Questions tagged [iss]
Questions about the ISS (International Space Station), a habitable man-made low Earth orbit satellite whose first component was launched in 1998 and used to conduct experiments for a wide variety of research fields in a microgravity environment.
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Could they free up a docking port on ISS by undocking the emergency vehicle and letting it float next to the station for a little while
The emergency return vehicle, a Soyuz I think, could either float next to the dock or be tethered nearby.
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How many times has there been 13 people inside the ISS and is it hard on the station?
I just saw this photo in @SF.'s answer it is ISS023-E-023513 STS-131 and Expedition 23. The full caption is below.
Are there really 13 people on the ISS at one time?
Is STS-131 the only shuttle ...
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Does food go bad on the ISS? How often is food thrown away?
How often does food spoil on the ISS, and how much food is thrown away on the ISS?
I imagine there would be a different answer between the preserved long duration food and the fresh produce available ...
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Are any of the new orexin antagonists in the ISS medicine cabinets?
This answer to What psychological issues do astronauts experience during spaceflight, caused by spaceflight? includes a block quote (from a (now broken link to an "ISS user's guide") which ...
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How can astronauts on ISS deal with dental emergency?
Tooth ache is one of the more stupid and annoying disruptions to one's week. Dental hygiene can reduce the risk a lot, but only goes so far - for example, inflammation of roots of the tooth, with pus ...
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Could Butch Wilmore use BEAM as sleeping quarters?
According to Business Insider, while Sunita Williams is using (sharing?) a sleep module during her stay on the ISS, Butch Wilmore is 'roughing it' in a science module. I've seen comments that he has ...
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Do astronauts on board the ISS have a backup spacesuit?
Do astronauts on the International Space Station have a backup spacesuit with them so that they could use it in case of any malfunction with one of the spacesuits?
If so, how many spacesuits does ...
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What ever happened to (that NASA link about) SpinSat?
My 2016 question What ever happened to SpinSat - did it work? about the 2012 "Special Purpose Inexpensive Satellite" draws heavily from "NASA's mission pages link for SpinSat" ...
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Will this be the first time that there are more people aboad the ISS than seats in docked spacecraft?
As NASA announced today, Boeing Starliner will return to earth uncrewed and before the SpaceX Crew-9 mission will start (because otherwise no docking port would be available).
This means (as far as I ...
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What steel ball was thrown out of the ISS to help test how well ground stations can track orbital debris?
The question What kinds of things have been tossed out of the ISS? has a broken YouTube link. This is why it's good to include at least the name of the video in your post (which I didn't back in 2016)....
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If Crew Dragon can dock autonomously, why is there a crew aboard when they change from docking port to another?
I was watching the redocking the other night and they kept mentioning that it can redock autonomously. If so, why is the crew there? Is it there as a backup in case the autonomous system fails? Is ...
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Have there ever been any incidents where something valuable was unintentionally thrown out with the trash?
In "What do astronauts do with their trash on the ISS?", a commentator asked the title question and was encouraged to make it a new question, but apparently never did.
The linked question is ...
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Why will the Polaris Dawn "pre-breathe" be so long (45 hours) and gradual? What are the proposed advantages over a short one?
CNN's August 19, 2024 SpaceX is about to send four people on a wild — and risky — mission into the radiation belts. Here’s what to know includes:
Almost immediately after reaching space, the Polaris ...
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What (if any) pre-breathes were "attempted" on the ISS, and why?
CNN's August 19, 2024 SpaceX is about to send four people on a wild — and risky — mission into the radiation belts. Here’s what to know includes:
Almost immediately after reaching space, the Polaris ...
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How is lost ammonia replaced aboard the ISS?
After reading about the old ammonia leak here, I began wondering if and how that lost ammonia is replaced. Some ideas I can think of are:
Launch some aboard the next supply run?
Synthesize some on-...
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Do space stations have anything that big spacecraft (such as the Space Shuttle and SpaceX Starship) don't have?
For quite some time I wonder why spacefaring countries find it necessary to go to space stations instead of doing scientific research on the spacecraft they launched on. Of course, modular space ...
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ISS deorbit or raise? [duplicate]
How much more expensive would it be to move up the iss to a rare orbit where it would pose no risk to other space ventures, and not decay much due to atmospheric drag, to become a “museum” (or ship ...
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Why is the ISS camera (nearly) always off when passing over/near French Southern and Antarctic Lands / FSAL well south of India?
I have viewed ISS images for about 18 months and only twice seen partial glimpses of FSAL. Other areas of the world between 51 N&S latitudes routinely appear, although the camera is off sometimes....
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After almost 40 years of research on space stations in LEO, what is there we still didn't find out?
The first modular space station Mir was launched in early 1986 into orbit, so the time of research on the Mir and the ISS (and the Tiangongs) combined is now more than 38 years. If you include Salyut ...
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When a new module is added to the ISS, do they still do the "Shake" test?
I recall reading, that when Mir would get a new module added, after it was docked, a cosmonaut would stand in, feet on one wall, hands on the other, and try to shake it, to ensure the docking seal was ...
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What is astronaut Alexander Gerst signaling with this K-shaped hand signal?
In this AP/WISN news item Air leak at International Space Station temporarily plugged by a thumb they show a file photo of German astronaut Alexander Gerst at the Baikonur cosmodrome, making what ...
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Does the ISS still "need" to be at around 400 km?
The video Why is the International Space Station 400 km above the Earth? first mentions that there are fairly hard limits at 300 km (due to imminence of reentry) and 700 km (loss of protection from ...
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Does Russia plan to have any involvement with the rescue of stranded astronauts in the ISS?
I was just curious if Russia has been involved with the rescue planning in any way? I thought I read that they had transported astronauts to and from the ISS in the past. Do they no longer make the ...
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ISS reboost cost
The most updated data available at spaceflight.nasa.gov show that on day 361 there was a reboost:
IMPULSIVE TIG (GMT) M50 DVx(FPS) LVLH DVx(FPS) DVmag(FPS)
IMPULSIVE TIG (MET) M50 DVy(...
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Was the July 29th EVA cancelled?
I no longer see the announcement of the July 29th EVA on Nasa TV's website. Was this cancelled and if so, why?
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How do cables and cooling lines transverse the pressure hull of the International Space Station?
The International Space Station (ISS) is notable for having large amount of unpressurized equipments on its Integrated Truss Structure (ITS), including the solar panels and the radiators. The electric ...
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Will there be another joint International Space Station (ISS) after the current is retired?
Currently, as far as I know, the Chinese are building their own "ISS". I heard that they are open to welcoming most EU countries.
Does anyone have heard any news on building a newer "...
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How will the ISS be decommissioned?
According to the latest AP report, it's looking like SpaceX will get the contract to decommision the ISS in 2030. Will parts be saved and reused for a new station?
One thing quite objectionable is the ...
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When will the ISS deorbit?
Is this undecided or still up for debate? Also, might it be delayed or put earlier for some reason? What about if we just abandon it?
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Will any of the COTS providers be able to perform expedited rendezvous with the ISS?
Russians have been doing expedited four-orbit rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) for quite a while now, and when it works, its benefits are apparent; You get there before you'd even ...
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What is this device on the ISS? [duplicate]
I was viewing footage from a live external camera on the ISS when I came across this rotating instrument :
Image from "ISS Live Now" Application.
I was unable to identify the object/...
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Why is the breathing atmosphere of the ISS a standard atmosphere (at 1 atm containing nitrogen)?
The Wikipedia page for the International Space Station says that it has a fairly Earth-like, sea-level atmosphere: 21% oxygen, balance nitrogen at 101.3 kPa. Supposedly it's because a pure-oxygen ...
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How are dead animals disposed of on the ISS?
After reading the question Have any animals that have been studied onboard the ISS come back alive?, my first thought was this: what about the ones that don't live?
It would seem that this wouldn't be ...
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Eye Spy: Where are the other two (of six) vehicles docked to the ISS in this Maxar image (& what are they?)
I spy Crew Dragon, Starliner, & two Progress (?). Where are the rest?
(Credit: https://www.maxar.com/maxar-intelligence/products/non-earth-imaging)
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What timezone would be used for interstellar travel?
The ISS crew celebrated Thanksgiving today.
Apparently the ISS uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time.
What timezone would people use for interstellar travel?...
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Does America's Birthright Citizenship law apply to the American side of the International Space Station?
In a scenario in which a pregnant Russian woman were to give birth while visiting the International Space Station, and if she were to give birth while on the American side of the ISS, would that baby ...
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Data and information security aboard the ISS in terms of public photos?
I was looking through a couple posts that had on-board pictures of the ISS and noticed something almost immediately:
They have information (which could be sensitive) shown on the laptops:
While ...
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Did the ISS CREAM experiment actually get relocated?
A recent update (May 22) to the database for the NASA visualization tool DOUG shows that the CREAM payload has been relocated to the top of the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized ...
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28V vs. 124V on the ISS
Apparently the US segment of the ISS runs on 124v DC, while the Russian segment is on 28v DC. Why the difference? I understand it is often safer to have several different voltages rather than one, but ...
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How much does the ISS "banana" or flex under the constantly changing conditions of solar heating?
This answer to Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? discusses some of the challenges precisely pointing an antenna mounted to the ISS exterior. While the ISSs orbit ...
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Can you make out the shape of the ISS with the unaided eye as it passes overhead?
Someone claimed to me that they could see the actual shape of the ISS as it passed overhead without use of any optical device. I would think this isn't possible since it is only about 100 meters wide ...
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Can the equipment behind panels of Russian ISS modules be reconfigured like the US modules?
I couldn't find any photos or information about how the Russian modules are configured inside the panels; RussianSpaceWeb's Nauka page has some articles that would likely help, but they're paywalled. ...
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Will ISS astronauts be able to observe the 2024 solar eclipse?
Observing a total solar eclipse is an amazing experience, but observing it from orbit would be truly spectacular. The ISS astronauts could potentially have an opportunity in 2024, but will the ground ...
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What is the velocity of the ISS relative to the Earth's surface?
This was asked once before, but I believe there was no clear answer given and accepted.
The ISS has an orbital period of 92.9 minutes, or 5574 seconds. If it were in a completely equatorial orbit, ...
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Why didn't Crew 8 launch to an elliptical orbit with an apogee closer to the altitude of the space station?
Crew 8 launched to a 191x215km orbit (ref), but the ISS is orbiting at 425km (ref). I'm curious as to the reason why they didn't launch into, for example, a 191x425km orbit initially.
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Is this line in the SpaceX livestream engine exhaust?
In the livestream of the recent mission CRS-30 from SpaceX, one could see a vertical line going up. However in other camera shots it was not visible. Was this line the engine exhaust or was there some ...
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How was the Space Shuttle Orbiter used for ISS Reboost?
According to this answer, for the question How often does ISS require re-boosting to higher orbit?,
During Space Shuttle years, small re-boosts were also performed by the Shuttle Orbiters (...
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How hard was it for the Shuttle to perform attitude control for the entire ISS? Did they have to calibrate?
This answer to the question How was the Space Shuttle Orbiter used for ISS Reboost? describes a procedure I never knew happened. When the shuttle was docked to the ISS it sometimes used its rear ...
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How long does it take for the ISS astronauts to isolate a module
In the chosen answer for What size hole in the International Space Station would be catastrophic, we find that a 0.6cm hole would depressurize the ISS to life threatening levels in 14 hours. A 20cm ...
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What language is software running on the ISS written in?
What is the coding language used for the software used on the ISS? Is it NASA's own coding language, or is it something like C, or C#, maybe Haskell?
