Crew Prepares to Unpack Poisk

The Expedition 21 crew of the International Space Station wrapped up a busy week Friday that saw the docking of a new research module and preparations for the arrival of space shuttle Atlantis.

The hatches to the newly-arrived Russian Mini-Research Module 2, or Poisk, were opened at 7:17 a.m. EST, enabling Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev to enter for the first time to take air samples, hook up air ducts and photograph a scuff mark left by the docking mechanism probe on the receiving cone. Poisk, packed with 1,800 pounds of cargo, will be used as an additional docking port for Russian vehicles, as an airlock for Russian-based spacewalks and as a platform for external science experiments.

Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko and Suraev will begin unloading cargo from Poisk over the weekend. Poisk launched Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket and docked automatically to the Zvezda service module at 10:41 a.m. Thursday.

Image above: European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander, holds a stowage bag containing various beverages in the Unity node of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Nicole Stott began final preparations for her return to Earth aboard Atlantis, scheduled to launch Monday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Stott arrived at the orbiting complex on Aug. 30, and her departure will mark the last Expedition crew rotation by a space shuttle.

In addition to providing a ride home for Stott, the STS-129 crew of Atlantis will conduct three spacewalks at the station to transfer spare parts from the shuttle’s payload bay to the station’s external structures and continue assembly activities.

› Read more about STS-129

Flight Engineer Jeff Williams deactivated and stowed hardware for AgCam, the Agriculture Camera experiment sponsored by the University of North Dakota. Positioned in the window of the station’s Destiny laboratory, AgCam is designed to capture images of vegetated areas on the Earth from space to assist farmers, ranchers, foresters, natural resource managers and tribal officials.

Flight Engineer Robert Thirsk set up hardware and video recording equipment for the Bodies in Space Environment (BISE) experiment, which measures the relative importance of visual and body cues to an astronaut’s perception of "up." Stott and Commander Frank De Winne participated in this session as the test subjects.

De Winne also conducted an amateur radio session, speaking with students at the Salesian Institute of Naples in Italy and answering questions about living and working aboard the space station.

› Read more about Expedition 21
› View crew timelines

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

RSS Rollback

The rotating service structure was rolled back Sunday evening revealing space shuttle Atlantis poised for launch. The STS-129 countdown is proceeding smoothly and on schedule. The astronauts will go to sleep around 9 p.m. and awaken at 4:30 a.m. EST.

Image above: As the sun sets behind Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the rotating service structure has been moved away from space shuttle Atlantis. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

Also, at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning, the Mission Management Team will meet to give the “go” for tanking of space shuttle Atlantis. Tanking is scheduled to begin at 5 a.m.

Weather remains at 90 percent favorable for an on-time liftoff at 2:28 p.m. Monday afternoon.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Hosting Destruction

This artist's concept illustrates the two types of spiral galaxies that populate our universe: those with plump middles, or central bulges (upper left), and those lacking the bulge (foreground).

New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope provide strong evidence that the slender, bulgeless galaxies can, like their chubbier counterparts, harbor supermassive black holes at their cores. Previously, astronomers thought that a galaxy without a bulge could not have a supermassive black hole. In this illustration, jets shooting away from the black holes are depicted as thin streams.

The findings are reshaping theories of galaxy formation, suggesting that a galaxy's "waistline" does not determine whether it will be home to a big black hole.

Image Credit: NASA

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1515.html

STS-129 Launch Countdown Begins Today

At today's launch countdown status briefing held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, managers reported space shuttle Atlantis, its payload and crew are ready for launch at 2:28 p.m. EST on Monday.

NASA Test Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson reported everything is progressing on schedule for Atlantis' 31st flight to deliver the crew, two Express Logistic Carriers and other necessary parts to the International Space Station.

"Our teams here at Kennedy Space Center, as well as all the NASA centers around the country, have worked very hard preparing this hardware for flight," said Blackwell-Thompson. "We're all looking forward to the mission that lies ahead."

Scott Higginbotham, the STS-129 payload manager, said the processing of the payload for this mission has been a difficult and challenging race for his team. "But we're smiling today," Higginbotham said. "Because we crossed the finish line and we survived." Final inspections were completed and the payload bay doors were closed for flight this morning.

Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters reported weather is looking very good for launch day and for the loading of propellants into Atlantis' external fuel tank. At this time there's only a 10 percent chance of weather hindering a successful launch on Monday.

At 1 p.m. today, NASA's official launch countdown clock begins counting backward toward Monday's liftoff.

Tune into the STS-129 mission's pre-launch news conference that will be aired tomorrow at no earlier than 11 a.m. EST on NASA TV and on the web at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Flying Over Thin Ice

Thin ice is spotted from NASA's DC-8 aircraft from an altitude of 1,500 feet during a successful flight over Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier under blue-sky conditions on Nov. 9, 2009. Image Credit: Jim Yungel/NASA

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/ice_bridge/gallery/thin_ice.html

Spirit's traverse map through Sol 2081

As of Sol 2076 (Nov. 4, 2009), Spirit's total odometry remains at 7,729.97 meters (4.80 miles).

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/mer20091112.html

New Russian Module “Poisk” Docks to Station

The new Russian Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM2), also known as Poisk, docked to the space-facing port of the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station Thursday at 10:41 a.m. EST. It began its trip to the station when it was launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

Poisk is a Russian term that translates to search, seek and explore. It will provide an additional docking port for visiting Russian spacecraft and will serve as an extra airlock for spacewalkers wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits.

Image above: The Russian Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM2), also known as Poisk, approaches the International Space Station for docking. Credit: NASA TV

Poisk joins a Russian Progress resupply vehicle and two Russian Soyuz spacecraft currently docked at the station.

Meanwhile, the Expedition 21 crew members were busy with preparations for next week’s scheduled arrival of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-129 mission to deliver critical spare parts to the complex. Atlantis is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Nov. 16.

› Read more about STS-129

The crew members also were busy throughout the day with a variety of science experiments and station maintenance activities. Each crew member also had time set aside to exercise which helps to minimize the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the body.

› Read more about Expedition 21
› View crew timelines

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Skirting an Obstacle

This view from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows tracks left by backing out of a wind-formed ripple after the rover's wheels had started to dig too deeply into the dust and sand of the ripple.

The frames combined into this view were taken on the 1,867th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (April 25, 2009). The scene spans 120 degrees, from southeastward on the left to westward on the right.

Two sols earlier, Opportunity drove 310 feet south-southwestward before stopping when the rover detected that its wheels were slipping more than the limit that engineers had set for the drive. That Sol 1865 (April 23, 2009) drive created the tracks that enter this scene from the left and ended with wheels on the left side of the rover partially embedded in the ripple. On Sol 1866, Opportunity began to back away from this potential trap, but moved only about 11 inches. On Sol 1867, the rover backed up 12 feet before taking this picture. Subsequently, Opportunity proceeded on a path avoiding the ripple where the wheel slippage occurred.

For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about about 40 inches). This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1514.html

STS-129 Astronauts Arrive at Kennedy

The six astronauts for space shuttle Atlantis's STS-129 mission to the International Space Station are now at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in a Shuttle Training Aircraft Gulfstream II jet at 12:35 p.m. EST.

After arriving, STS-129 Commander Charles O. Hobaugh and his crew made brief statements to the media who were gathered at the shuttle runway.

Image above: The STS-129 crew pauses for a group portrait at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are Mission Specialist Leland Melvin; Pilot Barry E. Wilmore; Commander Charles O. Hobaugh; and Mission Specialists Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Robert L. Satcher Jr. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

"It's a real honor and pleasure to be here," said Hobaugh. "This has been the culmination of at least nine months of us being together as a crew … we've been deeply entrenched in our training, getting to develop all of our individual requirements for accomplishing our objectives for this mission."

The astronauts departed the landing strip and headed for the crew quarters of Kennedy's Operations and Checkout Building to begin final preparations for liftoff.

The official countdown clock begins counting backwards at 1 p.m. EST tomorrow towards Monday's 2:28 p.m. launch.

Tune in to the STS-129 countdown status briefing being aired on NASA TV and online at www.nasa.gov/ntv, scheduled for 10 a.m. EST Friday.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Five Days to Launch

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians at Launch Pad 39A begin work today to get space shuttle Atlantis' propulsion systems ready for flight to the International Space Station.

The shuttle's three main engines, as well as the orbital maneuvering system and reaction control system, which will be used to steer Atlantis in space, will start being pressurized for flight.

Image above: Mission Specialist Robert L. Satcher Jr. (left), Pilot Barry E. Wilmore and Mission Specialist Leland Melvin, attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, await the start of a Full Fuselage Trainer mock-up training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA/JSC

Techs also will complete installation of sensors and microphones in Atlantis' aft section today for the acoustic environment testing. Final systems checks in the shuttle's aft section are complete.

The STS-129 astronauts will fly to Kennedy tomorrow in NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft. Landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility is expected around 12 p.m. EST. NASA TV will air the crew's arrival live on the Web at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

The countdown to launch begins 1 p.m. Friday.

Liftoff of Atlantis' 11-day cargo mission to the space station is set for 2:28 p.m. EST Nov. 16.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html