iss

The International Space Station (ISS) lost ground communications capabilities for around three hours this morning during a software upgrade, according to NASA.

As flight controllers on the ground in Houston were updating flight computers, the data relay systems malfunctioned, cutting off all communications with the ground. The Communication and Tracking System provides communications between the crew and Mission Control via Ku-band, S-band, and UHF frequencies.

During the upgrade, an anomaly resulted in the primary computer that controls critical station functions defaulting to a backup computer, but the system was not allowing the station to communicate with NASA's Tracking and … Read more

It's a bummer running out of gas, especially when the nearest station is 22,000 miles away.

But a project to set up a gas station on the International Space Station made a big leap forward this week with the successful refueling of a mock satellite by a robot.

Dextre, a twin-armed robot from Canada, topped off the fuel tank in the mockup, showing how satellites' life can be extended, according to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Operating on the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) module, Dextre removed safety caps and cut through retaining wires before transferring liquid ethanol to the mockup, which is about the size of a washing machine.

The CSA-NASA achievement is the first of its kind, and may help reduce the growing pile of dead satellites and space junk orbiting overhead. … Read more

If you're heading to the International Space Station, try to bunk in the Japanese section. It's as quiet as a Zen temple.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recently went aboard the ISS and has been recording what it sounds like. It's not quite the elegant "2001: A Space Odyssey" experience you might expect. It's more like a noisy tin can.

After recording last week the ambient sounds of the U.S. lab, with its noisy air pumps and fans, Hadfield managed to get samples of what the ISS toilet sounds like, as well as the relative serenity of the Japanese Experiment Module (aka Kibo). … Read more

Even if you're outside the U.S., rocking the vote is relatively easy -- as long as you're on Earth. But how do you make your mark if you're an astronaut up above?

The International Space Station has been hosting international crews for 12 years, and there are now two Americans aboard: Sunita Williams and Kevin Ford.

While both voted in Russia before they left Earth, there are provisions for astronauts who want to vote from space. … Read more

You may or may not know that the International Space Station is visible from Earth with the naked eye. If you didn't know, NASA wants to make sure you do. The space agency has created a service that will send e-mail and text alerts when the ISS is above your location.

It's called "Spot the Station." The system allows you to give your e-mail address and receive notices when the ISS, the third brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon, is orbiting above your area. Given that the ISS passes over roughly 90 percent of the Earth's population, most people will have a chance to spot the space station sooner or later.… Read more

The payoff moment of the historic SpaceX mission to the International Space Station is upon us.

A robotic arm on the International Space Station has reached out and captured the SpaceX Dragon capsule at a distance of about 10 meters. Next up in this historic mission: docking with the space station.

The capture occurred at 9:56 a.m. ET / 6:56 a.m. PT. It had been expected to occur about an hour earlier, but the capsule held at the 30-meter point as the ISS crew made evaluations and adjustments.

Folks at SpaceX, founded by … Read more

The scientists aboard the International Space Station "have the best view in the solar system," videographer Alex Rivest says. Maybe that is why he created this time-lapse video of exactly what the scientists see so people around the world can also gaze at the same view.

Hovering close to Earth and completing 15 orbits per day, the ISS provides dozens of photos and videos of the views it records -- the same stunning scenes captured in Rivest's video. The habitable satellite tracks rolling scenes of the multi-colored planet with images of long winding rivers, high mountain ranges, … Read more

NASA has released an image of a robotic spacecraft approaching the International Space Station, showing how the delicate operation looks from space.

The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3) is an unmanned cargo spacecraft that delivered tons of supplies late last month. It brought 220 pounds of oxygen, 628 pounds of water, 4.5 tons of propellant, and nearly 2.5 tons of dry cargo, such as spare parts, food, clothing, and hardware for experiments.

The image shows the ATV-3 approaching from what seems to be a close distance as the International Space Station shines a light onto … Read more

The twin-armed Dextre has managed to retrieve tools and release launch locks on the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), an experiment to show that satellites can be refueled by a robot.

Dextre used a wire-cutting tool to sever a wire fastening a mock gas cap to the RRM module, a feat of considerable precision given the fact that Dextre is some 12 feet tall and the wire clearance was only 0.039 inch.

"It's the robotic equivalent of threading a needle while standing on the end of a diving board," the Canadian Space Agency quoted its president, Steve … Read more