"HOUSTON, STATION ON SPACE TO GROUND."
WELCOME TO SPACE TO GROUND, I AM SANDRA JONES.
THIS WEEK A CARGO CRAFT DEPARTED THE SPACE
STATION,
NASA AND SPACEX TARGET OCTOBER
FOR THE NEXT CREWED DRAGON LAUNCH,
AND STUDENTS HEADING BACK TO CLASS
CAN CELEBRATE STATION SCIENCE WITH A NEW WEBSITE.
ON TUESDAY, THE JAPANESE AEROSPACE
EXPLORATION AGENCY’S HTV-9 CARGO VEHICLE
DEPARTED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
NASA ASTRONAUT AND EXPEDITION 63 COMMANDER
CHRIS CASSIDY USED THE CANADARM2 TO RELEASE
HTV-9,
ENDING ITS THREE-MONTH STAY IN SPACE
AFTER DELIVERING FOUR TONS OF SUPPLIES
AND EXPERIMENTS TO THE ORBITING LABORATORY,
INCLUDING LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES USED
TO RECENTLY UPGRADE THE STATION’S POWER
SYSTEMS.
OCTOBER IS SHAPING UP TO BE A BUSY TRAVEL
MONTH
ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14,
SOYUZ MS-17 IS SCHEDULED TO BLAST OFF
FROM BAIKONUR WITH NASA ASTRONAUT KATE RUBINS
AND HER RUSSIAN CREWMATES TO BEGIN
THEIR SIX-MONTH STAY ON STATION.
ONE WEEK LATER, CHRIS CASSIDY,
IVAN VAGNER, AND ANATOLY IVANISHIN WILL END
THEIR 195 DAY STAY IN SPACE AND LAND
ON THE STEPPE OF KAZAKHSTAN.
FOLLOWING THAT LANDING,
AND NOW SCHEDULED FOR NO EARLIER THAN OCTOBER
23,
NASA ASTRONAUTS, MICHAEL HOPKINS,
VICTOR GLOVER, AND SHANNON WALKER,
AND JAXA ASTRONAUT SOICHI NOGUCHI
WILL LAUNCH FROM FLORIDA ON THE FIRST
OF A REGULAR ROTATION OF MISSIONS
TO THE SPACE STATION ABOARD
THE SPACEX CREW DRAGON SPACECRAFT.
WE ARE CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS
HUMAN OCCUPANCY ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
THIS YEAR AND HAVE RECENTLY LAUNCHED
A NEW WEBSITE FULL OF THEM-BASED RESOURCES
FOR STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS.
THIS MONTH’S THEME IS BACK TO SCHOOL
AND FEATURES OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES
FOR CELEBRATING STATION SCIENCE
AS THE START OF A NEW SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS.
YOU CAN PARTICIPATE FROM ANYWHERE.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT NASA.GOV/STEM/ISS20 AND
CHECK IT OUT!
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION COMES FROM 9 YEAR OLD
THOMAS
WHO WANTS TO KNOW IF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE
STATION IS FALLING OR ORBITING?
WELL THOMAS, THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
IS ACTUALLY DOING BOTH!
EARTH'S GRAVITY IS CONSTANTLY PULLING
OBJECTS DOWNWARD TOWARD THE SURFACE,
INCLUDING THE SPACE STATION.
AS A RESULT, THE SPACE STATION IS CONSTANTLY
FALLING
TOWARD EARTH'S SURFACE.
HOWEVER, IT ALSO IS MOVING AT A VERY FAST
SPEED,
ABOUT 17,500 MILES PER HOUR.
THE SPACE STATION MOVES AT A SPEED THAT MATCHES
THE WAY EARTH'S SURFACE CURVES.
BECAUSE OF THIS,
THE SPACECRAFT KEEPS FALLING TOWARD THE GROUND
BUT NEVER HITS IT.
AS A RESULT,
IT FALLS IN ORBIT AROUND THE PLANET.
THE MOON STAYS IN ORBIT AROUND EARTH FOR THIS
SAME REASON!
KEEP SENDING YOUR QUESTIONS USING THE HASHTAG #ASKNASA,
WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.
