Hero of the Day... #JAXA's Astronaut Koichi Wakata will help future missions, by further enabling Kibo robotic arm, toward first time functionality... And by mastering prolonged space effects, such reducing Astronaut's common phenomenon of bone loss. more.
NASA IMAGE:
Wakata gives trade-mark "thumbs-up" signal!
NASA's cooperative mission...
Final best efforts toward humanity's survival...
(Success will depend upon keeping politicians' AWAY from Scientific discovery!)
More Updates on NASA TV! VIEW.
Interesting Pre-flight interview with Wakata.
JAXA Astronaut Wakata helped assemble the first ISS truss segment (Z1 Truss) back in 2000 on STS-92; and S6 will be the last component of the truss segment. Interesting that Z1 was 18,000 pounds; and now, Canadarm2 will be 32,000 pounds!
In addition, Wakata's residence mission, will aid in improvements toward sustainability in the microgravity environment... i.e: bisphosphonate; which will be observed as a countermeasure to osteoporosis... Central to prep of mastering the physiological effects of prolonged space; comes the solutions to many earth conditions...Some say that osteoporosis effects approx. (1-in-4) on earth. more.
STS-119 mission specialists Astronaut John Phillips (foreground) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata (center) will be involved in the operation of the Canadarm2 to install the S6 Truss...(Top (R) Astronaut Richard Arnold)
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IMAGE Credit: NASA-
Astronauts in training, Phillips, Wakata, and Arnold; expedition resident engineers (Discovery's STS-119)
"The current status of the starboard solar alpha rotary joint allows us to install the S6 Truss to the starboard side. The previous mission, STS-126, performed the maintenance tasks such as replacement of the trundle bearing assemblies; they did the maintenance successfully, so, we can continue to, build the new element, the S6 Truss, to the starboard side." -Koichi Wakata
News Media's focus, is on space junk: #
UPDATE: Presently, Teams are putting a plan together in case a debris avoidance maneuver is required. At this time, we do not believe one will be necessary. At 4 p.m. EDT, we will have updated tracking data that will give us better insight whether the debris is clear of the space station. The crew is being kept apprised...
Today's Links...
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Four Missions: #
"Planned for launch in 2011, the NASA Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission uses two almost identical spacecraft built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. For two years, the twin probes will study the radiation belts surrounding Earth to improve our understanding of how the sun's changing energy flow affects them." More.
Highlights of space shuttle Discovery's mission
Reuters
Discovery to help power up space station
ABC Science Online
