OrbitalHub

NASA dixit:

“On April 17, 2016, an active region on the sun’s right side released a mid-level solar flare, captured here by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. This solar flare caused moderate radio blackouts, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Scientists study active regions – which are areas of intense magnetism – to better understand why they sometimes erupt with such flares. This video was captured in several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, a type of light that is typically invisible to our eyes, but is color-coded in SDO images for easy viewing.”

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/Genna Duberstein

NASA dixit:

“The U.S. SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station April 10, two days after its launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida Loaded with some three and a half tons of supplies and experiments including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), Dragon will remain attached to Harmony for a month. For the first time, Dragon is occupying a port next door to the U.S. Orbital ATK Cygnus commercial cargo vehicle, which was berthed to the Unity module on March 26.”

Video credit: NASA

SpaceX dixit:

“SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Dragon spacecraft to low Earth orbit to deliver critical cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. SpaceX is targeting an afternoon launch of its eighth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-8) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The instantaneous launch window opens on April 8th at 8:43pm UTC, and a backup launch window opens at 8:20pm UTC on April 9th. Dragon will be deployed about 10 minutes after liftoff and attach to the ISS about two days after launch. Following stage separation, the first stage of the Falcon 9 will attempt an experimental landing on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Video credit: SpaceX

NASA dixit:

“An unpiloted Russian resupply ship automatically docked to the International Space Station April 2, delivering three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the residents of the orbital complex. The ISS Progress 63 cargo vehicle (Roscosmos Progress MS-02) arrived at the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module, completing a two-day journey to the station that began with its launch March 31 on a Soyuz booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.”

Video credit: NASA/Roscosmos

NASA dixit:

“The unpiloted Russian ISS Progress 61 cargo ship undocked from the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station March 30, headed for a reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere and a fiery demise over the Pacific Ocean. The resupply craft arrived at the station last October carrying more than three tons of supplies for the station’s residents. Now loaded with trash, the Progress departed the station for several days of engineering tests by Russian flight controllers before it is deorbited April 8 to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. A new Progress will launch to the station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 31.”

Video credit: NASA