NanoRacks Begins Third International Space Station External Platform Mission In Extreme Space Environment

This morning, the NanoRacks External Platform (NREP) was reinstalled on the outside of the International Space Station, initiating the commercial platform's third customer mission. The External Platform, self-funded by NanoRacks, is the leading commercial gateway to the extreme environment of space. Customers can experience the microgravity, atomic oxygen, radiation and other harsh elements native to the space environment. Additionally, customers can observe Earth, test sensors, materials, and electronics, all while having the opportunity to return the payload back to Earth.

The platform has been mounted on the outside of the Space Station, completing its second mission, since early May 2017. Last week, the astronaut crew brought the platform back inside the Space Station via the Japanese Kibo Airlock, and completed the second payload swap out, preparing for the third mission.

"I'd like to give a big thank you to Astronaut Norishige Kanai for the managing the successful payload swap out and installation, and thank you as well to Astronaut Scott Tingle for the added support," says NanoRacks Operations Engineer, Jerry Mathew.

"It has been wonderful working with this crew and we look forward to continued successful payload operations for the duration of this mission."

This External Platform mission is hosting the Cavalier Space Processor (Cavalier) payload, which consists of a 10 by 10 by 40 centimeter aluminum enclosure, along with an externally mounted antenna and internal processing electronics. Cavalier is a receive-only experiment, and does not have transmitting capability.

Cavalier was recently launched on the Orbital ATK CRS-8 (OA-8) mission on November 12, 2017.

The Russian Progress MS-06 cargo freighter undocks and takes a final Pacific dive
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 29, 2017
The Progress MS-06 freighter on Thursday undocked from the International Space Station ahead of its mission-ending plunge into the Pacific, Russia's space mission control center told Sputnik. "The craft undocked from the ISS as planned at 4:03 a.m. Moscow time [1:03GMT]," the center's spokesperson said. Progress fell back into the Earth's atmosphere and broke apart on Thursday, with ... read more

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