Spacesuit Work, Air Quality and Radiation Checks on Station Today
This image taken from the space station 263 miles above Sudan shows the Nile River winding northward next to the Red Sea toward the Mediterranean Sea.
The Expedition 62 trio aboard the International Space Station spent their Friday on a variety of activities. The crew conducted a hearing test, swapped spacesuit components, and checked out computers, air quality and radiation.
Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan started the day with a hearing test for the Acoustic Diagnostics study. The research measures an astronaut’s hearing before, during and after a mission to understand the impacts of microgravity and the station’s noise levels.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir worked in the Tranquility module on Friday morning servicing a device that measures the orbiting lab’s atmosphere. The life support gear monitors a variety of major constituents such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor to ensure a safe breathing environment for the crew. Meir wrapped up her day in the airlock, where she changed out a hard upper torso of one of the U.S. spacesuits with Morgan.
Over in the station’s Russian segment, Commander Oleg Skripochka replacing older laptop computers with new ones. In the afternoon, the veteran cosmonaut sampled the air quality and set up radiation detectors in the station’s Russian modules.
Space Cardiac Research as Station Orbits Higher For Next Crew
An aurora accents Earth’s atmospheric glow underneath a starry sky as the glare from computer instrumentation reflects off a window in the cupola.
Cardiac research was a big part of the Expedition 62 crew’s schedule on Thursday. Meanwhile, the International Space Station is orbiting higher to get ready for April’s crew swap.
Two experiments taking place aboard the orbiting lab today are looking at cardiac function and the replenishment of heart cells in space. The NASA heart studies could lead to a better understanding of cardiac diseases and improved drug therapies on Earth. Astronauts living in space for months or years at a time could see strategies to maintain healthy cardiac function on long-term missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir nourished and preserved heart tissue samples for an experiment watching how heart cells adapt to microgravity. Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan got to work replacing hardware for an investigation producing heart cells that may treat cardiac abnormalities.
Veteran cosmonaut and station Commander Oleg Skripochka updated inventory after cargo activities inside the Progress 74 resupply ship. He also monitored radiation readings in the orbital lab and checked a variety of Russian video and computer gear.
The space station raised its orbit to the correct altitude this afternoon to receive three new Expedition 63 crewmembers aboard the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship next month. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner will launch and dock to the Poisk module on April 9 beginning a 195-day station mission.
Eight days later, the Expedition 62 crew will return to Earth and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan inside the Soyuz MS-15 crew ship. Skripochka and Meir will have logged 205 days in space while Morgan is returning after 272 days on orbit.
Station Science Promoting Earth, Space Therapies Ahead of Crew Swap
An aurora, above the city lights and a beneath a starry sky, fades into an orbital sunrise as the space station orbited above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America.
Expedition 62 is continuing a host of studies this week exploring how microgravity affects the human body. Researchers use the weightlessness environment of the International Space Station to provide advanced therapies for healthier humans on Earth and in space.
NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan wore a specialized suit, testing its ability to pull body fluids towards an astronaut’s feet. The Lower Body Negative Pressure suit is designed to prevent the space-caused upward fluid shifts and pooling in the head that create pressure on the eyes and cranium.
Fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir measured Morgan’s eye pressure with a tonometer Wednesday morning as doctors on the ground monitored in real-time. Commander Oleg Skripochka assisted the pair with the hardware and suit activities while the research operations took place in the Zvezda service module.
The trio split up in the afternoon for more space science and station maintenance tasks. The station residents also continued their daily routine of cardio and resistance exercises aboard the orbiting lab.
After lunchtime, Morgan set up gear that monitors airflow and where particles settle on the station. Meir tended to bone cell samples for insights into Earth ailments such as osteoporosis. Skripochka serviced an oxygen generator and plumbing hardware in the station’s Russian segment.
The space station will also boost its orbit on Thursday as it gears up for a crew swap in April. Expedition 62 is due to return to Earth on April 17 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 crew ship.
The Expedition 63 crew will launch to the station on April 9 inside the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy will lead Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner during the 195-day station mission.
Finally, the Cygnus space freighter that left the station on Jan. 31 ended its mission Tuesday night. It burned up safely in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean after several weeks of orbital engineering tests. The newest Cygnus is attached to the station’s Harmony module where it will stay until May.
Space Impacts on Heart and Bones May Provide Earth Therapies
The aurora australis, or “southern lights,” highlights a starry nighttime orbital pass above the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia from June 2019..
Human research and space biology dominated the research schedule aboard the International Space Station today. The Expedition 62 crew investigated how microgravity impacts heart and bone cells and head and eye pressure.
All three crewmembers tested a unique suit Tuesday that draws body fluids, such as blood and water, towards the feet. This counteracts space-caused fluid shifts toward the head that create pressure on an astronaut’s eyes and cranium. One visible symptom, called “puffy face,” is a redder and rounder face due to those shifts. However, astronauts have reported vision problems after living in space for months at a time.
Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan put on the suit with help from Commander Oleg Skripochka in the station’s Zvezda service module. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir then scanned Morgan’s eyes, head and chest with an ultrasound device to measure blood flow through his veins and arteries. Doctors on Earth monitored the activities to learn more about the effectiveness of the negative pressure body suit.
Morgan then moved on to cardiac research, learning how to create and culture heart cells on the space station. Results could provide advanced therapies to prevent heart conditions on Earth and in space. Meir continued more bone research servicing bone samples to help scientists better understand Earth ailments such as osteoporosis.
The commander stayed in the station’s Russian segment inventorying cargo from a Russian resupply ship. Skripochka, a veteran of three station missions, made space in the Progress 74 cargo craft temporarily stowing goods and rearranging hardware to reduce clutter aboard the orbiting lab.
Crew Explores Heart Cells, Genetic Expression for Earth and Space Benefits
Expedition 62 Commander Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, in the middle, is flanked by NASA Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir inside U.S. Destiny laboratory module.
The Expedition 62 crew focused on a variety of human research and space biology studies aboard the International Space Station today. Back on Earth, three new crewmembers are in training in Russia before their mission begins in April.
Microgravity shifts the flow of body fluids, such as blood and water, which accumulate in an astronaut’s head creating pressure in the cranium and on the eyes. Doctors are continuously studying this phenomenon to counteract the effects and keep long-term space crews healthy.
In preparation for upcoming operations with the ongoing Fluid Shifts study, NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan collected medical hardware, such as an ultrasound device, sensors and cables. He transferred the research gear to the Russian segment, where they will be used to test a specialized body suit that draws fluids toward the lower body expanding veins and tissues.
Morgan then moved on to a Japanese study that looks at how weightlessness affects genetic expression in mice. Results may inform future therapies that keep crews safe in space and prevent muscle atrophy conditions on Earth.
NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Meir relaxed on Monday aboard the orbiting lab after working Saturday afternoon on cardiac research. She serviced heart cells being manipulated and analyzed with magnet-sensors and stowed them in a science freezer. The space samples are being compared to cell cultures on the ground possibly benefitting human cardiac function on Earth and in space.
Commander Oleg Skripochka began his morning on a long-running Russian study exploring how cosmonauts will pilot spacecraft and even robotic rovers on future planetary missions. During the afternoon, he turned his attention to life support maintenance.
Over in Russia, three Expedition 63 crewmembers are getting ready for their launch to the space station on April 9. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner wrapped up two days of Soyuz qualification exams last week. They will have a news conference this Friday before heading out to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, March 24. Once there, the crew will be in final preparations ahead of their 195-day mission in space.
