Recently in International Space Station Category

On the morning of 2 October officials from International Space Station member states' agencies discussed what the future of the ISS holds in the years to come and the Russian participant confirmed that at a recent heads of agency meeting it had been unanimously agreed that station use should be extended to 2020

click through to this blog's extended section to see the 45min video of this morning plenary session at the International Astronautical Congress held in Glasgow, Scotland this week

As well as details about the ESA-Russian Federal Space Agency project Crew Space Transportation System, Thales Alenia Space's head of systems management and methodologies for the company's space infrastructure and transportation business unit, Claudio Ferro, also told me about his company's work on inflatable structures for the European Space Agency (ESA) for space stations - during my visit to Thales' Cannes facility on Wednesday 16 April

A prototype inflatable module should be completed by Thales later this year

According to Ferro ESA's work on inflatable modules dates back to the 1990s when NASA had a plan to attach one to the International Space Station's Node 3. While Node 3 and its cupola viewing port is still expected to go up on a Shuttle mission the inflatable module will not

Despite the orbiter Columbia disaster ending that plan for the ISS, European work on inflatable habitats has still continued and for the last year Ferro's colleague's have been working on regenerative life support systems

While Ferro said he hoped one day such an inflatable module could be attached to the station he admitted that the Shuttle flight that was required isn't going to be available. So for the time being we'll have to wait and see what happens with the prototype

See above the International Space Station's Cupola viewing port. I photographed this and other modules of the ISS while at Kenedy Space Center in February this year

In this picture you can see the cupola's size relative to people

Promises, promises, but I should be, technical gremlins aside, be blogging live from the launch of STS-122 next week

The European Space Agency, whose Colombus laboratory module is being launched by STS-122, is highlighting NASA TV's mission briefing details for the 30 January

While there is still no official press release from NASA about the no earlier than launch date for the agency's Space Shuttle Atlantis NASASpaceflight.com has a few more details about the external tank (ET) testing and details about the status of orbiter Endeavour as it waits for the launch pad to become free for its STS-123 mission. I bet NASA wishes it hadn't transferred pad 39B to its Constellation programme now

Here you can find the 8 January Internatonal Space Station status report that includes a whole series of dates for flights to ISS later this year but now none of it is correct

While NASA frets about when Atlantis will go and its ET troubles the Russians are apparently planning to use the Energia Progress vehicle M-61 that undocked at the station on 22 December to conduct plasma environment experiments before it reenters the atmosphere and burns up on 22 January

And talking of Russians, my colleagues found this video about the alleged ISS cosmonaut vodka drinking live on Ukrainian television, which you may have seen elsewhere on the internet

I am hearing that in the next few days NASA will know if it needs to do another week of tanking tests to solve its external tank engine cut off sensor problems and that would mean no 24 January launch

While the 2 February has been bandied around as a Shutttle launch date this is not possible because the Russian Federal Space Agency Energia Progress M-63 is flying to the International Space Station on the 7th and NASA's Space Shuttle can't be docked to ISS when a Progress docks.

The docking impact would, so I am told, damage the Shuttle docking system. The same rule will apply with ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). No ATV docking when Shuttle is docked

To get an 8 February Shuttle launch the Russians could be persuaded to launch the Progress early, say the 5th, to ensure there was sufficient time between its 6 Feb ISS arrival and the Shuttle Atlantis' 10 Feb arrival for its 11-day STS-122 mission to attach ESA's Columbus laboratory module

Once Atlantis had left on 16 February for an 18 Feb landing ESA's ATV would be clear for its 22nd launch. In the meantime here are two pictures, care of Arianespace, of the ATV Jules Verne undergoing its fuelling operation at the Kourou, French Guinea spaceport

Struggling with all that excess food? Well then relax and test your Japanese language skills with this Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency video that features the International Space Station and JAXA's HTV cargo vehicle

Here is the fifth drop test for the X-38 crew return vehicle before it was cancelled by NASA as part of the agency's cost reduction exercise in 2001-2002