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Thursday’s Research Explores Botany, Artificial Intelligence, and Immune System

The Expedition 67 crew members tended to plants and explored artificial intelligence aboard the International Space Station today. The four astronauts and three cosmonauts also split their day configuring a U.S. airlock and investigating how microgravity affects the human body.

NASA Flight Engineer Bob Hines worked in the Columbus laboratory module on Thursday afternoon processing radish seeds germinating for the XROOTS space botany study. The investigation uses soilless techniques, such as hydroponics and aeroponics, to nourish and grow plants for producing crops on a larger scale for future space missions.

Hines also joined NASA Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Jessica Watkins configuring the NanoRacks Bishop airlock for its first trash disposal task this weekend. The trio prepared the airlock for its depressurization and closed its hatch in the Tranquility module after packing a trash container in Bishop on Wednesday. The container will be jettisoned outside Bishop towards Earth’s atmosphere for a fiery, but safe disposal on Saturday.

Today, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti set up the Microgravity Science Glovebox and serviced components for the Intelligent Glass Optics space physics study. The advanced experiment uses artificial intelligence to adapt Earth-bound manufacturing techniques for the space environment. Results may improve Earth- and space-based technologies such as communications, aerospace, and medicine.

The orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts participated in a series of human research experiments today. Commander Oleg Artemyev attached sensors to himself to collect data about his cardiac activity while working in weightlessness. Flight Engineers Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov collected their blood and saliva samples for analysis to understand how the stresses of spaceflight, including radiation exposure and changes in sleep patterns, affect the human immune system.

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Mark Garcia

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Crew Works Autonomous Medicine, Garbage Packing on Wednesday

Wednesday’s schedule on the International Space Station encompassed practicing complicated medical procedures in microgravity to preparing to take out the trash 260 miles above the Earth. The Expedition 67 crew members also continued investigating a wide variety of space phenomena to improve life for humans on Earth and in space.

Future astronauts will need to work independently of mission controllers as they travel beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  As a result, NASA Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines trained to diagnose and treat acute medical conditions without ground support today. Hines practiced ultrasound exams on Lindgren’s bladder and kidneys for the Autonomous Medical Officer Support demonstration, or AMOS. The study aims to help crews become more self-reliant and reduce mission risks as communication delays increase the farther a spacecraft ventures from Earth.

The orbiting lab’s four astronauts are also preparing to take out the trash this weekend requiring procedures more complicated than packing garbage on Earth. Astronauts Jessica Watkins of NASA and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) finished loading trash containers in the NanoRacks Bishop airlock today. They were assisted by Lindgren and Hines as they closed the hatch to Bishop and depressurized the airlock. The trash container will be jettisoned towards Earth’s atmosphere for a fiery, but safe disposal on Saturday.

Station Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos studied ways future crew members might pilot spacecraft or control robots on planetary missions for a long-running Russian investigation. Flight Engineer Denis Matveev continued configuring nanosatellites for a future deployment and worked inside the ISS Progress 80 resupply ship on cargo operations. Cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov spent his day on electronics and computer maintenance before studying international crew dynamics and collecting radiation readings.

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Mark Garcia

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