HSFNEWS Digest - 7 May 2014 to 15 May 2014 (#2014-33)

From: "[NASA REPORTS]" <list.admin@aus-city.com>

Date: May 14th 2014

There are 3 messages totalling 179 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

Space Station Crew Returns to Earth, Lands Safely in Kazakhstan
NASA Astronaut Rick Mastracchio Available for Interviews after Space Station Mission
SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft with NASA Cargo Set for Return to Earth

Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 08:07:09 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: Space Station Crew Returns to Earth, Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

May 13, 2014

Dan Huot Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #RELEASE 14-146

Space Station Crew Returns to Earth, Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

Three crew members from the International Space Station (ISS) returned to Earth Tuesday after 188 days in space, during which they orbited Earth more than 3,000 times and traveled almost 79 8 million miles

Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Soyuz commander Mikhail Tyurin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) touched down southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan at 9:58 p m EDT (7:58 a m , May 14, in Dzhezkazgan)

Medical personnel examine International Space Station Expedition 39 crew members (from left to right) Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Mikhail Tyurin of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Rick Mastracchio of NASA following their safe landing in a Soyuz capsule southeast of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan at 9:58 p m EDT May 13 (7:58 a m May 14 local time) Image Credit: NASA TV

During Expedition 39, the crew participated in a variety of research, including a human immune system activation and suppression study and a protein crystal growth research study looking for proteins responsible for Huntington's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions The crew also installed a new plant growth chamber designed to expand in-orbit food production capabilities

One of several key research focus areas during Expedition 39 was human health management for long duration space travel, as NASA and Roscosmos prepare for two crew members to spend one year aboard the space station in 2015

During their time aboard the orbiting laboratory, the trio welcomed three cargo spacecraft A Russian ISS Progress cargo vehicle docked to the station, bringing tons of supplies, and another Progress craft conducted tests on an upgraded automated rendezvous system In January, Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the station as part of Orbital's first commercial resupply mission In April, SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft to the station for the SpaceX-3 cargo resupply mission Both capsules were loaded with cargo and science experiments This was Orbital's first of at least eight cargo flights to the space station, and it was the third of at least 12 flights for SpaceX scheduled through 2016 under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract

Mastracchio, Tyurin and Wakata arrived at the station Nov 7 bearing the torch used to light the Olympic flame at Fisht Stadium in Sochi, Russia, which marked the start of the 2014 Winter Games in February During his time on the orbiting complex, Mastracchio ventured outside the confines of the space station for three contingency spacewalks The first two were to remove and replace a faulty cooling pump, and the third to remove and replace a failed backup computer relay box

The space station is more than a scientific research platform It also serves as a test bed to demonstrate new technology With the arrival of SpaceX-3, the Expedition 39 crew unloaded new climbing legs for NASA's Robonaut 2 (R2) humanoid robot Designed to take over routine, dirty and potentially dangerous tasks from astronauts, R2 will take its first steps toward mobility after the legs are attached and tested in the coming months Further upgrades and a battery backpack, necessary for the robot to operate completely untethered, will launch to the station later this year Ground controllers using the station's robotic arm also installed a new high-definition Earth-viewing camera system, referred to as HDEV, on the outside of the Columbus lab HDEV is comprised of four commercially available HD cameras and streams online live video of Earth to online viewers around the world

Having completed his fourth space station mission, Mastracchio now has spent 228 days in space Wakata has spent 348 days in space on four flights and served as the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station Tyurin has accumulated 532 days in space on three flights, making him 13th on the all-time endurance list

Expedition 40 now is operating aboard the station, with Steve Swanson of NASA in command of the orbiting laboratory Swanson and his crewmates, Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, will tend to the station as a three-person crew until the arrival in two weeks of three new crewmates: Reid Wiseman of NASA, Maxim Suraev of Roscosmos and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency Wiseman, Suraev and Gerst are scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan May 28

For more information on the International Space Station and its crews, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

For b-roll and other media resources, visit:

http://www nasa gov/stationnews

For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/nasatv

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Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 12:26:58 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA Astronaut Rick Mastracchio Available for Interviews after Space Station Mission

May 14, 2014

Jay Bolden Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #MEDIA ADVISORY M14-090

NASA Astronaut Rick Mastracchio Available for Interviews after Space Station Mission

NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio of Waterbury, Connecticut, who returned from the International Space Station Tuesday (May 13 U S time), will be available for live satellite interviews from 7 to 8 a m EDT Tuesday, May 20

Mastracchio will participate from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston To participate, reporters should contact Karen Svetaka at 281-483-8684 or at karen a svetaka@nasa gov no later than 2 p m , Monday, May 19

Mastracchio earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut, before earning postgraduate degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and the University of Houston, Clear Lake A veteran of four spaceflights, Mastracchio flew as a mission specialist on space shuttle missions STS-106, STS-118 and STS-131 before completing this recent six-month stint aboard the space station as a member of Expedition 38/39

Mastracchio launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Nov 6 aboard a Soyuz spacecraft with Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mikhail Tyurin of the Russian Federal Space Agency

During his mission Mastracchio and his crewmates performed several hundred experiments that crossed the fields of biology and biotechnology, physical science and earth science Mastracchio also performed spacewalks that were vital to maintaining the space station, participated in multiple educational outreach events and gave the spring commencement address at his alma mater, the University of Connecticut

Participating media will find satellite tuning information at:

http://go nasa gov/1hKwRze

For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and more downlink information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/nasatv

Mastracchioï¿½s complete biography is available at:

http://go nasa gov/YlLlv5

Follow NASA astronauts and ISS crew members as they share their experiences aboard the space station on Instagram and Twitter:

http://instagram com/iss

http://www twitter com/AstroRM

http://www twitter com/NASA_Astronauts

For information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

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Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 12:38:55 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft with NASA Cargo Set for Return to Earth

May 14, 2014

Dan Huot Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Rachel Kraft Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #MEDIA ADVISORY M14-091

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft with NASA Cargo Set for Return to Earth

NASA Television will provide live coverage of the departure of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station beginning at 9 a m EDT on Sunday, May 18 After leaving the space station, the capsule will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean carrying more than 3,500 pounds of NASA science samples and cargo

Dragon is set to be detached from the Earth-facing side of the station's Harmony module and unberthed through commands sent by robotic ground controllers at mission control in Houston operating the Canadarm 2 robotic arm Dragon then will be maneuvered into place for its release scheduled for approximately 9:25 a m

Dragon will execute three thruster firings to move away from the station to a safe distance for its deorbit burn at 2:10 p m Dragon will splash down around 3:05 p m in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California Neither the deorbit burn nor the splashdown will be broadcast on NASA TV

Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft designed to return to Earth intact Among the 3,563 pounds of return cargo are science samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities The spacecraft also will return crew supplies, vehicle hardware and spacewalk equipment

Dragon was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on April 18 on the companyï¿½s third contracted commercial resupply mission to the station Dragon arrived to the space station on April 20 with approximately 5,000 pounds of supplies aboard

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/nasatv

For more information about SpaceX's mission to the International Space Station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/spacex

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

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