Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Space Biology Kicks Off Workweek as Crew Packs Dragon

The Expedition 73 crew kicked off the work week studying space biology to learn how to counteract the effects of weightlessness on the human body. The International Space Station residents are also packing the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft for its departure this week and practicing using the European robotic arm.

NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Anne McClain spent all day Monday testing a thigh cuff that may prevent the space-caused, upward flow of blood and other fluids toward a crew member’s upper body. Common symptoms include head and eye pressure, as well as the notable “puffy face.” Kim wore the thigh cuff as McClain measured his blood pressure and scanned his vessels using the Ultrasound 2 device. Doctors on the ground monitored in real time the effectiveness of the biomedical hardware to learn how to protect an astronaut’s eye structure and vision.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky started their day wearing sensors measuring their exhalation rate following a deep breath helping doctors understand how microgravity affects the respiratory system. Next, Ryzhikov swapped neon gas bottles for argon gas bottles for the Plasma Crystal-4 space physics study investigating complex plasmas, or low-temperature gaseous mixtures such as ionized gas, neutral gas, and micron-sized particles. Zubritsky conducted a photographic inspection inside the Zvezda service module.

Commander Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) joined NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers inside Dragon loading cargo ahead of its undocking scheduled for 12:05 p.m. EDT on Thursday with NASA+ live coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m. They will finalize cargo packing on Wednesday when the crew installs time critical, sample-packed portable science freezers inside Dragon for analysis back on Earth.

Onishi also processed protein crystal samples inside the inside the Advanced Space Experiment Processor-4 to learn how to synthesize medications during deep space missions. Ayers photographed Onishi during his science activities then joined McClain at the end of the day for a hearing exam.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov trained to use the European robotic arm (ERA) using a computer interface inside the Nauka science module. ERA and Nauka both launched on July 21, 2021, inside a Proton rocket from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome. Nauka with the ERA attached autonomously docked to Zvezda’s Earth-facing port on July 29.

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.

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Mark A. Garcia

Friday is Full of Advancing Dragon Cargo Stowage, Advanced Research, and Maintenance of Orbital Systems

The Expedition 73 crew aboard the International Space Station continued work with Dragon cargo, advanced space experiments, and maintenance of orbital systems.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers with the help of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut and station commander Takuya Onishi work continued building toward the undocking of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft by stowing and transferring cargo inside the spacecraft.

Ongoing work with the Advanced Space Experiment Processor (ADSEP-4) was carried out by NASA astronaut Jonny Kim as he worked through various steps removing quadcassettes from the ADSEP-4 then replaced and retrieved the crystallizer inside of the ADSEP ICC cassette and installed the newly configured quadcassette. For historical documentation Onishi photographed Kim’s work with the ADSEP-4. Results from this new technology with the Advanced Space Experiment Processor (ADSEP-4) could demonstrate that pharmaceutical production in space can be scaled up, supporting the fabrication of materials in space for commercial applications.

Both Onishi, McClain, and Ayers worked on the Environmental Health System’s (EHS) Exploration Potable Water Dispenser. Onishi collected station water samples for in-flight and post-flight analysis. He performed a water sample analysis with focus on detecting various microbes to determine the water quality onboard the station. Meanwhile McClain and Ayers removed and replaced the Exploration Potable Water Dispenser’s controller cards and performed a checks to verify functionality.

McClain later worked to deploy the Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG) work volume and set up the Extant Life Volumetric Imaging System (ELVIS) hardware in the glovebox where she later retrieved and inserted samples from the laboratory freezer. ELVIS is a microscope for 3D imaging of objects as small as bacteria, with the goal of making the technology available to anyone studying microscopic motion in space. The technology demonstration tests the microscope by studying active behavior and genetic changes in microalgae and marine bacteria strains. The imaging technology could be used to monitor water quality, detect potentially infectious organisms, and study liquid mixtures and microorganisms in space and on Earth.

Ayers removed the sophonster container, sensor container, and the microSd card and packed it for stowage. She also inserted a sample into a box module within Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) to refrigerate it. The freezer is a cold storage unit that maintains experiment samples at ultra-cold temperatures throughout a mission.

The station’s three cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, and Kirill Peskov continued with more Russian segment maintenance. Ryzhikov conducted additional Russian segment inspection activities. Together Ryzhikov and Zubritskiy removed protective screens from the BTN-NEUTRON-2 which is a nuclear physics experiment located in the Russian segment that measures the neutron component of the radiation background in the near-Earth space, spatial and temporal distribution of neutron fluxes and spectra, during solar flares. Peskov continued with his work to reconfiguring and restoring the ventilation system that connects the Russian and U.S. segments.

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

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Kelcie Nicole Howren

Ongoing ISS Operations: Training, Research, Outreach, and Station Maintenance

Thursday operations aboard the International Space Station saw the Expedition 73 crew focused on a range of mission-critical tasks, from training and cargo handling to microgravity research, educational outreach on the HAM Radio, and maintenance of orbital systems.

Each day, the crew works to compensate for the physiological effects of the microgravity environment on the human body, such as the loss of muscle and bone mass. They do so by training for approximately two hours a day on long-duration missions.  NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim, Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut and station commander Takuya Onishi spent their two hours utilizing different exercise equipment like the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED), a resistive exercise used as a countermeasure to musculoskeletal deconditioning in microgravity. The crew also performed an immersive exercise activity called the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS). This activity utilizes virtual reality goggles to help to increase crew motivation for their daily exercise.

Kim and Ayers continued work with cargo stowage inside SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft is a part of the 32^nd cargo resupply mission and scheduled for undocking no earlier than Thursday, May 22 after being docked to the zenith, or space-facing port, of the International Space Station’s Harmony module for about a month.

In the U.S. Columbus Module, Kim configured the HAM radio, which is part of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station to talk with students about life in space, to engage on Earth observations, space station orbits, and radio science. He also performed more visual station inspections, reinforced additional cables, and worked to relieve pressure to protect the dose pump in the Waste and Hygiene Compartment.

Ayers worked with the Material Science Laboratory (MSL) which is a multi-user facility for high temperature research in materials science. She removed a Low Gradient Furnace sample cartridge, installed the next sample cartridge and prepared the facility for the next sample run. Later, she returned to the MSL to remove the cartridge and prepare the facility for another experiment run.

McClain worked with the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) to install a Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG) flash drive into the LSG Laptop computer then later loaded more software. The facility is well suited for handling hazardous materials when crew are present. It is also capable of accommodating both physical science and biological research payloads. McClain also collected air samples for post-flight analysis taken from the center of the U.S. Laboratory and Columbus modules and then returned to her work recording the progress of tomato plant growth as part of a space agricultural study.

Onishi worked in the Japanese Experiment Module with the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) to remove lost samples from the experiment volume sample cartridge and exchanged the sample holder 2. The Electrostatic Levitation Furnace uses the electrostatic levitation method to levitate, melt, and solidify materials without crucibles.

In the Russian segment, the three cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, and Kirill Peskov worked on more space station maintenance. Ryzhikov  worked to audit the Russian segment storage areas and prepared and assembled a circuit for reflashing with the Napor-miniRSA. Zubritskiy worked with the regeneration of Micropurification System through the termination of a cartridge. Peskov worked to reconfigure the ventilation system that connects the Russian and U.S. segments.

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

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Kelcie Nicole Howren

Wednesday Boasted Health Scans in Space and More Dragon Cargo Stowage and Advanced Science Experiments for the Expedition 73 Crew

The International Space Station‘s Expedition 73 crew was busy this Wednesday with completing health scans, transferring more dragon cargo stowage, and carrying out additional advanced science experiments.

Three NASA Flight Engineers Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, Jonny Kim and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut and station commander Takuya Onishi spent considerable time on Wednesday working on cargo stowage inside SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft that arrived on April 21 as part of the 32nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

McClain, Ayers, and Onishi also collectively received medical scans via the Health Maintenance Systems (HMS) which provides in-flight preventive medicine, diagnostic and therapeutic care, and routine treatment for the majority of medical conditions expected to be encountered while in space. They each received their own Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Scan of the neck, clavicle, shoulder, and behind the knee.

Ayers worked through various steps replacing and installing the crystallizer in the Advanced Space Experiment Processor Industrial Crystallization Cassette. Kim was photographing Ayers work with the ADSEP-4 for historical documentation. Ayers also guided an eye ultrasound.

McClain continued her work with the Bio-Monitor garment and headband from Monday. She reapplied the electrode lubricant on the electrocardiogram electrodes, then transferred data to the ground, and finally removed the garment and headband upon the session’s competition. McClain also returned to her work recording the progress of tomato plant growth as part of a space agricultural study.

Onishi also recorded data on the station’s environment for the student coding experiment AstroPi after he set up the Nikon z9 camera.  Later he docked the Japanese Experiment Module camera Robot 2 and performed a platform checkout.

Onishi and Kim spent some time on in-flight station maintenance. Onishi worked to reinforce video cables to while Kim performed visual inspections of various parts of the space station.

Kim also terminated the autocycle on spacesuit batteries in the Battery Stowage Compartment. He later went on to perform a routine drying agent pack swap on the Glacier2. GLACIER provides a double middeck-locker-size freezer/refrigerator for a variety of experiments that require temperatures ranging from +4 °C (39 °F) and -160 °C (-301 °F). 

The station’s three cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, and Kirill Peskov worked on space station maintenance in the Russian segment. Peskov and Zubritskiy also worked specifically on water maintenance. Peskov continued his work with Potable water with the Water Process Assembly, while Zubritskiy was ensuring the maintenance of coolant and working with regeneration of micro purification systems with water transfer.

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

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Kelcie Nicole Howren

NASA, Partners Adjust Summer 2025 Space Station Flight Planning

After reviewing the International Space Station flight schedule, NASA and its partners are shifting launch opportunities for several upcoming missions. The schedule adjustments provide more time to finalize mission plans, spacecraft readiness, and logistics.

The new targeted no-earlier-than-launch opportunities, pending operational readiness, are:

• Axiom Mission 4: 9:11 a.m. EDT, Sunday, June 8
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11: Late July
• NASA’s SpaceX 33rd Commercial Resupply Services: Late August

Axiom Mission 4 will launch Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The private crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The private astronauts will work alongside the Expedition 73 crew aboard the orbiting laboratory for a short time, conducting mission-related science, outreach, and commercial activities.

As part of Crew-11, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will launch to the space station aboard a Dragon and Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A. There, the crew of four will hand over with the agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 crew before embarking on a long-duration mission aboard station.

In August, SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply mission for NASA will deliver science, supplies, and hardware to the orbital complex. This Dragon cargo spacecraft also will be equipped with a robust reboost kit to aid in providing propulsive boosts to maintain the space station’s altitude. This capability will help reduce Russian segment propellant use aboard the space station and maintain reserve levels.

NASA continues to review operations and will make future adjustments, as necessary, to support the space station’s needs, crew safety, and maximize science capability as the agency prepares for station’s retirement.

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Kelcie Nicole Howren