Burning up in a blaze of glory, Orbital ATK‘s OA-7 Cygnus cargo ship re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean June 11, 2017, ending its nearly two-month-long flight.
The spacecraft, which spent some six weeks attached to the International Space Station, delivered more than 3,300 kilograms of supplies to the outpost and, after unberthing last week, performed a fire experiment.
Read MoreAfter a four-day cruise to the International Space Station, Orbital ATK’s OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft, named S.S. John Glenn, was captured and berthed to the outpost.
Capture of the 6.4-meter long spacecraft by the station’s robotic Canadarm2 came at 6:05 a.m. EDT (10:05 GMT) April 22, 2017. Expedition 51 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency as well as Commander Peggy Whitson of NASA were at the Robotics Work Station in the Cupola window controlling the arm.
Read MoreAn electrodynamic tether experiment being conducted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has apparently run into some problems, according to The Japan Times.
The tether, called Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiment or KITE, was attached to the outside of the Japanese Kounotori 6 cargo spacecraft, which departed from the International Space Station on Jan. 27, 2017, after six weeks attached to the orbiting lab.
Read MoreBetween cargo ships servicing the outpost and spacewalks to maintain it, 2016 was arguably one of the busiest years for the International Space Station since the end of the space shuttle era.
Probably the most visible event for the space station in 2016 was the yearlong crew – NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko – returning to Earth. They had launched to the outpost on March 27, 2015.
Read MoreAfter spending a month attached to the International Space Station, Orbital ATK’s OA-5 Cygnus was detached and released by the robotic Canadarm2 in the morning hours of Nov. 21.
The S.S. Alan Poindexter, as the cargo ship is named, was unberthed from the Earth-facing port of the Unity module and moved to about 10 meters below the outpost. A couple hours later, at 8:22 a.m. EST (13:22 GMT), astronaut Shane Kimbrough commanded Canadarm2 to release the craft.
Read MoreWhat did the romaine lettuce astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren ate in 2015 taste like? Arugula, according to Kelly. Apparently plants and foods can taste different in space than they do on Earth.
In an interview in April 2016, Gioia Massa, the NASA project scientist for Veggie, an experiment aboard the International Space Station designed to understand how to grow food in space, said she wasn't surprised by Kelly's description.
Read MoreNASA uploaded a pretty neat video about understanding gut bacteria. The video starts by stating there are 3 pounds of bacteria in the human gut. Wow! Dr. Fred Turek of Northwestern Universities Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology is studying that bacteria in astronauts on the International Space Station.
When Scott Kelly went to live in the orbital complex for a whole year, one of areas scientists were studying was the bacteria inside Kelly's gut and how they changed (or didn't) over the yearlong stay in microgravity.
Read MoreIn a situation reminiscent of one on Star Trek, DNA was successfully sequenced on the International Space Station for the first time.
The Biomolecule Sequencer experiment, which was launched to the outpost via a SpaceX Dragon capsule in July 2016, was conducted by NASA astronaut and Expedition 48 flight engineer Kate Rubins. The investigation consisted of samples of mouse, virus and bacteria DNA and a candy-bar-sized hand-held device called MinION.
Read MoreOrbital Velocity is designed to be "living time capsule" about the International Space Station.
This project is an attempt to bridge an information gap between space agencies and companies, as well as a public that supports space endeavors with their tax dollars. Despite the importance of the space station, the general public doesn't always know what is happening aboard this amazing complex on a regular basis. Research being conducted isn't always readily available and what information is out there can sometimes be difficult to understand. Some people aren't even aware there is an active space program, let alone a space station.
Orbital Velocity hopes to change that by building a database of information through blogs, a website, small videos and longer documentary-like series'.
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