Curiosity Surveys a Mystery Under Dusty Skies

NASA - Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) logo.

Sept. 6, 2018

Image above: This 360-degree panorama was taken on Aug. 9 by NASA's Curiosity rover at its location on Vera Rubin Ridge. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

After snagging a new rock sample on Aug. 9, NASA's Curiosity rover surveyed its surroundings on Mars, producing a 360-degree panorama of its current location on Vera Rubin Ridge.

The panorama includes umber skies, darkened by a fading global dust storm. It also includes a rare view by the Mast Camera of the rover itself, revealing a thin layer of dust on Curiosity's deck. In the foreground is the rover's most recent drill target, named "Stoer" after a town in Scotland near where important discoveries about early life on Earth were made in lakebed sediments.

The new drill sample delighted Curiosity's science team, because the rover's last two drill attempts were thwarted by unexpectedly hard rocks. Curiosity started using a new drill method earlier this year to work around a mechanical problem. Testing has shown it to be as effective at drilling rocks as the old method, suggesting the hard rocks would have posed a problem no matter which method was used.

NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover on Vera Rubin Ridge (360 View)

There's no way for Curiosity to determine exactly how hard a rock will be before drilling it, so for this most recent drilling activity, the rover team made an educated guess. An extensive ledge on the ridge was thought to include harder rock, able to stand despite wind erosion; a spot below the ledge was thought more likely to have softer, erodible rocks. That strategy seems to have panned out, but questions still abound as to why Vera Rubin Ridge exists in the first place.

The rover has never encountered a place with so much variation in color and texture, according to Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the Mars Science Laboratory mission that Curiosity is a part of.

"The ridge isn't this monolithic thing -- it has two distinct sections, each of which has a variety of colors," Vasavada said. "Some are visible to the eye and even more show up when we look in near-infrared, just beyond what our eyes can see. Some seem related to how hard the rocks are."

Image above: A self-portrait by NASA's Curiosity rover taken on Sol 2082 (June 15, 2018). A Martian dust storm has reduced sunlight and visibility at the rover's location in Gale Crater. A drill hole can be seen in the rock to the left of the rover at a target site called "Duluth." Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

The best way to discover why these rocks are so hard is to drill them into a powder for the rover's two internal laboratories. Analyzing them might reveal what's acting as "cement" in the ridge, enabling it to stand despite wind erosion. Most likely, Vasavada said, groundwater flowing through the ridge in the ancient past had a role in strengthening it, perhaps acting as plumbing to distribute this wind-proofing "cement."

Much of the ridge contains hematite, a mineral that forms in water. There's such a strong hematite signal that it drew the attention of NASA orbiters like a beacon. Could some variation in hematite result in harder rocks? Is there something special in the ridge's red rocks that makes them so unyielding?

For the moment, Vera Rubin Ridge is keeping its secrets to itself.

Two more drilled samples are planned for the ridge in September. After that, Curiosity will drive to its scientific end zone: areas enriched in clay and sulfate minerals higher up Mt. Sharp. That ascent is planned for early October.

Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video (NASA/JPL), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL/Andrew Good.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Cosmic Collision Forges Galactic One Ring—in X-rays

NASA - Chandra X-ray Observatory patch.

Sept. 6, 2018

Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to discover a ring of black holes or neutron stars in a galaxy 300 million light years from Earth.

This ring, while not wielding power over Middle Earth, may help scientists better understand what happens when galaxies smash into one another in catastrophic impacts.

In this new composite image of the galaxy AM 0644-741 (AM 0644 for short), X-rays from Chandra (purple) have been combined with optical data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (red, green, and blue). The Chandra data reveal the presence of very bright X-ray sources, most likely binary systems powered by either a stellar-mass black hole or neutron star, in a remarkable ring. The results are reported in a new paper led by Anna Wolter from INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera in Milano, Italy.

Where did the ring of black holes or neutron stars in AM 0644 come from? Astronomers think that it was created when one galaxy was pulled into another galaxy by the force of gravity. The first galaxy generated ripples in the gas of the second galaxy, AM 0644, located in the lower right. These ripples then produced an expanding ring of gas in AM 0644 that triggered the birth of new stars. The first galaxy is possibly the one located in the lower left of the image.

The most massive of these fledgling stars will lead short lives — in cosmic terms — of millions of years. After that, their nuclear fuel is spent and the stars explode as supernovas leaving behind either black holes with masses typically between about five to twenty times that of the Sun, or neutron stars with a mass approximately equal to that of the Sun.

Some of these black holes or neutron stars have close companion stars, and siphon gas from their stellar partner. This gas falls towards the black hole or neutron star, forming a spinning disk like water circling a drain, and becomes heated by friction. This superheated gas produces large amounts of X-rays that Chandra can detect.

While a ring of black holes or neutron stars is intriguing in itself, there is more to the story of AM 0644. All of the X-ray sources detected in the ring of AM 0644 are bright enough to be classified as ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). This is a class of objects that produce hundreds to thousands of times more X-rays than most "normal" binary systems in which a companion star is in orbit around a neutron star or black hole. Until recently most astronomers thought that ULXs generally contained stellar-mass black holes, with the possible presence in some cases of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) that contain over a hundred times the mass of the Sun. However, this thinking was overturned when a few ULXs in other galaxies, including M82 and M51, were found to contain neutron stars.

Chandra X-ray Observatory

Several other explanations besides IMBHs have been suggested for the intense X-ray emission of ULXs. They include unusually rapid growth of the black hole or neutron star, or geometrical effects arising from the funneling of infalling material along magnetic field lines.

The identity of the individual ULXs in AM 0644 is currently unknown. They may be a mixture of black holes and neutron stars, and it is also possible that they are all black holes or all neutron stars.

Not all of the X-ray sources in the image are located in the ring of AM 0644. One of the sources is a rapidly growing black hole that's located well behind the galaxy at a distance of 9.1 billion light years from Earth. Another intriguing source detected by Chandra is a growing supermassive black hole located at the center of the galaxy. In the new study, the researchers also used Chandra observations to study six other ring galaxies in addition to AM 0644. A total of 63 sources were detected in the seven galaxies, and 50 of them are ULXs. The authors see a larger average number of ULXs per galaxy in these ring galaxies than in other types of galaxies. Ring galaxies have stimulated the interest of astronomers because they are ideal testbeds for examining models of how double stars form, and understanding the origin of ULXs.

The paper describing the study of AM 0644 and its sister ring galaxies appeared in the August 10, 2018 issue of the Astrophysical Journal and is available online. The co-authors of the paper are Antonella Fruscione from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., and Michela Mapelli from INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova in Padova, Italy.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

Read more from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory: http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2018/ring/index.html

For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

Image, Animation, Text, credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF/A. Wolter et al; Optical: NASA/STScI.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Astronauts Swap Roles as Scientists, Spacewalkers and Robotics Controllers

ISS - Expedition 56 Mission patch.

September 6, 2018

September is gearing up to be a very busy month aboard the International Space Station. The six Expedition 56 crew members are headlong in the first week of the month switching roles and juggling a wide variety of critical tasks.

Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold of NASA has been swapping roles today as space scientist and spacewalker. The educator-astronaut sequenced RNA today from microbes swabbed from inside the orbital lab’s surfaces. The research is helping scientists understand how life adapts to microgravity providing insights to improve crew health.

Image above: NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold works on an experiment that extracts RNA from biological samples to help researchers decipher the changes in gene expression that take place in microgravity. Image Credit: NASA.

Arnold then joined his fellow crew mates, Commander Drew Feustel of NASA and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of ESA, at the end of the day for a review of two spacewalks scheduled for Sept. 20 and 26. The trio reviewed robotics maneuvers and other tasks required for the external battery maintenance work on the Port 4 truss structure at the end of the month.

Feustel also trained for his role as the prime robotics controller when he captures JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) HTV-7 cargo craft with the Canadarm2 robotic arm on Sept. 14. JAXA’s seventh resupply ship to visit the space station is due to launch Monday at 6:32 p.m. EDT.

Image above: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) unpiloted H-II Transport Vehicle-6 (HTV-6) makes its final approach to the International Space Station Dec. 13, 2016. Image Credit: NASA.

From inside the cupola, Feustel will command the Canadarm2 to reach out and grapple the HTV-7 as Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor backs him up next Friday at 7:40 a.m. Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor both joined Feustel for the robotics training today during their afternoon.

Related article:

NASA Television to Air Launch, Capture of Japanese Cargo Ship to Space Station
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-television-to-air-launch-capture-of-japanese-cargo-ship-to-space-station

Related links:

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Sequenced RNA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7687

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Bone cells round trip to space, rinse and repeat

ESA / DLR - Columbus Laboratory patch.

6 September 2018

The bones in your body are constantly dissolving – but don’t worry, healthy people naturally create new cells daily to repair and keep your bones strong. This process of disappearing bone is called osteoclast and its rebuilding at the cellular level is called osteoblast.

For most people this natural cycle happens continuously without us being aware of it. For astronauts and people suffering from osteoporosis something hampers the creation of bone-forming cells, causing their bones to slowly waste away and become more fragile.

Alexander Gerst exercising on Space Station

On average astronauts in space lose 1% bone density a month due to living in weightlessness. Astronauts recuperate back on Earth but sending humans to explore our Solar System on long missions poses serious problems. They might not be able to withstand the gravity on a distant planet after months of travelling through space.

For researchers trying to understand the phenomenon, studying how bones react to spaceflight is crucial. It offers a way to research immediate changes that take weeks to manifest on Earth.

Growing bones in microgravity

The InVitroBone research teams from Italy and France sent the facility into space on the SpaceX Dragon cargo ferry to the International Space Station. The facility is the size of a desk drawer and held two sets of three experiments that monitored bone cells as they reacted to spaceflight in different conditions.

The less time the bone cells spent on Earth, the better for the scientific results, so the researchers had to get everything ready for the last possible moment – 32 hours before liftoff. Working backwards from that moment required careful planning, coordination and practice.

InVitroBone preparation

The consortium  wanted to see if the Irisin protein that has been found to increase bone and muscle growth on Earth works in space too. The results can give clues to how the protein works and might one day be used by astronauts to help them stay healthy. Other experiments looked at how human stem cells turn into bone-forming cells – or adipocytes – in microgravity, this is fundamental to understand what is happening in astronaut’s bones.

The facility is automated, requiring only electricity to run, so astronauts simply moved it from Dragon’s cargo hold to the US Destiny laboratory during its 35-day stay in space. Inside, the cells were fed with fluids at set times all while being monitored from Earth.

Science on a timer

After circling Earth over 500 times the experiment was retrieved after the Dragon splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. From there the equipment was shipped to the payload manufacturer in Canada for refurbishment and the science samples were sent back to each of the science labs for detailed analysis. As a follow-up, the mission hardware and science went through preparations for a reference test at ESA’s Life, Physical Sciences and  Life Support Laboratory at its ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

Dragon spacecraft

The researchers recreated the exact same experiment – minus the microgravity – as a control study to compare results. Preparing the cells, structure, syringes, fluids and so on is a painstaking job that needs to be done meticulously for scientific value.

“Preparing samples in a lab with petri dishes is easy compared to getting everything ready for space where we cannot touch our experiments once launched” says ESA payload manager Nadine Boersma, “avoiding contamination and bubbles in the equipment is hard.”

InVitroBone facility

The experiments have now completed their session on Earth with the researchers already thinking of expanding the study by running the experiments in hypergravity in ESA’s short-arm centrifuge.

ESA’s head of human research, Jennifer Ngo-Anh concludes: “The InVitroBone experiment is a showcase of how ESA covers many interesting topics that are relevant for space but also on Earth, combining science from space exploration as well as science that enables space exploration. There are many applications that stem from space research that have already led to cross-cutting societal and economic benefits and the results from In Vitro Bone will contribute to these.”

Related links:

Human Spaceflight: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight

Experiment archive: http://eea.spaceflight.esa.int/

International Space Station Benefits for Humanity: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_Station_Benefits_for_Humanity

European space laboratory Columbus: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Columbus

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/A. Conigli/NASA.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Satellites, Space Station Crew Watching Hurricane Florence

NASA & JAXA - GPM Mission patch / ISS - International Space Station patch.

September 6, 2018

Florence (was Potential Tropical Cyclone 6) 2018

Sep. 06, 2018 – Pics from Astronaut Ricky Arnold from the ISS

Image above: Astronaut Ricky Arnold took this image of Hurricane Florence strengthening in the early morning hours over the Atlantic. Image Credits: NASA/Ricky Arnold.

Image above: Astronaut Ricky Arnold captured this image from the ISS of Florence strengthening in the early morning hours over the Atlantic. Image Credits: NASA/Ricky Arnold.

Sep. 06, 2018 – NASA’s GPM Peers Under the Clouds of Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence became more powerful over the past few days while moving through the central Atlantic Ocean and wind speeds increased from tropical storm force to a Category 3 hurricane. The GPM core satellite provided a look under the clouds to investigate the rate rain in which was falling throughout the storm.

Image above: On Sept. 15, GPM revealed that storms north of Florence’s eye were producing heavy rainfall at a rate of 50 mm/2 inches per hour (red). The GPM satellite’s Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) scanned the nearly rain-free areas to the west of the hurricane. Image Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce.

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite passed over hurricane Florence on Sept. 5, 2018 at 1:14 a.m. EDT (0514 UTC).  Data collected by the GPM satellite’s Microwave Imager (GMI) instruments showed the intensity and location of precipitation around the center of the hurricane. GPM’s GMI revealed that storms north of Florence’s eye were producing heavy rainfall a rate of 50 mm/2 inches per hour. The GPM satellite’s Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) only scanned the nearly rain-free areas to the west of the hurricane.

At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. a 3D animation was created that showed the estimated heights of storms within hurricane Florence at the time of the GPM satellite pass. Heights are based on data observed by GPM’s radar (DPR Ku Band) blended with estimates from geostationary satellite cloud top temperatures. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA.

GPM Flyby of Florence

Video above: On Sept. 15, GPM revealed that storms north of Florence’s eye were producing heavy rainfall. The GPM satellite’s Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) scanned the nearly rain-free areas to the west of the hurricane. Video Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center noted that Florence was weakening, although still a hurricane. It was centered near latitude 24.1 degrees north and longitude 47.9 degrees west. That’s about 1,060 miles (1,705 km) east-northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands and about 1,170 miles (1,885 km) east-southeast of Bermuda.

Florence is moving toward the northwest near 12 mph (19 kph).  NHC forecasters said a turn toward the west-northwest with a decrease in forward speed is expected later today, followed by a turn toward the west by the weekend. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 115 mph (185 kph) with higher gusts.  Florence is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.  Some additional weakening is forecast today, but Florence is expected to remain a strong hurricane for the next several days.

Image above: Visualization of the GPM Core Observatory and Partner Satellites. Image Credits: NASA/JAXA.

Although still quite a distance from Bermuda, ocean swells generated by Florence will begin to affect Bermuda on Friday and will reach portions of the U.S. East Coast over the weekend.  These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Hurricane Florence is being steered toward the northwest by the Atlantic subtropical ridge. Early next week the National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts that hurricane Florence will have moved to a location southeast of Bermuda. Interests in Bermuda should watch the progression of the storm.

For updates on Florence, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM):

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GPM/main/index.html

http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/gpm/

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, by Rob Gutro/Hal Pierce.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

ANA HOLDINGS and JAXA Partner to Create a New Space Industry Centered Around Real-World Avatars

ANA - AVATAR X Prize logo.

September 6, 2018

"AVATAR X" program launches to boost humanity's access to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

ANA HOLDINGS INC. (hereinafter ANA HD) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are proud to announce the launch of "AVATAR X," a multi-phased program to revolutionize space exploration and development using real-world Avatars (1).

AVATAR X Phases

AVATAR X aims to capitalize on the growing space-based economy by accelerating development of real-world Avatars that will enable humans to remotely build camps on the Moon, support long-term space missions and further explore space from afar.

AVATAR X is part of "ANA's AVATAR Vision (2)," a breakthrough endeavor to advance and pioneer real-world Avatar technologies, and JAXA's new research and development program "J-SPARC" (JAXA Space Innovation through Partnership and Co-creation). Together with a growing list of public and private partners, AVATAR X hopes to catalyze new space-based businesses that will provide key services and an unprecedented level of access to space.

Some of the new business fields that AVATAR X aims to unlock, using real-world Avatars, include:

・Remote construction in space, including the lunar surface and Mars
・Operation and maintenance of space stations and facilities from Earth
・Space-based entertainment and travel for the general public

The first phase of AVATAR X starts in 2018 with the establishment of the AVATAR X consortium. The consortium will be the official forum to discuss and construct a roadmap for the AVATAR X program. The consortium is open to companies and organizations from all sectors that are interested in jointly pioneering this new space initiative.

The second phase consists of building the "AVATAR X Lab@OITA" in Japan's southern prefecture of Oita. This facility will be the world's first dedicated Avatar space test field. Key telecommunication and research infrastructure will be installed at the facility to enable testing for Avatars in space scenarios defined by the AVATAR X consortium. Unique structures, designed by award-winning architecture firm CLOUDS Architecture Office (3) (CLOUDS AO), will also be built at the AVATAR X Lab@OITA to house research facilities, conference and exhibition rooms as well as restaurants and other amenities for researchers and visitors.

AVATAR X Prize poster

Planned for the early 2020's, the third phase of AVATAR X will transport technologies developed at the AVATAR X Lab@OITA to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for testing in space. Once the capabilities of these new technologies are confirmed in the space environment, the fourth phase will begin. Phase four involves deploying AVATAR X technology to begin building and further exploring the Moon, Mars and beyond.

"ANA is driven by a bold and inspiring vision of the future of flight and this boldness doesn't stop on our planet," said Shinya Katanozaka, President and CEO of ANA HD. "Through innovative partnerships, like AVATAR X, we are excited about the possibilities of what we can accomplish and where we can go when the private and public sectors join forces."

Notes:

(1). A real-world Avatar is essentially a robot controlled by a human that will enable a person to see, hear, feel and interact freely in a remote environment in real-time. Each Avatar consists of an operator apparatus (pilot) and remote apparatus (Avatar) that are in complete synchronization. The intentions of the operator are transmitted to the remote Avatar and the resulting sensations of sight, sound and touch detected by the remote Avatar are fed back to the operator.

(2). ANA AVATAR Vision website: https://ana-avatar.com/english.html

ANA AVATAR Vision press release: https://www.ana.co.jp/group/en/pr/201803/20180313.html

(3). CLOUDS AO was awarded first place in NASA's Centennial Challenge Mars Habitat Competition.

AVATAR X Website: https://avatarx.com/english.html

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): http://global.jaxa.jp/

Images, Text, Credits: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Science Gear Work, Japan Spaceship Preps Ahead of Orbital Reboost

ISS - Expedition 56 Mission patch.

September 5, 2018

The Expedition 56 crew members conducted maintenance work on a variety of advanced science gear today to ensure ongoing space research aboard the International Space Station. The crew also continued a pair of exercise studies and trained to capture a Japanese cargo craft before tonight’s orbital reboost of the station.

Commander Drew Feustel spent Wednesday afternoon inside ESA’s (European Space Agency) Columbus laboratory module working on the Electromagnetic Levitator (EML). He installed a new storage disc and a high speed camera controller inside the EML. The space furnace enables research and observations of the properties of materials exposed to extremely high temperatures.

Image above: The Expedition 56 crew members pose for a fun portrait in the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Clockwise from top are Expedition 56 Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Prokopyev and Ricky Arnold. In the center, from left, are ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel of NASA. Image Credit: NASA.

Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold worked in JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Kibo laboratory module during the morning replacing valves inside the EXPRESS Rack-5. The science rack, which was delivered to the orbital lab in 2001, can host a variety of experiments operated by astronauts on the station or remotely by scientists on Earth.

Astronaut Alexander Gerst of ESA has been contributing to a pair of German exercise studies for a few weeks to help doctors maintain astronaut health. Today, he continued testing a custom-designed thermal t-shirt and researching a wearable device for real-time cardio-pulmonary diagnosis during a workout.

Sunrise from International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Gerst and Feustel wrapped up the day with Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor reviewing next week’s arrival of JAXA’s HTV-7 resupply ship. The HTV-7’s launch is planned for Monday at 6:32 p.m. EDT and its capture with the Canadarm2 set for Sept. 14 at 7:40 a.m. NASA TV will cover both activities live.

Finally, the orbital lab is due to raise its orbit tonight in the second of three planned maneuvers to prepare for a crew swap in October. The Zvezda service module will fire its engines for 13 seconds slightly boosting the station’s orbit in advance of a pair of Soyuz crew ships departing and arriving next month.

Related links:

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Electromagnetic Levitator (EML): http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Blue_dot/Electromagnetic_levitator

Custom-designed thermal t-shirt: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7571

Real-time cardio-pulmonary diagnosis: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7574

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch