Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Worm Observations, Eye Checks as Weekend Spacewalk Approaches

The Expedition 64 crew had a busy science day observing worms, readying small satellites for deployment, and conducting vision tests. Two astronauts are also pressing ahead with preparations for the third spacewalk in two weeks at the International Space Station.

Tiny worms were launched to the orbiting lab in February to study how weightlessness affects genetic expression in muscles. Today, NASA Flight Engineer Shannon Walker loaded cassette samples containing the live worms into a microscope for viewing. Next, NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins recorded microscopic video of the worm activities to understand the effects of spaceflight on muscles. Observations may lead to ways to maintain and improve muscle health for humans on and off the Earth.

Soon, a set of small satellites will be deployed outside of the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Soichi Noguchi loaded the tiny satellites, also called CubeSats, in a deployer that will be placed inside Kibo’s airlock. The airlock will be closed and depressurized before the Japanese robotic arm grabs the deployer and stages it in position where the CubeSats will be ejected into orbit a few days later.

It has been a busy period for spacewalks at the station as two astronauts gear up for another excursion to maintain cooling system and communications gear. Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins of NASA readied their spacewalk tools and safety tethers in the U.S. Quest airlock where their spacesuits are already located. Afterward, they were joined by Rubins and Noguchi, who will assist the spacewalkers this weekend, for procedure reviews. NASA TV will go on the air Saturday at 6 a.m. EST to broadcast the spacewalk set to begin at 7:30 a.m.

Vision is critical to mission success and researchers are continuously studying how microgravity affects the human eye. Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov partnered together Thursday afternoon reading an eye chart as part of regularly scheduled eye checks. Some crew members have documented eye pressure and vision issues after living in space for months at a time.

Mission controllers in Houston commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release an external pallet loaded with old nickel-hydrogen batteries into Earth orbit on Thursday morning. It is safely moving away from the station and will orbit Earth between two to four years before burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov have completed the work to repair small cracks in the transfer compartment of the Russian Zvezda service module. The repairs were part of ongoing work to isolate and fix the source of a slight cabin air leak which is an increase above the standard rate that station teams have been investigating over the past year. At the current rate, the crew is in no danger, and the space station has ample consumables aboard to manage and maintain the nominal environment.

In the coming days, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov will close the hatches to the transfer compartment to enable Russian flight controllers to conduct pressure level checks to analyze the results of the sealing procedures.

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Mark Garcia

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Spacesuit Checks During Space Research and Russian Maintenance

Two astronauts are focusing in preparations for this weekend’s spacewalk as the rest of the Expedition 64 crew keeps up research and maintenance on the International Space Station.

NASA Flight Engineers Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins checked on the U.S. spacesuits today they will wear during a spacewalk scheduled for 7:30 a.m. EST on Saturday. The duo also reviewed the procedures they will use when working on the station’s cooling system and communications gear. NASA TV will begin its live coverage of the spacewalk activities at 6 a.m.

Advanced space science is always ongoing aboard the orbital lab even though the crew may be getting ready for mission events such as spaceship arrivals and departures or spacewalks. Scientists and engineers on Earth use the knowledge gained from the microgravity research observations to improve life for humans on and off the planet.

Veteran station resident Kate Rubins on NASA replaced fuel canisters for a suite of combustion studies exploring fuel efficiency, pollution control and spacecraft fire prevention. NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, on her second station mission, viewed high-quality protein crystals grown in a microscope for a space commercialization study that could benefit the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Soichi Noguchi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) serviced components inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock where experiments are staged before exposure to the harsh environment of space.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov continued work to repair small cracks in the transfer compartment of the Russian Zvezda service module this week. This was part of ongoing work to isolate and fix the source of a slight cabin air leak which is an increase above the standard rate that station teams have been investigating over the past year. At the current rate, the crew is in no danger, and the space station has ample consumables aboard to manage and maintain the nominal environment.

The cosmonauts are applying a second layer of specialized paste to further seal the cracks. On March 12, hatches to the transfer chamber will be closed to enable Russian flight controllers to conduct pressure level checks to analyze the results of the sealing procedures.

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Mark Garcia

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Saturday Spacewalk Set as Crew Works Space Gardening

The Expedition 64 astronauts are gearing up for the third spacewalk in two weeks at the International Space Station. The orbital residents also fit in a variety of space agriculture studies and orbital maintenance tasks on their busy schedule today.

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins will partner up for their third spacewalk together on Saturday to work on the station’s cooling system and communications gear. The duo will begin their excursion when they set their spacesuits to battery power around 7:30 a.m. EST. NASA TV starts its broadcast of all the spacewalk activities at 6 a.m.

They will spend the first part of their six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk venting and relocating ammonia lines on the far-left side of the station at the Port-6 truss structure. Next, Glover will replace a wireless communications antenna on the Unity module. Hopkins will complete cable connections on the Bartolomeo external payload facility located on Europe’s Columbus laboratory module.

Following that, the spacewalkers will meet back up to install a “stiffener” on the Quest’s airlock cover. Finally, they will route high-definition video camera cables before wrapping up the fifth spacewalk of 2021.

Hopkins and Glover were joined by Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi on Tuesday afternoon for a review of this weekend’s spacewalk procedures. NASA Flight Engineer Shannon Walker began cleaning and servicing their spacesuits and components today.

Hopkins and Noguchi also spent some time Tuesday on space gardening tasks. Hopkins began harvesting Amara Mustard and Extra Dwarf Pak Choi plants today for the Veg-03 botany study. Noguchi watered fast-growing plants used for traditional medicine and food flavoring for the Asian Herb investigation.

Commander Sergey Ryzhikov sampled the Zvezda service module’s air quality today. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov worked on payload cable connections in the station’s Russian segment.

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Mark Garcia

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Astronauts Relax as Station Science Command Celebrates 20 Years

Five astronauts from the Expedition 64 crew are relaxing today after supporting a pair of spacewalks last week. The two cosmonauts from Roscosmos were on duty running science and maintaining systems in the International Space Station’s Russian segment.

NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins led both spacewalks to install modification kits to ready the orbital lab for newer, more powerful solar arrays being delivered on upcoming SpaceX Dragon cargo missions. NASA Flight Engineer Victor Glover joined Rubins for the Feb. 28 spacewalk. Rubins completed the second spacewalk on March 5 with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

The spacewalkers were supported last week by NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins and Shannon Walker. The duo also had time off today having helped with the spacesuit maintenance and spacewalk preparations.

Commander Sergey Ryzhikov stayed on duty Monday with Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. Ryzhikov explored ways to maintain safe, sterile conditions when performing biology research on the station. Kud-Sverchkov checked on air and water systems in the station’s Zvezda and Zarya modules.

Over the weekend, ISS Program officials and flight controllers informed the crew that another spacewalk will be conducted on Saturday, March 13, to complete a variety of tasks that could not be completed on a series of previous excursions.

Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins will venture outside the Quest airlock to vent and relocate ammonia jumper cables, install a structural “stiffener” on the airlock thermal cover, and complete the connection of payload cables on the new Bartolomeo platform on the Columbus module. Other tasks will include the replacement of a wireless communications antenna on the Unity module. The spacewalk is scheduled to last approximately six and a half hours.

Since March 8, 2001, Marshall Space Flight Center has provided 24/7 support to science operations on the Space Station.

The Payload Operations Integration Center, POIC, is the science command post for the International Space Station. Located at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., it is the focal point for American and international science activities aboard the Space Station.

The team at the POIC manages the operations of science and research experiments aboard the Station. This group of dedicated professionals coordinates the use of valuable on-orbit resources, orchestrates delivery and retrieval of payloads, ensures safety for Space Station crews while working with payloads, and configures complex systems aboard the Space Station to support payloads.

Other members of the Payload Operations Center team train astronauts, cosmonauts, and ground personnel on payloads, and coordinate the plans for payload activities with scientists and control centers around the world.

The Payload Operations Center’s unique capabilities allow science experts and researchers around the world to perform cutting-edge science in the unique microgravity environment of space.

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Norah Moran

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U.S., Japanese Astronauts Conclude Solar Array Mods Spacewalk

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi concluded their spacewalk at 1:33 p.m. EST, after 6 hours and 56 minutes. In the fourth spacewalk of the year outside the International Space Station, the two astronauts successfully completed the installation of modification kits required for upcoming solar array upgrades.

The duo worked near the farthest set of existing solar arrays on the station’s left (port) side, known as P6, to install a modification kit on solar array 4B and reconfigure the modification kit on 2B, completing tasks that were started during the Feb. 28 spacewalk.

Due to time constraints, the secondary tasks of troubleshooting the Columbus Parking Position (PAPOS) Interface and removing and replacing a Wireless Video System External Transceivers Assembly (WETA) were deferred to a later spacewalk. The astronauts did, however, complete an additional task of relocating an Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR).

NASA is augmenting six of the eight existing power channels of the space station with new solar arrays, which will be delivered on SpaceX’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission. The new solar arrays, a larger version of the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) technology, will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, ultimately increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts and ensuring sufficient power supply for NASA’s exploration technology demonstrations for Artemis and beyond. The current solar arrays are functioning well but have begun to show signs of degradation, as expected, as they were designed for a 15-year service life.

This was the fourth career spacewalk for both Rubins and Noguchi. Rubins has now spent a total of 26 hours and 46 minutes spacewalking. Noguchi now has spent a total of 27 hours and 1 minute spacewalking.

Space station crew members have conducted 236 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 61 days, 21 hours and 7 minutes working outside the station.

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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