"HOUSTON, STATION
ON SPACE TO GROUND."
WELCOME TO SPACE TO
GROUND, I'M GARY JORDAN.
SPACE JUNK IS A GROWING RISK
WHEN IT COMES TO SPACEFLIGHT,
WHICH IS WHY A NEW EXPERIMENT IS
LOOKING AT HOW TO CLEAN IT UP.
THE NANORACKS REMOVE DEBRIS
SATELLITE WAS DEPLOYED
FROM THE SPACE STATION'S
ROBOTIC ARM THIS WEEK.
REMOVE DEBRIS WILL LOOK
TO MANAGE SPACE JUNK
BY LITERALLY PULLING
IT DOWN OUT OF ORBIT
TO BURN UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT REMOVING
THE LARGEST DEBRIS SIGNIFICANTLY
REDUCES THE CHANCE
OF COLLISIONS,
SO REMOVE DEBRIS WILL USE A
3D CAMERA TO MAP THE LOCATION
AND SPEED OF DEBRIS,
THEN CAPTURE
AND DE-ORBIT SIMULATED
DEBRIS, CUBESATS IN THIS TEST,
UP TO ONE METER IN SIZE.
THE EXPERIMENT WILL TEST NET
CAPTURE, HARPOON CAPTURE,
VISION-BASED NAVIGATION, AND
DRAGSAIL DE-ORBIT TECHNIQUES
FOR REMOVING SPACE JUNK.
EXPERTS HERE ON EARTH CAN
ANALYZE VIDEO FROM THESE RUNS
TO SEE WHAT WORKED AND
FIND THE BEST WAYS TO CLEAN
UP THE SPACE AROUND US.
MEANWHILE, INSIDE THE STATION,
THE SCIENCE WAS POSITIVELY LIT.
THIS WEEK, THE CREW SPENT
SOME TIME CLEANING SOOT
FROM A PREVIOUS FLAME TEST
FOR THE ADVANCED COMBUSTION
VIA MICROGRAVITY EXPERIMENTS,
OR ACME.
ACME AIMS TO IMPROVE FUEL
EFFICIENCY AND REDUCE POLLUTION
ON EARTH, AND UNDERSTAND
MATERIAL FLAMMABILITY
TO FURTHER PREVENT
SPACECRAFT FIRES.
WITH THE BURNER CLEANED,
SCIENCE OPERATIONS
FOR ACME ARE ONCE AGAIN
REIGNITED ON STATION.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION COMES AVA
AT RJO INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL.
SHE'S ASKS HOW DO
YOU SEND MATERIALS
FROM EARTH TO THE SPACE STATION?
GREAT QUESTION, AND
THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE -
A ROCKET THAT CARRIES
A SPACESHIP FULL
OF STUFF INTO ORBIT.
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE
STATION ORBITS 250 MILES
ABOVE THE EARTH, AND
CAN'T REALLY COME
DOWN TO GET MORE
SUPPLIES - FOOD, FUEL,
EXPERIMENTS, AND EQUIPMENT.
THEREFORE, THESE SUPPLIES
HAVE TO BE DELIVERED
TO THE SPACE STATION
ON SEPARATE VEHICLES.
THINK OF THEM AS
DELIVERY TRUCKS,
BUT THEY TRAVEL FASTER
AND HIGHER.
IT TAKES A FEW DAYS TO
ARRIVE AT THE SPACE STATION,
AND ONCE IT DOES, IT HAS TO
BE CAPTURED BY THE ROBOTIC ARM
TO BE MOVED IN A POSITION
WHERE IT CAN BE ATTACHED
SO ASTRONAUTS CAN GET TO
THE GOOD STUFF INSIDE.
YOU CAN WATCH THE LAUNCH OF A
CARGO VEHICLE NEXT WEEK LIVE,
WHERE SPACEX WILL BE SENDING
ITS DRAGON CARGO VEHICLE PACKED
WITH THOUSANDS OF
POUNDS OF CARGO
TO THE INTERNATIONAL
SPACE STATION.
KEEP SENDING IN YOUR QUESTIONS
USING THE HASHTAG SPACETOGROUND,
AND FOR THOSE TEACHERS
OUT THERE,
CHECK OUT THE LATEST
EPISODE OF STEMONSTRATIONS
WHERE ASTRONAUT SCOTT TINGLE
DEMONSTRATES THE MOVEMENT
OF OBJECTS AROUND EARTH.
WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.
"OFF THE EARTH, FOR THE
EARTH...SPACE TO GROUND."
