Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Space Physics Aboard Station as Starliner Crew Returns to Houston

Space physics and life support maintenance topped the schedule at the end of the week for the Expedition 71 crew as the Starliner astronauts return to Houston. 3D printing and cargo operations also rounded out the operations aboard the International Space Station.

The coldest place in the universe may be the Cold Atom Lab located aboard the orbital outpost’s Destiny laboratory module. NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt opened up the quantum physics research device Friday morning and inspected its cables and ports as part of broader science hardware replacement work. The ultra-cold laboratory chills atoms to near absolute zero to observe their fundamental characteristics and quantum behaviors.

Barratt then joined NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick as they continued life support maintenance in the Tranquility module. Barratt activated the water processing assembly then reinstalled module components to their normal configuration in Tranquility. Dominick and Dyson spent the day in the module replacing hardware that supports the water recovery system which is part of the orbital outpost’s Waste and Hygiene compartment, or bathroom.

NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps assisted Dyson at the end of the day finalizing cleanup activities in Tranquility after the advanced orbital plumbing work was complete. Epps began her shift in the Kibo laboratory module replacing obsolete gas bottles with new types of gas bottles in the Common Gas Supply Equipment rack. The gas supply hardware supplies gases including argon, helium, and carbon dioxide fueling research racks and their experiments inside Kibo.

Working in the orbiting lab’s Roscosmos segment, Commander Oleg Kononenko checked Soyuz communication systems, inspected video equipment, and cleaned vents on broadband hardware. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub worked on a 3D printing experiment testing the device’s controller and software while printing an object. Chub also stowed trash and obsolete gear inside the Progress 86 resupply ship that is due to undock at the end of the month. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin spent his day checking smoke detectors in the Nauka science module.

On the ground at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations continue ahead of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test launch to the microgravity laboratory. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, still in quarantine ahead of the flight test, will return to Houston this weekend as work progresses on a valve replacement on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Centaur upper stage. Crew will return to NASA Kennedy prior to the next launch opportunity, which is targeted for no earlier than 6:16 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 17, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner to the space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth and making a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.

After successful completion of the mission, NASA will finalize certification of Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station. The Starliner capsule, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56 meters) and the capability to steer automatically or manually, will carry four astronauts, or a mix of crew and cargo, for NASA missions to low Earth orbit.

For the latest on Boeing’s Crew Flight Test please visit NASA’s blog.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Astronauts Work on Science Gear, Cosmonauts Take Day Off

The four astronauts aboard the International Space Station had a full schedule of science activities on Thursday while the three cosmonauts took the day off and spent time relaxing in the microgravity environment.

The Expedition 71 crew services not only life support systems and electronics gear, but also research hardware to ensure the ongoing operation and integrity of a multitude of science experiments. Thursday was no exception as the four on-duty astronauts from NASA worked on a multipurpose science rack, a fluid physics rack, and a CubeSat deployer.

Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson began her morning in the Columbus laboratory module replacing computer hardware in an EXPRESS rack. The rack, one of ten aboard the station, hosts and supports a variety of payloads and experiments. Astronauts as well as scientists on the ground can also monitor and control the rack facilities.

Working in the Destiny laboratory module, Flight Engineer Mike Barratt also replaced computer gear but inside the Fluids Integrated Rack. This rack enables research to understand how liquids behave in weightlessness potentially informing the design of fuel tanks and hydraulic systems for spacecraft.

The computers that support the different science hardware can store and downlink the research data. They also enable communications between payloads and other station components including the ability to command and control the space investigations.

Over in the Kibo laboratory module, Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick removed an empty CubeSat deployer from inside Kibo’s airlock. The deployer is routinely packed with CubeSats, grappled by the Japanese robotic arm in the depressurized airlock, and pointed away from the station to release the shoe box-sized satellites into Earth orbit. The CubeSats are developed by international educational and governmental organizations for numerous public research objectives.

Dominick and Barratt also partnered together and reviewed SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft procedures to maintain their operational proficiency. Dominick and Barratt are Commander and Pilot, respectively, for the SpaceX Crew-8 mission along with Mission Specialists Jeanette Epps of NASA and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos. All four are also Expedition 71 Flight Engineers.

Epps and Barratt also took turns working in the Waste and Hygiene Compartment, the orbital lab’s bathroom, located in the Tranquility module. Barratt reinstalled and activated hardware that had been removed earlier in the week for orbital plumbing maintenance. Epps wrapped up the work stowing gear that had been replaced inside Tranquility.

The orbital outpost’s three cosmonauts including Grebenkin, Commander Oleg Kononenko, and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub relaxed on Thursday taking time out for their regularly scheduled workouts. The trio from Roscosmos will be back on duty Friday for more science, cargo, and lab upkeep duties.

For the latest on Boeing’s Crew Flight Test please visit NASA’s blog. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are targeted to launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the orbital lab no earlier than 6:16 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 17.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Orbital Maintenance on Wednesday Tops Cargo and Science Duties

Microgravity science is the main mission aboard the International Space Station, however on Wednesday, the Expedition 71 crew focused primarily on life support maintenance. Nevertheless, the orbital septet did find time for cargo operations and biomedical research during a busy day full of hardware swaps.

NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick kicked off Wednesday swapping out advanced orbital plumbing gear that took up most of their day. The duo worked in the Tranquility module, where the orbital outpost’s restroom is located, and disconnected a host of cables and gear to access the station’s catalytic reactor. Dyson did the majority of the preparation work before Dominick assisted her and replaced the old catalytic reactor with a new one. The reactor introduces oxygen in the restroom’s water recovery system and oxidizes its wastewater.

Dominick wrapped up his shift transferring cargo in and out of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus space freighter. Cygnus has been berthed to the Earth-facing port on the Unity module since Feb. 1 when it delivered 8,300 pounds of cargo and science experiments.

At the end of the day, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Mike Barratt finalized Dyson’s and Dominick’s life support upgrade work. Epps first installed a hose and a temporary filter in Tranquility to enable startup of the new catalytic reactor. After the startup was completed, the duo cleaned up Tranquility and returned the module’s systems to their normal configuration.

The orbital outpost’s three cosmonauts had their day full of human research activities while ensuring the ongoing upkeep of systems in the station’s Roscosmos segment. Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub participated in hearing checks together wearing headphones connected to a computer and responding to a series of audio tones. Kononenko then moved on and refilled an oxygen generator in the Zvezda service module.

When Chub completed his hearing exam, he joined Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin for a fitness evaluation on a treadmill. The duo each took turns jogging on the treadmill while wearing sensors measuring health parameters such as heart rate and breathing rate. Grebenkin earlier conducted cardiac research for a long-running Roscosmos investigation.

For the latest on Boeing’s Crew Flight Test with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams targeted to launch to the orbital lab no earlier than 6:16 p.m. EDT on Friday May 17 please visit NASA’s blog. https://blogs.nasa.gov/boeing-crew-flight-test/

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Targets New Launch Date

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test now is targeted to launch no earlier than 6:16 p.m. EDT Friday, May 17, to the International Space Station. Following a thorough data review completed on Tuesday, ULA (United Launch Alliance) decided to replace a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage.

ULA plans to roll the rocket, with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, back to its Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, May 8, to begin the replacement. The ULA team will perform leak checks and functional checkouts in support of the next launch attempt.

The oscillating behavior of the valve during prelaunch operations, ultimately resulted in mission teams calling a launch scrub on May 6. After the ground crews and astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely exited from Space Launch Complex-41, the ULA team successfully commanded the valve closed and the oscillations were temporarily dampened. The oscillations then re-occurred twice during fuel removal operations. After evaluating the valve history, data signatures from the launch attempt, and assessing the risks relative to continued use, the ULA team determined the valve exceeded its qualification and mission managers agreed to remove and replace the valve.

Mission managers discussed the details leading to the decision to scrub the May 6 launch opportunity during a news conference shortly after the scrub call at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Wilmore and Williams will remain in crew quarters at NASA Kennedy in quarantine until the next launch opportunity. The duo will be the first to launch aboard Starliner to the space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

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Jamie Groh

Expedition 71 Resumes Science, Maintenance After Starliner Scrub

The Expedition 71 crew is now targeting no earlier than Saturday, May 11, to welcome two astronauts who are due to launch the day prior to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. In the meantime, the orbital septet resumed their normal activities on Tuesday researching a variety of space phenomena and maintaining lab systems.

A technical issue prevented the May 6 launch attempt of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft atop the Atlas V rocket from ULA (United Launch Alliance) to the space station. Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams, both NASA astronauts, safely exited Starliner on Monday night and returned to their crew quarters at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

NASA, Boeing, and ULA are now targeting the launch of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test for no earlier than Friday, May 10, pending resolution of the technical issue. Teams are analyzing data to determine whether to replace a pressure regulation valve on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage. Mission managers provided an update during a press conference at Kennedy.

Back on orbit, the four astronauts and three cosmonauts adjusted their shifts and continued studying life science and space physics. The seven outpost residents also serviced life support systems and lab hardware ensuring the station remains in tip-top shape.

NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick first partnered together on Tuesday for neck, shoulder, and leg vein scans with the Ultrasound 2 device. Next, the duo spent the afternoon transferring cargo in and out of the Cygnus space freighter attached to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.

Astronauts Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps, both NASA flight engineers, spent a portion of their day swapping out life support and orbital plumbing gear inside the Harmony and Tranquility modules. Barratt then set up research hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox for the Transparent Alloys physics investigation. Epps inspected and serviced multipurpose research hardware that can host many different space experiments.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko from Roscosmos started his day monitoring carbon dioxide levels and swapping electronics gear before jogging on a treadmill for a regularly scheduled fitness test in the afternoon. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub installed gear that will monitor the condition of surfaces affected by the external microgravity environment on the outside of the space station, and Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin worked in the Nauka science module on orbital plumbing duties.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

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Mark Garcia