ESA European Astronaut Luca Parmitano Training

In less than three years, ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano has travelled between all five international partners' training sites, gaining the knowledge and skills required for his mission.

His tailored training has taken him to Houston, USA, Star City near Moscow, Russia, Tsukuba near Tokyo, Japan, Montreal, Canada, and the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

Critical tasks are trained over and over. As Soyuz flight engineer, Luca requires a great amount of 'flying hours' in the Russian spacecraft simulator, so he trained until he felt at home in the cockpit and can operate Soyuz flawlessly in any situation.

During simulations, Luca had his hands at the controls of the spacecraft and wore the Russian Sokol flight suit.

Luca has been taught Space Station systems in full-size mockups, where he familiarised himself with the Station and learnt how everything works.

He is trained in all systems and experiment operations scheduled for his mission. He has spent hours getting to know every corner of Europe's Columbus laboratory, which forms a major part of the ISS.

Most of the experiments that Luca will carry out are based in the ESA ISS Columbus lab.

Dressed in a spacesuit, Luca also trained to perform spacewalks in one of the largest swimming pools in the world on realistic mockups of the Space Station.

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ESA Columbus ISS Module Celebrates 5 Years of Space Science

NASA Astronauts John Olivas (left) and Nicole Stott, STS-128 mission specialists, in the mission's first spacewalk as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. 

During the six-hour, 35-minute spacewalk, they removed an empty ammonia tank from the Station's truss and temporarily stowed it on the Station's robotic arm. 

They also retrieved the ESA experiments European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) and Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) from the Columbus laboratory module and installed them in Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay for return. 

Credit NASA/ESA.

Since Europe's Columbus laboratory module was attached to the International Space Station five years ago, it has offered researchers worldwide the opportunity to conduct science beyond the effects of gravity.

A total of 110 ESA-led experiments involving some 500 scientists have been conducted since 2008, spanning fluid physics, material sciences, radiation physics, the Sun, the human body, biology and astrobiology.

NASA Astronaut Rex Walheim hanging on to Columbus

The Space Station allows researchers to play with a force that is fixed on Earth: gravity.

'Turning off' gravity and performing experiments in space over long periods can reveal the inner workings of natural phenomena.

"We focus research on achieving scientific discoveries, developing applications and benefitting people on Earth while preparing for future space exploration," explains Martin Zell, responsible for ESA's utilisation of the European orbital laboratory.

John Olivas

Studying colloids - tiny particles in liquids - is one area of research hampered by gravity. Colloids are found in many liquids such as milk, paint and even in our bodies, yet they are so small you need an electron microscope to study them. At this scale, gravity will always influence the results, but in space experiments can be run repeatedly without interference.

The Colloid experiment on Columbus has shown how 'quantum forces' can be used to control colloid structures. It confirmed the effect of these forces as predicted theoretically over 30 years ago, but observed for the first time in 2008. The findings are part of the building blocks for creating nano-materials.

Research inside Columbus is also helping scientists to understand the human body. Astronauts in space absorb more salt without absorbing more fluids - contradicting generally accepted medical knowledge.

Nicole Stott

It turns out that high-salt diets seem to be causing bone loss in astronauts. Until now, bone loss was thought to be caused by the physical effect of living in weightlessness. This new result has implications for people suffering from osteoporosis on Earth.

Delving deeper, cell research is offering clues on how to control ageing.

The Roald biology experiment revealed that certain enzymes in our immune systems are more active in space, showing scientists on the ground where to look to combat premature cell death.

There are also experiments mounted outside of the Columbus module. The first of a series of Expose experiments has shown that living organisms can survive space travel.

NASA ISS Robonaut in the Columbus Lab

Robonaut-2

In the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory, Robonaut 2 is pictured on Jan. 2, during a round of testing for the first humanoid robot in space. Ground teams put Robonaut through its paces as they remotely commanded it to operate valves on a task board.

Robonaut is a testbed for exploring new robotic capabilities in space, and its form and dexterity allow it to use the same tools and control panels as its human counterparts do aboard the station.

Photo Credit: NASA

NASA STS-122 (2008) Crew Heads to the Pad: A Tribute to Alan Poindexter

In this image from December 2008, the STS-122 mission crew members stride out of the Operations and Checkout Building, eager to ride to the launch pad and take their seats in space shuttle Atlantis.

On the left, front to back, are Alan Poindexter, followed by Leland Melvin, Stanley Love and Leopold Eyharts. On the right, front to back, are Commander Steve Frick, followed by Rex Walheim and Hans Schlegel.

Schlegel and Eyharts represent the European Space Agency (ESA).

Alan Poindexter died on Sunday, July 1, 2012, as the result of a watercraft accident, while vacationing with his family.

A Navy Captain, he was accepted to the Astronaut Corps in 1998. During his career with NASA, Poindexter commanded the STS-131 space shuttle Discovery mission to the International Space Station in 2010, delivering more than 13,000 pounds of hardware and equipment.

He also served as the pilot of the STS-122 mission, which delivered and installed the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory on the station in 2008. He also served as a spacecraft communicator, or CAPCOM, for multiple missions.

Poindexter retired from NASA in 2010 and returned to serve in the United States Navy as Dean of Students at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services: Cygnus Spacecraft delivered

NASA's partnership with industry to develop transportation to the International Space Station reached another step Aug. 23, as the cargo module for Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus spacecraft, which will carry supplies to the station, arrived at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled for a demonstration flight early next year on an Orbital Taurus II launch vehicle under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement with the company. All photos credit: NASA/Wallops Flight Facility

Thales Alenia Space reports it has shipped its first Pressurized Cargo Module, designed to transport cargo to the International Space Station, to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The PCM, developed on behalf of Cygnus prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation, was carried by an Antonov An-24 cargo plane.

At Wallops, Orbital will integrate the PCM with the Service Module (including the avionics, propulsion subsystem and power supply) to produce the complete Cygnus spacecraft.

This vehicle will fly a demonstration mission in early 2012, using Orbital's Taurus II launcher, under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement.

Read more on this story from the Thales Alenia Space PCM side

Following the demonstration flight, within the scope of the CRS (Commercial Resupply Service) contract signed by Orbital and NASA, Thales Alenia Space will provide Orbital with eight more pressurized modules for cargo missions to the International Space Station, including crew supplies, spare parts and scientific experiments.

The first PCM will be followed by three more units in "standard" configuration, capable of transporting up to 2,000 kg of cargo each, along with five "enhanced" configuration units, boosting payload capacity to 2,700 kg.

The CygnusTM spacecraft comprises a Service Module (SM) built by Orbital, and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed by Thales Alenia Space.

Building on 30 years of experience in space infrastructures and transportation systems, Cygnus PCM developed by Thales Alenia Space calls on the company's skills and expertise developed through previous programs for the International Space Station.

Previous Thales Alenia Space programs include; the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistics Module), built by the company on behalf of the Italian space agency for NASA, and the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) Cargo Carrier, built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency (ESA).

Thales Alenia Space is a major contributor to the International Space Station, as a key player in the Columbus laboratory and prime contractor for Node 2, Node 3 and the Cupola.

NASA, ESA, Canada, Russia, Japan: International Partnerships work

In this view of the International Space Station's Cupola, a variety of modules and components of the station showcase the contributions of the many nations making up some of the international partnerships behind the space station.

On the left is the ESA Cupola, backdropped against black space, and on the right are various components of the orbiting outpost, including ESA Node 3 (NASA call it Tranquility), on which the Cupola is mounted and (ESA's Columbus) the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module.

In the background is a Russian Progress resupply spacecraft. This image was taken during the spacewalk conducted on July 12, 2011.

Image Credit: ESA/NASA

ESA Columbus & ISS Keeps Watch On World's Sea Traffic

ISS Keeps Watch On World's Sea Traffic

As the ISS circles Earth, it has begun tracking individual ships crossing the seas beneath. An experiment hosted by ESA's Columbus module is testing the viability of monitoring global traffic from the Station's orbit hundreds of kilometres up.

The ship-detection system under test is based around the Automatic Identification System (AIS), the marine equivalent of the air traffic control system.

All international vessels, cargo ships above certain weights and passenger carriers of all sizes must carry 'Class A' AIS transponders, broadcasting continually updated identification and navigation data.

AIS allows port authorities and coastguards to track seagoing traffic, but the system relies on VHF radio signals with a horizontal range of just 40 nautical miles (74 km). This makes it useful within coastal zones and on a ship-to-ship basis but open ocean traffic remains largely untracked. However, AIS signals travel much further vertically - all the way up to the International Space Station.

Global overview of maritime traffic
"The COLAIS (Columbus AIS) experiment was switched on at the start of June," said Karsten Strauch, ESA's project manager.

"To give an idea, more than 90 000 Class A AIS messages were gathered between 19:00 GMT on 2 June and 09:00 GMT the following day, giving a global overview of maritime traffic."

With commissioning completed, the experiment is run remotely and the results are routed via the Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany to COLAIS teams.

"We are currently testing the NORAIS receiver, built by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and Kongsberg Seatex," explained Mr Strauch.

"In three months' time the Station crew will switch it with a second receiver called LUXAIS, the work of Luxembourg companies Luxspace and Emtronix. For the next two years we will go on swapping between these receivers."

The Station's orbit crosses all major shipping lanes. The main challenge is simply that far too many vessels are detected at once, leading to signal overlaps and interference. The Station's 7 km/s speed also distorts the signal. The receivers therefore need to be capable of high-performance signal detection and message decoding.

Being hosted on the ISS, COLAIS can be kept updated in the future simply by astronauts swapping receivers, or fixing any problems that arise.

Integrating AIS information with other satellite data, such as from remote-sensing satellites, should significantly improve maritime surveillance and boost safety and security at sea.

ESA is planning a dedicated initiative in this area as part of its Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme.