OrbitalHub

NASA dixit:

“Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA conducted a spacewalk on October 20 to continue upgrades to and maintenance of station hardware. It was the third spacewalk in two weeks for Expedition 53 crew members outside the Quest airlock. During the excursion, Bresnik and Acaba replaced a failed camera light on the new Latching End Effector “hand” on the Canadarm2 robotic arm, installed a new high definition camera on the starboard truss of the complex, replaced a fuse on the Dextre Special Dexterous Manipulator attachment for the arm and removed thermal blankets from two spare electrical routing units for future robotic replacement work, if required. It was the fifth spacewalk in Bresnik’s career and the third for Acaba.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“As wildfires burn across California, NASA satellites help gather data about where the fires are and how smoke travels across the state. The smoke from the fires is even visible a million miles away from Earth, captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR).

The Terra spacecraft can see fires in both daylight and at night, helping aid firefighters in tracking and stopping the blazes. NASA’s unique vantage point in space helps better understand our home planet.”

Music: Seven by Andrea Sacco [SACEM]

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“NASA tested a parachute platform during the flight of a Terrier-Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket on October 4, from the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket carried the Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiment (ASPIRE) from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The mission will evaluate the performance of the ASPIRE payload, which is designed to test parachute systems in a low-density, supersonic environment.”

Video credit: NASA

ESA dixit:

“On 20 September 2017, ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli shot this amazing timelapse showing Earth by night while travelling on board the Space Station from British Columbia to the Great Lakes: coast to coast in 20 seconds! Paolo Nespoli in currently working and living aboard the International Space Station as part of his long-duration VITA mission.”

Video credit: ESA

NASA dixit:

“The first generation X-1 aircraft changed aviation history in numerous ways, and not simply because they were the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound. Rather, they established the concept of the research aircraft, built solely for experimental purposes. NASA continues this legacy of experimental aircraft today.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“The unpiloted Russian ISS Progress 68 cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station October 16 on a resupply mission following a two day journey following its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Progress delivered almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies for the Expedition 53 crew. The Progress automatically linked up to the Pirs Docking Compartment, where it will remain until next March.”

Video credit: NASA / Roscosmos