - seeing this world as one whole, Regardless of borders or beliefs, everyone on it should have access to our most basic human needs. I have also been fortunate enough to meet some truly remarkable individuals who really inspire us to make this world a better place. NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Nicole Stott both took my albums with them on their missions to the International Space Station. How could I ever have planned for this? My song 'Roll Away', written all of those years ago made it into space!? Completely baffled, amazed and truly honoured! Ron explained to me how he interpreted that little song of mine, written all those years ago, while also looking at beautiful scenery - but from a very different perspective. An orbital perspective. The island I had written about in my song had been interpreted by Ron as our Island as a whole -- that he was now looking down on. I really can’t explain this any better than Ron! All I can add is that this song, which has meant so much to me for so long, has now taken on a whole new meaning, and it is an understatement to say I am both grateful and honoured that it means so much to someone else. I do have one last anecdote to share. Recently, at a show back on the Isle of Man the crew of the final Discovery mission presented me with a beautiful plaque containing their mission crew patch. It is important for you to know I get star-struck. Embarrassingly so. One of the astronauts leans over to me and says; “That patch flew over 5 million miles.”. I mull this over (this, and the fact I am onstage with a bunch of people who have been in Space). I eventually reply, “it’s in very good shape.”

Packing for Earth

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:13:22 -0500

Now it is time to start thinking about coming home. Up to this point I haven’t, and sort of denied it. I am still in denial, but I am going through the motions because I don’t want to forget something when the hatch closes…so we are preparing. Space is just really cool. I love it here, just like most folks who get to come here. It is just so cool how we adapt and become so comfortable up here. You can be standing one moment and with just a little effort, flip upside down and be hanging – “look ma, no hands!” It is just an amazing place to be. Not to mention the view…why would anyone want to leave? Hawaii! So, you might ask, what do you have to pack? It is a little like the airlines, we do have a baggage limit, but slightly less – only 1.5 kg in the Soyuz. That is like 3.5 lbs., so not much. We all brought that much personal stuff up here, so we know pretty much how much we can take back – essentially the same stuff we brought up comes back down with us in the Soyuz. We don’t pack our clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. That stuff is all here when we arrive. Even our special shirts and cargo pants are waiting here for us. But, this is our personal stuff, so no one else will want it. I have worn essentially one pair of pants this entire trip, and one pair of shorts. We don’t get “dirty” up here with dirt, but we are working on equipment, and sometimes little stains get on your clothes. Additionally, we don’t do laundry up here – we just get new stuff and “throw away” the old stuff. We don’t need to change our clothes as much as we do on the ground – not anyone up here to impress, and “smell-o-vision” has not been invented yet. Just kidding. So, back to packing – I have some stuff, like my yoyo, my crew notebook with pictures, my specialty t-shirts I had sent up, my family photo album. It’s funny that your life actually boils down to these little things – really, think about it. Not much more is really important than the people (animals included), places and memories you have! Last week was busy…and of course it was fun because we are in space! It doesn’t get better than that, even when all your computers don’t work and the toilet gets really broken… Being high tech, we have tried to go paperless as much as possible up here on the ISS. This is great, and GREEN, but everything sort of comes to a screeching halt when the computer system, which provides you with all the information about your schedule and activities, dies. This happened bright and early one morning and put a little damper on our activities. Luckily enough, all the workout equipment kept on plugging along for the most part, so we were able to buy back a little time by working out for a while, while the computer guys on the ground worked their magic on our systems. It took the better part of the day, with a little help from us, for them to reload the hard drives of two of our main servers. We do the hardware stuff and they can do all the software configurations from the ground. It is interesting to see how vulnerable we are to these types of problems. I know the folks on the ground were scrambling to get all of our systems working again. The big thing that was not working quite right last week was the toilet. We changed out practically every part in that thing system. The KTO, or solid waste function of our toilet, was working fine. It was just really the urine processing part. We really need to make sure the right balance of urine to chemicals is put into the system to make sure the downstream components, which turn the urine back into drinking water, don’t fail. As a result, the water valves, all plumbing, two sensors and finally the water pump were all changed out. In the meantime – we used the Russian toilet – all six of us using one toilet is rough! Aki, Yuri and I fit in our Sokol (space) suits and our Soyuz. In Russian Sokol launch and entry sui in the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft You know we grow up here so there is always a question about if we will really fit. In space your spine expands so you grow. The cartilage between the vertebrae doesn’t have the pressure of gravity on it, so it expands and hence, you grow. I did notice this when we were getting our suits on. I had to lengthen all the straps to get my head thru the opening. It was a little tight, but all worked out fine. Another impression I had was wow – that Soyuz is small. It felt big when we flew up here and even roomy. But now, after living in this “grand hotel,” it seems tiny! Actually, after I nestled my way into my seat – you don’t just sit in space, you have to get held down, and that seat is actually like being in the fetal position, so you have to tighten your belts, nestle down, tighten some more, nestled down, until you are all the way in there – it felt pretty good. Of course, your knees are in your chest. Regardless of these strange sensations, the Soyuz automatically felt like home. We all know what we need to do in there – the training is that good I think – that you don’t really think too much about it. You just know what to do. ------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Turning Over A New Leaf

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 20:45:05 -0400

Fall is beginning in the northern hemisphere. It is easy to see that from up here – the many agricultural fields that were bright green two months ago are all starting to become brown. You can’t stop time. It’s funny, these things, the natural changes on Earth, the seasons, the real day night, the wind then calm - those are the things that make life on Earth special. We don’t have them up here, so when we hear about those natural occurring changes, I miss our planet! I’m not saying we don’t have changes up here too, because lately it really seems like we are having a lot! Last week, we had five external vehicles connected to us – two Soyuz spacecraft, one Progress, one ATV and one HTV-3. In the course of one week, two left – the HTV- and one Soyuz. HTV-3 left us on Wednesday (September 12th) after we prepared the hatches, installed the gold protective covering, and then installed the latching mechanism motors. The ground team “grappled” her with the robotic arm, ran the unbolting sequence with Joe Acaba – 16 bolts, let go of the latches and moved the HTV away to a position for Joe and Aki to take over. HTV-3 attached to the robotic arm, over the coast Morocco Then Joe and Aki opened the snares in the end of the robotic arm – which were holding the HTV-3 – and let her go free. She hovered there for a little while, and then seemed to want to come back to us – moved ever so slightly toward the ISS instead of drifting away. We released her in a slightly lower orbit than we are – which means she should be going faster according to orbital mechanics - she should have been moving away, and forward of us. Instead she was drifting back toward us a little. The software in the system detected this as a “safety net/corridor violation” and sent an ABORT command. As a result, she sped away from us at warp speed! It was seriously like a Star Wars film. She flew away so fast that we had a hard time tracking her on the camera. Her name was Kounotori-3, meaning stork – so maybe she is like one of those heavy birds that take a while to get going, and then flies away at lightning speed. After some other issues with her GPS systems, she finally had a normal deorbit and entry into the atmosphere Thursday. Congratulations to our Japanese colleagues on a great mission for Kounotori-3. The second big change was the departure of the Soyuz 30S vehicle and her contents, Gennady, Sergei and Joe! We locked them in their Soyuz at 8:30pm GMT. We stay up until they land. We heard the undocking on the communications loop and finally saw the Soyuz a bit later as she was moving behind us. The ISS was actually flying belly first since this Soyuz was docked on the top of the Station. That way she could push off straight aft of the Station after the docking hooks were opened. So, it was difficult to find windows to watch her. Gennady, Sergei and Joe on their way home! Then a couple orbits and hours later she did her deorbit burn. We tried to watch but she was such a speck it was again difficult to see her. Our boys are finally back on Mother Earth. It was great to see their smiling faces on NASA TV up here, thanks to our control team who sent up streaming TV coverage. Editor's Note: For another point of view, here's what Bloggernaut Cady Coleman has to say about the undocking and release of the HTV-3 ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

It's What We Do

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:00:53 -0400

September 12, 2012: The Undocking and Release of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle-3

via NASA TV I might have jinxed it. On Tuesday, September 11th, I was explaining my role as a CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) at Mission Control Houston for the International Space Station. I said, “It’s like in Apollo 13, when the crew calls down and says, ‘Houston, we have a problem!’ I’m the one that says ‘Stand by!’” The very next day, during a routine detachment from the ISS of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle-3 (HTV-3) supply ship bound for reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, it aborted its trajectory after being released from the Canadian robotic arm. We were Houston, and we would have had a problem -- if we didn’t DO WHAT WE DO. We are explorers: We imagine - we build - we train - we fly. It is what we do. We also take risks. To manage those risks - to make sure that we accomplish the mission and bring the crews home safely - we are constantly thinking, “What if this happens?” “What if that doesn’t happen?” And then we practice every scenario. And then we practice some more, so that on the real day, we are ready. So what happened with the HTV, named Kounotori (meaning stork)? Precise conditions that keep the space station safe were not met, so the process aborted. After the crew released the HTV with the robotic arm, it appeared that the 16-ton supply ship (the size of a large school bus) was slowly coming closer in our camera view. However, our data indicated that the HTV was slowly headed away from the ISS. We asked the crew with their bird’s eye view to confirm what we were seeing: that the supply ship was slowly drifting closer to the robotic arm. In retrospect, all of our hearts were probably beating quickly as our training kicked in. Our team on the ground and the crew in space train for this kind of situation. What are we seeing? What are our options? What do we need to do? Robotics Officer Jason Seagram was monitoring the distance to the arm and plotting how best to move it away from the HTV. Visiting Vehicle Officer Jerry Yencharis called out that he saw a positive rate away from the ISS but was puzzled by the rate toward the arm. Attitude Control Officer Greg Anderson confirms that the ISS is indeed stable, and it is the HTV that is moving. Outside that day, the weather in Houston was terrible. We never even knew, because inside Mission Control-Houston and Mission Control-Japan we had a storm of our own. Everyone was at the top of his or her game. It is who we are, and it is what we do. David Korth, the NASA HTV3 flight director, quickly collected the options and weighed the pros and cons. He may not have been wearing a vest and smoking a cigar like in Apollo 13, yet he was every bit the force behind our team’s cohesion on the road we were traveling. We were just moments away from telling Joe Acaba on the ISS to maneuver the arm further away from the approaching ship, when, just as it was designed to do, the HTV-3 itself analyzed the situation, predicted that it would soon be closer to the ISS than was planned, and aborted to a safe path away from the ISS. The crew onboard ISS, Joe Acaba, Aki Hoshide and Suni Williams, were ready on the arm and helped us follow the path of the HTV as it sailed away from the ISS. Maki Kawashima and her crack team in Japan fired emergency commands at the departing HTV to ensure that it continued on a good path away from the ISS. HTV was gone, free and clear. But was it really? Was the ISS really safe? Could orbital mechanics bring the ship back on a collision path with ISS? Math - math - math - math - math. I can’t say it enough times: it is what keeps us safe. Jerry reassures the flight director that HTV-3 is already 700 feet in front of the ISS and increasing its distance. At the end of the day, HTV-3 is on a safe path away from the ISS, the crew is asleep, and we left the next shift of folks at mission control busy planning the crew’s experiments the next day, next week, next year. The stressful part only took a few hours, but it was the longest day that I can remember in quite a while. What happened? Why did it happen? What does it mean? It takes time to sort it all out, and that’s also what we do. When things don’t go according to plan, we learn something. But for the moment, our work was done. The HTV team and I shared something that day. Some of us are from the US, some are from Japan and some are from the rest of our cadre of international partners. But we are all part of the space station world, and we are all people that make exploration work. All the experiences that I have had over the years at NASA add up to that kind of day, and HTV-3 safely completed its journey on 14 September 2012 when it re-entered the atmosphere. The cycle begins anew. Editor's Note: For another point of view, here's what space station Commander Suni Williams has to say about the undocking and release ...

Moonshot

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:01:15 -0400

On September 11, 1962, President Kennedy visited the George C. Marshall Spaceflight Center where Dr. Wernher von Braun showed him a model of the Saturn C-5 rocket, the “vehicle designed to fulfill your promise to put a man on the moon by the end of this decade.” The next day, in an audacious speech at Rice University, the president marshaled the nation’s resolve to accomplish just that. Click for larger image

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…”

The times were uncertain. Differences between the United States and the Soviet Union played out in a cold war that was a constant presence, propelling the intense rivalry that resulted in Neil Armstrong’s iconic moment as the first human to step on to the surface of the Moon.

“…that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win...”

Kennedy’s speech became the pivot for the development of the technology necessary to achieve his goals in the unforgiving and harsh frontier of space.

“We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.”

Ultimately it led to cooperation, and the realization that the promise of rapidly emerging technology can only be fully realized through collaboration. Today, six humans from three different countries are living and working onboard the International Space Station and serve as ambassadors of all people of Earth. I was personally affected by the technology that grew out of President Kennedy’s speech when I had the privilege of traveling to the ISS twice, launching in 2008 as part of an international crew onboard the American Space Shuttle Discovery, and then launching in 2011 as part of an international crew onboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. During the 164 days of my second mission, I spent much of my free time documenting what I saw 250 miles below. As I looked back at our home, I faced the sobering contradiction of the incredible beauty of our planet with the unfortunate realities of life for a significant number of Earth’s inhabitants. I launched into space with the belief that we have sufficient technology and resources to solve many, if not all, the problems facing our planet. During my time in space I often found myself contemplating the question, if we have ample technology and resources to solve problems facing our world, why do so many problems remain? I tried to capture what I believe is the answer to this question in this video: The technological benefits provided by the space program and international cooperation are such an integral part of our daily lives on Earth, it is hard to comprehend just how bold President Kennedy’s challenge to go to Moon was 50 years ago. Think about it, we had barely stuck our toe in the ocean of space, we had not even learned to stand, yet but we were going to sprint.

“But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out--then we must be bold.”

The problems facing us all today require the same boldness that was required to reach the Moon and return to Earth safely. Fifty years ago, before President Kennedy left Marshall Spaceflight Center for Rice University, Dr.von Braun turned to him and said, “By God, we’ll do it.” Solving the problems facing our world requires that we all stand together and refuse to accept the status quo on our planet. It requires that we all commit to work together so that our planet is not only visibly beautiful, but a planet where life is also beautiful for all. In the spirit of boldness that brought humans to another world, let us all work hard to set aside our differences and work together toward our common goals.

“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, 'Because it is there.' Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.” --President John F. Kennedy

Space is Busy, Active and Unkind

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:42:59 -0400

We have been pretty much up to our ears in EVA - extravehicular activity or spacewalking - preparations and then spacewalking! I think most of you know we had a spacewalk using the robotic arm Thursday, August 30th. It went sort of long. Getting tools ready You don’t just “go outside.” Usually that is the fun and easy part of the entire thing. The days leading up to the EVA are the intense days with battery charging, METOX (CO2 removal cartridge) regenerations, suit sizing, tool gathering and preparation, equipment gathering and preparations, studying new procedures, reviewing and talking through how to get us suited and how to get the airlock depressed, reviewing the tasks we will do with each other and with the robotic arm, talking about cleaning up, and then talking thru a plan to get back into the airlock, and any emergencies that can come up – loss of communications, suit issues, etc. Aki getting equipment ready Yes, that took a lot of our time leading up to Thursday last week. Even planning when to go to sleep and what to eat are important. Remember, you are in that suit usually about 8 hours for a 6 hour EVA. To my surprise, the most intense part for this EVA happened to be outside when we encountered our “sticky” bolt. That resulted in a long EVA, and over 10 hours in the suit. No bathroom and no lunch. One lesson I learned last time I was up here – you can’t get married to a plan. It seems like something you thought was going to be difficult turns out to be easy, and something you thought was going to be easy turns out to be hard. Why that is, who knows. It’s like when you are jogging on a lonely road, somehow cars going the opposite direction cross each other just when you are jogging next to them and there is a biker passing you. Why? Who knows! That was the case with the “sticky bolt.” We thought that part of the EVA was going to be easy – it ended up taking most of our time. One thing we sort of forget about is the environment outside when we are working inside, most of the time. We get used to this being a “static” environment – watching the world go by. Well, it isn’t. Space is busy, active and unkind. It gets really hot and cold outside. There are solar flares (makes nice auroras, but is radiation), solar wind and vacuum. All this does a number on a spacecraft, and on us. That's me and Aki in silhouette during our August 30th spacewalk It is amazing how you feel the sun set and rise through your spacesuit – even with your eyes closed you would know it – you can feel the heating change! The same goes for all the material on the “outside” of the station - the metal in those bolts have probably “felt” the changes in the environment too – for the last 10 years. The station has been thru a lot of heat cycles when you consider 16 day/night cycles in a 24-hour period. After Thursday’s “experimentation with torque and bolt turns,” a ton of folks at Johnson Space Center started working on a plan for the “next” EVA for us to go out and try again to move the bolt and install our box. Drew Feustel (left) and Mike Fossum worked with other astronauts and engineers to evaluate procedures for tomorrow's spacewalk They have been working all weekend and as a result we have learned some of the nuances of the mechanism that we weren’t aware of…so we are a lot smarter on how the bolt aligns and reacts. They have given us a pretty inclusive plan on how to try to work it again, probably on Wednesday. We have been making tools to use outside to get the bolt and the housing ready to try again. Lots of folks suggested that WD40 would do the trick, but getting a can of that stuff to work in space is sort of difficult. So, we have a couple other tricks up our sleeve. Tune in on Wednesday and check us out – we are taking a lubricant - chemically inert, non-flammable - in this environment. It worked to help the Solar Array Rotary Joint work better, so hopefully it will work to get this bolt installed! I have to add, in case you were wondering, this isn’t just some sticky bolt either. It connects a box that routes 25% of the power that comes to the station from our Solar Arrays. So, a large amount of juice from the sun is not getting to us in this situation. To add a little salt into the wound, we actually lost another part of a power channel Saturday night – a tripped circuit breaker way upstream toward the solar array. So it has to share its load with the other solar arrays too. In NASA lingo, we are getting close to “zero fault tolerant” – meaning no backups – on some of the stuff we power up. So, it would be good if the box (power switching unit) with the sticky bolt got installed. Aki and I are out the door Wednesday morning. Editor's note: Spacewalkers Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide will go outside the International Space Station Wednesday, September 5th to attempt to complete installation of a spare power unit on the station's truss. The spacewalk is set to begin at 7:15 a.m. EDT, with NASA TV coverage starting at 6 a.m. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Every Person Knows The Name Neil Armstrong

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:39:31 -0400

Saturday was a sad day for this planet. I was thinking about it, and I’ll bet practically every person on (and off) this planet knows the name Neil Armstrong. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, what you do for a living, what kind of car you drive, or how many kids you have – most everyone here from school kids to the elderly know who Neil Armstrong was. Click for a full size image I was thinking about why we all knew him – he was a humble giant who took that first step and sparked the spirit of adventure again in all of us. A true hero we will all miss. I am sure the next “Neil Armstrong” is out there today and will follow Curiosity’s tracks on Mars before long. ------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Mixed Bag

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:30:32 -0400

The past week sort of defines long duration space fliers. We certainly don’t do the same thing every day, and every day was different with different types of activities for all of us. There is an awesome group of people on the ground – the planners – who know what all the constraints are for all the activities we need to do. Somehow they make it all work. For example, I had to wear a device that would hinder the use of my left hand for 24 hours, but first I had to fly the robotic arm and work out, and then I had to make sure I had it off in time for me to do a weight lifting exercise the next day. That is just one example of the puzzle these folks on the ground solve every day. We just stick to the schedule up here and somehow it all seems to work. These folks are amazing. There is a little red line on the computer’s daily schedule which marches across the page with time. So we know if we are ahead or behind schedule. If we are behind, we all seem to pitch in and help each other out to get all of our stuff done. If we are ahead, well that is a good time to take a break, check in with each other, and then see if there is “task list” (extra stuff) we can do. We manage to squeak in taking photos of each other and outside for “historical documentation” (that is from Galaxy Quest but we actually had photo documentation with that name on it for some of our tasks this week – that made me crack up!). But usually by 8pm, we just get dinner ready and relax – no more watching the line after 8pm. Before bed, lots of science, some operations, some maintenance, and a little relaxing! Food Frequency Questionnaire This week instead of having a controlled diet, I just had to write down everything I ate, including the times that I ate them and approximately how much water I drank. Integrated Cardio Vascular (ICV) ICV involves wearing blood pressure cuffs on your fingers – actually really cool technology that can essentially estimate your cardiac output by measuring the blood pressure in your fingers. There is a computer attached to it which puts pressure into the cuff of a finger to counter the blood pressure. So, you get this continuous pressure pulsation on your fingers and the associated motor noise. We wear this for 24 hours and power the pump by Makita drill batteries. They last only about 3 hours, so battery change outs are required during the night. ICV also involves wearing a holter monitor for 48 hours with an Actiwatch. The holter monitor is a portable device for continuously monitoring various electrical activity of the cardiovascular system. No big deal, just get wired up for a couple days. The biggest issue here is the sticky stuff that holds the electrodes on. After a day – which should involve some exercise – it starts to itch. Maybe I just have sensitive skin, but it seems to leave us red and blotchy at times. Actiwatches are used to sense motion and light. These watches and their data show when we are doing some activity. All three of these devices (blood pressure cuff, holter monitor, Actiwatch) are used together to accurately depict what we are doing to make our heart work. Bio Rhythms This is a Japanese experiment that’s also looking at what is going on with us inside and out. This one involved wearing another Actiwatch for motion and light for 72 hours. Then another type of cardiac monitor similar to the holter monitor. This Japanese technology is small, lightweight, and can even be worn in the shower. Pretty reliable! However, I had these experiments one after another this week. It is Sunday night and I am finally free of all the electrodes! I sort of forgot about them – but like I said, working out with all this stuff on gets a little yucky! I was happy to finally get a good wash down of all that sensor sticky stuff this evening – after the Falmouth Road Race! (more about the road race below) Reaction Testing Essentially you have a black screen on your computer. You need to hit the space bar as soon as you see numbers counting. I am generally around 200 milliseconds. I was watching swimming and running during the Olympics, and they were talking about the importance of getting a good start at the gun. I think this test can identify who can start quick and who can’t! Cleopatra and Nefertiti Update All the doors are open for the fruit flies to come out and be prey to Cleopatra and Nefertiti. Nefertiti is still quite active and eating away. Our little Cleo is still shy…we haven’t seen her. However, for both of them, I fear their destiny. I see next week Joe is tasked with taking them out of the “rack” where we have them stowed – not sure where he is taking them. You know, they don’t need to drink water since they liquefy the fruit flies and use their body water…but I don’t think this can last forever...maybe more to follow. Second YouTube Space Lab Winners Sara and Dorothy from Troy, Michigan won the 14-16 year-old category. They are just too smart for me. They came up with the idea to test the growth of a type of bacteria, which is used for getting rid of stuff like mold, etc. on plants, which we use for food in space. I think seeing how these bacteria do in space is really cool – especially in light of the landing on Mars. If we do end up growing our own food on the way to Mars, we might need something like this to make sure it remains good during the growth cycle. If the bacteria grows better in space than on Earth, then we might be able to produce it up here. Endless possibilities. These teenage girls are smart! Binary Colloidal Alloy Test (BCAT) More for Joe!!! He has a lot of patience and very good camera skills. He set up an intervalometer to take pictures of the colloids for 4 days! An intervalometer is a device that counts intervals of time and is used to signal, in accurate time intervals, the operation of some other device. One picture an hour. Science takes time! Capillary Flow Experiments (CFE VG2) Watching fluid flow on different surfaces in space. No gravity to hinder the flow, so we are investigating how different surfaces (shapes, perforations, etc.) make fluid flow. Looks just like a lava lamp – but has really great spinoffs for making new types of fuel tanks, for example, for space travel. Pumps can fail – natural phenomena like this won’t for the long trip to Mars! Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) More burning stuff in the microgravity glove box! We burned a little 2 cm sphere that looked like the sun whizzing through the air. It was bright orange like the sun, with flowing flames behind it – thankfully all contained in the glove box! We also burned different fibrous materials at different airflow speeds to understand how much of that 3rd leg of the fire triangle is needed to sustain a fire. Cool science! Speaking of fire, we also have a combustion chamber. Joe did work on that to reinstall some very small fuel lines. Unpacking, Still! The H-II transfer vehicle (HTV) unpack is almost done! Will be done soon. But in the meantime – we got to load some trash. This place is shaping up and we are getting rid of lots of “common trash.” Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Robotics Joe and Aki used the Japanese robotic arm to “grapple” the HTV – to unload external payloads from the External Platform that HTV brought up. This is such a cool idea! Not everything needs to come inside the ISS. Some experiments and replacement boxes for outside can just stay stored outside. So with the External Platform, we can carry these large things in an unpressurized part of HTV and transfer them to the ISS. Spacewalk Getting closer and closer to August 30th when Aki and I will do an EVA. So, we had to start really cleaning out the airlock! Even got to open up our suits and test the “positive pressure relief” system in the suit. Remember, the suits are essentially little space craft so they have all the valves, tanks, cooling, heating, that we have on ISS to keep us alive. These suits haven’t been used for a while, so we are starting to do our “preflight” on them to get them ready! Exercise It has been an exhausting week for exercise. Of course we are doing our integrated resistance and aerobic training study (SPRINT) aerobic workouts – which get my heart rate way up there. We are also doing max rep exercises on the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED) now. This is different from last time, because we only lift every other day with this protocol. I was a little wary, but after this week, I think I understand, I need some recovery from this type of workout. I am getting that 2nd day onset muscle soreness with these maximum repetition routine. I like doing a lighter aerobic workout on the lifting days to try to get rid of some of that lactic acid. That seems to help. Also this week in exercise, I had my Maximum VO2 test. Now that isn’t too much fun, I will admit. We are again wired up, and the equipment measures the difference in what you breath in and what you breath out as the exercise intensity increases until you can’t take it anymore. We do this on the cycle ergometer with vibration isolation and stabilization (CEVIS). We have to do this with a nose clip – which is annoying – to make sure they can account for all the air exchange. Of course we are breathing in and out thru a mouthpiece. Lots of mixing bags, hoses, sample catheters, etc. in this contraption…but in the end, I think my VO2 max is pretty good! Finally, I ran alongside a lot of friends during the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts! We tuned into the pre-race festivities through our communication system. I was hoping to wish everyone good luck as well, but we lost communication. However, I started on time (well, 10 minutes late, because of the torrential rain in Falmouth - no rain up here) with the rest of the runners. I finished in around 1:03:52. I had a couple of “water breaks”, but made it thru the 7.2 miles no problem. The first half of the run was my SPRINT protocol and the second was a nice consistent pace until that final “hill” and downhill to the end. Food Had a pesto pasta dinner to go along with the pre-race theme. I had to dig deep to find it in the side dishes container, but I found it! We also have oranges from a Progress 48P delivery. Nothing better than fresh fruit!!! For pre-race breakfast, something light – I had vegetable quiche. Only need to add hot water and it is ready. Even some bits of broccoli inside – not bad! ------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Why Should We Spend Money on Space Exploration When We Have So Many Problems Here on Earth?

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:44:44 -0400

I’m asked all the time, “Why should we spend money on space exploration when we have so many problems here on planet Earth?” Two-Way Technology Transfer During the past 50 years we frequently heard about the many amazing spinoffs from the human spaceflight program - everything from personal computers to solar energy. Now, we are also seeing direct tangible benefits from the research being conducted on the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS provides a unique environment for scientific discovery that simply cannot be duplicated anywhere on Earth. Research on this orbiting laboratory is not only enabling humans to explore the solar system, it is leading to countless improvements for life on Earth. For example, space based science offers an environment to foster new materials, better medicines, improved methods to provide clean water, and better ways to grow enough food to feed our increasing global population. Studying astronauts living and working in space also enhances our understanding of the human body, resulting in innovative ways to protect all humans from many different ailments. The list of benefits is endless. I like to point out that the space program technology transfer is two-way. Many NASA engineers give their expertise and spare time to apply space program technology to problems facing the developing world. In doing so, they learn valuable lessons that will allow us to push space exploration beyond low-earth orbit. The highly efficient engineering approaches that are required in the developing world - robust solutions that do not require a lot of maintenance, resupply or training - are the same approaches we need to employ if we are going to break out of the bounds of low-earth orbit. Each year, NASA celebrates one invention out of many spinoff technologies as the NASA Commercial Invention of the Year. A solar powered refrigerator designed to support life on the Moon, but with huge application on Earth, earned the prestigious title for 2011. With approximately 2 billion of Earth’s inhabitants without access to electricity, this technology developed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center will help us explore space as well as significantly improve the lives of so many on Earth. Co-developers Mike Ewert and David Bergeron worked on NASA’s Advanced Thermal Team to develop solar refrigeration technology to cool habitats in space. They also realized the need for a comparable solar refrigerator that could operate in conjunction with the simple solar lighting systems already in place on Earth. A modified lunar “solar photovoltaic heat pump” was developed to produce a refrigerator with a vapor compression, battery-free cooling system that converts electricity from solar panels into thermal energy stored internally, using low-cost phase-change materials that control temperature swings. This system eliminates reliance on an electric grid, requires no batteries, stores thermal energy for efficient use when sunlight is absent, and is designed to work anywhere in the world. Such a scalable, energy-efficient resource can be an incredible asset in places people don’t have refrigeration, including remote medical centers and underdeveloped areas. Electricity is essential for storage of vaccines and medicine. This technology can greatly reduce the cost and increase the availability of vaccines delivered to the most impoverished regions of the world. The solar powered refrigerator has been approved by the World Health Organization to provide cooling for vaccines in developing countries - a direct result of NASA’s two-way technology transfer. According to Mike Ewert, this is just the beginning, “The NASA battery-free solar technology could be used to cool milk, produce or other consumer products in under-developed regions around the world, thus creating economic opportunities and improving lives on Earth.” This technology is part of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program, which seeks to transfer technology into and out of NASA to benefit the space program and U.S. industry. NASA invites companies to inquire about the licensing possibilities for the Solar-Powered Refrigeration Technology (MSC-22970). For information about this and other technology licensing opportunities, contact: Strategic Opportunities and Partnerships Development Office NASA Johnson Space Center

Climbing Mountains Under the Sea

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:29:21 -0400

Editor's note: Have a question for Cady about her exploration here on Earth? Ask her live at 1:30pm Eastern time Wednesday, August 15, 2012. Select 'participate' while you watch from the Nautilus Live website. What’s a nice girl from the International Space Station doing on a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean – climbing a mountain? I’m currently aboard the E/V Nautilus, a 210 foot research vessel, exploring the Eratosthenes Seamount off the southern coast of Cyprus. Hobbes and I on the deck of the Nautilus (left) and Hercules, (right) one of two undersea robots that collect geological and biological samples. Hobbes, the plush tiger who traveled to space with me, the crew of the Nautilus, and I are "climbing" this ancient undersea mountain that rises from 3,000 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. We’re exploring with scientific robots in search of unique geological and biological phenomena to help better understand planet Earth. The Eratosthenes Seamount is located in the Mediterranean southwest of Cyprus. This is a view of the area photographed from the International Space Station 22:50 GMT March 27, 2012. Credit: NASA

Laboratory In Space

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:47:22 -0400

Lots of fun and interesting science with a quick break for the arrival of Progress (unpiloted resupply ship). That means even fresher fruit and care packages for us, as well as lots of supplies, including our EVA cables…more on that in a later post. We are not the experts in all the science that we do up here – there are many people on the ground ready to support us when we are doing the experiments. Experts on the science and systems are located all over the world. They get “patched” into our communications loops so at times we get to talk to them WHILE we are performing the tasks. We usually have a video camera set up over our shoulders so they can “watch” what we are doing and how the experiment is going. We have experiments that need our eyes on them to watch for changes, and to report. Remember, things up here act differently than on Earth. We all think we know what will happen, but the beauty of science is that sometimes we get surprised, especially when this is really the only place to do this type of stuff. Cleopatra and Nefertiti Cleopatra and Nefertiti are our two spiders. Cleopatra, the zebra spider seems to be either very clever or very shy. She has disappeared. She was the first one I met and was pretty active when I first saw her. She is sort of small, like the size of the holes where the fruit flies live…so, we think she was maybe really hungry and went into one of the holes. If so, she was having a buffet in there. There are cameras on them in the habitat so the ground can watch and they saw evidence that there was webbing in one of the fruit fly holes. My only worry about her is that she will eat too much, grow a lot and get stuck in there…the life of a Spidernaut. Nefertiti, on the other hand, is too big. She is sort of scary. I am so glad I am not a fruit fly. I opened up the habitat and actually saw her running around at full speed looking for something to eat. I was difficult to even get a steady picture. Then a fruit fly came out. Nefertiti stopped, she stalked and then she pounced. It was amazing to see this with my own two eyes. Apparently they inject some acidic fluid in the fly body, which liquefies the insides, and then she sucks everything out of the fly. The only thing left is the carcass…and I saw many carcasses floating around in her twisted web. Note her 4 eyes and the fruit fly in her mouth! I was told she has excellent vision. Again, I am so happy to not be a fly – reminded me of that futuristic movie Starship Troopers. Yikes! Pro K Investigation Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect Against Changes in Bone Metabolism During Spaceflight and Recovery This is a controlled diet investigation. It is interesting when you can’t choose for yourself…immediately you start feeling deprived. I think this is why diets don’t seem to work in the end. You just can’t wait to get off it and then go crazy! At least that is my personality. The idea has been to see if a high animal protein diet contributes to bone loss. This is not as important on the ground as it is here in space. Living in space immediately starts to change the body, and one of the unfortunate side effects is bone density loss because we don’t need a skeletal structure to hold us up. Immediately the body starts to redistribute calcium. That is why we do weight bearing exercises up here – to help prevent it. Well, an additional theory is that the acid created in breaking down animal protein also leaches calcium out of the bones as it is used as a neutralizing agent for the acid. So, we are testing out a high animal protein diet versus a low animal protein diet. Associated with the menu is how to test it. Of course there is sampling after 4 days of these diets – that means 24 hours continuous of taking urine samples, which we insert in the MELFI freezer (Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer) BCAT-5 Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-5: Phase Separation There are many different types of samples that potentially form colloids differently here than on earth. We get them ready, place them somewhere on the ISS in a certain orientation, let them sit for a while and then photo document them. This is pretty difficult photography with micro lenses to try to take a picture of the potential crystals. The depth of field is small with crystals, making it hard for the camera to “see” them. It is like trying to take pictures of a prism. I need more photography work on this small scale! Very interesting though how they crystals vary from sample to sample. ACE Advanced Colloids Experiment Working with a high-powered microscope to look at samples here in space. I was essentially a technician. We mix samples with a magnet, install samples that we have here, change out lenses for the microscope and get it all ready for the ground teams to run sessions to look at and analyze the samples. Pretty meticulous work, but fun to see how we can work together with the ground teams. Treadmill Kinematics Biomechanical Analysis of Treadmill Exercise on the International Space Station Treadmill Kinematics evaluates the difference between running in space and running on the ground. We sort of assume that it is the same when the folks on the ground have us do exercise up here. But in fact, with the harness and microgravity, we aren’t even sure we are working the correct parts for bone density and muscle mass deficits. By videotaping ourselves at different speeds, the folks on the ground can figure out the differences. I saw a similar thing on training Olympic swimmers when they push off the wall – you’ve seen the dolphin kick thing they do now. Folks analyze the position of the ankle, knee and hip to record and see the motion and see what the result is – speed in that case. Maybe proper position in ours. More SPRINT Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study I am into SPRINT now. The interval running workouts are getting intense. Weight lifting workouts have been difficult with 12 repetitions per exercise. We’re decreasing the repetitions and increasing the weight….should be fun? After all that working out, and finally not having to eat “what I am told to eat” for the Pro-K, it was time to really EAT! After all of us were off the “diet” we opened some of our bonus containers and had a smorgasbord while watching the Olympics together. We had chips (corn tortillas broken in pieces) with bean dip from Joe, nacho cheese spread from me, fish in miso sauce from Aki. Gennady, Yuri and Sergei joined in and we had fun all eating together and cheering for our teams. I felt like continuing the Mexican theme and had beef fajitas the next day on a flour tortilla with spicy corn. Notice our “table” in the background. It just consists of a place to Velcro the food; stick it down with duct tape, and a place for baby wipes to clean our silverware. We got some grapefruits and apples from the Progress cargo ship -- crunchy and REAL! ------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Sharing the Olympic Spirit

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:52:01 -0400

"Watching the Olympics reminds us that we share one planet and that we can respect one another no matter what our differences, yet at the same time we can be proud of who we are and what we represent." Every week, usually at the end of the day on Friday, we have a conference with our Lead Flight Director, Dina Contella. At the start of this week’s conference, she put the week into perspective. She said this time last week (our conference was on a Thursday because of HTV arrival on Friday) HTV had not docked, 47 Progress was in a standby position waiting to re-dock (which it did and then departed for good), 48 Progress had not launched (it is now attached to the Station), nothing had been unloaded or packed on HTV and we had approximately 40 hours of science to do. Sometimes we get so caught up in working day to day we don’t realize what can be accomplished in a week. I think everyone can agree it was a productive week. you know that I enjoy my sports. To have two weeks to watch the best athletes of the world compete is a dream come true for any sports enthusiast. To watch them while orbiting above the Earth makes them even more special for us (even though we often miss the end of a competition because we lose satellite coverage). I have noticed two things while watching these games. One is that no matter what the sport or which country is winning, we all appreciate the efforts of the athletes and acknowledge their abilities. We truly have an international crew on the ISS: three Russian cosmonauts, one Japanese astronaut and two American astronauts (one of Indian descent and one of Puerto Rican descent). While we work together as one team we still maintain our national pride. Just like watching a basketball game with your buddy that is from a different city, we give each other a hard time but congratulate with sincerity the winning team or individual. It is easy to see why we do this when you look out the window from the ISS. We all come from the same place, Planet Earth. Keep an eye out for Curiosity. ------------------------------------------------------------- Joe's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Spidernauts!

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 07:54:14 -0400

People always ask if it gets boring up here. I can unequivocally say NEVER! It seems like something is always happening. We were talking about all the activities we do in one day, and how they can range from vacuuming, to changing out the toilet can, to drawing blood, taking acoustic measurements, to ultra sounding your heart, to capturing an HTV, to unpacking and repacking, to doing a SPRINT exercise, to doing a spacewalk! Last week we did lots of science while vehicles were coming and going – it doesn’t get much better. We have been busy so I haven’t had much dedicated window time and I will confess, my space photography skills are not where they need to be – I am working on it but this planet turns and we fly over it so fast… Some of What We Did Last Week: SPRINT (Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study) SPRINT is an exercise protocol that consists of sprinting workouts on the treadmill, 8 x 30-second sprints, 6 x 2-minute sprints, or 4 x 4-minute sprints. These really kicked my butt and got my heart rate up in the 180s. This protocol also involves heavy lifting, but we are still trying to figure out the right amount of weight to do these sets with. The ARED (Advanced Resistive Exercise Device) is amazing (more below). It can do bar exercises and rope exercises. It is free floating so we don’t put loads into the ISS, just like the treadmill and the bike. If they didn’t have vibration isolation systems associated with the exercise equipment, the ISS would feel lots of stresses, particularly on the solar arrays that are huge and “outboard.” Hence a huge moment arm of force would cause them to be damaged. Ultrasound We ultrasound our hearts both resting and during exercise (Joe and I did this). We ultrasound our legs to see muscle size and development for SPRINT (above). We ultrasound our carotid artery, our portal vein and gall bladder, our kidney arterial and veins, our femoral artery and our tibial vein. These are for an experiment called vessel imaging so the investigator can make a 3D image. Pretty cool to look inside ourselves! I didn’t see anything I wasn’t supposed to see. Exercise Aki and I have ramped up our exercise, and are doing regular twice daily workouts – one aerobic, one resistive with “weights.” The Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, ARED, allows us to really get a good workout for things like squats and dead lifts. These are most important because we immediately start losing bone and muscle mass up here. This device has been awesome since it got here. It works on the concept of pushing against a vacuum, and it is very effective. Acoustic Measurement These are a periodic measurement on ourselves and in different parts of the ISS to record the amount and types of noises we hear all day long. Maintenance & Housekeeping We had to clean house and organize before we got a bunch more stuff – HTV is here so we have to make room for all of her stuff too. Fire Drill Reviewed of all emergency equipment and, just like in elementary school, we had a fire drill. We went through all our procedures to make sure we know who was doing what and how the control centers would act and help us. Preparations for HTV (The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3) We cleaned up the cupola and installed computers, reviewed our procedures and practiced on our simulator we have here as a crew of three. Everyone has a role and responsibility and it is best to make sure we all know what to expect. We practiced all this on Earth before we came up here, but the real robotic arm and the real vehicle make you want to practice a little more before it all happens. The HTV came in close and just stopped! It was amazing, and the vehicle is beautiful. Joe drove the arm perfectly over the grapple pin and we grabbed her. It was awesome. Then, the ground “flew” HTV with the robotic arm close to the docking port. Aki took over from there and “mated” the HTV to the docking port. The ground crew and I drove the latches and bolts (thru computer commands) to connect the HTV to the ISS. Next we had to pressurize the vestibule between the docking port hatch and the HTV hatch so we could open them both and get in. Lots of pressure checks and time to make sure there aren’t any leaks! Spidernauts We opened the hatch to HTV and started unloading. One of the first things unstowed was a payload from the winner of a YouTube Spacelab contest. Thousands of kids from all over the world submitted biology and physics experiments via a 2-minute YouTube video. Two of them were lucky enough to come to the ISS to be tested by the crew. We pulled out the first one, and we now have a zebra and a red-backed spider up here in their habitats. The spidernauts did a great job through launch and their first days in space. They seem to be adapting (like I know what that feels like for a spider). But their food, fruit flies, seemed to be having a slightly more difficult time. “Flying” by flapping your wings doesn’t quite work up here. They were flapping around and just floating. They were bouncing off the glass, but could cling on to the wood, which makes up the wall of the habitat. Very interesting to watch. Food Lastly, space food is space food, but it is good. I must be getting used to it because I didn’t lose any weight these first weeks. I’m also getting used to HOW to eat it again. This isn’t always an easy proposition in space. Yes, stuff sticks together, but it isn’t like you have these things on a plate. You have to meticulously and tenderly put stuff together so it doesn’t fly away. On Sunday, I had time to work my magic and imitate a Breakfast Burrito. That, along with some Kona coffee with cream and sugar (in a bag) was quite satisfying! ------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

A Typical Day

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:49:16 -0400

Another milestone of our Expedition has been completed – the arrival of HTV3 and the undocking and redocking of 47P (Russian Progress vehicle). What you quickly realize here is that the passing of a milestone is quickly followed by the approach of another. Today, Sunday, we will relax and enjoy a day of rest. Tomorrow we will begin preparation for the final departure of Progress 47P, the arrival of Progress 48P, the long task of unloading and then loading HTV3 and the upcoming Russian and US Spacewalks followed by HTV3 departure and then my trip home. As you can see it is a never ending string of diverse activities. I am commonly asked “What is a typical day like on the ISS? What do you do every day?” These are difficult questions to answer. I can say that there are a few constants in my day. I usually wake up around 6am; clean myself up, have breakfast, lunch and dinner and somewhere in between workout before going to bed around 10pm. It is what occurs around those activities that makes this job interesting, challenging, stressful and fun. Diversity. If you are someone that likes to know what you are going to be doing every day, this job would drive you crazy. On Saturdays, we get a general idea of what we will be doing during the upcoming week. Here are few of the things I have done in the past 2 weeks since I have written last. Various science experiments, Soyuz seat fit check, 31 Soyuz arrival with the new crew, HTV3 preparation (actually flying the arm to practice grappling the vehicle and lots simulator time), public affairs interviews and recordings, HAM radio contacts, toilet maintenance (I am now very familiar with our system), emergency simulations with the crew and the mission control centers, periodic medical exams (both physical and mental), controlled diets, ARED (exercise device) maintenance, urine bag usage (again), blood draws (both as a subject and operator), air quality monitoring, transfer and consolidation of supplies, filter cleaning (which means vacuuming), ultrasounds (again, both as a subject and an operator), and the capture and berthing of HTV3. Our planners and flight control teams have a tough job. On any given day, you can go from conducting a technical science experiment, to talking to school kids, to vacuuming, to drawing blood from a crew mate. The tasks range from things I would do at home on a Sunday morning (no, not drawing blood) to grappling a visiting vehicle loaded with supplies with a robotic arm. While some are more exciting than others, because of the environment we are working in all require mental focus. I just received an email from a friend of mine that recently returned from a 10-day canoe trip in Alaska. Everything did not go as planned and there were quite a few unexpected surprises, which make for a great adventure. While he had the best time, when he finally got off the river he was not only physically tired but mentally exhausted. I told him that working on the ISS is kind of like his river trip. You have the best laid out plan but unexpected things happen that get your heart pumping. You adjust and problem-solve and have the best time of your life. After a relaxing Sunday watching the Olympics, we will be ready to start up all over again and see what adventures await us. ------------------------------------------------------------- Joe's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Jack of All Trades

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:40:30 -0400

We are here! Wow, what a ride here, what a place to end up. I am so lucky and blessed to be doing the things I am doing. I hope, and truly believe, that what we are doing up here in space will eventually help all of humanity through exploration, innovation, education and to kindle the spirit of curiosity we all have to find out/figure out things we don’t know. Although this is my second time living up in space, it is totally different this time. Not only is the station bigger, and there are more people, the activities are different – science is king, logistics are totally different with visiting vehicles, the core systems of the “laboratory” are built and stable, allowing us to live and work with a little more regularity. Some things remain the same – cleaning up, cleaning and working on the toilet, planning for trash, taking out the trash, restocking the “shelves”, computer maintenance – but these are things that are common to any business or organization. We are a “jack of all trades”, which is sort of nice. Keeps us busy! Geography quiz: Easy! Of course I swam here, surfed here, snorkeled here, tried to spear fish here… A big ALOHA to Kiha and all our friends there! We were lucky to fly directly overhead and then later off to the side (Earth is turning…). Also had a great pass over Europe starting with England, France, Italy, southern Greece, Crete, and Cairo, down the Suez Canal to the Red Sea, Somalia and southward. It’s a clear day today except the sand storm coming off of the African coast. It looked like a bulldozing of sand flowing over the Arabian Sea. Things we did this week: It’s Sunday night on the ISS, HTV is coming toward us, we just released 47 Progress –it’s getting to be a traffic jam in space! Getting ready for this upcoming week. Of course we arrived and that was exciting to see our awesome station from the inside. Aki and I could see it through our window in the Soyuz as we approached. The Soyuz felt small at that time in relation to the ISS… Tonight we let go of Progress 47, so we had to work late on Friday to get it closed up and ready to leave. It will come back in 2 days…I will write about that in the blog post, but it is a test of a new KURS proximity system. Joe and Aki did a lot of robotics practice to get ready for HTV, the Japanese cargo vehicle, which will be here on Friday. HTV launched from Tanegashima, an island off of Japan, yesterday – Saturday – and will be here on Friday for us to “catch” with the robotic arm. I am third wheel and have a lot less responsibilities in the actual capture than those two, so I got to do other things this week. We call these “free flyers” and it is a totally new concept for logistics delivery since last time – no more shuttles for logistics so “this is how we do it.” BASS (Burning and Suppression of Solids) Burn experiments in the microgravity glove box – checking out how combustion and fire work with different materials in space. Pretty intense photo documentation, which is done in conjunction with the investigator in Cleveland, Ohio. Reversible Figures (Perspective Reversible Figures in Microgravity) ESA experiment on how one perceives shapes and motions in space while floating. I looked sort of funny with a 3D looking headset on floating in the Columbus module with a mouse…but it is pretty neat. It is like the picture of the pretty lady and the old lady in one – depends how and what your brain picks up on. Reaction Self Test – done pretty soon after we get here to check our reaction times. WINSCAT (Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows) Another reaction type test. But this one is to see differences in motor skills, perception, reaction time in case we bump our heads. Gives us a good idea if we are functioning okay. (Editor's note: WinSCAT is a test of cognitive abilities, routinely performed by astronauts aboard the ISS) Integrated Cardio Vascular Intense monitoring of our cardio vascular system with Holter monitor and Cardio Press – you can see it on the CEVIS photo (below). I was wired!!! General Moving In We had to find our clothes, get our computers started up with email, etc., and, there is a new toilet! It is similar to the Russian one that is still here, but has that added feature of turning urine into water (urine recycling). It is great! Surely better than the Soyuz toilet in which it is best to moderate your “flow” – suction on that vehicle is a little less than here. It is simply amazing how much fluid you (well, maybe just me) lose right away. We simply don’t need it, so I evacuated my liquids for a couple days. I think I am evened out now. You can also see the fluid shift in people’s faces. We get rounder and rounded for a while until we are all evened out. The sleep stations are pretty cool too. Four of us sleep in Node 2, all adjacent to each other – remember you can use the floor and the ceiling too. I am on the floor – it is sort of like a coffin. Two sleep in the Russian segment sleep stations. Exercise: We are just starting out getting used to everything again. It is amazing how much your muscles change in just a couple days. I knew this so I quickly jumped on the treadmill, T2 a.k.a. COLBERT on the second day I was here. Wow that felt funny, even my feet felt funny. The lifting machine, ARED, is awesome. I got warmed up on it on the third day and did a full lifting session today. It is just like working out at the gym at home. It is right below the cupola and we have a laptop with music on it nearby. I got up early this morning, cranked the tunes, looked out the window and had a great lift. CEVIS, (Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System) or the bike, is the same one from when I was here last time. It is an old reliable friend. I got on it yesterday and a little today to go thru the exercise test and see how my leg strength is. Not too bad for an old lady – I made it through the protocols without too much effort. Biking is the weakest part of my triathlon, so I think I will work on it when I am here. I was wearing ICV (integrated cardio vascular) equipment that we will download this week for the investigators to look at. I have a Holter monitor on as well as cardio press on my left hand. I think my heart is in pretty good condition – at least that is what one of the Russian managers said during our welcome to the ISS (very interesting comment and I was told about it by a couple different people – I guess I was pretty calm during the launch). Food: Space Food is good in space! Eating it on the ground is torture since there are so many good things to eat at home, but here, it is great. I just ate standard menu things. I’ve been hungry and I have been eating like a horse! Cupola: The cupola is awesome. I was hanging out in there yesterday evening and I felt like I was in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea with the sea of stars and the glow of the earth below. Remember how Capt. Neemo had great windows in the movie? That is what it felt like. I had been there in the day and I kept looking around at the bottom of the ISS, because it is really cool too, but at night you can’t help but look out! What an awesome set of windows. Earlier in the week Joe pointed out the Southern Lights. I had seen a lot of “flashes” before going to sleep on the Soyuz and since I have been here. No wonder – there was some solar activity just recently and that made the flashes and the intense Southern lights. Pretty cool to see. To me they seem a little more flowing than last time when I saw Northern Lights. I remember Northern Lights as more active and intense, the Southern Lights seemed to flow. Working a lot, you forget where you are…Friday was a full day and I sort of didn’t even remember we were in space, just getting stuff done, one thing after another. Having a real weekend has been nice. It reminds me of where I am and what we are doing – not just going to work without a commute. This is real space stuff and it is cool! ------------------------------------------------------------- Suni's blog and more also at nasa.gov

Guardians of Earth

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:03:05 -0400

Next week, the international forum uniting generations, "The Guardians of Earth," is bringing together high school students ages 14-17 from around the world to share their ideas for protecting Earth with astronauts, cosmonauts, scholars and each other. This is another example of why you don’t have to be in orbit to have the orbital perspective, Based on the belief that by joining together our international community can make a difference - and that each of us can make a difference - the forum brings tomorrow's leaders together to get to know each others cultures and capabilities. During the August 5th - 8th forum at the Yuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, students will share their vision for our shared future, work in small groups, and together come up with guiding principles that set standards for the citizens of Earth collectively and individually. By interacting with astronauts and cosmonauts, they are further exposed to the unique perspective of those who have seen Earth's fragility from space. Participants will return home with a broader worldview and appreciation for the planet, strengthening their resolve to take action and become true Guardians of our Earth. I hope all the students have a wonderful time and they come away from the experience with a commitment to work together to improve life on Earth and not accept the status quo on our planet. Details: August 5-9, 2012, GCTC. For more information or to get involved, please contact Alexandra Titova in Russia or Anne-Marie Corley in the U.S.

Do 1 Thing Day - July 20, 2012

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:00:48 -0400

What are you doing on Friday, July 20, 2012? On behalf of the Fragile Oasis team, I invite you to roll up your sleeves and Do 1 Thing to make life better on this planet we call home. July 20th is a special day in the history of humankind. We celebrate the day 43 years ago when two of the Apollo XI astronauts landed on Earth’s moon, and left their footprints on its surface. It is also the day we mark the second anniversary of fragileoasis.org, the catalyst for a rapidly growing community of people from all walks of life who are inspired by the orbital perspective of astronauts in space to look for opportunities to better our communities and our world, making life better for all of us. In that spirit, let us know what you are doing - the down-to-earth kinds of things people do everyday - bagging trash from a park, reading to children at a public library, helping a neighbor - any individual act when multiplied by others builds the momentum that changes the world bit by bit. Submit it here as a special project (select "Do 1 Thing" from the project category choices), upload a picture if you like, and you'll receive this limited edition Fragile Oasis badge displayed on your profile. We have one Fragile Oasis, and 7 billion pairs of hands and hearts, including yours. #Do1T!

Southern Lights

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 12:47:12 -0400

Our time of solitude is rapidly coming to an end. Our new crew mates successfully launched very early this morning. With the 2 days they spend in autonomous flight to reach us, they will arrive around 4:00am GMT on July 17. All of the preparations have been made for their arrival. Since it was not too long ago that I arrived, I clearly remember those first few days on the ISS. While the traditional hatch opening and having the opportunity to talk with family and friends that made the trip to Russia are wonderful experiences, I remember being tired and wanting desperately to take a “bath” and put on some regular clean clothes. Arriving at the International Space Station and wanting desperately to take a “bath” and put on some regular clean clothes While we do have facilities on the Soyuz and lots of opportunities to take cat naps, it sure was nice to be home on the relatively spacious Space Station. While all of the new crew members have been here before, we will do all we can to make the transition as comfortable as possible. For Gennady, Sergey and I, we will begin another sleep shift tomorrow. We will wake up at our normal time of 6 am and are scheduled to go to sleep at 3:30 pm with a wake up at midnight. The day of docking is a long day for all of the crews and we will be back to a normal schedule on Wednesday. As I mentioned previously, HTV will be arriving 10 days later so we will all hit the road running. Knowing what is ahead, Gennady, Sergey and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. While some work had to be done, overall it was an opportunity for us to recharge our personal batteries and just enjoy the time. We were rewarded with the results of the recent solar activity – the southern lights. I remember seeing the auroras during my Shuttle flight and I thought it was the coolest thing. Then I arrived this time and Don Pettit showed me the auroras and they were much, much better than what I seen previously. I was happy as could be. Then on Saturday, I was working out and in between sets I saw that we were heading south during a night pass. So I decided my workout could be postponed for a few minutes and I turned out all of the lights in Node 3. Within a couple of minutes, I could not believe what I was seeing. It was absolutely incredible. I enjoyed the show for a few minutes and then felt I had to inform my crew mates so they could also take in the view. Even Gennady, with all of his time on orbit, was amazed. I am no expert with a camera but I tried to capture at least a small reminder of the experience. The pictures were not great, but they would do. So today, at around the same time of day, I thought I would take one more look. Just when you think it can’t get much better, it gets way better. I of course took some obligatory pictures, but then I just sat in the dark, in the peace and quiet of this incredible man made, orbiting laboratory and just looked out the window in awe. What a truly magnificent planet we live on and solar system we live in. I could not have asked for a better way to mark the middle of my Expedition and to start what will be a challenging and rewarding time on the International Space Station.

Friends Old and New

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:08:28 -0400

It is hard to believe how quickly the time has gone by. My lack of blogging is directly proportional to how busy things have been. As I write this, I am one of the three people on the ISS and the only American. It is pretty cool. The other three members of Expedition 31 went home last Sunday morning with an undocking around 4 am. It was sad to see them go. Anytime you experience a unique situation with someone, a certain bond is forged. It was the same with the friends I made as a Peace Corps Volunteer or crew members on my Space Shuttle flight (STS-119). I am sure you have friends like that. I will forever be grateful to Don, Andre and Oleg for the way we were received when we arrived, their sharing of experience, and for just being good friends. We had a great time working together. I wish them all the best as they get accustomed to life back on Earth. I know they were all anxious to get back to their families. There is a lot that needs to happen as you prepare to go home. The Soyuz is a small vehicle which would seem to make packing for return simple. However, with its small size comes the challenge of prioritizing items for return and making them all fit. Then crew members need to clean up their home for the past 6 months and consolidate all of the gear (both regular and electronic) they have been using. Don said his goal while cleaning up was that nobody would ever know he was here. Sorry Don, the impact you had on this Laboratory will never be forgotten. Somewhere in between all the work, you need to spend that quality time looking out the window and just enjoy the moment. No one knows if or when they might return to this unique Outpost. The 4 am undocking meant a sleep shift for the entire crew. It made for a long day for everyone. The departing crew still had another 4 hours until landing and then they start the long ride back to Houston. It is hard to imagine that within approximately 24 hours after undocking from the Space Station, one can be back at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Gennady, Sergey, and I worked until approximately 9 am and then tried to get some rest. We shifted back and were on a normal work cycle starting Tuesday morning. I have heard many astronauts tell me that some of their favorite time on orbit was when there was a reduced crew size. It is an interesting situation. With only 3 people, we have more responsibilities. I can no longer ask Don or Andre where I might find a certain tool or what is the best way to access a certain piece of equipment. You hope you have learned what you need to get the job done. The great thing is that we have the Mission Control Centers guiding and helping us. Again, the importance of the team concept. However, there is something peaceful about waking up in the morning to a darkened Space Station and floating out of your crew quarters. At the end of a work day, you can spend time looking at Earth and getting lost in your thoughts. Or you can crank up the tunes and get in a great workout with Earth in the background and not have to worry about disturbing anybody. It is a great time for self reflection. I think I know what they meant about this time. Checking out the spacesuits for the EVAs! I will enjoy these days because as busy as we have been up to now, things are going to get exciting soon. In the last half of my mission we will have of course the arrival of our new crew mates (we anxiously await the arrival of Suni, Aki, and Yuri on July 17). With a new crew come new enthusiasm, expertise, and many good memories, an undocking and re-docking then final undocking of a Progress vehicle, the arrival of HTV3, the arrival of another Progress, a Russian Spacewalk, and an American Spacewalk. I can’t wait!

Agat is Up. Hair is Down.

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 07:16:08 -0400

In the meantime, Yuri, Aki and I got our haircuts - a tradition before launch. The prime crew is not allowed to go to the Soyuz rollout, but all our family and friends were there on a gorgeous Kazakh morning!!!! Agat is up, hair is down. Editor's note: Agat is the Soyuz crew callsign, and the affectionate name Suni gave the capsule that will take her, Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide to the International Space Station and back home again. More here

Agat and the Business End

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:50:52 -0400

We got to go into the Soyuz spacecraft one last time to check it out, to see where our stuff is stowed, and to make sure everything is where we want it. “Agat” is beautiful! I refer to her as Agat since that is Yuri Malenchenko's call sign. If you watch the launch on NASA TV you will most likely hear his call sign on the radio. Yuri is Agat 1, I am Agat 2 and Aki (Akihiko Hoshide) is Agat 3. Right now the capsule (and covering) is not mated to the booster and she is standing upright. They will turn her on her side to be moved and mated.
Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov This is “our” booster – the business end! You can see it is on it’s side, and is ready for the capsule. The entire stack will stay on its side and be “rolled out” to the launch pad on Thursday!
Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov Editor's note: NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft July 14 and dock to the International Space Station on July 17. They will join Commander Gennady Padalka Sergei Revin and Joe Acaba, who have been living and working on board the orbiting scientific laboratory since May 17th.

A Poem for Saturday: One Planet is Not Enough

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 08:59:29 -0400

Last Day in Space by Don Pettit Tomorrow we light our rocket, we burn our engines and likewise, burn a hole in the sky, And thus fall to Earth. How does one spend your last day in space? Looking at Earth, a blue jewel surrounded by inky blackness, Pure Occipital Ecstasy. Unconstrained by your girth, you fly with vestigial wings. The atmosphere on edge, iridescent blue with no earthly parallel, Electrifying Diaphanous Beauty. Guarded by Sirens of Space, singing saccharine songs, beckoning you to crash on the atmos-reef which tears you limb from limb and scorching what remains into cosmic croutons that sprinkle onto the garden salad of Earth. One last feast out the window, A looking glass of Wonderland. Offering both a portal to see your world, and a translucent reflection to see yourself. Contemplation; what is your place in this world below, how do you change it, how does it change you. We are wedded to this planet, until mass extinction we do part. Perhaps one planet is not enough. You study your charts, we prepare our spaceship, and our minds. We make ready our descent, into these seemingly gentle arms. The eager anticipation of hugging your wife, your boys with grins followed by pouting faces, both excited to see you but not understanding why you left. Oh how does one spend your last day in Space. What would you do? Editor’s Note: Editor's Note: Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and André Kuipers begin their journey home to their families from the International Space Station 12:48am EDT Sunday, July 1, 2012, and land in Kazakhstan at 4:14am (2:14 pm Kazakhstan time). Watch on NASA TV.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: The Frontier

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 01:53:05 -0400

Tonight, Gardener and his crew will depart in their seed pod. The replacement crew is ready to carry on in their place. He is wearing his space suit undergarments. Not too stylish but functional. He gave all of us an extra long smell. His nose twitched with the slightest tickle from the leaf hairs on little Zuc. He said that what will be is for the best. It has been a wonderful journey; one chapter is closing, another is opening. He had tears in his eyes, not just a small drop at the corners but a pool that was making him blink. He reached up and turned out the light. In the frontier you should not be afraid of the dark. Editor's Note: Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and André Kuipers begin their journey home to Earth from the International Space Station at 12:48am EDT Sunday, July 1, 2012, and land in Kazakhstan at 4:14am (2:14 pm Kazakhstan time). A check for stow-a-ways begins shortly thereafter. Watch on NASA TV.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Preparing for Departure

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:08:33 -0400

June 29, 2012 The crew is busy with their departure preparations. They are flying back and forth with bags of gear. Gardener tried on a special suit made out of tight fitting fabric. It keeps his roots and stalks from expanding when he returns to Earth’s gravity. He said things will feel real heavy for awhile.

A (New) Moon is Born

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 05:10:26 -0400

I saw the waning crescent moon, a small sliver of white rising above the Earth limb. It reminded me of a glowing fingernail clipping. Like a rainbow of only blue, the atmosphere on edge filled the gap between Earth and space—electrifying diaphanous beauty. Venus was there, watching. Aldebaran in Taurus was an orange dot. The ghost of Full Moon Past, the complete lunar disk, was dimly lit by the bluish hue of earthshine. The time was 07:45 GMT on June 18, 2012. One orbit later, at 09:17 GMT, I saw a sliver of a sliver. Work beckoned me for the next three orbits (about four and a half hours) before I could observe another moonrise. At 13:56 GMT, there was only the smallest glint that we even had a Moon. The next orbit I was waiting at dawn, but saw no moon. Initially I was baffled. Then it occurred to me that I had been witness to the birth of a New Moon.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Gardener's Spacesuit

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:22:53 -0400

June 17 Excitement is in the air. Gardener said we will soon be returning to Earth. Our part of the mission is nearly complete and the new crew will take over for us. I am a bit worried about Broccoli, Sunflower, and me. If Gardener leaves, who will take care of us? And what about little Zuc? He is now a big sprout and ready to branch out on his own. Gardener talked about pressing us. I am not sure what that means; this does not sound good. June 21 Gardener and crew wore their spacesuits today. This is something Broccoli, Sunflower, little Zuc and I do not have. They spent time in the part of the spaceship that breaks off and falls back to Earth. It is very cramped inside. It must be their version of a seed pod. June 24 Sunflower is going to seed! His blossom is wilted-brown and has a few lopsided packed seeds. This is not quite normal, but then, we are living on the frontier and things are different here. They are not ready now; I wonder if they will be by the time Gardener is with his seed pod? June 26 Gardener has this big book. He called it an atlas, a map of Earth. The map is normally kept by the big window but now it is stuck to the wall right next to Broccoli, Sunflower, little Zuc, and I, Zucchini. He also transplanted us into new bags. This time the bags are very small, just enough to contain our root ball and a splash of water. He told us that he will soon be leaving and that we will return later in the belly of a Dragon.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Baby on Board!

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:45:38 -0400

June 9 Great news! I have a baby brother sprout! Gardener just showed me baby Zuc. Yes, there's a baby onboard the International Space Station. He is strong and healthy and ready to move from the sprouter into his own aeroponic bag. While Broccoli and Sunflower are great companions, there is nothing quite like having a zucchini-to-zucchini conversation.

With Warm Regards

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:48:46 -0400

If Matisse and Van Gogh worked together to make a crew portrait, this is what it might be like: l to r: Joe Acaba, Gennady Padalka, Oleg Kononenko, Sergei Revin, André Kuipers (I was running the camera). The thermal camera I used operates in the far infrared, with wavelengths around 10 microns, which is close to body temperature. I was using it to image the window heater in the Cupola, and played around with it a bit before putting it away. Note that regular glass is not transparent in thermal infared, so glasses look like mirrors (and so do our windows). Editor's note: More of Don's thermal camera pictures here

Stray Light

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 08:17:49 -0400

Stray light - those nasty reflections off our Space Station windows - can ruin the aesthetics of nighttime imagery and viewing. Reflected light from our numerous control panels and computer screens is hardly noticeable until you closely inspect your pictures, typically after returning to Earth when there is no possibility for a retake. The reflections are aggravated by the design of our windows: four layers of glass resulting in eight parallel-mirrored surfaces. For photographers, they can create a haunting tunnel of colored blotches that project off to infinity, like being in a house of mirrors. To eliminate these reflections requires attention to many small details. Any source of low-level light has to be masked. Even when this is done, light coming from the adjacent Node 3 and Node 1 modules is enough to ruin a nighttime sequence of images. Then there’s the toilet, close to our windowed Cupola, which, when occupied, spills sufficient rays to spoil an image. I have found that it is possible to train your crew to use it in the dark. As a final measure, I spread a cloth baffle across the base of the Cupola with an opening sufficient only for my head. Like a flattened projection of a turtleneck sweater, this final barrier effectively excludes errant rays. Equipped this way, as soon as your eyes become adjusted for night, both your view and your images will be spectacular.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Happy Sprout Day!

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:53:01 -0400

April 12 We got new aeroponic bags today. They are a new design, much simpler than the old ones. One corner is cut off and then pushed inwards so it points inside the bag. This makes an opening where the water does not crawl out from capillary action. A piece of foam is placed inside to keep the sides from collapsing so the bag remains puffed up. Our root ball is squeezed through the cut corner so our roots hang inside the puffed up part of the bag. Then about 50 milliliters of water with nutrient tea is injected inside through the opening. Our roots hang mostly in the air but can grow into water if desired. We like our new bags. April 19 Our algae friends moved with us into our new aeroponic bags so our roots are once again turning green. I sort of like these little fellows; they tickle my roots when they swim around. Our leaves are happy. It will be awhile before I am ready to bloom again. April 20 This is so strange. I overheard my crew wishing Gardener a happy sprout day. Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they sprouted? To celebrate Gardener's sprout day, Commander Dan Burbank played the guitar and Anton Shkaplerov played the keyboard, while Broc, Sunflower and I (out of frame) played along with this custom. Sprout day? Previously....

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini - What Do Dragons Eat?

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:48:05 -0400

April 2 Oh no, we have algae root! Our plastic potting bags, being transparent, allow our roots to be soaked in light. That does not particularly bother us, but it allows for some freeloaders to make their home in the dampness of our plastic, aeroponic bags. So our planter bags are now turning green with colonies of algae. The gardener inspected a green drop of water under a microscope and saw single-celled, elongated, free-swimming algae with two flagella. They make many tiny bubbles of oxygen that stay suspended in the surrounding water. The extra oxygen makes my roots happy. How these stowaways got here is a mystery. Gardener says they were probably on our seeds. In any case, we now have some new friends. I am not certain if they are plant or animal. April 6 I heard a rumor that a Dragon is coming and the Gardener is going to catch it. He and his crewmates are spending much time preparing for this event. They practice right next to our grow light so we can watch them train. This looks like serious business. I guess when you are dealing with dragons you have to be careful. At first I was worried about having a dragon onboard but then I remembered that they only eat meat. April 10 What is Gardener up to? He only gave us a brief glance this morning. Sunflower, Broccoli, and I are getting thirsty. Our aeroponic bags only hold about 50 milliliters of water and they are quickly drying up. He usually adds about 30 each morning. By afternoon our leaves were wilting. They do not droop under the pull of gravity like leaves on Earth plants. They simply float like pieces of green crinkled paper. Perhaps Gardener did not notice. By evening, he was shocked when he saw us. How could we dry out in only one day he said? I could tell he felt really bad. He was busy with the dragon preparations. We got watered and our leaves inflated within minutes. Even Sunflower with a scrawny ½ meter long stalk inflated his leaves in short order. It is amazing how quickly our vascular bundles can transport water to where it’s needed. Previously....

This Sporting Life

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 09:22:33 -0400

I was wired up last week and I don’t mean with adrenaline or caffeine. I had the blood pressure cuffs on my fingers (my crew mate Oleg was calling me Robo Joe) and the 10-lead holter monitor on my chest. The week ended up again with more urine samples and a blood draw. One thing this week has taught me is my appreciation of sports. It is not like I did not know that I am a sports fan. My game room in my house gives me away. However, I have learned that apart from appreciating the abilities of the players and the complexities of the various sports, I miss the social aspect of the games. Being from Southern California, I follow the Angels, Lakers, Kings, and Ducks. My relationship with the Dodgers is complex (a story for another day) and since we no longer have a football team in town I root for the Houston Texans. As part of our psychological support we get music, movies, books, TV shows, etc. sent up to us when possible. This week I received an Angels game that was probably a few days old. It was great. I could watch an inning or two while having a meal and then maybe a couple more before I went to bed. It took me about 2-3 days to watch a game and I enjoyed every minute of it. So what do I miss? Being a Lakers fan anywhere but in LA is tough, especially in Houston where you have Dallas and San Antonio fans. I miss the banter with my buddy Rene about which team was going to win when they faced each other (both our teams lost so we would not get the chance this year anyway) and why the players on our teams are far superior than others. I miss watching an Angels game with my sister – I live in Houston and she lives in Anaheim and yes we call each other after or during the significant events of each inning. The Kings are in the Stanley Cup Finals and are one game away from winning their first Cup. How cool would that be? I can only imagine how my friend Ken is feeling after the last 2 losses. The Heat beat the Celtics in game 7 and will now face OKC. That is going to be a great series. Don’t get me wrong. There is no place I would rather be than working aboard the ISS. It has just given me an opportunity to reflect on why certain things are important to us. I am sure those serving our Country abroad, or those stationed in Antarctica or any other remote area have felt the same. I look forward to the arrival of my crew mate Suni Williams in about a month. She is a Red Sox fan. So if you hear anything as the ISS flies over your city, it is probably her and me watching an Angels – Sox game and talking smack over who is going to win. I think we all know the answer to that one.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: An Excuse

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 19:14:03 -0400

Me and my “Buds” have been busy working on our mission together with our animal crewmates over the past two months. On our mission, we have taken nearly 250,000 images, about one quarter of all those taken over the previous 11 years. I have been faithfully making entries into my diary but due to the quantity of our image data coupled with our Ku-band radio transmission bandwidth, they have not been downlinked. I will start downlinking my past observations over the next week or so as bandwidth allows. To be continued.... Previously...

Fragile Oasis - My Orbital Perspective

Wed, 30 May 2012 23:10:30 -0400

"We are all spinning around the same thing, all cyclical turning,
around this notion that we could love, and be complete." Every night I looked out through the same window, the tree-line high against the ravenblue sky. I'd sit, ritualistically like a teenage monk practicing a mysterious ceremony. Half-lotus on my low futon bed, a pen and blank book to one side, a guitar on the other and nothing but the shadow of trees and a glimmer of the twinkle-twinkle, universe-afar, somewhere out there... Orion, setting over our Earth. Photographed by Dan Burbank from the International Space Station 10:13 GMT March 17, 2012 Songwriting, and a dream of singing for people around the world, are a far cry from astrophysics, but there's connective tissue in the pursuit of the unknown and the universality of music and stargazing. If the universe is, in essence, vibration - then space and everything that fills it is a universal song. For as long as I can remember I've felt the pull of universal mystery tugging at my heart strings. Growing up all over a little place on planet Earth called Connecticut, in inner-city apartments and later in the woods I never felt a sense of true belonging. I did love the rolling green lawns, dairy farms-saved-by-ice-cream-cows, and my ever-present sentinels of trees outside my bedroom... But my curiosity about the world beyond echoed like a catchy-chorus in my soul. Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts photographed from the International Space Station by Ron Garan June 3, 2011 A passion for music was nearly-innate, who knows how many hours of classical flute scales reverberated right through my mama's belly as she practiced with me inside her. I found my voice at nine years old, grabbed a guitar at thirteen and the dream of connecting on a global scale, with humans of all kinds, became my song. Maybe the kids at school didn't get it, I was more interested in singing by starlight than going to parties, and I wasn't invited anyway. I spent those hours practicing and asking the diamond-bright constellations for melodies and the courage to play one more half-empty club, write one more song, find the magical alignment the would unlock a destiny that seemed as real as Polaris but maybe just as far away... Earth's star produces a show. Other stars watch. Photographed by Dan Burbank from the International Space Station 17:22 GMT March 4, 2012 But somehow even in the darkest nights I believed it wouldn't guide me astray. If curiosity and a spirit of exploration are part of the human psyche, then throughout time technology has been their greatest wing-man. Whenever a glass ceiling is smudged by the eager handprint of someone who reached too high, the raining down of shimmering shards is never too far off. These past-shattering moments, whether personal, global or universal often seem to happen in a shocking split second, an overnight success, a magical mistake... But they're almost always the ice-berg tip result of many brave souls, many years of dedication and even distant strangers who's names we may never know, all contributing to the same goal. Just like so many life-changing moments of discovery and breakthrough... Last summer I didn't realize I was living through mine until I was staring it in the face. Literally. The global faces staring back at me, were as beautiful and perspective-altering as seeing the Earthrise from a weightless place in space. Earth rises over her Moon On a wet weekend in July of 2011 I was lugging my guitar amps through the rain to play a dive bar in the middle-of-nowhere-upstate-NY. Little rivers of rain water rushed up past the curb and gushed into my paper thin converse sneakers, and just then my phone rang. It was my big brother - a writer, builder of board games and lover of strategy - calling from his home in California, "Hey, did you hear Google started a social network called Google+? Maybe you should try to be one of the first musicians on there!" Trying to shield my phone from fat drops of rain I blurted out, "Google-what?! Ev, I'm at a show, I gotta make sound check, I'll call ya tomorrow." Click. Earth's moon photographed from the International Space Station by Ron Garan July 31, 2011. Fast-forward through a slightly too-empty bar, glasses clinking as patrons watched on, and I looked out from the 5 inch-high stage trying to cut through the room with my voice, while nearly everything that could go wrong did. In that moment I reminded myself that I'm grateful for any chance to sing, even here, even tonight... And the little bar transformed into sacred space of sound inside my own heart and the room even hushed... for a moment. But on the ride home, the moon followed pace with the car, busting through the gloom, shining a light on my "in the world, but not of it" feelings, I knew I needed something to happen. Three days later - a new-fangled social network, my global music dreams, and surely the planets must’ve, aligned - and my life changed in an instant. I'd joined Google+ and saw an unassuming little feature called "Hangouts"- a video chat where you could see and interact with up to 10 people at once, for free and for all. I thought, "Maybe I can use this thing to play a show without having to lug my amps through the rain!" I didn't know anyone on the site, and that was part of the thrill - an undiscovered country, an unexplored land, an untapped chance to try something new. I'd seen other musicians play "online concerts" with a fly-on-the-wall's eye view of a rehearsal room or a packed stadium brimming over with fans. But what happened that night was something entirely new, an authentically heart-altering happenstance, surprising enough to make me believe all that wishing on a star may actually work... Just not in the way you ever expected. I stood in a little recording studio in the woods with my producer and bass player beside me, fingers trembling as I pressed a button that said "Start A Hangout". It would be my first Hangout Concert. The first of many. The first minute of what would end up a 6.5 hour global gathering and performance where my legs nearly gave out, not from exhaustion, but from joy and gratitude. It would be the first time I met someone from Buenos Ares. The first time I saw the sunrise in Norway. The first time I watched little girls dancing to my songs with the light from their Australian Sunday morning streaming through the computer screen into my Saturday night. We were bending spacetime with song. It was the first time I heard global applause, clapping from different cities on different continents all together making one otherworldly sound. It was one small step for live music history, one giant leap for me. That night marked the beginning of many thousands of international interactive interpersonal encounters, and the kick-off to meeting millions of new friends who are now a living breathing part of my world that is ever-expanding, like the Universe itself and all the songs, echoing out forever and ever, in it. To borrow a brilliant phrase from one of those new friends, astronaut Ron Garan, the "Orbital Perspective" is what you gain when you look back at Earth from space. Suddenly, in one of those heart-skips-a-beat instants you see the entirety of everything you’ve ever known, every worry, every argument, every mistake or over-slept alarm reduced to the size of a pebble, and what comes rushing in to fill all the vast new space in your awareness... That’s the Orbital Perspective. It becomes so clear that things that divide us, as humans, are invisible from a distance. We're all on the same team, all connected. And the dreams we dare to dream, not only do come true... But they might’ve been far too small to begin with. Just a few months ago I was looking longingly out of my bedroom window at the stars and dreams that seemed just too far away to touch, singing a song I'd written called Space, "We are all spinning around the same thing, all cyclical turning, around this notion that we could love and be complete." That global love beats like the heart of our little blue planet, it defines us and connects us across all perceived barriers of culture, country or consequence. It's ringing in the notes of the stars that surround us, in the buzz of bumble bees, the hum of hard drives or the intake of your own breath. It's that beat that kept this singer-songwriter singing... The song I sing now and always, is the song of The Orbital Perspective. To be continued. Join Ron Garan and me for a G+ on air hangout today, Thursday, May 31st 12:30 PST. Space, music and our Fragile Oasis!

In My Spare Time: A Weekend With A Freezer

Wed, 30 May 2012 05:24:38 -0400

I asked if I could use one of the research freezers for a weekend during my off-duty time. I made thin sheets of water (sort of like a soap film without the soap), about 1 mm thick and froze them. Then I looked at the ice under polarized light using the laptop display as the light source for one direction of polarized light and a filter I just happened to have in my personal kit to make “crossed polarizers”. [Note: links to PDF] When the ice sheets were placed between the filter and the laptop screen the crystal structure became vividly visible. I do not know at this time if the crystal structure is any different than normal ice but I will find out. Meanwhile, we were unloading the supplies from Dragon. Editor's Note: You can also enjoy many of Don's Fragile Oasis blog posts on the NASA website and the Smithsonian's Air and Space website.

The Overview Effect and Cognitive Dissonance

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:26:03 -0400

When a delusional killer shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during a campaign event in Tucson, Arizona last year, her husband’s twin brother, Scott Kelly, was commanding a mission on the International Space Station. When asked about the incident by the news media, he said something to the effect that the Earth looked beautiful and serene from orbit, but it was “not like that” on the surface. This is a classic “Overview Effect” statement by an astronaut. Since human beings first left the Earth in 1961, astronauts and cosmonauts have been talking about their experiences of seeing the home planet from space and in space. They say that there are no borders or boundaries on the Earth, except those that we create in our own minds or those that we mark on the ground with fences and barriers. They also say that the Earth is like a beautiful, fragile oasis in the vast darkness of the universe. The International Space Station over the Earth, photographed by European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz spacecraft taking him back to our planet, May 23, 2011. Many also realize there is a stark contrast between the view from a distance and a closer view. In 1985, Jake Garn, senator from Utah, was one of two politicians who flew on the space shuttle. When I interviewed him for my book, The Overview Effect, he said:

The other intense feeling is that, along with the great beauty, you also have great feelings of sadness…How sad, because certainly we have the capacity to grow enough food to take care of all of God’s children. We have the capacity to grow enough food that nobody needs to go hungry, so I sat there and questioned, “Why, why does this have to be?”

As I have come to know the astronauts and bloggernauts of Fragile Oasis, I have seen increasing evidence of this powerful dichotomy between what we see from just a few hundred miles away from the planet and what we experience when we are on the ground. I believe that the difference between how the planet appears from orbit and the moon and how it appears on the surface has created a form of collective “cognitive dissonance” in our species. For half-a-century, we have lived with the experience of who we really are and where we are in the universe, as contrasted with our daily behavior. We are one species with one destiny, part of the whole system we call Earth. However, our behavior is that of several billion parts, often in conflict with one another. To some extent, this is discouraging, but there are positive signs when we consider the definition of cognitive dissonance. According to changingminds.org, it is “…the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.” According to the same source, cognitive dissonance can be a great motivator, because it is stressful to have this tension continue, so we have to change our behavior or justify our behavior by changing the cognition (or adding new ones). In the case of the Overview Effect, it will be difficult to “change the cognition,” which has been experienced by so many space travelers and even by surface dwellers who have seen pictures or videos of the Earth from a distance. It is hard to suggest that the serene loveliness of our planet is not a reality. I hope that we will embrace this reality and our behavior will continue to change so that we will become an increasingly peaceful and ecologically aware species, especially as more people experience the Overview Effect. The existence of Fragile Oasis and initiatives like Unity Node represents a testament to what can happen when even one person experiences the Overview Effect, or orbital perspective. In the words of Ron Garan, describing his experience of looking at the Earth during a spacewalk: "It was very moving to see the beauty of the planet we’ve been given. But as I looked down at this indescribably beautiful fragile oasis, this island that has been given to us and has protected all life from the harshness of space, I couldn’t help thinking of the inequity that exists.I couldn’t help but think of the people who don’t have clean water to drink, enough food to eat, of the social injustice, conflict, and poverty that exist. The stark contrast between the beauty of our planet and the unfortunate realities of life for many of its inhabitants reaffirmed the belief I share with so many. Each and every one of us on this planet has the responsibility to leave it a little better than we found it." Somalia, at the coast near Mogadishu, photographed from the International Space Station February 1, 2012. Ron, along with Nicole Stott and other astronauts, has not only talked the talk, he has walked the walk by founding Fragile Oasis, recruited a band of Bloggernauts to write about the orbital perspective, and catalyzed a number of projects aimed at reducing the dissonance. This is the beginning of something more than change; this is transformation of the highest order. And it truly is only the beginning, as a much larger wave of change is about to take place. Some 500 human beings have traveled beyond the Earth’s atmosphere in the past 50 years, an average of 10 per year. Soon, commercial spacecraft could be ferrying hundreds of people on suborbital flights. High quality simulations of the experience are also becoming available and will be disseminated on a mass basis. Inevitably, a quantitative change in the number of people directly experiencing the Overview Effect will create a qualitative change that will be channeled into reducing the tension caused by the current state of cognitive dissonance. For half a century, we have been “ignoring the cognition,” but that may not last much longer, and future astronauts will, we hope, no longer need to make statements like that which was uttered by Scott Kelly when his sister-in-law was shot. Editor's note: A version of this posting was presented as part of the Kepler Space Institute track at the International Space Development Conference in May 2011.

A Poem for Saturday: Embrace Me, May 5, 2003

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:14:11 -0400

Oh Mother Earth, embrace me with all of your weight. I am pressed into your bosom and like Atlas, I carry the World’s load. I leave the comforts of an orbital womb and am born a second time. Expedition 6 crewmates Ken Bowersox, Nikolai Budarin and I leaving the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-1 capsule that brought us back to Mother Earth May 3, 2003. Rudely thrust into the world of weight, my chest sinks from heavy load, my arms do not move at my command and my head spins. But there is work to do, we must keep our wits. We want to survive this test to prove our worthiness for life on Earth. Expedition 30 crewmates Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin land on Earth in a remote area outside of the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on the morning of Friday, April 27, 2012. And finally, our just reward,the sweet smell of freshly tilled earth and of crushed spring grass. The Sparrow’s song greets our ears. Did we perish and land on Heaven’s door? I spew bile and mucus into desert soil, a reminder that I am still among the living. Oh Mother Earth, I have returned. Embrace me! Embraced by Mother Earth just a few hours earlier, crewmate and Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank is about to take off for a flight home to the United States, and the embrace of family, friends and colleagues.

Editor's Note: Don Pettit originally wrote this poem on May 5, 2003, two days after returning to Earth following his first mission to the International Space Station as the science officer for Expedition 6. Air and Space magazine published his reflection "If I Were to Land on Mars..." in the November 2008 issue.

A Poem for Saturday: Helen of Earth

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:32:55 -0400

Helen of Earth. An Alien force, smitten by the sight of Earth.

Stunning occipital pleasure, with a face of such beauty.

As to launch a thousand ships, laying siege to our planet,

until they can take her as their own.

The Kamchatka Coast photographed from the International Space Station 23:27 GMT March 15, 2012. Click for a bigger image.

The Orbital Perspective of Nicholas Kristof

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:49:57 -0400

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof was in in the thick of things during the chaotic days of August 2011 that resulted in the Fall of Tripoli. He stood in Libya’s capital city reporting on events as they unfolded. Nick Kristof in Tripoli, Libya August 23, 2011 At the same time, and on the same day, I floated in the cupola of the International Space Station, photographing northern Africa, and the Port of Tripoli. Tripoli, Libya from the International Space Station August 23, 2011 It wasn’t until the day before I returned to Earth in September that I became aware of the link between the pictures. In space, we feel both less connected and more connected to our home planet. We’re less connected because we are physically removed, and cannot experience so many things that define life on Earth. We feel more connected because we can see the broad canvas of life on Earth from 250 miles above. Helping to connect us to each other on Earth are journalists like Nick Kristof, Marie Colvin, Rémi Ochlik and others who, at serious risk and personal sacrifice, tell the stories that need to be told. Their compassion and their talent compel the global community to action to right wrongs in response to crisis. And, their commentary inspires us not to accept the status quo, and to go out and change the world for the better. I took this picture on September 14, 2011 as we passed over Northern Africa. Happy Birthday Nick Kristof!

Astronomy: The Overview Effect for The Rest of Us

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:53:48 -0400

Astronomers Without Borders, an organization I founded in 2007, is based on a simple truth – when we look up at the sky, no matter where we are, we know others are doing the same thing from other countries around the world. At similar latitudes the sky is identical regardless of where you are. And we all share the same wonder of the starry night sky, the planets and the entire Universe beyond. That wonder is part of the traditions of every culture, passed down through time. It will certainly be a part of our future as well. But there’s more to it than the beauty of the Milky Way’s thousands of stars seen from a dark location. When we look up we’re looking outward, into our cosmic neighborhood. With a telescope we see even further into the cosmic hinterlands. For adventurers who long to see what lies on the other side of every hill, the Universe offers unlimited mysteries. The Milky Way Over Mauna Kea photographed from Earth by Wally Pacholka The Universe – all that you see when you look up at the stars – is where we live. The Earth is one small part of it. If you’ve ever wanted to travel in space, just drive to a dark location, look up and take a look around. You’re there, orbiting around our galaxy along with the rest of the inhabitants of Spaceship Earth. The Milky Way over the Caribbean photographed from the International Space Station The World at Night is a great demonstration of how we all share that magnificent view of the night sky. The team of expert landscape astrophotographers assembled by project founder Babak Tafreshi has imaged the night sky from locations worldwide, showing a blanket of stars above historic, cultural and natural landmarks with stunning results. Whether it’s a church, mosque, or synagogue is in the earthly foreground, the sky above is the same. We can change details of the orb we live on but the rest of the Universe hovers beyond our reach, untouched, practically unchanging. This is the idea behind Astronomers Without Borders and the source of our slogan, One People, One Sky. The earthly view of the heavens is also strikingly similar to what some astronauts experience from their perch in orbit. Frank White coined the term, “The Overview Effect,” in his book of the same name to describe the sensation astronauts often experience seeing the Earth hanging in space among the stars and other planets, without any apparent borders between us. I’ve told Frank I consider our view of the night sky to be the overview effect for the rest of us – those of us who will never travel out of Earth’s atmosphere – and he agrees. When we connect with someone in a distant land, far beyond our horizon, and they’re seeing the same sky we do (offset by time as the Earth rotates), the sensation of One People, One Sky is reinforced. The overview effect may not be as easy to visualize as from space – or as fun as being weightless – but it’s there just the same. Milky Way around Sagittarius photographed from the International Space Station by Don Pettit Fragile Oasis’ Nicole Stott, who has spent more than 100 days in space as a NASA astronaut, has a similar view from a space travelers perspective. In her recent blog post “The Overview Effect: I Think It Works Both Ways”, Nicole said, “As I have watched over these past months, with my feet firmly planted on the ground, as my friends passed above me on this shiny point of light crossing the night sky, it occurred to me that this idea of an Overview Effect might just work both ways --- not only for those looking in amazement, appreciation and awe at our planet; but also for those looking up to the sky at the wonders orbiting us there. It seems that both perspectives remind us of the fragile nature of where we live – Earth with its thin blue atmosphere and ISS with its thin silver hull – both protecting their humans from the harsh vacuum of space; both reminding us that wherever humanity chooses to ‘reside’, we are obligated to take care of that place – our home.” Her solitary view engendered thoughts of our common heritage on Earth and the need to protect it together – “I” became “we.” I started Astronomers Without Borders after visiting countries like Iran and Iraq, and meeting people who are far more like us than they are different. They have the same needs, wishes and problems as anyone else. I’ve given many presentations on astronomy in those countries to astronomy clubs in the US, and the focus inevitably turns to the difficulties others have in pursuing our common activities. Equipment we take for granted is difficult or impossible to acquire in many countries. Dark skies are out of reach without transportation. The result is sympathy for the situation of our colleagues and a desire to help. There’s nothing political about it – it’s nature, our common heritage. And it’s there for everyone, an unlimited resource. Why shouldn’t we all share in it equally? Political and other issues that seem so important most of the time just become irrelevant, at least for that moment. This is purely people to people interaction of the most basic sort. Astronomers Without Borders now has participants in most of the world’s countries, with global programs that bring people together as never before. All based on our living on one planet, looking up at the same sky. An American amateur astronomers with the latest computerized gear and a student in a poor country may have different activities during the night but in the end they’re there for the same reason. And they say remarkably similar things about the wonders of the night sky. After all, we’re all looking out from the same place – Earth.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: Fresh Air

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:42:23 -0400

March 20 There was a time where I had no memory; I thought this must be the Great Compost. Since waking I heard Gardener talking to me about what happened. We were transplanted once again into new plastic bags. Our stems and roots were trimmed. Our water diet was replaced with a new tea, one that is not salty. Our roots are happy drinking this new concoction. It is actually quite pleasant and is free from that sour taste. It makes me smile. I noticed that Sunflower and Broccoli are still with us and we are all part of the crew. We may be leafless stalks but are sprouting new tiny leaf-buds. They are a vibrant green and brought a smile to Gardener’s face. Did I notice a small bit of water in the corner of his eyes? Oh the magic in a topical meristem. Plants have an incredible capacity to regenerate, something that Gardener says he cannot do. I have a meristem on top that generates new leaves and a meristem below that generates new roots. As long as these meristems live, we can regenerate ourselves. There are perils when you explore, when you venture off into the space frontier. You go into the unknown where the answers are no longer in the back of the book. You observe, thus gathering new knowledge to share with all those plants that remain firmly root-bound on the Earth. And sometimes the price is paid with leaf and stem. March 21 We are getting stronger every day. Both my meristems are generating new leaves and roots. Sunflower and Broccoli are too. Soon, we will be ready to carry on our duties as active crew. This new tea is actually quite nice, my roots are happy. I wonder what the new tea is made from? March 22 I overheard my gardener talking to his crewmates about the new tea. He was reluctant to say how it was made. He said it was an ancient recipe. March 23 We are recovering, growing greener every day. I still only have only four tiny leaves but am able to return to my crew duties. Sunflower grows his leaves in pairs and now has two. Broccoli is in the best shape with a bunch of new leaves coming out. For such a weak sproutling, he is one tough crewmate. It is good to have him along. March 24 We got a radio call from my gardener’s gardener at 03:50, which woke everyone from a deep Saturday morning sleep. A piece of space junk, an old rocket body, was on a possible collision course with our spaceship. All hands on alert! We had to prepare for an emergency evacuation. The chance of a collision was small but would be devastating so we had to prepare. As a precaution, we closed every hatch on our spaceship leading up to where our escape capsule was docked. This took about half an hour. When closing the last hatch leading from the Laboratory module, I volunteered to stay behind with Sunflower and Broccoli. We may be sporting small leaves but we are here standing tall, ready to do our job. Somebody had to stay behind to take care of the spaceship. Gardener (Don Pettit), Commander Burbank and the rest of the human crew closed all the hatches on the International Space Station before taking shelter in their Soyuz spacecraft. Broc, Sunflower and I stayed behind. With all the hatches closed and the ventilation turned off, it became real quiet, and stuffy too. In weightlessness, there is no buoyancy driven convection thus the cabin air remains stagnant. The droning of fans operating 24 hours a day are required to keep the air stirred and of uniform composition. I have heard Gardener say that when working behind a rack or some confined place where there is no circulation, a pocket of carbon dioxide can build up and give him a headache. Sometimes he will set up a small portable fan when working in such a place. He should take Sunflower, Broccoli, or me with him and perhaps he would not need the fan. Thus sealed in the Laboratory module for the collision safe haven, there was no air movement of any kind and we felt the oxygen building up around our leaves. If this lasted too long we might suffocate for lack of carbon dioxide. The space junk passed without hitting us. When my crew opened the hatch and ventured back into the module, we were able to greet them with a small breath of fresh air. Follow the adventures of @Astro_Zuc on Twitter. He may be a zucchini, but he's been known to spill the beans.

From the Diary of a Space Zucchini: My Aching Roots

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:26:29 -0400

March 7 I am making a second set of flowers. They are all male flowers, full of fragrance for my crewmates to enjoy. I see Gardener smile. March 8 Oh my aching roots! I am sick; my flower buds have wilted into little brown nubbins. My leaves have a fringe of brown that gets wider every day. The edges are curled and brittle almost like dried out leaves yet I have plenty of tea to drink. On Earth my leaves would be drooping but here in weightlessness they stay extended and from a distance they do not look sick. Perhaps my symptoms, thus masked, were not observed by Gardener as soon as they would have been if we were on Earth. Gardener is beside himself and is working hard to find a solution. This is not good; I feel in my roots that I may soon be going to the Great Compost in the ground. Sunflower looks better than she/he feels, which in either case is not too good. March 10 Sunflower’s leaves are covered with brown spots. Both he and I are not feeling well. Broccoli seems to be doing OK. My gardener says it is something in the tea. The brown fringe on my leaves is growing. They do not sing anymore. March 11 Broccoli is not doing well. His leaves are turning yellow. The brown spots on Sunflower are growing. We are dying from some space malady. Gardener is frantically working to save us. I have heard that there is nothing to fear about the Great Compost. My only regret is that I will not be here on the frontier to help in this mission. March 13 My gardener figured out what was the matter and is working on a solution. It is the sour tea that we feed on. He told me it will take several days before the new tea is ready; these encouraging words are helping Broccoli, Sunflower and me to hold on. In the meantime, we have been repotted into new plastic bags and have a strict only-water diet. I understand when a gardener gets sick, sometimes they have to go on a diet. The compost tea is made mostly from vegetable scraps from their food pouches. He said their food has a lot of sodium in it, up to 1000 milligrams per serving and they eat 10 to 12 servings per day. This salt ends up in the compost tea and then goes on our roots. Sodium salts are very soluble in water and wash out from the soil thus ending up in the ocean. Potassium salts are less soluble and stay in the soil. Creatures that originated from the ocean live with sodium and use it for their essential membrane transport processes. Creatures that originated from the land use potassium and find high levels of sodium toxic. Ocean creatures, when they walk on the land, have to carry their sodium with them their bodies. Interesting how creatures adapt to what is found in their environment and what works well for one is toxic to the other. Broc was doing OK, now she/he is not. March 15 I float on the edge of the brown abyss. My leaves have fallen off and I am merely a stalk. I am stripped of my call sign “Rose,” let alone even being a zucchini. Sunflower has lost his leaves and now looks like a tangled piece of green yarn. Broccoli has only yellow leaves. I have one root in the Great Compost. I have heard that you should follow the dark. Call on me tomorrow and you shall find me compost!

Personal Reality

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:24:40 -0400

In space I see things that are not there. Flashes in my eyes, like luminous dancing fairies, give a subtle display of light that is easy to overlook when I’m consumed by normal tasks. But in the dark confines of my sleep station, with the droopy eyelids of pending sleep, I see the flashing fairies. As I drift off, I wonder how many can dance on the head of an orbital pin. The retina is an amazing structure. It’s more impressive than film or a CCD camera chip, and it reacts to more than just light. It also reacts to cosmic rays, which are plentiful in space. Cosmic rays are fragments of atoms—some the pieces of faraway exploded stars, some leftover debris from when the universe formed. These atomic fragments move at high speeds, and like X-rays, penetrate deep into material where they are eventually absorbed. Fortunately, our atmosphere absorbs most of them, so they do not pose significant problems for Earth dwellers (except for the many unfortunate effects to our bodies that we have collectively named “the aging process”). Space is different. Free from the protection offered by the atmosphere, cosmic rays bombard us within Space Station, penetrating the hull almost as if it was not there. They zap everything inside, causing such mischief as locking up our laptop computers and knocking pixels out of whack in our cameras. The computers recover with a reboot; the cameras suffer permanent damage. After about a year, the images they produce look like they are covered with electronic snow. Cosmic rays contribute most of the radiation dose received by Space Station crews. We have defined lifetime limits, after which you fly a desk for the rest of your career. No one has reached that dose level yet. When a cosmic ray happens to pass through the retina it causes the rods and cones to fire, and you perceive a flash of light that is really not there. The triggered cells are localized around the spot where the cosmic ray passes, so the flash has some structure. A perpendicular ray appears as a fuzzy dot. A ray at an angle appears as a segmented line. Sometimes the tracks have side branches, giving the impression of an electric spark. The retina functions as a miniature Wilson cloud chamber where the recording of a cosmic ray is displayed by a trail left in its wake. The rate or frequency at which these flashes are seen varies with orbital position. There is a radiation hot spot in orbit, a place where the flux of cosmic rays is 10 to 100 times greater than the rest of the orbital path. Situated southeast of Argentina, this region (called the South Atlantic Anomaly) extends about halfway across the Atlantic Ocean. As we pass through this region, eye flashes will increase from one or two every 10 minutes to several per minute. Our brain interprets its sensory input and creates a map of reality. Philosophers have for centuries contemplated this question. As Plato wrote, we see only the shadows of a larger and richer reality. On Space Station, I drift off to sleep, thinking of the nature of the “real” universe while observing my personal reality of dancing fairies.

A Poem for Saturday: I Wonder Why

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:34:45 -0400

I wonder why the sky is up, and why the stars abound? Click for the big picture And why the Sun comes up each morn, and why the Earth goes ’round? I wonder what the Sun on Mars, would bring at dusk and dawn? I wonder what two moons would say, from Earth lit sky when Sun is gone I wonder if Mars mountain crags would be a sight to hold? I wonder if I’d dare to climb, how could I be so bold! I wonder when Man’s mind will grow, and cease to be so small I wonder when we’ll venture forth, I hope before we fall I wonder if we’ll never dare, to reach up through the sky Forever doomed to live on Earth, and this, I wonder why? Don Pettit Node 2 Deck 5 ISS, LEO (International Space Station, Low Earth Orbit)

An Invitation to Participate in the International Space Apps Challenge

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:30:14 -0400

Yuri Gagarin was 27 years old when he left the protective atmosphere of Earth, and then returned 108 minutes later with the perspective nearly all of us privileged to follow him would come to understand: “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it!” Fifty years later, when I left Earth from the same launchpad as Yuri Gagarin, I took with me another long held view of astronauts and cosmonauts: you can’t see borders from space. It was during my five and one-half month mission that I discovered that I was wrong. You can see human-made borders from space. Despite this, the orbital perspective of living and working in space shows us just how interconnected we are. We are all in this together. The orbital perspective, first sensed by Yuri Gagarin fifty-one years ago, is the realization that the only way we can solve the problems facing our planet is by working together. The International Space Apps Challenge On April 21st and 22nd, citizens of Earth will pool their brainpower and their passion for problem solving in a 48 hour technology development marathon taking place on all seven continents – and in space. The International Space Apps Challenge is the epicenter for the kind of collaboration that gives birth to innovation, and clarity to issues facing our planet and its inhabitants. The Space Apps Challenge draws a straight line from what confronts humans who live in space to what confronts us here on Spaceship Earth. Think about it: we have no natural resources in the hostile environment of space. This forces us to generate, collect, store, conserve, recycle, and manage our resources wisely - just like we must on Earth. After all, the life support systems that sustain astronauts onboard the International Space Station are not really different than those that sustain humans on Earth: water, air, food, environment; even community, communication and peace. NASA is working with organizations around the world on the International Space Apps Challenge as part of the United States commitment to the Open Government Partnership. As of today, 1,300 concerned citizens of Earth, discipline experts, engineers, scientists, and software code developers will collaborate at 25 physical locations worldwide to build software, open hardware, data visualization, and citizen science platform solutions from publicly available data that address strategic exploration and social needs. All challenges are listed on the International Space Apps website, including one submitted by Fragile Oasis. Of all the innovations that can come from the International Space Apps Challenge, I believe the most important of all is the collaboration itself. A global community coming together to tackle challenges facing our planet demonstrates the power of collaboration across borders, cultures and continents. I look forward to meeting everyone at the San Francisco location, and interacting online with others all over the globe. Please join us! Competition among nations thrust one human into space fifty-one years ago today. International cooperation keeps us there, and is they key to taking us far beyond what we can see with just our eyes. "What a wonderful place to celebrate the first 50 years of human space flight! I couldn’t help but think as I floated there, breaking bread with representatives of three of the fifteen nations of the International Space Station partnership, that one of the most overlooked aspects of the legacy of the space program is the international cooperation that was born of our quest for the exploration of space. We have established a wonderful mechanism for international cooperation in space that could also be applied to solving the many challenges facing us on Earth." -- #FromSpace April 16, 2011