ESA Columbus Lab: Ham video premiers on space station

Ham TV equipment. 

Credit: Kayser Italia

Astronauts on the International Space Station can now talk with people on Earth with video using simple transmitters.

'Ham TV' has been set up in ESA's Columbus laboratory and already used for talking with ground control.

Amateur radio enthusiasts have been able to poll astronauts circling our planet using standard radio equipment since the Station was inaugurated in 2000.

Radio signals easily reach the orbital outpost flying 350 km above us on sets readily available to radio enthusiasts.

The new 'Ham TV' adds a visual dimension, allowing an audience on the ground to see and hear the astronauts.

A screenshot of NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins as received through amateur video transmitters on ESA's Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. 

Hopkins had the honour of being the first to commission the unit and broadcast over 'Ham TV'. 

He had a video chat with three ground stations at Livorno, Casale Monferrato and Matera in Italy. 

Just like standard television, the video signal is one way. 

The astronauts cannot see their audience but they hear them over the traditional amateur radio on the Station. 

Ham TV will add to ham radio for space educational purposes, offering schoolchildren the chance to talk and see astronauts in space with simple equipment. 

Anybody can still hail the Station via radio and, if an astronaut floats by the always-on receiver, they might just pick up and answer the call. 

For more information on how to get involved and organise an educational event, contact the 'Amateur Radio on the International Space Station organisation' (ARISS). 

Image courtesy ESA.

Contacts are brief – the connection requires direct line of sight and the Station's 28 800 km/h means it quickly passes through the field of view of amateur stations.

Unpacking Cargo from Expedition 38 Soyuz Landing

Engineers document cargo as it is unloaded from the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft after it landed with Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, and Flight Engineers: Mike Hopkins of NASA, and, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Tuesday, March 11, 2014. 

Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy returned to Earth after five and a half months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 37 and 38 crews.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Soyuz Spacecraft Returns Expedition 38 Space Station Crew to Earth

The recovery team attends to NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins and cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy after the trio's Soyuz capsule touched down in frigid Kazakhstan on March 10, 2014.

Credit: NASA TV

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts made a snowy but safe landing on Earth late Monday (March 10), bringing their 5 1/2-month mission aboard the International Space Station to a successful close.

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy touched down on the snowy steppes of Kazakhstan at 11:24 p.m. EDT Monday (0324 March 11 GMT; 9:24 a.m. March 11 local time), about 3 1/2 hours after leaving the space station.

Temperatures hovered around 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius) at the landing site, and strong winds whipped snow through the air.

"The crew will get a bit of a frigid welcome," a NASA commentator said as the Soyuz neared terra firma.

Because of the extreme conditions, recovery teams did not set up the standard medical tents for each crewmember.

Instead, Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy were to be taken immediately to a helicopter after being removed from the capsule.

The trio spent 166 days in orbit, and their mission was nearly extended by 24 hours.

Space station officials considered delaying the Soyuz' departure by a day because of bad weather on the ground in Kazakhstan but ultimately decided to go ahead with the original landing plan.

Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy launched toward the station on Sept. 26, initially joining the crew of the orbiting lab's Expedition 37.

In November, Expedition 37 transitioned to Expedition 38, which Kotov commanded.

Max Goes to Jupiter - Mike Hopkins

NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins read "Max Goes to Jupiter" for the Story Time from Space activity.

Crew members on the space station host Story Time from Space by videotaping themselves reading children’s books.

They also complete simple demonstrations that accompany the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) concepts in the books.

The videos are edited and posted to an online library with related educational materials for educators and parents to use.

The project aims to bring space station science to communities that have had no other involvement with the space program through the simple beauty of reading a book to the children of Earth from orbit.

The books are delivered to the space station and returned after the videos are completed.

The program will increase awareness of the station, and connects (STEM) concepts with literacy, providing teachers a unique and engaging way to teach.

ISS Expedition 38 Takes an In-Flight Crew Portrait

Expedition 38 crew members pose for an in-flight crew portrait in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station on Feb. 22, 2014. 

Pictured (clockwise from top center) are Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, commander; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, all flight engineers. 

Image Credit: NASA

At Work in the Destiny Laboratory of the International Space Station

NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, Expedition 38 flight engineer, performs in-flight maintenance on combustion research hardware in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station in this image taken on Dec. 30, 2013. 

 Hopkins replaced a Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) fuel reservoir inside the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR). 

The Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion experiments in microgravity. 

Image Credit: NASA

NASA SLAMMD: Medical Science for Crew as Year Nears End

NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins enjoys time in the Cupola, which affords the most broad views of Earth.

The six-member Expedition 38 crew is getting ready for another eventful year of scientific research, finishing up 2013 with medical research activities.

Both NASA and Russian spacewalkers also are cleaning up after three fast-paced spacewalks.

With one exception, all station systems are powered up and running normally following two spacewalks by NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins to replace a degraded cooling system pump module.

The new pump module is working well, which allows electrical systems cooled by that loop to be put back into full service.

The last string of power to the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory is scheduled to be brought back on line Tuesday.

The Caribbean country of Cuba is pictured in this high oblique image with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in the foreground.

Hopkins started his day working in the Human Research Facility (HRF) and collecting biological samples for stowage inside a science freezer.

In the afternoon he used the HRF’s space linear acceleration mass measurement device (SLAMMD) to calculate his body mass.

SLAMMD subjects a crew member to a known force and the resulting acceleration provides a body mass measurement that is accurate to within a half-pound.

Astronaut Mike Hopkins on Dec. 24 Spacewalk

On Dec. 24, 2013, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, Expedition 38 Flight Engineer, participates in the second of two spacewalks, spread over a four-day period, which were designed to allow the crew to change out a degraded pump module on the exterior of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station. 

He was joined on both spacewalks by NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, whose image shows up in Hopkins' helmet visor.

The pump module controls the flow of ammonia through cooling loops and radiators outside the space station, and, combined with water-based cooling loops inside the station, removes excess heat into the vacuum of space.

Image Credit: NASA

ISS Astronauts Celebrate Holidays in Orbit

NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio performs a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Dec. 22, 2013, the first of two spacewalks to replace an ammonia coolant pump in one of two cooling loops on the orbiting lab.

Credit: NASA

Six space travelers living in orbit definitely aren't home for Christmas today, but that doesn't mean they won't get into the holiday spirit on the International Space Station.

The space station's six-man Expedition 38 crew includes two Americans, three Russians and one Japanese astronaut.

This year, Christmas falls between two spacewalks — a Christmas Eve spacewalk to fix the outpost's cooling system and a Dec. 27 excursion by Russian cosmonauts — so it is likely a welcome rest in an otherwise busy week.

"Hey folks, MERRY CHRISTMAS!" NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio wrote in a Twitter post Sunday (Dec. 22), adding that he would write more after finishing the station's "home improvement project" to replace a cooling system pump.

He and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins finished that work in a spacewalk on Tuesday.

ISS Astronauts complete Coolant Pump repair

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have received a gift just in time for Christmas: a new pump module to repair their ailing cooling system and to restore the outpost to full power.

Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins embarked on their second spacewalk together, setting out at 6:53 a.m. EST (1153 GMT) on Tuesday (Dec. 24) to complete the work they began Saturday to remove and replace an ammonia pump module with a faulty flow control valve.

NASA's Mike Hopkins holds the space station's new pump module while floating past a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. 

Hopkins is riding the orbiting outpost's robotic arm to install the new pump module and fix the laboratory's vital cooling system.

Astronauts Mastravvhio and Hopkins Complete First in Series of Spacewalks

On Sunday, Dec. 22, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins tweeted this photo of Saturday's spacewalk, saying, "Wow... can't believe that is me yesterday. Wish I could find the words to describe the experience, truly amazing."

Expedition 38 Flight Engineers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins wrapped up a 5-hour, 28-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station at 12:29 p.m. EST Saturday. 

They completed the first in a series of excursions aimed at replacing a degraded ammonia pump module associated with one of the station's two external cooling loops that keeps both internal and external equipment cool.

A second spacewalk to install a replacement pump module is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 7:10 a.m. EST, with NASA TV coverage beginning at 6:15 a.m. EST.

Credit: NASA

ISS Astronauts Prepare for EVA Spacewalks to Repair Coolant System

Expedition 38 crew member Mike Hopkins checks out the spacesuit he will wear outside the International Space Station on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013. 

He and fellow astronaut Rick Mastracchio will conduct a series of spacewalks to replace an ammonia pump that is part of the station's coolant system. 

This will be Hopkins' first spacewalk, while Mastracchio has had six previous ones on STS-118 and STS-131

More Information

Progress M-21M space freighter docks with ISS via Kurs-NA

An unmanned Russian resupply spacecraft carrying an improved navigation system docked early Saturday with the International Space Station, Russian Mission Control said.

"The manual docking was carried out by cosmonaut Oleg Kotov," Mission Control said.

The Progress M-21M space freighter was loaded with almost 2.5 metric tons of food, fuel, experiment hardware and other supplies for the space station's six Expedition 38 crew members.

The craft lifted off aboard a Soyuz-U launch vehicle from the Russian-leased Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

On November 28, the spacecraft conducted flybys of the orbital station and successfully tested a lighter and more efficient automated navigation and docking system, known as Kurs-NA.

The Kurs-NA boasts advanced electronics, a fully-digitized control system and increased docking precision compared to its predecessor, Kurs. The improved system will be used on all upgraded Soyuz and Progress vehicles in the future.

The space station's crew currently comprises Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Tyurin, Sergey Ryazanskiy and Oleg Kotov, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

NASA ISS Astronauts record US Thanksgiving message - Video

Aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, both Expedition 38 flight engineers, send down their best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving.

Greetings from NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins

Astronaut Mike Hopkins working Robonaut2

Astronaut Mike Hopkins working with robonaut. He is controlling the robot by having him follow my motions.