1 00:00:00,900 --> 00:00:02,900 "Houston, Station on Space to Ground." 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:05,470 I'm going to have to talk really quickly to 3 00:00:05,470 --> 00:00:08,139 fit all of 2016 in one show. 4 00:00:08,139 --> 00:00:10,600 Welcome to Space to Ground I'm Dan Huot 5 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,900 2016 was packed with incredible events 6 00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:15,790 on the station so let's cover a few 7 00:00:15,790 --> 00:00:17,680 highlights starting with the science. 8 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,770 Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko ended 9 00:00:20,770 --> 00:00:22,960 their one-year mission writing several 10 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,970 new chapters and human research and 11 00:00:24,970 --> 00:00:27,369 preparing humanity to spend extremely 12 00:00:27,369 --> 00:00:30,010 long amount of time in space, exactly 13 00:00:30,010 --> 00:00:32,600 what we'll be doing on the journey to Mars. 14 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:34,270 One technology that could shape the 15 00:00:34,270 --> 00:00:36,670 way humans travel to Mars and beyond is 16 00:00:36,670 --> 00:00:39,100 the first human rated expandable habitat 17 00:00:39,100 --> 00:00:41,410 the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module 18 00:00:41,410 --> 00:00:43,870 or BEAM which was installed during some 19 00:00:43,870 --> 00:00:46,200 exciting robotics in May. 20 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,879 And keeping a unique eye on our planet, the Meteor 21 00:00:48,879 --> 00:00:50,980 payload has been watching space rocks 22 00:00:50,980 --> 00:00:53,230 burn up in our atmosphere to help study 23 00:00:53,230 --> 00:00:55,300 their composition and behavior, 24 00:00:55,300 --> 00:00:57,070 the only time shooting stars have been 25 00:00:57,070 --> 00:01:00,280 observed from space. And in an exciting 26 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:01,809 demonstration of molecular biology 27 00:01:01,809 --> 00:01:05,560 NASA's Kate Rubins sequenced DNA in space 28 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,479 for the first time ever, 29 00:01:07,479 --> 00:01:10,900 ultimately sequencing over 2 billion base pairs. 30 00:01:10,900 --> 00:01:12,850 DNA sequencing could help 31 00:01:12,850 --> 00:01:14,529 identify microbes on the space station 32 00:01:14,529 --> 00:01:17,499 or one day help identify signs of life 33 00:01:17,499 --> 00:01:19,600 on distant planets. 34 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:24,300 And like most years, there were tons of launches spacewalks and more. 35 00:01:24,300 --> 00:01:26,889 Four Soyuz craft launched crews 36 00:01:26,889 --> 00:01:28,749 to the station with crew members coming 37 00:01:28,749 --> 00:01:32,200 from the US, Russia, Japan and France. 38 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,599 Seven cargo vehicles carried supplies to 39 00:01:34,599 --> 00:01:37,659 the station and 2016 including two SpaceX 40 00:01:37,659 --> 00:01:40,899 Dragons, two Orbital ATK Cygnus', 41 00:01:40,899 --> 00:01:43,359 two Russian Progresses, and a Japanese HTV. 42 00:01:43,359 --> 00:01:46,450 Four spacewalks also took place 43 00:01:46,450 --> 00:01:48,130 including the installation of the 44 00:01:48,130 --> 00:01:50,590 International Docking Adapter for use by 45 00:01:50,590 --> 00:01:53,200 future US Commercial Crew vehicles. 46 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,329 And in May the space station marked its 47 00:01:55,329 --> 00:01:58,509 100,000 orbit around the earth traveling 48 00:01:58,509 --> 00:02:02,200 a distance of more than 2.6 billion miles. 49 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,899 And 2017 will start off busy as 50 00:02:04,899 --> 00:02:07,149 ever with a lot in store for the orbital 51 00:02:07,149 --> 00:02:07,990 laboratory. 52 00:02:07,990 --> 00:02:10,360 There will be two major space walks in 53 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,370 the first two weeks of the new year with 54 00:02:12,370 --> 00:02:14,230 the Expedition 50 crew installing new 55 00:02:14,230 --> 00:02:16,599 lithium-ion batteries on the station on 56 00:02:16,599 --> 00:02:20,110 January 6th and 13th. Later on NASA's Peggy 57 00:02:20,110 --> 00:02:21,610 Whitson will become the first female 58 00:02:21,610 --> 00:02:23,680 astronaut to command the station twice 59 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,510 when she assumes the reins for 60 00:02:25,510 --> 00:02:28,330 Expedition 51. Several astronauts will 61 00:02:28,330 --> 00:02:30,370 also be making their first trip to space 62 00:02:30,370 --> 00:02:32,830 next year including NASA astronauts Jack 63 00:02:32,830 --> 00:02:35,380 Fisher, Mark VandeHei and Scott Tingle. 64 00:02:35,380 --> 00:02:39,130 And by the end of 2017 NASA's Commercial 65 00:02:39,130 --> 00:02:41,590 Crew program will be ramping up as we 66 00:02:41,590 --> 00:02:43,390 get closer to sending crews to the 67 00:02:43,390 --> 00:02:45,730 station on U.S. spacecraft for the first 68 00:02:45,730 --> 00:02:48,500 time since the Space Shuttle retired. 69 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:50,260 We'll close this year with a special 70 00:02:50,260 --> 00:02:52,120 message from the crew for the holidays. 71 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,970 Keep sending your questions in 2017 72 00:02:54,970 --> 00:02:57,160 using the hashtag Space-to-Ground, we'll 73 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:58,390 see you next year. 74 00:02:58,390 --> 00:03:02,200 "I think being onboard the ISS gives us a 75 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,030 slightly different perspective of 76 00:03:04,030 --> 00:03:06,130 Christmas and that's seeing the planet 77 00:03:06,130 --> 00:03:08,290 as a whole. And it actually reinforces 78 00:03:08,290 --> 00:03:11,349 the fact that we should live as one 79 00:03:11,349 --> 00:03:13,570 people and strive for peace."