Another Safe Docking to the International Space Station

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Image (Credit): The approach of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft as seen from the ISS. (NASA TV)

Earlier today, the two cosmonauts and one astronaut that launched on the Russian Soyuz MS-25 mission over the weekend safely attached themselves to the International Space Station. The station is now hosting a crew of 10.

Both cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya (of Belarus) from this latest mission will return to Earth in the Soyuz MS-24 capsule in about 12 days along with NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, who will have spent a total of 204 days on the station.

It’s a game of musical spacecraft, but it seems the routine is working and, other than the occasional leak, all is well with the station and its crew.

The Total Solar Eclipse: Some Reminders

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Image (Credit): A view of the Moon’s shadow on Earth during the solar eclipse on August 11, 1999. The image was captured by Russia’s Mir space station. (Mir 27 Crew)

On April 8, should you be outside staring at the Total Solar Eclipse, you may want to take a few precautions so that you can witness future eclipses as well. In other words, protect your eyes!

NASA has provided a few tips related to photographing the eclipse. Please keep all of this in mind.

For instance, NASA notes:

Looking directly at the Sun is dangerous to your eyes and your camera. To take images when the Sun is partially eclipsed, you’ll need to use a special solar filter to protect your camera, just as you’ll need a pair of solar viewing glasses (also called eclipse glasses) to protect your eyes. However, at totality, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun, make sure to remove the filter so you can see the Sun’s outer atmosphere – the corona.

Let’s have some fun and be safe as well.

A Day in Astronomy: Birth of Wernher von Braun

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Image (Credit): Walt Disney (left) and Wernher von Braun. (NASA)

On this day in 1912, German-American aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun was born in Wyrzysk, which was part of Germany at the time and later became a Polish city. His full name was Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun.

Mr. Braun is best remembered for his part in the construction of Nazi Germany’s V-2 rockets as well as his later participation in development of the Saturn V rocket that became the workhorse of the U.S. Apollo space program.

In the above photo from 1954, you can see Walt Disney with Mr. Braun at the Guided Missile Development Operation Division at Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Mr. Braun served as a technical consultant on a few Disney space films.

New Crew Heads to the International Space Station

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Image (Credit): Members of the Soyuz MS-25 crew – commander Oleg Novitskiy (bottom), NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson (middle), and Belarus guest cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya (top). (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Earlier today, a Russian Soyuz rocket launched into space to bring three new crew members to the International Space Station (ISS).

The passengers on today’s delayed flight are cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Marina Vasilevskaya as well as NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson. They are expected to board the ISS on Monday.

Astronaut Dyson, who plans to stay on the station for six months, will assist her fellow astronauts on the ISS with a variety of experiments, including “…[s]tudies of neurological organoids, plant growth, and shifts in body fluids,”

Space Quote: Space Jobs are in Demand, and Demanding

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“You’re doing this cool thing…You’re also going to be like really worked to death.”

-Comment by Griffin Rahn, who is earning his aerospace master’s degree at Georgia Tech, in a Fortune article titled “NASA is Struggling to Compete with Bezos, Musk and Their 6-figure Salaries for Starting Aerospace Engineers at Blue Origin and SpaceX.” The title of the article is self-explanatory. See any earlier posting for more on NASA’s troubles maintaining a work-life balance.