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Humans, Tomatoes, Tiny Satellites Top Station Research Schedule

Human research, space botany, and tiny satellites filled the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The seven Expedition 68 crew members also split their day on maintaining lab systems and packing a U.S. cargo craft for departure.

It was the second day of operations for the GRIP study as NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada explored how dexterous manipulation is affected by living and working in weightlessness. He was seated once again inside the Columbus laboratory module performing computerized scientific tasks with a controller device. Researchers will use the data to help design intelligent spacecraft interfaces enabling human missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio watered and photographed tomatoes growing for the Veg-05 space agriculture experiment. The main purpose of the botany investigation is to create a continuous fresh food production system to sustain astronauts traveling far beyond low-Earth orbit and decrease reliance on visiting cargo missions.

Science also takes place outside the orbiting lab with experiments attached to external platforms or small research satellites deployed from the station into Earth orbit. Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) spent the day installing a set of CubeSats into the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock. The nanosatellites will be staged outside in space then deployed into orbit on Friday to demonstrate a variety of technologies such as communications, propulsion systems, and Earth observations.

NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann partnered with Rubio during the afternoon continuing to load the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship with cargo ahead of its return to Earth next week. The duo, along with Cassada and Wakata, will accelerate its cargo activities going into the weekend finally loading sensitive research samples for analysis on Earth into Dragon before it undocks on Monday at 5:05 p.m. EST.

All four astronauts also had time set aside on Wednesday for vision tests using a standard eye chart commonly seen in an optometrist’s office. Doctors on Earth monitored the tests real-time checking the crew’s visual acuity, visual field, and contrast sensitivity.

Working in the Zvezda service module, cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin checked out the audio system’s low frequency and very high frequency receivers. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Anna Kikina cleaned the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module’s ventilation system in the morning then studied futuristic planetary and robotic piloting techniques during the afternoon.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

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Station Science Kicks Off New Year Promoting Deep Space Exploration

The Expedition 68 crew kicked off the new year with an array of microgravity research aboard the International Space Station aimed at sustaining future crews farther away from Earth. The seven orbital residents from the United States, Japan, and Russia explored a wide variety of phenomena including space nutrition, dexterous manipulation, and microbe samples collected from inside the orbiting lab.

Providing adequate nutrition for crews is critical as NASA and its international partners plan expeditions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The BioNutrients-2 investigation is using genetically engineered microbes to provide nutrients, and potentially other compounds and pharmaceuticals, on demand in space. NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann nourished and incubated genetically engineered yeast samples for the study in the Space Automated Bioproduct Laboratory on Tuesday.

The way humans adapt to the lack of an up-and-down reference in weightlessness is also important as researchers study how astronauts grip and manipulate objects. NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada seated himself in a specialized chair in the Columbus laboratory module and performed different tasks using a controller device. Scientists may gain insights and use the observations to design intelligent spacecraft interfaces benefitting future astronauts as they venture into deep space visiting planets, moons, and asteroids.

Understanding the microbial environment on the space station is another vital activity to ensure healthy crews and safe, successful missions. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio analyzed microbe samples on Tuesday morning that were collected from the station’s atmosphere and surfaces and grown in an incubator. Those samples will be returned to Earth next week on the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft for additional analysis. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Anna Kikina performed their own analysis of a separate set of microbe samples adding to the knowledge of how bacteria and fungi adapt and thrive in microgravity.

Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) tended to research samples being observed to understand bone regeneration on Earth and in space. Wakata later took a robotics test on a computer measuring his performance, behavior, and cognition while living in space. Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev from Roscosmos set up an experimental 3-D printer to demonstrate the ability to print parts and tools supporting spacecraft and space habitat maintenance.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

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