NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a televised broadcast beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 12, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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All seven Expedition 67 crew members are enjoying a quiet Monday on station as the four astronauts and three cosmonauts relaxed for a three-day weekend. However, science is always ongoing on the International Space Station as researchers continuously explore how to stay healthy and work effectively in microgravity.
The septet will get back to a full work day on Tuesday and spend the rest of the week maintaining space station systems and conducting an array of advanced space research, including robotics and botany. However, NASA Flight Engineer Bob Hines did spend an hour-and-a-half on Monday tending to mizuna greens and radishes growing for the XROOTS space gardening study. Commander Oleg Artemyev from Roscosmos retrieved a set of nanosatellites from the Progress 81 resupply ship for assembly and future deployment.
Cargo craft operations will soon be keeping the crew busy as it plans for the departure of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter slated to leave the station’s Unity module next week. Cygnus will be completing a four-month stay at the orbital lab when the Canadarm2 robotic arm releases the resupply ship from Unity for a fiery, but safe atmospheric reentry above the Pacific Ocean.
NASA and SpaceX officials met today to discuss the initial findings from additional inspections and testing of the Dragon spacecraft after teams measured elevated vapor readings of mono-methyl hydrazine (MMH) in an isolated region of the Dragon propulsion system. After offloading propellant from that region, SpaceX was able to narrow down the source of the issue to a Draco thruster valve inlet joint. Teams will now remove the specific hardware to replace it ahead of flight. NASA and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than July 11 for launch of the CRS-25 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.
NASA TV will broadcast the Cygnus and Dragon mission events live on the agency’s app and its website after official dates and times are announced.
Mark Garcia
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JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide speaks with students during a visit to Arlington Science Focus Elementary School
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Scientists will discuss new research from NASA missions – on topics ranging from exoplanets to citizen science discoveries – at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
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The Expedition 67 crew opened up BEAM, the International Space Station’s expandable module, today and conducted sensor checks and organized hardware. The orbital residents also continued their space botany and automated robotics research as well as ongoing cargo operations.
NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines partnered together inside the BEAM module today for systems checks after six years attached to the station’s Tranquility module. Watkins opened up BEAM on Friday morning then replaced batteries inside sensors that can detect impacts on the module. Hines retrieved cargo and cleaned vents inside BEAM.
Watkins started her day servicing laptop computers and replacing ethernet cables throughout the station’s U.S. and Russian modules. Hines worked in the Columbus laboratory module recirculating fluids and nourishing radishes and mizuna greens growing for the XROOTS botany study. The advanced space gardening experiment explores hydroponics and aeroponics growing techniques in microgravity.
NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren swapped experiment samples inside the Mochii electron microscope that is used to rapidly identify potentially harmful particles that could impact vehicles on space station as part of a study related to spacecraft engineering and safety. Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) activated the Astrobee robotic free-flyers for a test of their ability to conduct automated science maneuvers using the smartphone video guidance sensor.
Cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov partnered together at the end of the week offloading new cargo delivered inside the Progress 81 resupply ship docked to the rear port of the Zvezda service module. Matveev earlier installed a camera that monitors the effects of natural and man-made Earth disasters while Korsakov replaced station fire extinguishers. Commander Oleg Artemyev inspected Russian Orlan spacesuit helmets then wrapped up his day working on computer and life support systems.
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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