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Crew Unloads Cygnus and Begins New Research

A U.S. cargo craft is being unpacked today following its robotic capture and installation at the International Space Station early Monday morning. The Expedition 66 crew also spent Tuesday activating new research and conducting eye checks.

Three NASA astronauts, Mark Vande Hei, Thomas Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, along with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer spent Monday unpacking research samples stowed in science freezers aboard the U.S. Cygnus space freighter. The quartet then loaded the frozen samples into research racks throughout the space station. Some of the new science samples delivered on Monday include skin cells and cancer cells being studied in the microgravity environment to improve human health on Earth and in space.

Marshburn set up the Microgravity Science Glovebox during the afternoon to begin looking at the skin cell samples. The new study getting underway today explores ways to diminish space-caused accelerated skin aging with benefits for astronauts and Earthlings.

Cygnus had launched from Virginia on Saturday as 12:40 p.m. EST loaded with 8,300 pounds of new science experiments, crew supplies, and station hardware. It arrived Monday morning when NASA Flight Engineer Raja Chari, backed up by Barron, commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture Cygnus at 4:44 a.m. Robotics controllers took over shortly afterward and guided Cygnus to the Unity module where it was installed just over two hours later.

Following a day’s worth of Cygnus cargo transfers on Tuesday, Vande Hei and Chari also participated in eye scans using standard medical imaging gear in the Harmony module. Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov kicked off the exams in the afternoon helping doctors understand how living in space affects the human eye and retina.

Shkaplerov first spent the morning on an exercise study exploring ways to maximize the effectiveness of working out in weightlessness. Dubrov worked on communications gear and ventilation hardware throughout the station’s Russian segment.

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Mark Garcia

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Cygnus Installed to Station for Cargo Transfers

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft installation on the International Space Station is now complete. Cygnus launched atop an Antares rocket at 12:40 p.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 19 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. At about 4:44 a.m., NASA astronaut Raja Chari, along with NASA astronaut Kayla Barron as backup, captured Cygnus, carrying 8,300 pounds of research, hardware, and science experiments to the International Space Station.

Highlights of space station research facilitated by this mission include:

• a study that examines the effects of a drug on breast and prostate cancer cells
• a new combustion facility
• an investigation from Colgate-Palmolive that will leverage the acceleration of skin aging in microgravity to help create and validate an engineered tissue model to serve as a platform for testing potential products to protect aging skin
• a demonstration of a lithium-ion secondary battery capable of safe, stable operation under extreme temperatures and in a vacuum environment
• new hydrogen sensors that will be tested for the space station’s oxygen generation system
• a system that will test hydroponic and aeroponic techniques for plant growth and will allow scientists to observe root growth through video and still images

Findings from these and other investigations aboard the space station will contribute to keeping astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars efforts, including lunar missions through the agency’s Artemis program.

Cygnus will also deliver critical hardware to be installed during the upcoming ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) spacewalks, as well as other components for the successful functioning of astronaut life on the space station, such as a trash deployer and acoustic covers for the waste management system.

This Cygnus mission is the first to feature enhanced capabilities that will allow the spacecraft to perform a reboost, using its engines to adjust the space station’s orbit as a standard service for NASA. The agency has one reboost is planned while Cygnus is connected to the orbiting laboratory. A test of the maneuver was performed in 2018 during Cygnus’ ninth resupply mission.

Cygnus will remain at the space station until May before it deploys CubeSats, then disposes of several thousand pounds of trash during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, which will result in its destruction.

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/

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Mark Garcia

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Cygnus Being Installed to Station Live on NASA TV

NASA Television coverage of installation of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is underway. At 4:44 a.m., NASA astronaut Raja Chari, along with NASA astronaut Kayla Barron as backup, captured Cygnus, which launched Saturday at 12:40 p.m. on an Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s installation.

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

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Mark Garcia

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