Expedition 39: Space mission accomplished

Kuha mula sa NASA

Naging matagumpay ang isinagawang space mission ng crew ng Expedition 39 kung saan sa unang pagkakataon ay isang Japanese ang naging space station commander.  Maayos na nakabalik ng planetang Earth kamakailan sina Commander Koichi Wakata ng Japan Aerospace Explloration Agency, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio ng National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), at Soyuz commander Mikhail Tyurin ng Russian Federal Space Ageny (Roscosmos).

Ayon sa NASA, iba’t ibang pagsasaliksik  at pag-aaral ang ginawa ng Expedition 39 sa kanilang pamamalagi sa International Space Station (ISS) sa loob ng 188 araw sa kalawakan.

“During Expedition 39, the crew participated in a variety of research, including a human immune system activation and suppression study and a protein crystal growth research study looking for proteins responsible for Huntington's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

The crew also installed a new plant growth chamber designed to expand in-orbit food production capabilities.

“One of several key research focus areas during Expedition 39 was human health management for long duration space travel, as NASA and Roscosmos prepare for two crew members to spend one year aboard the space station in 2015,” pahayag ng NASA.

Namalagi rin sila sa orbiting laboratory kung saan tatlong cargo spacecraft ang lumapag sa ISS.Ang Russian ISS Progress cargo vehicle ang nagdala ng tone-toneladang supplies habang ang Progress craft naman ang nagsagawa ng ilang tests sa upgraded automated rendezvous system. Noong Enero, dumating sa ISS ang orbital Sciences’ Cygnus spacecraft habang noong Abril ay inilunsad ng Space X ang Dragon spacecraft sa SpaceX-3 cargo supply mission.

Nagsagawa naman ng tatlong contingency spacewalks si Mastracchio sa paligid ng ISS – ang unang dalawa para sa tanggalin at palitan ang sirang cooling pump habang ang pangatlong beses ay para tanggalin at palitan ang backup computer relay box.

Sinabi rin ng NASA na nag-install din ng mga bagong kagamitan ang ground controllers gamit ang robotic arm ng station.

“Ground controllers using the station's robotic arm also installed a new high-definition Earth-viewing camera system, referred to as HDEV, on the outside of the Columbus lab. HDEV is comprised of four commercially available HD cameras and streams online live video of Earth to online viewers around the world,” dagdag pa ng NASA.

Dahil sa matagumpay na space mission, umabot na sa 348 araw mula sa apat na flights ang nailagi ni Wakata sa kalawakan, 228 days naman si Mastracchio habang 532 days naman si Tyurin.

Ang ISS ang nagsisilbing lugar upang subukan at makita ang mga bagong teknolohiya na nakalagay sa kalawakan.

Global rainfall satellite inilunsad ng NASA, JAXA

Ni Florenda Corpuz

Kuha ng NASA/Bill Ingalls

Isang Japanese rocket ang inilunsad kamakailan sa Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, dala ang isang high-tech na instrumento na susukat sa dami ng ulan at niyebe.

           

Sakay ng H-IIA rocket ang $900 million satellite na tinawag na Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory na joint Earth-observing mission ng NASA at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency o JAXA.

“With this launch, we have taken another giant leap in providing the world with an unprecedented picture of our planet's rain and snow,” ani NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

“GPM will help us better understand our ever-changing climate, improve forecasts of extreme weather events like floods, and assist decision makers around the world to better manage water resources,” dagdag pa nito.

Idinisenyo ang GPM para makapagbigay ng mas detalyadong impormasyon tungkol sa global precipitation. Made-detect din nito ang mahinang pag-ulan at pagpatak ng niyebe.

Inaasahan na malaki ang maitutulong ng GPM sa pagpapabuti ng kapasidad ng Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission o TRMM na joint mission din ng NASA at JAXA na inilunsad noong 1997 at hanggang ngayon ay patuloy pa rin.   

           

“It is incredibly exciting to see this spacecraft launch,” sabi ni GPM Project Manager Art Azarbarzin. “This is the moment that the GPM Team has been working toward since 2006. The GPM Core Observatory is the product of a dedicated team at Goddard, JAXA and others worldwide. Soon, as GPM begins to collect precipitation observations, we'll see these instruments at work providing real-time information for the scientists about the intensification of storms, rainfall in remote areas and so much more.”

Ang GPM ay una sa limang earth science missions na planong ilunsad ng NASA ngayong taon. Ito ay binuo sa Goddard at pinakamalaking spacecraft na ginawa rito. Taglay nito ang dalawang instrumento na susukat sa dami ng ulan at niyebe kada tatlong oras – ang  GPM Microwave Imager mula sa NASA at Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) na nilinang naman ng JAXA at National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Tokyo.