OrbitalHub

NASA dixit:

“The first task for spacewalkers Mark Vande Hei and Norishige Kanai is to move a Latching End Effector (LEE), or hand, for the Canadian-built robotic arm, Canadarm2, from a payload attachment on the station’s Mobile Base System rail car to the Quest airlock. This LEE was replaced during an Expedition 53 spacewalk in October 2017 and will be returned to Earth to be refurbished and relaunched to the orbiting laboratory as a spare.

Once they have completed that activity, they will move an aging, but functional, LEE that was detached from the arm during a January 23 spacewalk and move it from its temporary storage outside the airlock to a long-term storage location on the Mobile Base System, which is used to move the arm and astronauts along the station’s truss structure.”

Video credit: NASA

Wikipedia dixit:

“Progress MS-08, identified by NASA as Progress 69 or 69P, is a Progress spacecraft used by Roscosmos to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). Progress MS-8 launched on 13 February 2018 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket and docked on 15 February 2018 with the aft docking port of the Zvezda module. The Progress MS-8 spacecraft carries about 2746 kg of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. The spacecraft delivered food, fuel and supplies, including 890 kg of propellant, 46 kg of oxygen and air, 420 kg of water.”

Video credit: Roscosmos

ESA dixit:

“From building to liftoff and installation, these images show the making of European space lab Columbus and its daily use for out-of-this-world research.

Like the transatlantic voyages that Christopher Columbus made half a millennium ago, the Columbus module was meticulously planned, budgeted, scrapped and redesigned before getting the official blessing to build, ship and launch.

The laboratory ascended to orbit aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on 7 February 2008. Nestling in the spaceplane’s cargo bay, Columbus was accompanied by a seven-man crew.

On 11 February, the crew on the International Space Station captured the new arrival. At that moment, Columbus became Europe’s first permanent human outpost in orbit and Europe became a full partner of the International Space Station.

Columbus houses as many disciplines as possible in a small volume, from astrobiology to solar science through metallurgy and psychology – more than 225 experiments have been carried out during this remarkable decade. Countless papers have been published drawing conclusions from experiments performed in Columbus.”

Video credit: ESA

ESA dixit:

“On 7 February 2008, Space Shuttle Atlantis launched to the International Space Station. In its cargo bay, ESA’s laboratory module Columbus. Now for a decade Columbus has been a part of the ISS. It is the place where ESA astronauts have done countless experiments in microgravity and the scientific importance of the module can hardly be overstated. “

Video credit: ESA

NASA dixit:

“This week we’ll see the 53rd set of crew members return to Earth from the International Space Station, but we’ll only “see” it from the outside. What will the astronauts and cosmonauts see as they depart their home in space and return to the planet from whence they came? If you’ve got 60 seconds to spare, here’s the insider’s view of what a return to Earth on a Soyuz spacecraft looks like to the people on board.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“The SpaceX CRS-13 mission begins with an on-time liftoff of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Launch occurred on December 15 at 10:36 a.m. EST. The Dragon is carrying equipment, science and supplies to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 13th commercial cargo resupply mission.”

Video credit: NASA Kennedy Space Center