>> Ignition sequence.
♪
>> Good morning, welcome to
mission control Houston.
You're looking at the
international space station
flight control room and the
orbit two shift flight
controllers.
Working with the expedition 58
crew members as they move
through the last few hours of
their workweek.
They've had another week filled
with a wide variety of work.
When taking care of their home
on orbit, and checking out their
space suits in trans of
spacewalks and preparing a
science experiment to go out the
air lock.
>> Welcome to space to ground.
This week astronauts inside the
space station prepared an
external experiment that tests
the ability to store fuel for
future missions.
They prepare the robotic
refueling mission 3 or rrm 3 for
their air lock outside of the
Japanese module.
They'll store cryogenic fluid to
be able to refuel while in space
and it will be a huge boost for
enduring longer destinations to
mars.
Space suits require routine
maintenance.
Space suits are like individual
human-sized spacecraft each
containing it's own life support
system.
It will circulate air and
transport the suit's cool
Atlanta fluid.
They removed one suit and
replaced it and then pressurized
the suit to conduct a leak
check.
This week's question comes from
fifth grader Oliver who wants to
know if internet is in outer
space.
And internet is available
throughout the world and in
space.
Crew members are able to send
e-mails and many have social
media accounts.
You can follow astronauts.
Keep sending in your questions
using the hashtag space to
ground.
We'll see you next week.
>> This morning, McClane and
Mcjacques are waiting for the
arrival of a crew vehicle.
It remains on target to launch
on its uncrewed first-ever test
flight next Saturday March 2.
Another step in the crew program
effort to move America closer to
the goal of restoring capability
to launch astronauts to space
from the USA.
>> Stand by for total count.
>> Five, four--
>> The service of the service
crew program is to return to our
nation the capability to fly our
astronauts to the space station.
>> This is an entirely new era.
>> Go for launch.
>> Lift off.
>> Astronauts taking flight once
more from American soil as the
nation begins a new chapter of
space exploration.
>> This is us as a nation.
This is us as a NASA
private-public partnership
together allowing our nation to
capitalize on what they've
invested in that.
>> This is an awesome feeling to
see the hardware coming
together.
And to see the excitement of the
technicians, of the engineers,
it's going to be wonderful to
see the crowds come back.
>> This is great.
To get the public reengaged on
human space flight again.
>> The commercial crew program
is revolutionary in the sense
that will provide the
opportunity for more restaurant
in space.
It will further the ability for
knowledge.
>> We need to explore.
We need to pioneer.
We need to see what is out there
and to find new places to live.
>> The international space
station still has a lot to teach
us.
>> I think we're going to have a
lot more opportunities to do the
exploration research that we
need to get us to the moon, mars
and beyond.
>> There is a large group of us
that are dreaming, we could be
working in space.
>> This is a huge goal.
For NASA and the United States
of America.
>> The fact that we are partner
with commercial industries
allows us to fulfill that
mission and be explorers and
work together.
This is just the beginning.
>> I know the greatest event in
space exploration has not
happened yet.
>> NASA TV and NASA.gov will
have plenty of coverage
surrounding the crew dragon's
first flight.
It will start today with a
briefing following completion of
the flight readiness review no
earlier than 5:00 central time
today.
There will also an pre-launch
briefing, time on that to be
determined.
And the coverage begins at
Saturday at 1:00 a.m. Houston
time.
That will take us to the
targeted launch at 1:48 a.m.
central.
We'll have live coverage of the
rendezvous and docking March 3.
That will start at 2:30 a.m.
central and then be back
at 11:00 p.m. for hatch closure
followed on to Friday morning
with undocking and splash down,
so lots of fun.
NASA's effort to promote the
commercialization of space
flight takes another step of the
commercial crew vehicle.
It has succeeded getting two
cargo vehicles making supply
runs to the space station.
Another result is alfa space,
the company responsible for
building the flight facility.
>> Formed in 2015, and is a
product of this
commercialization of low earth
orbit.
It was formed to create a
payload available if space for
private industry.
It was "T" has been utilized by
NASA, the department of defense
for different experiments.
Around 2010 NASA butt out a call
for ideas to privatize portions
of the space station.
And so we responded with a
proposal to that, and that's how
we ended up with our cooperative
agreement.
For material scientists who want
to test their materials and
component in a harsh
environment, this offers the
most harsh environment available
ex-er, and that's external to
the space station.
They would open up and expose
these materials to space.
The missing platform is a
permanent platform that is
commandable from the ground from
our operation center here.
Not only do we test materials,
we can test circuit try,
computer borders, cameras and
serviceability and changeability
allows science to continuously
happen for ten years going
forward.
Every day new commercial
companies are coming into the
fold of this new economy that is
developing.
I think the space station is a
great platform to start
commercialization, and I think
platforms like the Missy are
going to drive a new demand in
space.
>> Flight engineer Ann McLain
will be one the crew members
involved in the packing and
unpacking of the crew dragon.
It's part of what she trained
for during more than two years
of preparation before her first
space flight.
She said her training benefited
from achieving goals.
It was something that she
learned from playing rugby.
>> So the first time I played
rugby I was 18, the year before
I went to west point.
I was walking across the
university campus, and I saw a
group of people playing a sport
I had never seen.
I couldn't figure out what was
going on.
One of them asked if I was
interested in trying it out and
the next day I played my first
game of rugby.
I played through my time at west
point and then I was fortunate
to study in England, and there I
started playing at a higher
level.
In 2004 I played on the national
team.
I also coached a little bit
before I went to test pilot
school.
Rugby is surprisingly helped me
a lot as an astronaut.
When I'm training in this space
suit and we're working in our
launch pools, we're throned six
hours at a time.
You work yourself to physical
and mental exhaustion.
The only point I have hit that
point of exhaustion is the
60th minute of the rugby match.
When your body is that tired you
can't mentally give up pup you
have to think about things with
more clarity because you're more
prone to mistakes.
It's people who can over come
that physical and keep presence
of mind in a rugby match, and
that helped in training.
I'm Ann McLain, and I'm an
astronaut.
>> Along with hands-on work and
science experiments visiting
vehicles, they use some of their
time for educational events in
which they talk about vines with
students on earth.
They discuss their mission,
share their value of learning
science, technology and math, in
this stem-stration video, Randy
Bresnik demonstrates law in
motion.
♪
>> Hello everyone, I'm astronaut
Randy Bresnik working from the
space station.
At the space station we work in
a zero-gravity environment.
>> Acceleration of an object
depends on the mass of the
object or s equals m-a.
Once the thrust is greater than
the weight of the vehicle, then
it starts to accelerate.
>> We'll start with something
small.
Something that you have at home.
A stick of chapstick.
We'll put it on our bungee and
pull it back and you can see how
fast it accelerates because
there is very little mass.
Next we'll try a spaceship.
A little more massive.
You can feel the extra force you
have to push with your hand.
We'll put our space ship on our
launcher here it's moving a lot
slower than that chapstick did.
We see the same amount of force
on a smaller, less massive
object means acceleration is
faster.
This is the biggest, most
massive thing we have.
Let's see how acceleration is
effected.
We'll pull back on the force.
And here we go.
There you have it, Newton's
second law of motion in action.
Thanks for playing physics with
me today.
Now you can try that on earth.
We'll see you soon.
♪
>> The international space
station's mission is to Denver
as a science laboratory, promote
international cooperation and
encourages the commercialization
of space flight and space
research.
All of these goals come together
in one program when the
international space station is
used as a launch pad.
Do you remember the old adage
big things come in small
packages?
NASA has updated it.
In the form of cube sats.
Image a working satellite that's
so small you can hold it in your
hands.
Four inches or 10 centimeters
across these cubs can be
expanded incrementally.
Originally developed in 1999 by
Cal poly San Luis Obispo,
scientists have used them for
science missions and test
electronics and software that
might be used on larger
missions.
They said the ability to test
new technology at a fraction of
the cost of a larger satellite
makes them invaluable.
It really opens your eyes to
many possibilities.
Just as eye open something the
way CubeSats are unlocking
scientific data.
While conventional satellites
have long observed clouds and
have provided estimates of the
liquid precipitation they hold
they have not observed the ice
particles that promote rain
clouds.
It could make a space measure of
the small forming crystals that
make up ice clouds.
After being deployed from the
international pace station
in 2017, it formed ice clouds.
Some day that will help improve
long range weather forecasts.
With the insight mission was
launched in may of 2018, the
Marco a and Marco b CubeSats ban
their journey to mars.
Landing data was transmitted to
the mars reconnaissance orbiter
Marco a and b acted as a vent
pipe during this critical stage
of the mission to allow
communication from mars to earth
to happen in almost realtime.
According to Charles Norton,
special adviser for small
spacecraft mission and mission
directorate another advantage of
these compact cubes they allow
very specific inquiries to take
place.
The student project using a
student laboratory detecter in
space.
It measures the solar spectrum
in the coverage between two
other missions.
This gap region in the solar
spectrum is important in the
earth's ionosphere and of
particular interest of solar
flairs and active regions.
We're looking at the discovery
as the origins of earth itself.
One-third of the ordinary matter
that existed during the early
formation of the universe might
be found today.
Scientists suspect it lies in
the very hot halos of gas that
surround galaxies.
Halo sat are CubeSats in the
halos of our galaxy.
For more about our science
missions both big and small
visit science.NASA.Goff.
>> The Johnson space center is
not just the home of human space
flight.
They have called jsc home, when
planetary scientist Dave
middlefelt left on his fifth
trip to antarctica looking for
meteorites that can teach us
about the solar system and
evolution of the moon and mars,
we went to see what does one
pack by way of personal items
for a trip to the bottom of the
world.
>> Hi, my name is Dave
middlefelt.
I'm a planetary screen assist
working at NASA's Johnson space
center.
I've been working on research
basically almost all my career.
And I'm about to get ready to go
to antarctica.
I have to make sure that I got
all the items I need.
We're down there to collect
meteorites that have been
falling on antarctica all over
the place.
These rocks are basically a poor
man's space probe.
For a fairly low expense we can
sample multiple bodies of the
solar system and studying them
in the lab, we can learn quite a
bit about the formation of the
solar system, the moon and mars
and how those bodies evolved
over geological times.
Christchurch is in late spring
going into summer.
Tive make sure that I have
shorts, T-shirts and sandals
available.
Because I don't want to be
wearing sweatshirts and that
sort of thing in 90 degrees
New Zealand.
When you're in Christchurch,
New Zealand, you get all the
extreme cold weather you need
from the ant arctic terminals in
Christchurch, New Zealand.
I don't need to worry about
heavy boots, fleece layers,
parkas.
But what I do need to take are
some personal gear.
Woolen socks.
They look small but they work.
I only have one pair with me,
the reason is because I shipped
my own ecw gear.
I have to have one set because
they won't let you on the plane
from Christchurch to the station
if you don't have the property
ecw wear.
I think I shipped four other
pair down there, so I'm all set.
Mcmyrtle station is, yes, it's
going to be cold down there.
It is the summer.
Temperatures will be below
freezing almost the entire time.
But it's not like you're out in
the middle of nowhere, and
you're in any town in Minnesota
in the winter.
So you want to have stuff to
keep warm outside.
So I might include a fleece pole
over.
You need flannel shirts.
You need a good pair of hiking
boots.
The dust there is from death
valley.
I was there last March.
You're sleeping in a sleeping
bag.
The only time I sleep down
there, at night I shed my
daytime clothes and take what
I'm going to sleep in.
I take a shirt and running-type
pants that are warm.
The sun is up 24/7, soy take a
heavy night hat.
You have to keep your head warm
when you're sleeping.
I jut pull it over my eyes.
It's dark so no problem.
I can't do without coffee.
But I won't drink instant
coffee.
So this is a coffee cone.
I'll take this with me in cone
filters.
I've shipped cans of coffee that
are already ground that I like
so I can enjoy all the comforts
of home minus the heat while I'm
in antarctica.
One of the things you probably
never thought about in
antarctica are sunburns.
The sun is up 24/7.
The scene around you is
extremely bright.
Sunlight reflects all that, and
even though the sun is at a low
angle to the horizon, you can
get a wicked sunburn on anything
exposed.
These are migraines glasses.
I bought these the frames and
had my prescription put this
them.
They come with side shields.
They're very dark.
When I put them on, the light is
blocked all the way around.
That way I won't get snow
blindness.
One of the times I was down
there, this would have been in
the 2001 trip we spent four days
solid stuck in our tents with
basically hurricane-force winds
blowing.
So we didn't go out unless we
had to, and we certainly didn't
go out and work.
You need something to read.
The advantage of this is that
this right here, which weighs
almost nothing is equivalent to
a whole suit case full of books.
Power can be short supply so I
take my solar panel to recharge
my kindle.
I lived in Israel for six years.
I'm taking a novel in Hebrew and
an English-hebrew dictionary.
This time, I'm going to refresh
my memory of how to read Hebrew.
Everything is frozen.
No surprise there.
The good news you don't have to
refrigerate anything.
You just leave it in a box
outside of your tent.
It will stay frozen all the time
and you don't have to worry
about it.
There is tons of water all
around you.
If you want a cup of coffee, you
go out, chip off some ice and
wait for it to melts and you can
make yourself a cup of coffee.
There is no shortage, that's for
sure.
Come four or five months from
now hopefully we'll bring back a
thousand new meteorites over
there, store them at 31 north
and then go through processing
and distribution to scientists
for study.
This is an exciting time.
I'm looking forward to it.
>> If you would like to get
another look at any of the
stories we featured today, you
can, chuck us out on YouTube
and Facebook.
And while you're at either one
of them, make sure to look
around because there are other
very interesting things you can
find out there about NASA and
America's human space flight
program.
While you're out there on the
internet, you can check out
"Houston, we have a podcast."
That's people at Houston talking
about their work.
Today we get a lesson on all
things commercial crew in a talk
with program deputy manager
Steve stitch.
Go to NASA.gov /podcast.
You can find today episode there
and you'll find the full library
and you can listen to any of
them on apple podcast, google
podcast and sound cloud.
This is mission control,
Houston.