Flying Droids a Reality on ISS

Space station's flying droids embrace Google smartphone tech
The free-flying Spheres, inspired by "Star Wars" and now aided by Google's Project Tango, will handle more of the mundane tasks for astronauts.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Imagine you're an astronaut who has just arrived at the International Space Station. You need to assess the supplies on hand, but counting everything demands so much of your limited time.

That's exactly why NASA originally turned to Spheres, autonomous, free-flying robots that take care of mundane tasks and are based on the flying droid that helped teach Luke Skywalker how to fight with a light saber in the original "Star Wars."

Now, Spheres are incorporating Google's Project Tango, cutting-edge tech that is expected to help the space agency increase efficiency.

For some time -- since 2003, to be exact -- space station crews have had access to free-flying robots known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites. That ungainly title is best abbreviated to a more palatable acronym: Spheres. Originally designed by aero/astroengineers at MIT, Spheres were meant as a flying test bed for examining the mechanical properties of materials in microgravity. The inspiration for the project, said Terry Fong, director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA, "comes from 'Star Wars,' as all good things do."

Now, NASA is bringing an especially innovative commercial tool into the mix. Starting this October, Spheres will incorporate Project Tango -- a smartphone platform built for 3D mapping that also happens to be packed with just the series of sensors and cameras that NASA needs to handle many of the mundane tasks aboard the ISS.

In 2003, Spheres were fairly rudimentary -- at least for flying autonomous robots. They relied on liquid carbon dioxide for propulsion and on an ancient Texas Instruments digital signal processor.

About four years ago, Fong's Intelligent Robotics Group took over the project. Since then, it has been slowly improving Spheres robots by using the small computers better known as smartphones. At first, NASA worked with Nexus S smartphones, which are jammed with cameras, gyroscopes, accelerometers, and modern processors. [...]

I remember reading about these years ago, about how they could fly around the ISS because of the zero gravity. Now they are evolving, using smartphone technology. See the whole article for embedded links, photos and video.
     

Space Weather: Aurora as seen from Space

Recent solar weather has been stimulating Aurora's on earth. This video from the International Space Station shows us the view from above the earth's atmosphere:


Amazing... and stunningly beautiful.

WATCH: An unusual view of the Aurora Australis, from space

[...] This weird, gripping shot of earth was recorded on Sept. 17, 2011, as a solar storm battered the atmosphere with ionizing particles. Waves of Ecto-Cooler-green luminescence shimmer over the surface of the planet like an iridescent oil slick. The video was shot while the Space Station passed south of Madagascar to north of Australia over the Indian Ocean, thus these lights are known as the Aurora Australis.

The sun has been frantically blatting with these plasma outbursts over the past 36 hours, an indication that it is ascending toward the peak of its 11-year solar cycle. Yesterday, the star unleashed one of the largest class of flares, an X-1, with a corresponding strong radio blackout. Here's what that looked like. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction agency is advising heavenly forecasters that more solar ejections could be in the forecast from the cursed Region 1302: [...]

Read the whole thing. With embedded links.
     

Japanese "HAL" to Tweet from Space

Japan to Send Talking, Tweeting Robot Into Space

Japan's space agency is looking into the possibility of sending a Twitter-using humanoid robot to the International Space Station to act as a talking companion for astronauts on the orbiting outpost, according to news reports.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced this week that it is considering a plan to equip the space station with a humanoid robot in 2013 to keep watch over the outpost while astronauts sleep, according to the Associated Press and AFP wire services. The robot could also monitor the crewmembers' health and stress levels.

The robot would also be able to "talk" by communicating with people on Earth and sharing photos through Twitter, according to the AP.

"We are thinking in terms of a very human-like robot that would have facial expressions and be able to converse with the astronauts," said JAXA engineer Satoshi Sano, according to the AP.

Development of the robot is being spearheaded by JAXA, advertising and communications giant Dentsu Inc. and a team at Tokyo University. [...]

Well, I suppose a talking computer in space that Tweets is better than one that murders astronauts while they sleep. If you read the whole article though, it sounds like they are thinking of maybe merging this talking robot with Robonaut 2. So, would such a hybrid be like "HAL", only with hands? "Handy HAL, the handyman". Butler, companion, and potential axe-murderer all in one.

Hopefully scary thoughts of a HAL with hands will remain a thing of cinematic fiction. In reality, it looks like there's going to be a real future for robots in space:

NASA Plans New Robot Generation to Explore Moon, Asteroids
     

Space pics from Shuttle Discovery's mission

The current mission, which is also the last mission for space shuttle Discovery:


See more photo's posted daily on flickr by one of the astronauts:

magisstra's photostream

You can see daily news updates here:

Complete Coverage: Discovery's Final Mission
     

Final shuttle mission brings robot to the ISS

Robot Butler Hitching Ride to Space on Shuttle Discovery

[...] Robonaut 2, which will become the first humanoid robot in space, looks a bit like a boxer's training aid.

The $2.5 million space bot consists of a head and torso, along with a pair of dexterous arms that pack down into a puncher's pose. R2 stands 3 feet, 4 inches (1.01 meter) tall and weighs about 330 pounds (150 kilograms).

R2 is a joint project of NASA and carmaker General Motors. It's the product of a cooperative agreement to develop a robotic assistant that can work alongside humans, whether they're astronauts in space or workers at GM plants here on Earth, NASA officials have said.

The bot is made primarily of aluminum and steel. Its head houses five cameras — including one infrared camera in the mouth — to provide stereo vision and depth perception. The torso contains 38 PowerPC processors, and R2 carries a backpack that can be filled with batteries or a power conversion system.

Each of R2's arms can carry about 20 pounds (9.1 kg), and its hands have articulating fingers and thumbs. The robot, which builds on NASA's work with its first Robonaut project, should be able to use the same tools astronauts on the space station use, agency officials said.

The robot's job

Astronauts will install Robonaut 2 inside the station's U.S. Destiny laboratory and put it through some test paces. The goal is to see just what the robot helper can do — how it can work side-by-side with astronauts to make station operations run more smoothly.

"We're going to use Robonaut on orbit to learn more about how robots can take over astronaut tasks — some mundane things and then potentially some of the more dangerous tasks," said Scott Higginbotham, payload manager for Discovery's STS-133 mission.

Robonaut 2 was designed to use both internal and external interfaces, so future bots could eventually be installed on the station's exterior to aid in spacewalks and other difficult or dangerous tasks. However, R2 itself will likely stay inside, officials said, since the bot lacks protection against the extreme cold of space. [...]

It really sounds more like an experiment, than a "Butler". I'm sure we will be hearing more about it as the experiment progresses.


Also see:NASA Robot Will Help Kick Off Super Bowl Sunday

     



Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Who knows what applications may be found for the robot in the future:

Project M
     

Ham Radio Contacts with Astronauts on board the International Space Station

I had heard that commander Wheelock was making lots of contacts from the International Space Station. I had looked up the times when the ISS was passing overhead, to see if I could hear anything, but unfortunately I was often busy with other stuff and kept missing my opportunities. But many others were quite successful:


ISS Expedition 24/25 Crew Back on Terra Firma

11/30/2010

After more than 160 days in space, ISS Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC -- along with Flight Engineers Shannon Walker, KD5DXB, and Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI -- has returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), landing in Kazakhstan on Friday, November 26. While on board the ISS, both Wheelock and Walker participated in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, and made 22 ISS-to-school and ISS-to-camp QSOs. In addition, Wheelock averaged about two dozen casual QSOs each week while on board the ISS.

During his last few weeks in space, Wheelock sent down a note to Johnson Space Center, asking to increase the number of ARISS contacts from one per week to two a week during his last month on the ISS. According to ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO, Wheelock said he enjoyed the contacts with children, calling them “priceless.” White said that the ARISS Team quickly reviewed the list of schools on the ARISS waiting list and set up contacts for Wheelock.

In a 20 minute video taken aboard the ISS, Wheelock gave a tour of the ISS, even making a few ham radio contacts while passing over North America (the ham radio portion of the video begins at the 10:38 mark). [...]

It goes on about the many contacts Doug made, and says that the crew coming to the station on December 17th, will include two more Amateur radio operators. Good! Perhaps there will be more opportunities for me to try again.


Also see:

Seeing the International Space Station from Earth

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
     

The real ISS "Room with a View" is installed

A while back I did a post about the new viewing window that was being installed onthe International Space Station. I posted a picture at the top of that post, of an artist's rendition of what it was supposed to look like.

Now it's installed. Here is what it actually looks like:


Not quite as bright and glamorous as the artist's rendition, is it? But close enough; it's practical and gets the job done. It allows the astronauts to see much of the Space Station's exterior without having to rely totally on cameras.

The view in this photo is, I think, the Sahara desert. But the view changes constantly, as the station orbits the earth about 16 times a day.
     

Space shuttle delivers viewing window to ISS

Endeavour to Deliver a Room With a View

The International Space Station has been moving steadily closer to completion for the past several years. But what house is complete without a utility room, a gym and a picture window?

During the STS-130 mission, space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the Tranquility node and its cupola, a dome-shaped extension from Tranquility made up of seven windows. They will be the last major U.S. modules to be added to the space station, and together they’ll help clear out premium workspace in other areas of the station – as well as offer a window on the world.

At 15 feet wide and 23 feet long, the Tranquility node will provide a centralized home for the station’s environmental control equipment – one of the systems that remove carbon dioxide from the station’s air, one of the station’s bathrooms and the equipment that converts urine into drinkable water, all of which is currently taking up space in the Destiny laboratory. And there’s enough room left over to house the station’s new treadmill and its microgravity equivalent of a weight machine, moving it out of the Unity node where it’s in the way whenever spacewalk preparations are going on inside the adjacent Quest airlock.

“It gives us a much needed addition to the house, so to speak,” said Bob Dempsey, lead space station flight director for the mission. “We’re getting to the point where we’re really cramped for space. You might be surprised at that, considering we’re essentially the volume of a 747 and we’ve been adding modules for the last couple of years. You might think we’d be sitting around in a big empty house. But no – every inch is really getting packed up there.”

STS-130 Commander George Zamka put it another way.

“It’s like exercising in the office,” he said. “This will be a more logical organization, more focused.”




Though the node has an intensely practical function, there are still fanciful aspects to Tranquility. For one, its name, which was chosen with the help of a naming contest on NASA.gov.

“It harkens back to the Sea of Tranquility, where humans made their very first tentative landing on the moon,” Zamka said. “They were only there for a few hours, and it was at the very limits of what human beings could do. From that beginning, we’re now putting up a node that will house the majority of the life support equipment for the station, where we’re going to have a permanent presence in space.”

But everyone agrees that the real scope for the imagination will be provided by Tranquility’s 6.5-by-5-foot annex: the cupola. Its true purpose will be to provide a true view of robotics operations on the station’s exterior – such as those that will be required when the next module, the Russian Rassvet, is added during STS-132 – and in that it will be invaluable.

“Out the window is the truth,” Zamka said. “The video views that we use now, you’re trying to stick together and have a mental image of where things are. When you look out the window, you don’t have to imagine. It’s all right there for you.”

But there’s no question that many people – including Zamka – are looking forward to looking out of it for other views.

“Just the idea of providing this great view of the station and the world beneath us is going to be pretty great,” he said. “That’s not what it’s for, but it will be spectacular.” [...]

A pretty neat combination of form and function, it's both practical and fanciful. Follow the link for more pics and information.



     

ISS with new solar panels & full power capacity

Thanks to the crew of the recent Space Shuttle Discovery Mission, STS-119:


Space Shuttle Mission: STS-119

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven safely touched down on runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:14 p.m. EDT on Saturday, March 28. The weather cooperated enough to allow the spacecraft to land on the second opportunity.

Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus also returned to Earth with the STS-119 crew. Magnus spent 129 days aboard the International Space Station as flight engineer for Expedition 18. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata took her place on the orbiting laboratory and will return to Earth with the STS-127 crew.

The 13-day mission included three spacewalks, about 6-hours a piece, to install the S6 truss and enormous starboard-side solar arrays. They also unfurled the arrays and performed other get-ahead tasks.

Mission STS-119's crew of seven completed a successful mission aboard the International Space Station -- increasing the orbiting laboratory's power capacity and giving it the ability to accommodate additional crew members in the future.

Up till now, the ISS could only accommodate three permanent crew members. Two of those members have a full time job running the station, leaving only one to conduct experiments. Now they will be able to have six full-time crew members, and be able to really start using those space labs for research.

Follow this link to see the photo gallery for mission STS-119.
     

New "bedrooms" and a 2nd bathroom for the ISS

I keep reading news reports about the "home makeover" for the International Space Station, talking about adding two new bedrooms and a 2nd bathroom, as if it were a house. The reality is quite different from any house you might experience here on earth.

For instance, would you call this a "bedroom"? Not by earthly standards:



It's basically a padded closet. On the right wall, you can see a thin sleeping bag stuck to the wall. That is the "bed" the astronaut uses. He/She zips themselves inside so they don't go floating around bouncing off the walls every time they move in their sleep!

As for the 2nd toilet, I think it looks kinda scary:


The Russian-made zero gravity toilet is no doubt very practical. I'm pretty sure there are sources on line that explain exactly how it works... for those who really want to know!

I got these photos from here:

Space.com: Shuttle Astronauts to Move In Aboard Space Station

Follow the link for more details and more photos of the other things they are installing, like the water recycling unit that will recycle urine into clean drinking water.

Just like home, right? But don't laugh - every home may have one, someday. Yikes.
     

Space Shuttle Endeavour to dock with ISS today

In fact, it's happening right now:


This mission is about expanding the International Space Station's capacity to hold a larger full time crew. Here is a photo of the Endeavour crew, and a summary of their mission:

Image above: These seven astronauts take a break from training to pose for the STS-126 crew portrait. Astronaut Christopher J. Ferguson, commander, is at center; and astronaut Eric A. Boe, pilot, is third from the right. Remaining crew members, pictured from left to right, are astronauts Sandra H. Magnus, Stephen G. Bowen, Donald R. Pettit, Robert S. (Shane) Kimbrough and Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, all mission specialists. Image credit: NASA

Veteran space flier Navy Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson will command the STS-126 mission aboard Endeavour to deliver equipment to the International Space Station that will enable larger crews to reside aboard the complex. Air Force Lt. Col. Eric A. Boe will serve as the pilot. The mission specialists are Navy Capt. Stephen G. Bowen, Army Lt. Col. Robert S. Kimbrough, Navy Capt. Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper and NASA astronauts Donald R. Pettit and Sandra H. Magnus.

Magnus will remain on the station, replacing Expedition 17/18 Flight Engineer Gregory E. Chamitoff, who returns to Earth with the STS-126 crew. Magnus will serve as a flight engineer and NASA science officer for Expedition 18. Magnus will return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-119.

Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, additional exercise equipment, equipment for the regenerative life support system and spare hardware.

STS-126 is the 27th shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

You can read more about the mission's specific tasks here:

Station Prepares for Expanding Crew

Expanding kitchen facilities, adding more bedrooms and an extra bathroom all sound like home improvements that many homeowners have tackled. But when the “house” is the International Space Station orbiting 220 miles above Earth, things are a little more complicated than visiting the local home improvement store for materials. Just in time for its 10th anniversary, the space station will get a delivery via space shuttle Endeavour that might win a prize for out-of-this-world home makeover.

When Endeavour and crew lift off on the STS-126 mission for the 27th shuttle flight to the station, it will be packed with supplies like food and clothing for the station crew members. However, Endeavour’s major payload consists of equipment for enlarging the space station’s capacity to accommodate a six-member crew. The high-tech home improvement materials are stowed inside the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, which will be tucked inside the shuttle’s cargo bay.

Some of the additions aboard will be: [...]

You can read the rest for the details, with photos too.

UPDATE: They have arrived!


Image above: The STS-126 crew is welcomed aboard the International Space Station by the Expedition 18 crew. Credit: NASA TV


Related Links:

Astronaut Donald Pettit
Our own Astronaut from Oregon. This is his official biography on the NASA website.

Astronaut Greg Chamitoff's Journal
A fascinating look at what the astronaut's life is like on the ISS.
     

ISS Crew Changeover and a Space Tourist

Space Tourist Richard Garriott paid 30 million
dollars for his 10-day space journey
A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying space tourist Richard Garriott, and Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and US astronaut Michael Fincke, has docked at the International space station. From The Associated Press:

Russian spacecraft docks with orbital station

KOROLYOV, Russia - An American computer game designer boarded the international space station Tuesday, floating onto the orbital outpost 35 years after his astronaut father circled the Earth on Skylab.

Richard Garriott was greeted by another man who has turned space flight into a family tradition: Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, whose father is a decorated veteran of the Soviet space program.

[...]

Garriott, 47, paid a reported US$30 million to fulfill his childhood dream of space travel. Growing up steeped in space flight, his determination was only strengthened when he was told his poor eyesight would prevent him from becoming a NASA astronaut like his father.

[...]

Long rivals in the Cold War space race, Washington and Moscow often point to the space program as an example of cooperation in their otherwise difficult relationship, which reached a low point in August when Russia defeated Georgia, a U.S. ally, in a brief war.

During their stint, Fincke and Lonchakov will work to expand the capacity of the station to host a crew of six — up from three — with additional sleep spaces, a second toilet and an exercise machine. Their crewmate Greg Chamioff will be replaced by another U.S. astronaut, Sandra Magnus, who is scheduled to arrive on a space shuttle in November along with equipment for the expansion.

Sounds like it's business as usual, despite international tensions over the Russia/Georgia conflict. Can the Russia/America cooperation continue, without letting politics interfere? It seems they are determined to do just that.

From DailyTech.com:

Russia Space Director Talks Russia-U.S. Business Deal

Even though political tensions between the United States and Russia remain strained and global economic problems are causing credit crunches, space exploration will take place as scheduled, the head of Russia's space agency said over the weekend.

Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov understands that in two short years the Soyuz space capsule will be the only transportation for astronauts to reach the International Space Station (ISS) until 2014 or 2015. Russia will need to assist the U.S. to get both astronauts and supplies to the ISS, and the ISS crew could be expanded from three people to six, which would add pressure to Russia.

"Cooperation is first and foremost international and it cannot be said that space has any boundaries," Perminov said during the press conference. [...]

The US Congress has made it legal for NASA to purchase seats aboard future Soyuz launches, despite political obstacles. Read the whole thing for more details.

I wonder if they can stay on course with this. The Orion project, our new spacecraft to replace our aging shuttle fleet, could be delayed beyond it's 2015 target date. The multi-billion dollar bailout for banks could affect NASA funding. For now it looks like plans have not changed. Russia needs the money as much as we need them to supply us with Soyuz spacecraft. We shall see as time goes along, if the arrangement, and our space budget, will hold up.


Related Links:

NASA, Russia, and The Space Travel Dilemma

Discovery Returns, Mission Accomplished

NASA goes Back to the Future
     

NASA, Russia, and The Space Travel Dilemma

America's Orion Spacecraft; to launch in 2013 2014?
When the space shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft is supposed to be used instead, until the new American Orion ships are ready. But now that plan seems in jeopardy due to political concerns. Do we face having to expand our space program further... or even cutting it back?

Russia-Georgia conflict could affect NASA funding

WASHINGTON — Russia's military campaign in Georgia could have repercussions far beyond its borders, jeopardizing the U.S.-Russian partnership for manning the international space station over the next decade.

Lawmakers, including several from Texas, warned Friday that Moscow's air and tank attacks on its neighbor will likely prompt Congress to re-evaluate legislation allowing NASA to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for Russia to taxi astronauts to the space station.

The Soyuz spaceflights would span the five years between the shuttle's 2010 retirement and the launch of the new Orion spacecraft.

While some members predicted that Congress would eventually give NASA the go-ahead this year or next to work with Moscow's space program, others said they would rather see the retirement of the aging shuttle fleet put off a few years rather than rely on the Russians. [...]

Some people in Congress want to see our shuttle program extended, so we can avoid having to rely on the Russians for transport until our Orion spacecraft is ready (If it's completed on time, the latest estimate is September 2014. It's already been delayed one year).

The problem with extending the shuttle program would be that it's very costly, and would take money away from the building of the Orion spacecraft, causing even further delays. NASA would also like to stop using the shuttle, because of safety concerns inherent in it's design, and the age of the fleet. The Russian Soyuz spacecraft is known to be reliable, and seemed the ideal answer to the gap between the shuttle and the new Orion spacecraft. Too bad the Russian government isn't as reliable as the Soyuz.

Read the whole article for the details of the political debate. Some in congress are worried that opponents of the space program would use this as an excuse to de-fund it. Others are pushing for expanding NASA's budget to extend shuttle service AND keep the Orion spacecraft launch on schedule. I think that could be a tough sell in these budget-minded times. Yet at least the money spent wouldn't leave the country, but would be providing American's with jobs. And if the surge of the American dollar continues, that could also help economic concerns.

I think a lot is going to depend on the unfolding situation between Russia and Georgia in the coming weeks. But I don't doubt it's put a strain on NASA and their relationship with the Russian Space Agency. It's definitely dampened the enthusiasm of congress.


Orion spacecraft (right) docking at the ISS.


Related Links:

Surge for the dollar as global fears rise

Congress delays Orion Spacecraft launch date
     

Discovery Returns, Mission Accomplished

So what did they get done, besides the usual goofy zero gravity pics?





Plenty! They installed the main components of the Kibo science lab, the largest module on the station. Below is the interior of the lab:



Here is the exterior, with the storage unit placed on top:



Astronaut Nyberg looks out the shuttle window at the station as the shuttle departs:



Here is a closeup of the installed modules, taken from the shuttle after it departed:



Same photo, bigger view:



You can see more photos from the mission here:STS-124 Mission Photos

You can read more about the mission's conclusion here:
NASA, Astronauts Celebrate Successful Mission

Seven astronauts flew space shuttle Discovery back to NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Saturday to end the latest construction mission to the International Space Station.

Commander Mark Kelly and Pilot Ken Ham were at the controls of Discovery as it glided through Florida skies to touch down on time at 11:15 a.m. EDT.

Kelly, Ham and Mission Specialists Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide spent 14 days in orbit installing the Japanese Pressurized Module to the space station. The module is the largest section of the Japanese laboratory called "Kibo," or hope. Garrett Reisman also returned onboard Discovery. He spent three months living on the space station.

Talking to the news media a few hours after landing, the crew of STS-124 beamed about the flight.

"I think I have the best space shuttle crew of all-time," Kelly said.

Although there are more pieces to add on future flights, Fossum said the addition of Kibo made the station look nearly complete.

"It was a great feeling of accomplishment as we backed away (from the station)," he said.

Hoshide, one of the astronauts of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, spent time on Earth monitoring Kibo's preparation for space. Saying goodbye to it in orbit was not easy.

"When we went to close the hatch, that was a tender moment, it was kind of sad," he said.

NASA and Japanese officials hailed the flight just after landing.

"I can't think of a mission really that's been better than this one," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator of Space Operations. "We're starting to break that tie to planet Earth and get out and do what exploration is."

Discovery returned to its base in good shape, said Michael Leinbach, shuttle launch director.

"It's just a terrific day here at the Kennedy Space Center." [...]

     

Kibo Lab attached, to be activated today

Yesterday, the Discovery crew unloaded the pressurized Kibo space lab from Discovery's cargo bay, and attached it to the station.


The spacewalk crew unbolted it, and two astronauts inside the station attached it to the station using a robot arm, while the spacewalk crew got on with other repairs outside the station.


Here is an illustration that shows where the Kibo lab has been attached on the station:


Today the astronauts will complete all the internal hookups, and open the lab up. Here is some information from NASA's mission summary .PDF file:

NASA Mission Summary, SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY (STS-124)

FACTS & FIGURES

• STS-124 is the 123rd space shuttle flight, the 26th flight to the station, the 35th flight for Discovery and the third flight in 2008.

• The Kibo laboratory—which means “hope” in Japanese—is the country’s major contribution to the station and will enhance the research capabilities of the space station.

• The JPM will be the largest habitable module on the space station and is equipped with its own airlock and robotic arm for external experiments.

• The final components of Kibo will be assembled in space on shuttle mission STS-127.

• The RMS main arm can handle up to 14,000 pounds of hardware. The small fine arm, when attached to the main arm, handles more delicate operations. Each arm has six joints that mimic the movements of a human arm.

• The JPM is 36.7 feet long and 14.4 feet in diameter, about the size of a large tour bus.

• The main arm measures 32.5 feet long, and the small fine arm measures 6.2 feet.

• Kibo experiments and systems are operated from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's control center called the Space Station Integration and Promotion Center, just north of Tokyo.

• Experiments in Kibo focus on space medicine, biology, Earth observations, material production, biotechnology and communications research.

• To help prevent the glove cuts seen in recent missions from recurring, both spacewalkers will wear gloves with special patches on the thumb and index finger for the first time. The patches are made of the same protective vectran material already used in the palm of the gloves, but in a much tighter weave. In this form, the fabric is called TurtleSkin. It is up to four times more resistant to damage.

When all the components are in place, the Kibo lab unit should be configured like this:


The porch-like attachment is for performing experiments outside the station, using robotic arms. I believe the porch-platform is scheduled to brought up and added on in a future mission.

More about todays activities:

Crews to Enter Japanese Lab Today

The shuttle and station crews will open the newly installed Japanese laboratory Kibo for business today. Hatch opening is planned for 4:52 p.m. EDT. The experiment module was installed on the Harmony Node’s port side Tuesday.

After a leak check, mission specialists Karen Nyberg and Akihiko Hoshide will prepare Kibo for activation before opening the hatches. Shortly after entering Kibo with Hoshide, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov will sample the air and test for contamination. They will wear protective goggles and masks until they are sure the Japanese lab’s air is clean.

Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan will review procedures for their second spacewalk and sleep in the U.S. Quest airlock tonight to purge the nitrogen from their bodies. During Thursday’s spacewalk, the second of the mission, the spacewalkers will outfit the new lab and prepare the Japanese logistics module for relocation.

You can check the link for progress updates. They have already fixed the malfunctioning Zero-Gravity Space Toilet. That should make life in space a bit easier.
     

A busy day at the International Space Station

The Shuttle Discovery docked yesterday, and today their work begins:

STS-124 Commander Mark Kelly works inside the Quest airlock with Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov. Photo credit: NASA TV

STS-124 to Conduct First Spacewalk, Install JPM

Mission specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan are scheduled to kick off STS-124’s first spacewalk at 11:32 a.m. EDT. During the 6-½ hour excursion, the pair will retrieve a shuttle inspection tool, service and inspect components of a solar alpha rotary joint and prepare the largest component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory for installation on the International Space Station.

The spacewalkers’ first task is to transfer the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) from the station’s truss to space shuttle Discovery. The OBSS, which attaches to the shuttle’s robotic arm for detailed inspection of the shuttle’s heat shield, was left at the station for STS-124 during the previous shuttle mission to provide room for the giant Kibo module in Discovery’s payload bay.

Next, the spacewalkers will prepare Kibo’s Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM) for installation. After inspecting the common berthing mechanism on the Harmony Node’s left side and opening a window cover, Fossum and Garan will work together in the shuttle’s cargo bay to remove contamination covers from the JPM’s docking surfaces. Fossum will also disconnect heater cables and remove locking bolts from the shutters of the JPM’s forward window.

For their final tasks, Garan and Fossum will move to the station’s starboard solar alpha rotary joint, which began experiencing increased vibration and power usage in the fall of 2007. Garan will install a replacement of one of the joint’s 12 trundle bearing assemblies. Meanwhile, Fossum will inspect a potentially damaged area on the joint and try out several techniques for cleaning debris from the surface of the joint’s race ring.

While Fossum and Garan work outside the orbital outpost, mission specialists Karen Nyberg and Akihiko Hoshide will use the station’s robotic arm to remove the JPM from the shuttle’s payload bay and install it on Harmony.

An Astronauts work is never done. You can visit the page for more links and info about the mission.
     

Seeing the International Space Station from Earth

I've been collecting photos of the ISS. This one is currently my desktop wallpaper:


I believe it's taken from the shuttle, from a few missions back.

It's also possible to photograph the ISS from the earth, but it can be hard to do, because you need a telescope, and it's moving quite fast when it passes overhead, and is typically only visible for two or three minutes. Here is the result of one attempt that succeeded:




But you don't need a telescope just to see it pass overhead, it is visible to the naked eye, as a point of light moving across the sky. With good binoculars, you might even make out some of it's features. There is a place on the web where you can enter your location or zip code, and find out when and where it will be visable from your location:



Find out when the ISS passes over your city

Have you ever wondered what's been going on at the ISS? What's coming up next? Now you can find out, by checking this link for the latest news:

ISS News Releases

I've been reading it lately. There are all sorts of things going on all the time. Currently there is an overlap of station crews, which change about every six months. The former crew is due to return to earth April 19th. And South Korea's female astronaut So-yeon Yi is making her first flight and visit to the station. She is due to return on the 19th with the former crew, via a Soyuz spacecraft.

You can find out all the things that don't always make it into your local or national daily news, and keep in touch with the bigger picture. There is also lots of interesting links in the sidebars to explore. Great fun!
     

ISS is now about 70% completed

Here are some photos taken from the Shuttle Endeavour recently, when it departed the ISS:


Above is a close-up of the Kibo lab storage unit, the circular canister on top, with the Columbia ESA lab protruding just to the left. The new robot arm is resting above. The Kibo storage unit is in a temporary location; it will eventually be moved and attached to the Kibo lab that is arriving on the next shuttle mission.


More than double the size of the ESA lab, the Japanese-made Kibo lab will be the largest laboratory on the station.It will be attached opposite the ESA lab on the right side, and the storage module will be moved on top of it.


You can see lots more photos from Endeavor's mission in the galleries here:

STS-123 Shuttle Mission Imagery

The images are available in high and low resolution. The high resolution ones make great desktop wallpaper.

The next shuttle mission, STS-124, is scheduled for May 25th:

Navy Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly will command the STS-124 shuttle mission to deliver the Pressurized Module and robotic arm of the Japanese Experiment Module, known as "Kibo" (hope), to the International Space Station. Navy Cmdr. Kenneth T. Ham will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists will include NASA astronauts Karen L. Nyberg; Air Force Col. Ronald J. Garan Jr.; and Air Force Reserve Col. Michael E. Fossum. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide also will serve as a mission specialist.

Navy Cmdr. Stephen G. Bowen was previously named to the STS-124 crew but has been reassigned to STS-126. The change allows room for the STS-124 mission to rotate a space station resident.

Astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff is scheduled to fly to the station as a mission specialist on STS-124. He will take Astronaut Garrett E. Reisman's place as an Expedition 17 flight engineer and return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-126.

The STS-124 mission is the second of three flights that will launch components to complete the Kibo laboratory. The mission will include two spacewalks to install the new lab and its remote manipulator system. The lab's logistics module, which will have been installed in a temporary location during STS-123, will be attached to the new lab.

STS-124 is the 26th shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

You can follow the link to see photos and profiles of the crew members. There is a total of 10 more shuttle missions planned. If all goes well, the ISS will be completed by 2010, and NASA will retire the shuttles in favor of their new Orion capsules. Their focus will then change to manned missions to the moon, and Mars.
     

Clarissa: a HAL type computer for the ISS?

Much of the technology portrayed in the famous science fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey" has failed to materialize by the year 2001. The HAL 9000 computer in the movie is no exception.


Artificial intelligence (AI) is a controversial topic, with a lot of disagreement as to what actually constitutes real intelligence. Many argue that a computer like HAL is way off in the future, while others would maintain that it's closer than we think.

Whichever opinion one holds, it's clear that the science of AI is moving forward anyway. Today we may even be seeing the beginnings of what could one day lead to a HAL like computer. In fact, perhaps we already have HAL's great great grandmother! In 2005, the International Space Station got a talking computer called Clarissa to help the astronauts by reading instruction manuals to them. Maggie McKee explains it to us in this article from New Scientist:

Space station gets HAL-like computer      [published June 2005]

A voice-operated computer assistant is set to be used in space for the first time on Monday – its operators hope it proves more reliable than "HAL", the treacherous speaking computer in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Called Clarissa, the program will initially talk astronauts on the International Space Station through tests of onboard water supplies. But its developers hope it will eventually be used for all computer-related work on the station.

Clarissa was designed with input from astronauts. They said it was difficult to perform the 12,000 procedures necessary to maintain the ISS and conduct scientific experiments while simultaneously reading through lengthy instruction manuals.

"Just try to analyze a water sample while scrolling through pages of a procedure manual displayed on a computer monitor while you and the computer both float in microgravity," says US astronaut Michael Fincke, who spent six months on the station in 2004.

Clarissa queries astronauts about the details of what they need to accomplish in a particular procedure, then reads through step-by-step instructions. Astronauts control the program using simple commands like "next" or more complicated phrases, such as "set challenge verify mode on steps three through fourteen".

Kim Farrell, Clarissa project manager, simulates on-orbit use of the system in the International Space Station mock-up at Ames Research Center.

"The idea was to have a system that would read steps to them under their control, so they could keep their hands and eyes on whatever task they were doing," says Beth Ann Hockey, a computer scientist who leads the project at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, US.

That capability "will be like having another crew member aboard", says Fincke. (You can see Clarissa in action in a mp4 video hosted on this NASA page.) [...]

Clarissa uses an "open mic", and is capable of understanding multiple voices of astronauts, recognizing when astronauts are talking to each other and not to it, can deal with some ambient noise, and has a high voice recognition rate of around 94%, making it a very useful and professional tool. You can read the full article for more details, and there's more videos of Clarissa on NASA's web site:

Clarissa NASA page with photos and videos

Clarissa is cutting-edge technology, and is leading the way for future voice recognition and text-to-speech applications closer to home.

Beth Ann Hockey is the project leader of the Clarissa project.
The Clarissa software program also borrows her voice.

I find the Clarissa project interesting not only for what it does now, but for what it has the potential to do in the future. The following is an excerpt from an interview with the project's leader, Beth Ann Hockey, who gives us some insight into where this is going:

WHO'S WHO AT NASA: Beth Ann Hockey

[...] NTB: How will NASA utilize Clarissa?

Hockey: It could be used widely in any area of NASA that uses procedures like these; however, spoken-language and spoken-dialogue technologies are much more general than that and can be used in all sorts of other places. For example, we had some conversations about using it for ground-maintenance crews and for developing applications for use in mission control. Any time you want to have your hands and eyes free, it will be a win. There are many times that it could be beneficial simply because you’re moving around. If you had wireless technology, plus the spoken-dialogue technology, you could move around and still be accessing information that you need.

NTB: How did Xerox contribute to this project?

Hockey: In the realistic-experimental version that we have, we worked on some technology with Xerox because one of the big ideas behind this was to have your hands and eyes free; we did not want the user to have to push a button to indicate that speech recognition should start, which is the way that some systems are designed. We needed to have the speech recognition running constantly. The system has to decide whether the speech that it’s hearing is directed at it – is it a command it should understand – or is it something it should ignore.

We got together with Jean-Michel Renders from Xerox Research Centre Europe, an expert on kernel methods, and we believed that those methods would do a better job on this problem. We worked with Renders on using the kernel methods to make this open-microphone decision, and we cut the error rate in half.

NTB: What are possible commercial applications for Clarissa?

Hockey: I just gave a talk at the V-World Summit, which is held by Nuance Communications for their developers and customers. I was invited because they see what we’re doing as the next-generation of applications in their area. Nuance is the speech-recognition engine that we use. We build the language understanding in addition to that engine. Nuance is the first stage in what we use; it takes your acoustic signal and makes a good guess at the words that signal might have been. Nuance’s main business is supporting telephone-bank-type applications. For example, if you call an airline to check flight information or if you have an automated banking application that you interact with, those are probably built with Nuance. These are the types of applications that now are commercially common.

The application that we did for the astronauts is more complicated in a lot of ways when compared to those systems, which feel like a “menu only” that you’re talking to. Our system feels like you’re having a conversation with somebody who may not be the brightest person, but it feels more like a conversation. It’s natural, as there are more of these kinds of menu-type commercial applications out there and people get used to them, to move toward a more conversational technology. This is true especially as the technology keeps maturing.

Aside from the menu-type uses for this technology, the navigating of procedures applications could be natural for doing any kind of equipment maintenance (i.e., airlines). For example, tasks in which you’d have to have your hands doing something while you’re laying underneath a piece of equipment and it’s not convenient to stop and scroll through a computer screen or flip though papers. So there already are plenty of commercial applications; we’re just carrying it to the next level.

I’ve been talking mostly about this procedure navigator, while in fact the component technologies in that are even more widely applicable. In particular, the other project on which I am the lead is called Regulus. We’re developing an open-source tool kit to try and make the creation of spoken-dialogue interfaces more accessible to regular developers. Currently, you have to have someone with expertise in language technology to be able to do this well, but we’re trying to make it so that people can take this toolkit and make their own simple-to-moderate interfaces. It’s open source – people can simply download it. We also are working on a book that will include tutorial materials on how to use that system, which should be coming out next year. If people are interested in that, they should contact us. [...]

I did a post earlier about Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 voice recognition software, which uses the Nuance speech engine Ms. Hockey speaks of. The Nuance engine is impressive, and judging from the consumer reviews, it's regarded as the best voice recognition speech engine available. A close runner up is the Microsoft speech engine that's bundled with Windows Vista, which consumers say is nearly as accurate as Nuance's latest version.

Have you noticed the Microsoft TV commercials lately, regarding software driven by voice commands? Voice recognition and Text-To-Speech (TTS) technologies promise to be two of the Next Big Things in computer technology.

Combine it with Artificial Intelligence, and we are on our way to a HAL like computer somewhere in our future.
     

Dining in Space, Playing with Food

Trying to eat in zero gravity can be weird, and comical too.

I read that the astronauts on the ISS have a kitchen where there is no real cooking done. It has a dining table, but no stove. The Russians supply canned food, and the Americans supply food in sealed plastic pouches. The food is pre-cooked, and can be reheated. They eat with spoons, no knives or forks. There is no refrigerator; if they want to have a cold drink, they have to prepare it and leave it in a part of the station that is cold and go back for it later.

While living on the station, many of the astronauts develop a craving for spicey foods, even if they weren't partial to them previously. One theory is that the weightlessness of space causes congestion in the head, and so the astronauts may crave spicey foods to relieve the congestion.

And of course, there's lots of opportunity to play with one's food.