Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Biotechnology to Sustain Crews on Long Missions Tops Research Schedule

Biotechnology to Sustain Crews on Long Missions Tops Research Schedule

Biotechnology kicked off the work week aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 72 crew members explored ways to counter the effects of microgravity and produce vitamins and nutrients during long-term space missions.

The lack of gravity leads body fluids to move toward an astronaut’s head potentially causing eye structure and vision problems. NASA Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore spent all day Monday investigating the phenomena using a thigh cuff as a potential countermeasure to the headward fluid shifts. Hague wore electrodes and the thigh cuff as Wilmore performed an ultrasound scan on Hague, measured his eye fluid pressure, and checked his blood pressure testing the effectiveness of the biomedical device. The tight leg cuffs are compact and lightweight, ideal for spacecraft, and may help protect crews on missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Providing vitamins and nutrients to keep crews healthy is another key research goal as NASA and its international partners plan longer-term missions farther away from Earth. Station Commander Suni Williams reviewed procedures on Monday for the BioNutrients biotechnology study to demonstrate producing fresh nutrients in space. Preserving nutrients on long-term space missions causes them to degrade over time. However, using genetically engineered yeast to enable on-demand production of nutrients to supplement potential vitamin losses from the stored food may benefit crews traveling longer and farther away from Earth.

NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit spent his day inside the Tranquility module on orbital plumbing duties replacing hydraulic components on the waste and hygiene compartment, or the space station’s bathroom.

Cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner started their day testing communications with the Progress 89 cargo craft due to depart at the end of February after six months docked to the rear port of the Zvezda service module.

Ovchinin then moved on and worked on Zvezda’s ventilation system and began packing the Progress 89 with trash and discarded gear. Vagner worked on orbital plumbing inside Zvezda’s bathroom repairing pumps and pipes inside the Roscosmos segment’s toilet. Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov spent his day inside the Nauka science module first swapping out electrical hardware then inspecting and cleaning laptop computers.

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

Relaxation, Housekeeping Wrap Up Work Week Aboard the Station

The Expedition 72 crew wrapped up the work week with housekeeping duties and relaxation following several days of spacewalk cleanup activities and advanced research aboard the International Space Station.

Station Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore, both NASA astronauts, were off duty on Friday after stowing spacewalk tools and deconfiguring spacesuits earlier in the week. The duo used the tools and wore the suits during a five hour and 26-minute spacewalk on Jan. 30 for science and maintenance. Williams and Wilmore also worked throughout the week on robotics research, computer updates, and life support maintenance.

NASA Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Don Pettit took turns at the end of the week measuring the airflow in their crew quarters ensuring a safe breathing environment inside the orbital lab. Hague first checked his overhead crew quarters then Pettit checked his starboard crew quarters, both in the Harmony module, measuring the airflows at different locations and at different speeds. Hague earlier collected biological samples for processing while Pettit conducted a photographic inspection of stowage areas inside the Columbus laboratory module.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov spent his day on variety of science activities. He first prepared drives to capture research data collected from a plasma crystal study, swapped a lens on a student-controlled Earth observation camera, then checked video recording gear. Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner spent their day on life support maintenance tasks throughout the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment.

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 Garcia

Busy Day of Research, Lab Upkeep, and Cargo Ops on Station

The Expedition 72 crew focused on space biology, physics research, and cargo operations throughout the International Space Station on Thursday. The orbital residents also performed maintenance and documentation activities ensuring the microgravity research laboratory remains in tip-top shape.

NASA Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Don Pettit took turns during their shifts examining and videotaping the layout of racks inside the modules that comprise the U.S. segment of the space station. The astronauts downloaded the video so engineers on the ground could inspect the safety and configuration of cables routed between the numerous racks. Hague then wrapped up his day packing cargo and trash inside the Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft that arrived at the station on Aug. 6,  2024. Pettit worked in the Kibo laboratory module reorganizing cargo and stowing a small satellite orbital deployer.

Commander Suni Williams of NASA started her shift uninstalling carbon dioxide removal gear and checking cable connections inside the Tranquility module’s Life Support Rack that manages air and water quality. Next, she assisted with the Cygnus cargo packing then worked on orbital plumbing inside the waste and hygiene compartment, the orbiting lab’s bathroom located in Tranquility.

NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore spent the first half of his shift on computer maintenance preparing a laptop computer for an electronics test then loading new software on a tablet computer. He then spent the rest of his day checking food inventories and reviewing crew menus aboard the space station.

The three cosmonauts compromising the seven-member station crew were able to fit microgravity research into their schedules on Thursday while maintaining the Roscosmos segment of the space station.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov wrapped up a run of the Plasma Kristall-4 physics study that observes how strongly interacting, charged particles turn into plasma crystals. Gorbunov then took turns with fellow cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin taking a test to learn how to improve communications between international crews and mission controllers from around the world. Ovchinin also participated in a cardiac study with Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner wearing sensors to measure how weightlessness affects the heart’s electrical activity which pumps blood throughout the body. The trio from Roscosmos also kept up its housekeeping activities servicing ventilation systems and maintaining life support hardware.

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 Garcia

Space Navigation Test, Plasma Crystal Research Top Wednesday Science Schedule

Space navigation and plasma crystals were the main research topics aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 72 crew also reorganized cargo and continued cleaning up after last week’s spacewalk.

Accurate navigation is critical as crew spacecraft are being readied to travel farther away from Earth-orbiting satellite systems and toward the Moon. NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit installed and activated the Navigation and Communication Testbed (NAVCOM) demonstration hardware inside the Columbus laboratory module. NAVCOM is being tested as a more accurate alternative to a constellation of satellites known as the Global Navigation Satellite System. NAVCOM may inform the development of lunar stations to transmit precise navigation data such as position and time on future crewed missions to the Moon.

Station Commander Suni Williams of NASA spent most of her day on cargo and life support work in the orbital lab. She primarily worked inside the Permanent Multipurpose Module reconfiguring the cargo hold to optimize space. Williams also spent a few moments transferring clean water from the Tranquility module into Roscosmos water tanks for temporary stowage.

Williams later joined NASA Flight Engineers Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague servicing spacesuits and stowing tools used during a Jan. 30 spacewalk. Following her cargo and maintenance work, Williams wrapped up her shift stowing spacesuit batteries and preparing them for upcoming recharging activities. Wilmore and Hague worked throughout the day in the Quest airlock stowing a variety of spacewalking tools used during the science and maintenance spacewalk.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov started his day setting up a video monitor for a study observing electrons, ions, neutral gas, and microparticles that interact strongly when charged and can turn into plasma crystals. Gorbunov also assisted Williams with the water transfer tasks then replaced hardware in the Zvezda service module that purifies water vapor into potable water.

Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner spent their day on routine maintenance and ongoing science activities inside the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment. Ovchinin completed carbon dioxide monitoring near crew work areas and crew quarters then worked on Zvezda’s oxygen generator. Vagner participated in a test to improve how international crews communicate with mission controllers from around the world.

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 Garcia

Robotics Demonstration, Air and Water Quality Checks Aboard Orbital Lab

Free-flying robotics and science maintenance topped the work schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The Expedition 72 crew also analyzed station air and water quality and set up a student-controlled camera for Earth observations.

NASA engineers are using the weightless environment of the orbital lab to study how robots might capture objects in space and remove debris and service satellites in low Earth orbit. Station Commander Suni Williams contributed to that investigation on Tuesday by activating the Astrobee robotic free-flyer and outfitting it with tentacle-like arms containing gecko-like adhesive pads. She monitored the toaster sized Astrobee, with the experimental grippers attached, as it demonstrated autonomously detecting and grappling a “capture cube”, like she did previously in December. Results may expand the space infrastructure and extend the life of assets such as satellites.

NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit worked throughout the day on sample analysis and science maintenance. Pettit first collected station water samples and analyzed them using the Total Organic Carbon Analyzer to assess the on-orbit water quality. Next, he swapped fuel bottles inside the Combustion Integrated Rack that enables safe fuel and flame research in microgravity. Finally, Pettit relocated an airborne particulate monitor to measure air quality in the Zvezda service module.

NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague spent Tuesday primarily on lab upkeep. Hague worked inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter transferring cargo in and out of the spacecraft that has been berthed to the station since Aug. 6, 2024. Afterward, he installed new software on an EXPRESS rack laptop computer that supports research operations. NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore continued stowing tools inside the Quest airlock used during last week’s spacewalk then wrapped up his shift with orbital plumbing duties inside the Tranquility module.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov installed the EarthKAM Earth observation hardware inside the Harmony module, pointed the camera out a window toward Earth, and focused its lens. The camera can be remotely controlled by students on Earth to target and photograph Earth landmarks.

Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner partnered together throughout Tuesday on maintenance activities inside the Zvezda service module. Ovchinin also deployed gas analyzers monitoring carbon dioxide near crew work areas and crew quarters in the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment.

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 Garcia