NASA has finalized its contract with Boeing of Huntsville, Alabama, for approximately $3.2 billion to continue manufacturing core and upper stages for future Space Launch System (SLS) rockets for Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
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The workweek wrapped up with the Expedition 68 crew working on botany and physics hardware aboard the International Space Station. Spacesuit maintenance is still proceeding as the astronauts and cosmonauts continue preparing for more spacewalks before the end of the year.
Growing fresh food off the Earth is a key mission objective as NASA and its international partners plan longer human missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada spent all day on Friday configuring hardware and installing components on the Veggie space botany facility located in the Columbus laboratory module. Soon the plant growth unit will host a small crop of dwarf tomatoes growing for the Veg-05 study investigating ways to maintain a continuous fresh-food production system in space.
NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio was working in the Microgravity Science Glovebox at the end of the day exchanging samples for a fluid physics study. The investigation explores the coarsening and coalescence of foams in weightlessness with potential applications for the firefighting, petroleum, and medicine industries among others.
Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) took turns with Rubio on Friday collecting blood and urine samples, processing them, then stowing them in science freezers for later examination. Wakata also cleaned and serviced components inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, an experimental facility that enables safe research of high temperature physics above 2,000 degrees Celsius.
Several more spacewalks are scheduled before the end of the year. The first is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 14, and a second for Dec. 19. Both spacewalks will be broadcast live on NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website.
NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann was back on spacesuit duty on Friday removing and replacing life support components inside the Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs. She later removed a small satellite deployer from inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock.
Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin partnered once again checking their Orlan spacesuits for leaks and reviewing procedures for the Dec. 14 spacewalk. The duo also took turns working out on the station’s exercise bike while attached to sensors for a fitness evaluation. Flight Engineer Anna Kikina wrapped up her week transferring water and repressurizing nitrogen from the docked ISS Progress 82 resupply ship to tanks aboard the space station.
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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On flight day 20 of the Artemis I mission, Dec. 5, 2022, Orion captured the Moon on the day of return powered flyby, the final major engine maneuver of the flight test.
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Students in Charlevoix, Michigan, will have an opportunity next week to hear from a NASA astronaut living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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Spacesuit maintenance and research hardware topped the task list for the Expedition 68 crew on Thursday. The orbital residents aboard the International Space Station also worked on biomedical activities and ensured life support systems continue operating in tip-top shape.
NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann worked together throughout Thursday servicing an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), or spacesuit, inside the Quest airlock. The duo spent the entire day swapping electronics and life support components inside the spacesuit ahead of a spacewalk planned for Monday, Dec. 19. Two astronauts will exit Quest in their EMUs on that day and spend about seven hours installing another roll-out solar array on the station’s Port-4 truss segment.
NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio had his hands full during the day working on a variety of science gear supporting everything from satellite deployments, fluid physics, and ultra-high resolution video technology. Beginning his day in the Harmony module, Rubio disassembled a small satellite deployer that had ejected four CubeSats from outside the Kibo laboratory module last week. Next, he opened up the Fluids Science Laboratory and installed samples to investigate the coarsening and coalescence of foams with potential applications for the firefighting, petroleum, and medicine industries among others. Finally, the first time space-flyer assembled the SphereCam-1 to demonstrate capturing the highest resolution, groundbreaking 12K views from a spacecraft supporting future space exploration missions.
Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) drew a blood sample during the morning and processed it in a centrifuge before the stowing the sample in a science freezer for future examination. Wakata then worked on the Kibo lab’s water recovery system troubleshooting hardware inside the life support device. At the end of the day, the experienced space station veteran collected a urine sample and stowed it in a science freezer for later analysis.
Commander Sergey Prokopyev performed a leak check on the docking interface between the Poisk module and the ISS Progress 82 cargo craft. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin set up a video camera inside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Finally, Flight Engineer Anna Kikina, with assistance from Petelin, attached sensors to herself and pedaled strenuously on the station’s exercise bike for a fitness evaluation.
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: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/
Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe
Mark Garcia
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