Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Science Hardware Work Completes Week; NASA Managers Discuss Crew Flight Test

Advanced research hardware work took precedence aboard the International Space Station at the end of the week as the crew readied satellite gear and experimental communications components for placement in the vacuum of space.

NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick spent Friday installing the Small Satellite Orbital Deployer onto the Kibo laboratory module’s multipurpose experiment platform (MPEP). He then loaded the MPEP into Kibo’s airlock where JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) robotic arm will grapple the device and position it away from the space station to release a series of CubeSats into Earth orbit for a variety of educational and research activities. NASA astronaut Suni Williams, Pilot for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, assisted Dominick throughout the day and familiarized herself with CubeSat operations.

NASA astronauts Mike Barratt, Expedition 71 Flight Engineer, and Butch Wilmore, Crew Flight Test Commander, configured the Tranquility module’s NanoRacks Bishop airlock that will soon open up to the external microgravity environment. Earlier, NASA Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps helped Barratt install the ArgUS multi-payload carrier inside Bishop. The Canadarm2 robotic arm will grapple Bishop with the ArgUS payload inside for installation on the Columbus laboratory module’s Bartolomeo external research platform for a satellite communications study.

Find out more and see what Wilmore and Williams have been up to during their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.

NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson spent her entire shift on Friday conducting lab maintenance. She started the morning reorganizing cargo stowed in Kibo. After lunch, she inspected rack hardware throughout the Destiny, Unity, Harmony, and Tranquility modules, including the Quest airlock. At the end of the day, she swapped out a tank and a hose and on the orbital lab’s restroom, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment, located in Tranquility.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub partnered Friday morning on inspections and hardware replacements in the aft end of the Zvezda service module. Kononenko also cleaned ventilation systems while Chub researched futuristic planetary and robotic piloting techniques. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin downloaded data collected from a radiation detector then worked inside the Nauka science module checking its ventilation hardware.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and leadership will hold an internal Agency Test Flight Readiness Review on Saturday, Aug. 24, for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Afterward, NASA will host a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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 weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

NASA, Boeing Chart Course for Starliner Return Review

Engineering and spaceflight specialists from NASA and Boeing continue data analysis ahead of a decision this week on the path forward for the Starliner spacecraft’s return from the International Space Station.

NASA’s decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts aboard is expected no earlier than Saturday, Aug. 24 at the conclusion of an agency-level review chaired by Ken Bowersox, the associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. The agency flight readiness review is where any formal dissents are presented and reconciled. Other agency leaders who routinely participate in launch and return readiness reviews for crewed missions include NASA’s administrator, deputy administrator, associate administrator, various agency center directors, the Flight Operations Directorate, and agency technical authorities.

NASA will host a televised news conference following the review’s conclusion to discuss the agency’s decision and next steps. More information on the news conference will be shared once confirmed. After the agency-level decision, program and flight control teams will continue preparing for Starliner’s return, including training sessions and other actions as appropriate.

Ahead of the agency-level review, NASA and Boeing are working to finalize and present flight rationale to various teams across the community and to the program control board. Engineering teams have been working to evaluate a new model that represents the thruster mechanics and is designed to more accurately predict performance during the return phase of flight. This data could help teams better understand system redundancy from undock to service module separation. Ongoing efforts to complete the new modelling, characterize spacecraft performance data, refine integrated risk assessments, and determine community recommendations will fold into the agency-level review.

Alongside the crew members of Expedition 71, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, continue supporting a host of research, maintenance, and other activities aboard the microgravity laboratory since arriving on Starliner on June 6.

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Elyna Niles-Carnes

Light Duty Day Still Sees Space Science and Orbital Reboost

Six of the nine crew members living and working aboard the International Space Station had a light duty day on Thursday fitting in some time for science equipment maintenance. Meanwhile, three cosmonauts stayed busy with their full schedule of Roscosmos space research and lab upkeep.

Thursday’s main research activity consisted of cleaning the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) planned for Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson and Crew Flight Test Pilot Suni Williams, both from NASA. The duo worked together swapping samples and cleaning the inside of the advanced space research furnace. The ELF heats material samples using a containerless technique to observe their thermophysical properties and reduce imperfections and contamination common in Earth’s gravity. The orbital outpost’s weightless environment may improve the manufacturing of semiconductors, alloys, and more benefitting both Earth and space industries.

Williams’ crewmate Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore of NASA assembled the Sphere Camera-2 during the afternoon. The ultra-high resolution video camera is being tested for its ability to film crew activities possibly leading to advances in lunar and planetary photography and external spacecraft inspections.

NASA Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps joined each other for a few moments of examining stem cells samples inside the KERMIT state-of-the-art microscope for a cancer treatment investigation. NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick connected components on the advanced resistive exercise device, or ARED, for an investigation exploring ways to maximize the effects of exercise in microgravity.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter fired its engine for over 19 minutes early Thursday afternoon boosting the orbital outpost’s altitude to 260 miles by 257.9 miles. The orbital reboosts counter atmospheric drag and prepare the space station for upcoming spacecraft activities.

Roscosmos station Commander Oleg Kononenko set up Earth observation hardware to study clouds in the Earth’s upper atmosphere then configured camera and video hardware during his shift on Thursday. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub continued investigating how microalgae can be used to produce oxygen and consume carbon dioxide improving space life support systems. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin strapped on a sensor-packed cap that recorded his reactions as he practiced futuristic planetary and robotic piloting techniques on a computer.

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 weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Wednesday’s Research Promoting Self-Sufficient Crews Farther Away from Earth

Manufacturing tools and medicine in space is a key objective for NASA and its international partners as crews train for longer missions farther away from Earth. Humans living in space habitats will need to be self-sufficient to stay heathy and run successful missions since launching supplies from Earth will be less feasible and uneconomical.

NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps of Expedition 71 and Suni Williams, Pilot for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, joined each other in the Columbus laboratory module and configured the Metal 3D printer on Wednesday. The duo first uninstalled the device from Columbus’ European Drawer Rack-2 (EDR-2), a multipurpose experiment rack, to access an experimental sample printed with stainless steel. They replaced a substrate in the advanced manufacturing hardware then reinstalled the 3D printer back in the EDR-2. Researchers are exploring how the Metal 3D printer operates in the microgravity conditions of weightlessness and radiation as well as its ability to manufacture tools and parts on demand during space missions.

NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt explored how stem cells grow in microgravity to improve cell therapies on Earth and cell manufacturing in space. Working in the Kibo laboratory module, Barratt serviced stem cell samples inside the Life Science Glovebox. The cells are undergoing a cellular reprogramming process and the samples will be returned to Earth for further analysis. Scientists are pursuing the production of stem cells in space that can be regenerated into human cells or tissues for personalized medicine.

Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick partnered with Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore, both NASA astronauts, checking CubeSat configurations before they are deployed into Earth orbit. The duo ensured the shoebox-sized satellites were secured in their launch cases and clear of debris inside the Small Satellite Orbital Deployer they are packed in. Afterward, they installed the deployer onto a multipurpose experiment platform and loaded it inside Kibo’s airlock where it will soon be placed in the vacuum of space to release the CubeSats for a variety of research.

NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson focused on housekeeping tasks as she cleaned the crew quarters in the starboard side of the Harmony module. She vacuumed dust collected on ventilation systems and wiped down surfaces inside the module where Boeing’s Starliner and the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft are docked.

Working in the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab, Commander Oleg Kononenko set up Earth observation gear, inspected the aft vestibule of the Zvezda service module, then explored futuristic planetary and robotic piloting techniques. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub assisted Kononenko with the Zvezda checks then he explored how microalgae can be used to produce oxygen and consume carbon dioxide improving space life support systems. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin spent his day on life support maintenance transferring from resupply tanks and performing coolant leak checks on the aur conditioning system.

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 weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Crew Studies Space Botany, Lunar Cement to Inform Future Missions

Space botany and lunar construction techniques once again dominated the science schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The orbital crewmates are helping researchers plan future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps continued studying how microgravity and radiation affect thale cress plants at the molecular and cellular levels in the Kibo laboratory module. She collected and treated plant samples that were incubated inside the Plant Experiment Facility for preservation. At the end of the day’s two experiment runs, she preserved and stowed the samples in a science freezer where they will stay before being returned to Earth for further analysis. Results may inform space agricultural techniques to sustain crews venturing further into space and beyond low-Earth orbit.

NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick explored ways to make cement on the lunar surface to help engineers learn how to build crew habitats in different gravity environments. He removed small simulated lunar cement sample bags that had cured overnight in a thermos and stowed them in a concrete kit for several weeks of hardening at ambient temperature. Afterward, he mixed more bags containing simulated lunar soil and other materials with a liquid solution, placed a bag with hot water in between them, then inserted the samples inside a thermos can for overnight incubation. The samples will be returned to Earth and examined to determine the space-created concrete’s microstructure and mechanical strength.

After the cement work, Dominick assisted NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson in the Tranquility module relocating cargo to access the NanoRacks Bishop airlock. Next, Dominick mounted a pressure management device and connected power and data cables inside Tranquility ahead of Bishop’s depressurization. Bishop can be used for cargo stowage or external science operations. Dyson later removed sample cassettes from an advanced sample processor that supported a pair of pharmaceutical manufacturing studies.

NASA astronauts Mike Barratt from Expedition 71 and Butch Wilmore from Boeing’s Crew Flight Test had a light duty day spending a few moments on life support duties. NASA astronaut Suni Williams relaxed all day on Tuesday before joining her crewmate Wilmore at the end of their shift for a crew conference with Boeing flight controllers.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub started their morning on maintenance tasks in the Zvezda service module. The duo then moved on transferring water delivered aboard the Progress 89 cargo craft and performing leak checks on the resupply ship. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin also had most of the day off taking time out for medical checks and updating operational documents shipped on Progress.

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 weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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

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Mark Garcia