NASA astronaut Nicole Stott installs hardware in the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station during Expedition 21. (Credit: NASA)

By Laura Niles
International Space Station Program Science Office and Public Affairs Office
NASA’s Johnson Space Center

From the first space station module, named Zarya, placed in orbit on November 20, 1998 to 2011’s construction completion, the facilities of the International Space Station provide powerful, safe and efficient laboratory capabilities for the more than 1,502 research investigations conducted to date on the orbiting laboratory. The space station provides a microgravity environment for researchers to conduct experiments in biology and biotechnology, human research, Earth and space science, physical science, and technology demonstrations, among a multitude of others, in what was only an engineering schematic just 15 years ago. In that time, space station educational activities on orbit have reached more than 42 million students across the globe. Further, the space station serves as a stepping-stone to deeper space exploration, demonstrating the essentials of long-term living in space.

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The Chang’e-3 lander and Yutu rover on the moon.

Silicon Valley, CA, December 1, 2013 (Moon Express PR) – Moon Express, a U.S. commercial lunar enterprise, is enabling scientific collaboration between the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) and China’s Chang’e-3 Moon mission successfully launched today from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, southwest China.

The U.S. private sector collaboration on Chang’e-3 is made possible through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between ILOA and the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) on September 4, 2012 in Hawaii, and a MOU signed between ILOA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on August 13, 2013, in Beijing.

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Modle of the Soyuz-21.v launch vehicle. (Credit: Pavel Kolotilov)

There is some good news to report out of Russia about two delayed launch vehicle development programs.

The Soyuz 2-1v light launch vehicle has been scheduled for its first test flight on Dec. 23. Meanwhile, the first prototype of the Angara rocket has made it to the launch pad at Plesetsk more than 18 years after the Russian government approved the program.

In related news, engineers have conducted nearly 70 test firings of the cryogenic RD-0146 upper stage engine, which is intended to fly on later versions of the Angara launch vehicle as well as the Proton rocket.

Spaceflight Now reports that the Soyuz 2-1v rocket will launch the student-built AIST microsatellite and SKRL 756 calibration spheres on its inaugural mission scheduled for two days before Christmas.

The Soyuz 2-1v is a light version of the venerable rocket. Four booster strap-on booster rockets have been removed, and the first-stage engine has been replaced with NK-33 engines left over from the Soviet manned lunar program.

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A Long March 3-B rocket lifts off with China’s Chang’e-3 lunar rover. (Credit: CAST)

A Chinese Long March-3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang Launch Center early Monday morning carrying a six-wheel lunar rover named Yutu (Jade Rabbit).

The Chang’e-3 lander is scheduled to touch down on China’s Sinus Iridum in mid-December, and Yutu will then begin a three-month exploration of the surface. The lander and the rover each possess a sophisticated suite of instruments.

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Mars Orbiter Mission Update ISRO Dec. 1, 2013 The critical manoeuvre to place India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in the Mars Transfer Trajectory was successfully carried out in the early hours of today (Sunday, December 1, 2013). During this manoeuvre, which began at 00:49 today, the spacecraft’s 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about 22 minutes providing a velocity increment of 648 meters/second to the spacecraft. Following the completion of […]

NASA astronaut Michael Foale performs an inspection of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) during Expedition 8 aboard the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)

NASA and CASIS officials are working to resolve an intellectual property rights issue that threatens to limit the amount of commercial research conducted aboard the International Space Station, Space News reports.

At the root of the problem is legislation that designated part of the space station a U.S. National Laboratory. In the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, the U.S. Congress directed the space agency to create a cooperative agreement with a nonprofit organization to manage the space station’s National Laboratory. Cooperative agreements established by federal agencies include standard, U.S. government-wide terms and conditions, including requirements for intellectual property rights, said Courtney Graham, NASA associate general council for commercial and intellectual property law. “If you look at any of the cooperative agreements from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate or any other part of NASA, you’ll see the same type of terms and conditions,” Graham said.

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Model of Chinese lunar rover Yutu. (Credit: CNSA)

China’s surging space program will embark on its most ambitious robotic mission yet on Monday as it launches the Chang’e-3 mission to the moon. The spacecraft will land and deploy a six-wheel rover named Yutu (Jade Rabbit) that will explore the surface for three months.

The launch aboard a Long March-3B rocket from Xichang is scheduled for Monday at 1:30 a.m. local time (Sunday, 12:30 p.m. EST).  The moon landing — the first by any country since the Soviet Luna 24 mission in 1976 — is scheduled for mid-December. Only the United States and Soviet Union have soft landed spacecraft on the lunar surface.

Chang’e is named for the Chinese goddess of the moon. Yutu is the jade rabbit kept by the goddess.

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Three nanosatellites, known as Cubesats, are deployed from a Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD) attached to the Kibo laboratory’s robotic arm. (Credit: NASA)

ISS Science Highlights: Week of Nov. 18, 2013
by John Love, Lead Increment Scientist
Expedition 37/38

NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio performed a session for the Microbiome study aboard the International Space Station. This included subject sampling, saliva, perspiration and blood collection, space station surface sampling and survey questionnaires. Microbiome investigates the impact of space travel on the human immune system and on an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body) to help predict how long-term space travel may impact human health. It is known that factors such as stress, diet and an impaired immune system can trigger changes in the human microbiota, increasing the risk of contracting a disease. The product of this study will be an assessment of the likelihood and consequences of alterations in the microbiome due to extreme environments, and the related human health risk. Findings could be used to benefit people on Earth who live and work in extreme environments. Other potential applications of this study could be to further research in preliminary detection of diseases, alterations in metabolic function and immune system deficiency.

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Rocket engines are healthy, but cleaning turbopump gas generators will take another day. Aiming for Mon eve launch. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2013   Rocket engines are healthy, but cleaning turbopump gas generators will take another day. Aiming for Mon eve launch. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2013 For all the latest space news, please follow Parabolic Arc on Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s an interesting item (via Google Translate) from the Argentine newspaper El País: The Government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner….announced this week that before the end of the month it will begin the first tests of the Tronador III satellite launcher in the village of Pipinas (156 kilometers south of Buenos Aires ). It will then test the first of up to six prototypes before installing in 2015 the final […]