Gentle readers:

 The Russian supply ship did not make it to the space station and so I am wondering
 how much food the Current Astronauts have on board? 

May 20, 2015

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As NASA Science Returns to Earth, Space Station Upgraded for U.S.-Based Astronaut Launches in 2017

Inside the International Space Station's Harmony module an American flag awaits the next astronauts that launch from the United States. The flag was flown on the first space shuttle mission and was carried to the space station on the last. Now, with major activities planned this month and in the near future, NASA and its partners are on-track to launch astronauts from the United States again in 2017 and return the flag home.

This American flag was taken to the International Space Station in 2011 on STS-135, the final mission of the space shuttle. Flown on the first space shuttle mission in 1981, the flag will be returned to Earth by the next crew to launch from the United States to the orbiting laboratory.

Credits: NASA

New spacecraft being developed and tested by American companies Boeing and SpaceX will need a place to dock to the space station. Astronauts on three recent spacewalks in February and March began reconfiguring the space station to prepare for the arrival of those commercial crew vehicles (Watch GoPro video of the most recent spacewalk).

On Wednesday, May 27, controllers in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will use the space station's robotic arm to move the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), a storage facility on the station’s Unity node, and relocate it to the Tranquility node. The move is part of a choreographed reconfiguration of multiple space station components this year that will result in two docking ports for a new generation of commercial crew spacecraft, and two for commercial cargo vehicles.

The next major milestone follows shortly after the PMM relocation with the scheduled arrival in June of the first of two International Docking Adapters (IDAs) aboard SpaceX’s seventh cargo resupply mission. The IDA is designed to connect a visiting spacecraft to a pressurized mating adapter (PMA) connected to the space station. After arrival of the first docking adapter, NASA astronauts will install it outside Harmony during a spacewalk later this summer.

On Thursday, May 21, SpaceX’s sixth Dragon spacecraft currently attached to the space station returns to Earth, making way for the next SpaceX Dragon and its delivery of the adapter, science experiments and cargo. The returning Dragon will carry back to Earth science from experiments taking place aboard the station, including the first samples from the one-year crew mission of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who began their stay aboard the station in March. The long duration of their mission will help scientists better understand the effect of prolonged spaceflight on the human body. Kelly's twin brother, former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, also is helping researchers on Earth compare any physical changes Scott experiences in space. This knowledge will help NASA plan for human missions deeper into the solar system, including to Mars.

In Florida, work is underway to ensure the safe launches of astronauts who will increase the science conducted aboard the space station this decade. Boeing is making progress on the first two tiers of the crew access tower, which will be installed on Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. From there, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch Boeing’s crewed CST-100 spacecraft to the space station.

Engineers from Boeing also recently tested a new armored vehicle that could transport astronauts and ground crews away from a launch pad in the unlikely event of an emergency. The astronauts could either stay in place protected or drive away from potential danger in the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

SpaceX also recently tested a safety system of its Crew Dragon spacecraft. A pad abort testconducted at Cape Canaveral on May 6 demonstrated the ability of eight SuperDraco engines’ ability to quickly carry the spacecraft away from a life-threatening situation on the launch pad. A second test, currently scheduled for later this year, will demonstrate the abort capability of Crew Dragon about a minute after launching on a Falcon 9 rocket. 

Through its Commercial Crew Program, NASA plans to use the new generation of spacecraft privately developed and operated by Boeing and SpaceX to carry as many as four astronauts per mission, increasing the space station crew complement to seven and doubling the amount of scientific research that can be performed off the Earth, for the Earth.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that enables us to demonstrate new technologies and make research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000 and, since then, has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next giant leap in exploration.

Last Updated: May 21, 2015

Editor: Jim Wilson

Tags:  Commercial Crew, Commercial Resupply, International Space Station, Journey to Mars

How many pesticides and chemicals do you eat?

How many pesticides and chemicals do you eat on average? Watch this little video and it may change your life!

htmlhttp://healthysustainableliving.blogspot.ca/2015/05/this-family-ate-only-organic-for-two.html

The wall mounted power pack is coming to a home near you!

Here is another wonderful idea. The super intelligence that is Mr. Elon Musk, is creating a home battery power pack that hangs on your wall. The idea is to transition away from Electricity created with fossil fuels and save the energy from the Sun on wall mounted Batteries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvCIhn7_FXI

Some ideas are wonderful!

This is one of the best! 

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How to make drinkable water

out of thin air

CLEAN TECHNOLOGY

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Apr. 21 2015, 12:28 PM EDT

Last updated Tuesday, Apr. 21 2015, 12:28 PM EDT

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California is drying up. Its current drought is ringing alarm bells across the state and the country, but it is far from being alone globally in facing water shortages.

Developed economies such as California already rely on sophisticated irrigation systems to utilize what sources it has. But what’s needed now are even smarter, 21st-century solutions.

One constantly evolving technology is desalination, which is being deployed successfully around the world, even as engineers work toward better systems that will use less energy.

Another path to drinkable water

Desalination takes undrinkable seawater and removes the salt to provide potable water. It works by pushing salt water at high pressure through a superfine membrane, which blocks salt molecules and lets the water through.

Africa’s first desalination plant was built by GE in Algiers, Algeria in 2008. The plant supplies 53 million gallons of freshwater every day, a quarter of the city’s needs. 

Netherlands-based Dutch Rainmaker BV has come up with an alternative, and novel, solution to water shortages. The company, with partners in Canada and other countries, has developed a technology that can deliver water out of thin air. Its technology uses wind turbines to conjure up H20, in some cases with no access to any inflowing sources.

The company’s air-to-water system, called AW75, is already operating in extreme desert conditions in Kuwait and in the cooler Netherlands. It works without access to the power grid, with minimal operation and maintenance and no waste.

“We combine technologies that are already known,” says Piet Oosterling, Rainmaker’s founder and Chief Technology Officer. The system deploys the wind via a turbine, but instead of generating electricity it creates thermal energy to cause condensation. It works because air always contains a certain amount of water, though this varies according to temperatures and humidity. When it’s 20 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity is at 50 per cent, the air contains about seven grams of water per cubic metre of air. If the temperature climbs to 30 at the same humidity, the amount of water doubles.

“The air-to-condensation process effectively heats and cools the air to the dew point. It basically creates condensation and makes it rain,” says Michael O’Connor, Rainmaker Worldwide’s Peterborough, Ont.-based CEO. The condensed droplets are collected into a storage compartment.

The heart of the air-to-water unit is the device’s wind-fed power unit. Inside the nacelle at the top of the tower there’s a proprietary compressor (heat pump). The system converts wind energy to thermal power, which, in turn, feeds the water production unit attached to the tower. The turbine forces air through a heat exchanger, cooling the air and forming condensation. When the temperature falls below its dew-point, water droplets will form. These are collected in a water storage compartment.

The company’s prototypes in Kuwait and the Netherlands each produce an average 7,000 litres per day of water. The unit in Kuwait has managed to produce 8,700 litres a day at temperatures of 28 degrees and 40 per cent relative humidity.

The company will not say where else it is testing the technology – there is a French company testing a rival system - but says it has potential in countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia and India.

Prototypes of the air-to-water system are installed in both Kuwait and the Netherlands. (DUTCH RAINMAKER)

Air-to-water technology is not viable for colder climes, such as remote communities in Canada’s North, some of which have suffered from polluted supplies or have to truck in water via ice roads. For such climates, Oosterling says Rainmaker has another technology that the company calls water-to-water.

This unit also uses wind to produce thermal energy, but rather than pull moisture from the air it heats water from existing supplies and sends it through a membrane. It’s different than conventional reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filtration because it only allows water vapour to pass through, by varying the pressure on each side of the membrane.

The water-to-water unit can be used to desalinate and to filter brackish water; the first model can produce up to 95,000 litres of water per day, enough for a town of between 1,800 and 4,000 people.

Oosterling says he is discovering that producing clean water from the wind may be useful in ways he didn’t anticipate, for example in the mining sector. “It’s something I never envisioned,” he says.

But for now, he is focused on trying to serve the needs of the 783 million people who don’t have regular access to clean water (according to the United Nations). “It can be used where the infrastructure is not tremendous,” he says. “It has to be simple and people have to be able to understand it.”

To enlarge image click here

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For more innovation insights, visit www.gereports.ca

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This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department, in consultation with GE. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.

MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY

• Ensuring that the lights never go out means thinking small
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• An unusual startup with a powerful mission
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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, DENISE!

 Happy Mother's Day, Denise!

 Today is Mother's day!
 I want to wish my lady love a Happy Mother's day and the same Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful and caring Mother's of this World. That includes the loving Mother's within the other species..

WANT TO KNOW WHO I AM?

I am an infinitesimal bit of conscious energy

Existing among billions of infinitesimal bits of life forms

Existing upon an infinitely small

Blue planet within an infinitely tiny

Galaxy existing among an infinite

amount of Galaxies existing within

The largest Damn Universe we bits

Will ever imagine!!

And you are?

Copyright: Joseph Raglione

http://ifannyman.com/2207050-10098338

We are all responsible for preserving life!
Energy does exist without life but only people who are alive understand the concept.
Work to preserve life and then celebrate your work! Joseph Raglione.

==================================================

T.V MODIFIED.

                        T.V. Modified human beings

 Don't protest the screams of dying poor

 In places like Darfur!

 They prefer to see and hear car motors roar on T.V.

 And then out the door to demand the price of gas be lowered

                         To the pedal floor

Will oil and gas loving Republicans again destroy Electric cars?

Ever since the G.W. Bush presidency ambushed and destroyed the first all Electric vehicle in California, I have been waiting for another reasonably priced all Electric Car to make an appearance. I believe the Tesla 3 will be that vehicle but here is the bad news! There will be another member of the Bush family running for president of the United States in the next U.S. federal election? 

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After hearing rumblings for a while now it looks like we've finally received the official word of its actual arrival. Of course we’re talking about Tesla’s less expensive version of the Model S.  Yesterday, during Tesla’s investment call, CEO Elon Musk let everyone listening know about the Model 3.  

Looks like Tesla is finally ready to target the everyday driver.  

  It is said to be priced around the $30,000- $35,000 price tag and would be able to go 200 miles on a single charge. The Model 3 will be 20% smaller compared to the Model S and probably shave off some of their luxurious features. It will compete with vehicles like the Mercedes’ C-Class, BMW’s 3-series, and Audi’s A3 line.   The official unveiling is said to take place sometime next March & go into production sometime in late 2017.  

The Model 3 would be Tesla’s electric vehicle for the masses while the Model S & X would remain as their high-end line.   With a lower price point, is this the Tesla you would be interested in purchasing in the near future?  

A problem up at the space station!

Gentle People: 

 One of my favourite places off this Earth is the Space Station. 

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April 28, 2015

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Russian Resupply Ship Experiencing Difficulties; International Space Station, Crew are Fine

The six crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) are safe and continuing regular operations with sufficient supplies as Russian flight controllers plan for another attempt to communicate with a cargo resupply spacecraft bound for the station. The next attempt to link with the spacecraft comes at 8:50 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

The ISS Progress 59 cargo spacecraft launched successfully from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:09 a.m. (1:09 p.m. in Kazakhstan) Tuesday on a Soyuz rocket bound for the space station. Right after it separated from the Soyuz booster’s third stage, an unspecified problem prevented Russian flight controllers from determining whether navigational antennas had deployed and whether fuel system manifolds had pressurized as planned.

When flight controllers initially could not confirm deployment of the antennas in the minutes following its launch, they selected the backup rendezvous plan of two days and 34 orbits instead of the planned four-orbit, six-hour rendezvous.

During the spacecraft’s first four Earth orbits, the Russian flight control team made several unsuccessful attempts to confirm the status of the spacecraft’s systems but were unable to receive telemetry from some spacecraft systems. As a result, ISS flight controllers informed the crew a docking attempt to the station has been postponed.

The spacecraft was not carrying any supplies critical for the United States Operating Segment (USOS) of the station. Both the Russian and USOS segments of the station continue to operate normally and are adequately supplied well beyond the next planned resupply flight. The next mission scheduled to deliver cargo to the station is the seventh SpaceX commercial resupply services mission targeted for launch no earlier than June 19. It will carry about 5,000 pounds of science investigations and supplies.

The cargo of Progress 59 includes more than three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the space station crew, including 1,940 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water, and 3,128 pounds of spare parts, supplies and scientific experiment hardware. Among the U.S. supplies on board are spare parts for the station’s environmental control and life support system, backup spacewalk hardware, and crew clothing, all of which are replaceable.

As teams continue to monitor the spacecraft, additional updates and more information about the International Space Station will be available online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov

Dan Huot
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov

Last Updated: April 29, 2015

Editor: Karen Northon

Tags:  International Space Station

Earthquake victims in Nepal need our help!They need food and water desperately!

The earthquake victims in Nepal India need our help! Please send food and water to any and all non profit foundations working actively to provide disaster relief! A disaster relief package should include a medical kit and several bottles of water as well as canned goods. Any water proof jackets will be of  help as Monsoon rains are expected within a few weeks. Thanks for caring and sharing!
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Support Nepal Earthquake Emergency

With UNICEF already providing much needed supplies, your gift will go directly to where it is needed. DONATE NOW and your gift will TRIPLE IN IMPACT thanks to the Government of Canada* and UNICEF corporate sponsors**.

Your gift will help UNICEF respond to the needs of children and families affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has struck the area in and around the capital city of Kathmandu in Nepal. The earthquake has toppled buildings and destroyed roads and infrastructure. UNICEF is on the ground and responding to the needs of the affected children and families.

UNICEF has saved more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization. We work tirelessly to help children and their families, doing whatever it takes to ensure children survive. We provide children with healthcare and immunization, clean water, nutrition and food security, education, emergency relief, and more.

You can trust that UNICEF is on the ground and knows what to do. We have been in Nepal for 50 years and our expertise will help save lives.

*Every dollar donated to UNICEF Canada by individuals (up to $100,000) from April 25 to May 25, will be matched by the Government of Canada.
**UNICEF’s generous corporate supporters will be matching all donations for the Nepal Earthquake up to $80,000.

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