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Crew Works Robotics, Spacesuits as Station Orbits Higher for Crew Swap

The Expedition 66 crew kicked off the week working on robotics, spacesuits, and advanced research equipment. The International Space Station is also orbiting higher to get ready for a crew swap at the end of March.

Flight Engineers Raja Chari of NASA and Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) started Monday collecting their blood samples then stowing them for future analysis. The duo then split up, as Chari spent the afternoon studying robotics mobility using the cube-shaped, toaster-sized Astrobee free-flyer. The Astrobatics investigation explores using hopping maneuvers to minimize propellant to inform future robotic missions. Maurer set up the Fluid Science Laboratory for the PASTA experiment that has implications for commercial applications such as pharmaceuticals, oil and fuels, paints and coatings, and more.

The crew is also revving up for a pair of spacewalks in mid-March to continue modifying the orbiting lab’s power systems. Maurer and NASA Flight Engineer Thomas Marshburn worked on U.S. spacesuit jet packs that an astronaut could use to maneuver to safety in the unlikely event of becoming untethered from the station. Marshburn also reviewed plans to assist spacewalkers from inside the space station including suit up procedures, hardware checks and a communications gear overview.

Orbital maintenance is key in space ensuring the station’s multitude of systems, including research and life support, operate safely and continuously. Astronaut Kayla Barron of NASA worked on payload components that support science experiments outside the space station’s Kibo laboratory module on its exposed facility unit. NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei spent some time unpacking cargo from the Cygnus space freighter before swapping out gear inside the U.S. oxygen generation assembly.

The space station is orbiting slightly higher after Russia’s ISS Progress 79 cargo craft fired its engines for eight minutes on Friday evening. The orbital reboost maneuver puts the station at the proper altitude for the Soyuz MS-21 crew ship launch on March 18 and Vande Hei’s return to Earth on March 30 with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov inside the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship.

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Mark Garcia

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Friday’s Station Research Looks at Skin Cells, Plant Genetics and Exercise

Friday’s research schedule aboard the International Space Station included exploring how microgravity affects skin cells and cotton genetics. The Expedition 66 crew is also learning how to exercise more effectively in weightlessness.

Living in space has been shown to accelerate the rate of skin aging and a new study delivered aboard the Cygnus space freighter seeks to understand why and protect astronaut’s health. NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn started the experiment on Tuesday and has been servicing skin tissue samples that will grow inside the Life Science Glovebox. The samples will be stowed later in a science freezer and analyzed back on Earth to evaluate the cellular and molecular changes that take place in microgravity.

Weightlessness also affects how plants grow and Flight Engineers Kayla Barron of NASA and Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) spent Friday morning exploring genetic expression in cotton cultures. The duo worked on cotton cell samples being grown in the Plant Habitat to learn more about the process of plant regeneration possibly improving crop production on Earth.

Exercise is very important in space as the microgravity environment can lead to muscle and bone loss. Two exercise studies on the orbiting lab are investigating different ways to maximize the effectiveness of working out in microgravity. Maurer began his day pedaling on an exercise cycle wearing the EasyMotion body suit that stimulates muscles. The specialized suit may improve and lessen the duration of exercise sessions in space. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov attached sensors to himself and worked out on the Zvezda service module’s treadmill for a Russian exercise study. That investigation looks at how an exercising crew member expends energy and other physiological factors to help keep crews fit and healthy on a long duration spaceflight.

NASA Flight Engineer Raja Chari worked throughout Friday troubleshooting components on the COLBERT treadmill located in the Tranquility module. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei performed orbital plumbing duties and took photos for the ongoing SQuARE archaeological project.

At the end of the day, all six flight engineers joined Commander Anton Shkaplerov and practiced an emergency drill. The seven-member crew located station safety gear, translated along escape paths, and coordinated communications with mission controllers for unlikely events such as an ammonia leak, depressurization, or a fire.

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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Heidi Lavelle

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