Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Biology, Botany Research Advancing Health as Two Resupply Missions Near Launch

Scientific operations filled the day for the Expedition 73 crew with a wide variety of research advancing human health on and off the Earth. Meanwhile, two rockets on opposite sides of the world stand at their launch pads and are counting down to their lift off to resupply the International Space Station.

Doctors on the ground continuously study what happens to a crew member’s body after months of living and working in microgravity. The voluminous data is measured and collected almost constantly revealing the physical and mental changes an astronaut goes through during the course of a long-term spaceflight. The insights help doctors develop numerous countermeasures to protect crews as NASA and its international partners plan longer missions farther away from Earth to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Cardiovascular health in space is a key research topic for scientists studying how the lack of gravity affects an astronaut’s blood flow. NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman on Wednesday wore chest electrodes and scanned her leg arteries with an ultrasound device as medical experts from Canada, France, and the U.S. remotely guided the operations. The doctors were looking for signs of space-caused arterial stiffness and changes in cardiac function for the CIPHER human research investigation using the Vascular Echo hardware.

Cardman later partnered with NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim and studied how bone stem cells, recently delivered aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, adapt to microgravity. The duo took turns processing the cell samples in the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox before stowing them inside a science freezer for future analysis. Doctors will use the data gleaned from the experiment to learn how to protect an astronaut’s skeletal system in space and treat aging conditions and bone diseases on Earth.

NASA Flight Engineer Mike Fincke explored ways to produce vitamins and nutrients on spacecraft helping supply adequate nutrition for crews on space missions without reliance on cargo missions launched from Earth. He treated yeast, yogurt, and fermented milk samples then installed them in a research incubator for the BioNutrients-3 investigation seeking to create a biomanufacturing facility to help sustain future space crews.

Another way to sustain and nourish crews too far away from Earth to be resupplied is to grow crops in spaceships or space habitats. Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) explored space botany studying how plant cells divide in microgravity. He first processed algae cell samples retrieved from a research incubator then stowed them inside a science freezer for future treatment. The cell samples will be imaged inside JAXA’s COSMIC fluorescent microscope to visualize microgravity’s effect on plant cell division and microstructures. Understanding how weightlessness affects plant growth may lead to food crop production techniques on missions to the Moon and Mars.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, joined each other in the Nauka science module configuring physics research gear to study advanced space propulsion systems and plasma-based technologies. Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov started his shift in the Zarya module replacing electronic power components before an afternoon Earth photography session imaging glaciers in South America and mountains in Africa.

Roscosmos’ Progress 93 spacecraft, packed with 2.8 tons of food, fuel, and supplies, sits atop a Soyuz rocket at its launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan counting down to a liftoff at 11:54 a.m. EDT on Thursday. It will orbit Earth for two days before docking to the Zvezda service module at 1:27 p.m. on Saturday where it will stay for six months.

Just one day after the Progress 93’s arrival, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL resupply ship will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:11 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14,  from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Cygnus will deliver over 11,000 pounds of new science experiments and station hardware to the orbital outpost. Kim, assisted by Cardman, will be at the cupola’s robotics workstation commanding the Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture the spacecraft at 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Ground controllers will then take over and remotely command Canadarm2 to install Cygnus to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port about an hour-and-a-half later for a six-month stay.

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Mark A. Garcia

Cargo Craft Departs Before Two Resupply Spacecraft Launch

The Zvezda service module’s rear port opened up today after the undocking and departure of the trash-filled Progress 91 cargo craft completing a six-and-a-half-month stay at the International Space Station. The vacant port now awaits the arrival of the Progress 93 cargo craft set to launch from Kazakhstan at 11:54 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The new Progress, from Roscosmos and packed with 2.8 tons of cargo, is set to dock to Zvezda at 1:27 p.m. on Saturday following its automated approach and rendezvous maneuvers resupplying the Expedition 73 crew. NASA+ will begin its live launch broadcast at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday followed by docking coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Just over a day later, Northrop Grumman’s expanded Cygnus XL cargo craft will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida at 6:11 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14. Cygnus XL will orbit Earth for two-and-a-half-days before catching up to the orbital outpost. NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman will be at the controls of the Canadarm2 robotic arm ready to capture the Cygnus when it reaches a point about 10 meters away from the space station. Engineers on the ground will then take over and remotely command Canadarm2 to maneuver Cygnus in its grips toward the Unity module’s Earth-facing port where the cargo craft will be installed.

Kim and Cardman spent Tuesday training for the arrival Cygnus XL, first reviewing its mission profile and the tools and procedures they will use during the spacecraft’s approach and rendezvous. Second, they practiced on a computer the robotic maneuvers and commanding techniques necessary to grapple Cygnus when it reaches its capture point near the orbital outpost. Kim and Cardman will be on duty when Cygnus arrives for its capture at 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17, loaded with over 11,000 pounds of new science and supplies.

Station flight engineers Mike Fincke of NASA and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) focused on lab hardware on Tuesday checking electronics equipment and readying scientific gear for deployment. Fincke spent his shift inside the Columbus laboratory module testing power outlets, activating a laptop computer, and connecting cable. Yui worked in the Kibo laboratory module installing CubeSats inside a small satellite deployer that will soon be placed outside the space station. The shoebox-sized satellites will be deployed into Earth orbit for educational, public, and private research.

Researchers from around the world continue studying how crew members adapt their sense of balance and orientation in microgravity to train new crews for future space missions. Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky took turns wearing electrodes and virtual reality glasses while responding to computer-controlled visual stimuli. The data collected will help researchers track and measure space-caused changes to a crew member’s vestibular system, or sensory system.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov began his shift on orbital plumbing maintenance before servicing electronics hardware in the Zarya module. He wrapped up his day inside the Zvezda service module refilling the Elektron oxygen generator.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

Roscosmos Progress 91 Undocked from Space Station 

The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 91 spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 11:45 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, backing away from the station for a deorbit maneuver and destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.  

 The spacecraft launched on Feb. 27 on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station. After a two-day in-orbit journey, the spacecraft arrived at the orbiting laboratory on March 1 and automatically docked to the aft port of the station’s Zvezda module. 

Learn more about station activities by following @NASASpaceOps and @space_station on X, as well as the International Space Station’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.   

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Joshua A. Finch

Station Gets Ready for Two Cargo Missions Launching Days Apart

The Progress 93 cargo craft from Roscosmos rolled out to its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan where will launch at 11:54 a.m. EDT on Thursday to the International Space Station. Progress 93, carrying 2.8 tons of food, fuel, and supplies to resupply the Expedition 73 crew, will arrive at the orbital outpost and automatically dock to the Zvezda service module’s aft port at 1:27 p.m. on Saturday. NASA+ will begin its live launch broadcast at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday followed by docking coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, station Commander and Flight Engineer respectively, trained on Monday for this weekend’s approach and rendezvous of the Progress 93 resupply ship. The duo practiced on a computer the maneuvers they would use to remotely control the approaching cargo craft in the unlikely event it would be unable to complete its automated docking sequence with Zvezda.

Before Progress 93 launches, the Progress 91 cargo craft will undock from the orbital outpost at 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday vacating the same Zvezda port the new resupply ship will dock to four days later. The Progress 91, filled with trash and obsolete gear, will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean several hours later for a fiery, but safe demise completing a six-and-a-half-month mission.

Next on the launch schedule is NASA’s Northrop Grumman’s commercial resupply services 23 mission featuring the Cygnus XL cargo craft, counting down to a liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:11 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Cygnus XL will deliver over 11,000 pounds of new gear, including advanced science experiments to promote health on Earth and in space, when it is captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Canadarm2 will remotely install Cygnus to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for six months of cargo activities.

Meanwhile back on the space station, Expedition 73 began its week focusing on how the human body and plants change in microgravity to not only protect crews in space but keep humans healthy on Earth.

NASA Flight Engineers Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman joined each other in the Columbus laboratory module at the beginning of their shift on Monday to understand how living in weightlessness affects a crew member’s sense of balance and orientation. Fincke operated software, with assistance from doctors on the ground, that sent visual signals Cardman responded to while wearing virtual reality goggles. Researchers will use the data to track structural changes a crew member’s vestibular system, or sensory system, may experience while living in space.

Afterward, Fincke led eye exams with NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim looking for potential space-caused changes to eye structure and vision. Fincke operated the medical hardware and software that sent flashes, or light patterns, to electrodes Kim wore around his eyes testing his retinal response. Next, Kim peered into eye imaging hardware as doctors on the ground monitored in real time for more insight into how spaceflight affects the retina, cornea, and optic nerve. Both the eye tests and the balance study were part of the CIPHER suite of 14 human research investigations tracking space-influenced changes to the human body possibly advancing health in space and on Earth.

Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) explored space botany in the Kibo laboratory module on Monday to learn how to grow plants in space and eventually the Moon and Mars. For the first part of the Plant Cell Division experiment, Yui processed tobacco plant cell samples with a chemical agent for preservation then installed the samples inside the Cell Biology Experiment Facility for incubation and later analysis with a microscope. He will conduct the second part of the experiment on Wednesday processing algae samples to understand cell division in space promoting advanced agricultural techniques on and off the Earth.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov participated in a pair of human research studies on Monday continuing the ongoing effort to understand and counteract the effects of microgravity on a crew member’s body. Platonov first attached sensors to his neck measuring the volume as he rapidly exhaled for a respiratory study. After that, he attached a new set of sensors and electrodes measuring his cardiac activity as he jogged on Zvezda’s treadmill for a regularly scheduled fitness evaluation.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

Space Biomedical Research Wraps Week as Station Gears Up for Two Cargo Missions

Space-based production of human tissues and preventing space-caused head and eye pressure were the main research topics at the end of the week for the Expedition 73 crew. The International Space Station is also gearing up for a pair cargo missions this month supplying the orbital residents with food, fuel, science experiments, and more.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft delivered bioprinted liver tissues to the orbital outpost on Aug. 25 to help researchers understand how microgravity affects the formation of blood vessels in engineered tissue. Flight Engineers Zena Cardman of NASA and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency took turns on Friday processing the bioprinted tissue samples for placement inside an artificial gravity-generating research device. Researchers are monitoring how the tissues progress and develop over several weeks in weightlessness to gain new health insights. Result may lead to advanced treatments protecting astronauts on long-duration spaceflights and improve bioprinting techniques for patient therapies on Earth.

A common symptom of living in space is called “puffy face” where an astronaut’s face appears swollen and redder. This results from blood pooling toward an astronaut’s head potentially leading to eye structure and vision changes. NASA Flight Engineers Mike Fincke and Jonny Kim joined each other in the Columbus laboratory module and tested a specialized thigh cuff that may counteract the fluid shifts in weightlessness and reduce pressure on a crew member’s head and eyes. Fincke wore the thigh cuff as Kim measured his blood pressure and scanned his veins with the Ultrasound 2 device while chest electrodes collected cardiac data. A variety of other space station medical tools and techniques are used throughout the investigation to understand how an astronaut’s eyes, heart, and blood vessels respond to the thigh cuff.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov wrapped up a 24-hour session wearing sensors measuring his blood pressure and heart rate. Doctors were monitoring his cardiac activity as he worked, exercised, then slept for their ongoing biomedical research in microgravity.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky set up the TORU, or tele-robotically operated rendezvous unit, simulator they will train on soon inside the Zvezda service module. The duo will practice remote-controlled spacecraft rendezvous techniques on the TORU simulator in the unlikely event an approaching Roscosmos spacecraft is unable to dock to the orbital outpost on its own. The training comes ahead of the launch of the Progress 93 cargo craft scheduled for 11:54 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 11 to deliver about three tons of cargo to the Expedition 73 crew two days later.

One day after the Progress 93 docks to Zvezda’s aft port, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo craft will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:11 p.m. on Sept. 14 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Cygnus XL, carrying over 11,000 pounds of new science and supplies, will orbit Earth for two-and-a-half days before it catches up to the space station where the Canadarm2 robotic arm will capture it then install it on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia