Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Research, Robotics, and Spacesuits Top Schedule as Spacewalk Times Adjusted

Four Expedition 70 astronauts had a light-duty day on Tuesday fitting in biology research and robotics during the afternoon. The International Space Station’s three cosmonauts continued focusing on an upcoming spacewalk while also working on their own slate of research and robotics.

NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli partnered together for a couple of hours on cardiac research for the CIPHER study. Moghbeli operated the Ultrasound 2 device with support from ground doctors and scanned O’Hara’s chest to assess cardiovascular risks in microgravity. CIPHER is comprised of 14 studies exploring a range of psychological and physiological conditions astronauts may experience during long-term space missions. The duo also took turns unpacking cargo and loading trash inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus resupply ship.

Read more about how the broad suite of experiments, known as CIPHER, or Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research, is helping researchers understand how living and working in space affects the human body.

Commander Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) set up a digital camera in the cupola for the Earthshine experiment and photographed the Moon to image sunshine reflected from the Earth. Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa checked the performance of a spherical robot camera that can operate remotely or autonomously inside the Kibo laboratory module.

O’Hara and Mogensen had been planning to conduct a spacewalk this month to collect samples and examine the possibility of microbes living on the outside of the orbital laboratory. However, mission managers have decided to defer that spacewalk to no earlier than December as they review data from a backup radiator leak that has since ceased.

In the meantime, two other spacewalks are still on the schedule for October. Two cosmonauts from Roscosmos are gearing up for a spacewalk planned for Oct. 25. The duo is scheduled to exit the Poisk airlock at 2:30 p.m. EDT and spend about six hours and 45 minutes on external Roscosmos maintenance tasks. Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub worked throughout Tuesday testing their Orlan spacesuits’ life support and communications components.

Kononenko also configured Poisk to support next week’s spacewalk activities. Chub began and ended his day studying how weightlessness affects the heart and exploring how international crews and mission controllers can communicate more effectively.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov assisted Chub with the heart study during the morning. Borisov would then spend the rest of the day testing operations with the European robotic arm attached to the outside of the Nauka science module.

The next NASA spacewalk will see Moghbeli and O’Hara set their spacesuits to battery power at 8:05 a.m. on Oct. 30 signifying the start of their first excursion together. The duo will spend about six-and-a-half hours removing electronics gear and replacing solar array hardware on the outside of the station.

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 10:01 p.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 5, for the launch of the company’s 29th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The date shift takes into account required time for teams to complete pad readiness after the agency’s Psyche launch on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, which lifted off on October 13 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

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

Spacewalk Dates Adjusted; Cargo Operations Begin the Crew’s Week

As a result of the ongoing review by NASA managers and engineers after a coolant leak from a backup radiator on the International Space Station’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, a spacewalk that was targeted for no earlier than Thursday, Oct. 19 now is deferred until later this year.

The spacewalk date was adjusted to allow engineers additional time to complete analysis of the coolant leak, which occurred and stopped on Oct. 9. The coolant is not toxic or hazardous for the crew, but experts are discussing how to best keep small traces of the substance from getting into some internal systems to avoid equipment degradation over time. The tasks planned for this spacewalk are not time-sensitive and the schedule adjustment has no impact on space station operations.

A spacewalk scheduled for Monday, Oct. 30, now becomes U.S. Spacewalk 89. During that spacewalk, NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara  and Jasmin Moghbeli will exit the station’s Quest airlock to complete the removal of a faulty electronics box, called a Radio Frequency Group, from a communications antenna bracket and replace one of twelve Trundle Bearing Assemblies on the port truss Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. The bearings enable the station’s solar arrays to rotate properly to track the Sun as the station orbits the Earth. During this spacewalk, Moghbeli will serve as EVA crew member 1 and O’Hara will serve as EVA crew member 2. This will be the first spacewalk for both O’Hara and Moghbeli.

Later this year, O’Hara and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen will conduct what will become U.S. Spacewalk 90, to collect samples for analysis to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex. They also will replace a high-definition camera on the port truss of the station and conduct other maintenance work to prepare for future spacewalks.

Meanwhile, a spacewalk by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub remains scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 25. During that spacewalk, Kononenko and Chub will install a synthetic radar communications system on the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory and deploy a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology. In addition, they plan to inspect and photograph the backup radiator that leaked on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

Spacewalk preparations continued aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 70 astronauts and cosmonauts serviced their individual spacesuits on Monday. Cargo operations are also underway as the orbital residents work inside the Cygnus space freighter and look ahead to the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.

Mogensen began Monday emptying and refilling water tanks and cleaning cooling loops inside a pair of spacesuits. Moghbeli completed the maintenance in the afternoon terminating the cooling loop work then deconfiguring the spacesuits.

Mogensen then spent the rest of the afternoon partnering with O’Hara unpacking supplies and loading trash inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft. Moghbeli joined Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pre-packing cargo bags that will be loaded aboard the next SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft to visit the orbiting lab. Furukawa began his day processing samples and swapping gas bottles inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, a high temperature thermophysics research device.

Kononenko and Chub spent Monday morning preparing for their upcoming spacewalk as they charged batteries and inspected life support components inside their Orlan spacesuits. Following that, Kononenko moved on to cardiac research while Chub checked and closed hatches between the Poisk airlock and the Roscosmos Progress 84 resupply ship.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov began his day working on the Elektron oxygen generator and other life support components. In the afternoon, he assisted Kononenko with his cardiac work and inspected portions of the Zvezda service module.

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Mark Garcia

Spacewalk Dates Adjusted; Cargo Ops Begin the Crew’s Week

As a result of the ongoing review by NASA managers and engineers after a coolant leak from a backup radiator on the International Space Station’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, a spacewalk that was targeted for no earlier than Thursday, Oct. 19 now is deferred until later this year.

The spacewalk date was adjusted to allow engineers additional time to complete analysis of the coolant leak, which occurred and stopped on Oct. 9. The coolant is not toxic or hazardous for the crew, but experts are discussing how to best keep small traces of the substance from getting into some internal systems to avoid equipment degradation over time. The tasks planned for this spacewalk are not time-sensitive and the schedule adjustment has no impact on space station operations.

A spacewalk scheduled for Monday, Oct. 30, now becomes U.S. Spacewalk 89. During that spacewalk, NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara  and Jasmin Moghbeli will exit the station’s Quest airlock to complete the removal of a faulty electronics box, called a Radio Frequency Group, from a communications antenna bracket and replace one of twelve Trundle Bearing Assemblies on the port truss Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. The bearings enable the station’s solar arrays to rotate properly to track the Sun as the station orbits the Earth. During this spacewalk, Moghbeli will serve as EVA crew member 1 and O’Hara will serve as EVA crew member 2. This will be the first spacewalk for both O’Hara and Moghbeli.

Later this year, O’Hara and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen will conduct what will become U.S. Spacewalk 90, to collect samples for analysis to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex. They also will replace a high-definition camera on the port truss of the station and conduct other maintenance work to prepare for future spacewalks.

Meanwhile, a spacewalk by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub remains scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 25. During that spacewalk, Kononenko and Chub will install a synthetic radar communications system on the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory and deploy a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology. In addition, they plan to inspect and photograph the backup radiator that leaked on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

Spacewalk preparations continued aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 70 astronauts and cosmonauts serviced their individual spacesuits on Monday. Cargo operations are also underway as the orbital residents work inside the Cygnus space freighter and look ahead to the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.

Mogensen began Monday emptying and refilling water tanks and cleaning cooling loops inside a pair of spacesuits. Moghbeli completed the maintenance in the afternoon terminating the cooling loop work then deconfiguring the spacesuits.

Mogensen then spent the rest of the afternoon partnering with O’Hara unpacking supplies and loading trash inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft. Moghbeli joined Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pre-packing cargo bags that will be loaded aboard the next SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft to visit the orbiting lab. Furukawa began his day processing samples and swapping gas bottles inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, a high temperature thermophysics research device.

Kononenko and Chub spent Monday morning preparing for their upcoming spacewalk as they charged batteries and inspected life support components inside their Orlan spacesuits. Following that, Kononenko moved on to cardiac research while Chub checked and closed hatches between the Poisk airlock and the Roscosmos Progress 84 resupply ship.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov began his day working on the Elektron oxygen generator and other life support components. In the afternoon, he assisted Kononenko with his cardiac work and inspected portions of the Zvezda service module.

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Mark Garcia

Research, Maintenance Keep Crew Busy Ahead of Spacewalks

International Space Station managers have rescheduled a pair of spacewalks as they continue to review data from a backup radiator leak that has since ceased. In the meantime, the Expedition 70 crew members had a busy day at the end of the week packed with space research, cargo operations, and more spacewalk preparations.

The next U.S. spacewalk at the orbiting laboratory will take place at 8:35 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 19. Astronauts Loral O’Hara from NASA and Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) will spend about six-and-a-half hours swabbing station surfaces to collect potential samples of microbes that might survive in the extreme environment of outer space. NASA TV will begin its spacewalk coverage at 7 a.m. on the agency’s app and website.

A second U.S. spacewalk with O’Hara and NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli has been targeted for Oct. 30. The NASA duo will spend about six-and-a-half hours in the vacuum of space removing faulty radio communications gear and installing new solar array hardware.

The trio along with Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) took a pause from their spacewalk activities on Friday. The astronauts refocused their attention on human research and botany while also keeping up electronics and life support maintenance.

O’Hara took a robotics test and provided biological samples for an experiment to understand the psychological and physiological changes an astronaut experiences while living in weightlessness. Furukawa checked carbon dioxide bottles and hoses that support the growth environment inside the Advanced Plant Habitat botany research facility.

Moghbeli began her day transferring cargo in and out of the Cygnus space freighter. She then cleaned the Human Research Facility’s centrifuge chamber before servicing a variety of computers throughout the orbital lab. Mogensen spent Friday collecting water samples for ground analysis from life support systems in the space station’s U.S. segment.

Two Roscosmos cosmonauts are stepping up their preparations for a spacewalk planned to begin at 4:20 p.m. on Oct. 25. Five-time lab resident Oleg Kononenko and first-time space flyer Nikolai Chub will exit the Poisk airlock in their Orlan spacesuits to install new hardware and deploy a nanosatellite. The pair ended the week studying their spacewalk procedures and testing support hardware.

Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov began Friday training to maneuver the European robotic arm attached to the Nauka science module. Afterward, Borisov opened panels inside Nauka and photographed internal hardware configurations in anticipation of future experiments.

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Mark Garcia

Spacewalks Rescheduled as NASA Reviews Leak Data

Two United States operating segment spacewalks outside the International Space Station have been rescheduled for no earlier than Thursday, Oct. 19, and Monday, Oct. 30, as a result of ongoing review by NASA managers and engineers after a coolant leak from a backup radiator on the station’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

The spacewalks were deferred from their original target dates to allow engineers additional time to complete their analysis of the coolant leak, which occurred on Oct. 9 and has now stopped.

During the first spacewalk NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen will exit the station’s Quest airlock to collect samples for analysis to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex. They also will replace a high-definition camera on the port truss of the station and conduct other maintenance work to prepare for future spacewalks.

O’Hara will serve as extravehicular activity (EVA) crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. Mogensen will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. U.S. Spacewalk 89 will be the first spacewalk for both crew members.

During the second spacewalk, O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli will complete the removal of a faulty electronics box, called a Radio Frequency Group, from a communications antenna bracket and replace one of twelve Trundle Bearing Assemblies on the port truss Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. The bearings enable the station’s solar arrays to rotate properly to track the sun as the station orbits the Earth. During this spacewalk, Moghbeli will serve as EVA crew member 1 and O’Hara will serve as EVA crew member 2. U.S. Spacewalk 90 will be the first spacewalk for Moghbeli and second for O’Hara.

Details on times for the spacewalks are being reviewed and times for live coverage on NASA Television, the agency’s website and the NASA app and will be shared once available.

Cargo operations and maintenance filled the Expedition 70 crew’s day as International Space Station managers and engineers continued reviewing the ceased leak data. In the meantime, two cosmonauts are also gearing up for their own spacewalk.

Astronauts Loral O’Hara of NASA and Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) were back on cargo duty Thursday morning. The duo continued unpacking cargo from the Cygnus space freighter and loaded trash and discarded items for disposal aboard the commercial cargo craft. Cygnus delivered several tons of science and supplies on Aug. 2 and will depart the station and complete its mission in December.

O’Hara also worked on the Cold Atom Lab completing the installation of new science components and reconnection of cables on the quantum physics research device. Furukawa collected drinking water samples for processing and analysis in the Destiny laboratory module.

Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) along with NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli spent a few moments on Thursday checking out spacesuit components including safety jetpacks and other gear. Mogensen would also photograph the condition of the Columbus laboratory module and perform educational science activities. Moghbeli inspected and cleaned hatch seals in the station’s U.S. segment then cleared away items blocking ventilation systems and narrowing passage between modules.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub continued preparing for their spacewalk scheduled on Oct. 25 to install new hardware and deploy a nanosatellite. The pair from Roscosmos collected and organized their spacewalking tools inside the Poisk airlock where the planned six-hour and 45-minute spacewalk will begin. Kononenko also jogged on the Zvezda service module’s treadmill for in a physical fitness evaluation. Chub worked in Nauka testing the performance of laptop computers.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov spent most of his day on a variety of maintenance tasks as he serviced life support gear and panels inside the Nauka module. Borisov also transferred water from the Progress 85 cargo craft into the station and jogged on the treadmill for a fitness test after Kononenko.

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