NASA releases enthralling 4K fly-through of the International Space Station

By tech2 News Staff /  01 Nov 2016 , 16:28

NASA has uploaded an Ultra High Definition (4K) video of the International Space Station (ISS) shot with a fisheye lens on YouTube. The video was produced by Harmonic, a video infrastructure provider, for NASA TV. The video explores the various modules that make up the ISS, but is not a single take continuous shot. Equipment and containers are attached to the surfaces in all directions, which shows how claustrophobic the interiors of a space station can get.

The Cupola, photographed by one of the Expidition 40 crew members. Image: NASA.

The video starts and ends at the Cupola, an observation deck with seven windows which offers a spellbinding view of the Earth. The tour then takes viewers through the Unity module, a passive connecting block to which the other modules are attached. It functions as a passageway on the ISS, and was the first US built segment of the ISS to be launched. Up next is the Zarya Functional Cargo Block, a Russian built module that was the first component of the ISS to be launched. The Zarya module is used mainly for storage.

Inside the Russian Zarya Storage module. Image: NASA.

The Pirs docking module has ports to interface with Russian Spacecraft Soyuz and Progress. The Pirs is a Russian made airlock, one of the two on the ISS. The video does not show the other Russian docking module, Poisk. The Destiny module is a centrally located US laboratory for space experiments, and is full of scientific equipment. Harmony is a connecting node module. Two ports are permanently attached to the Columbus module and the Kibo Laboratory module. The other two ports are used for docking by visiting spacecraft.

An exterior view of the Kibo Laboratory attached to the ISS. Image: NASA.

The European made Columbus module and the Japanese Kibo Laboratory module are both laboratories for conducting scientific experiments. The Kibo laboratory is the single largest module in the ISS. The Kibo laboratory has an airlock, through which scientific experiments are taken in and out of the ISS. Tranquility is another node module, that connects to both Unity and the Cupola. There are waste management systems on this module, and the oxygen for the crew is generated here. The video ends with another visit to the Cupola.

NASA also casts a livestream from the ISS. These show the crew operations on the interiors or at times, just the Earth passing below the station.

Chinese manned spacecraft Shenzhou 11 successfully docks with Chinese space station

Tiangong

  19 Oct 2016 , 09:23

China’s Shenzhou 11 manned spacecraft has successfully docked with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab, and two astronauts have entered the lab, China’s official news agency Xinhua said Wednesday. China is the third country after the United States and Russia to complete space rendezvous and docking procedures, Xinhua said.

According to the mission schedule, the astronauts will remain in the space station for 30 days and spend a total of 33 days in space, making the mission the longest in space so far for China. In a manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with a space laboratory, the Tiangong 1.

Advancing China’s space program is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power. China insists its space program is for peaceful purposes. Shenzhou 11, whose name translates as “Divine Vessel”, will also carry three experiments designed by Hong Kong middle school students and selected in a science competition, including one that will take silk worms into space.

The U.S. Defense Department has highlighted China’s increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations using space-based assets in a crisis. China has been working to develop its space program for military, commercial and scientific purposes, but is still playing catch-up to established space powers the United States and Russia.

Reuters