NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines spent Monday unloading some of the more than 5,800 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies delivered on Saturday inside the Dragon cargo craft. The duo transferred time-critical research samples into the orbital lab to begin exploring a variety of space phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth. Some of the new experiment include a human immune system study, a protein production investigation, and a cancer treatment experiment.
NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren assisted Watkins and Hines today moving science freezers inside Dragon to access cargo pallets. Lindgren also tended to radishes and mizuna greens growing using hydroponic and aeroponic methods for the XROOTS space botany study. ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tested computer connections inside the European Physiology Module that supports neuroscientific, cardiovascular, and physiological studies inside the Columbus laboratory module.
The station’s three cosmonauts focused mainly on life support maintenance duties. Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev serviced Russian ventilation systems replacing vents and filters. Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov worked on orbital plumbing duties inside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.
The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship approaches the space station during an orbital sunrise above the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA TV
While the International Space Station was traveling more than 267 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 11:21 a.m. EDT today, with NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins monitoring operations from the station.
The Dragon launched on SpaceX’s 25th contracted commercial resupply mission for NASA at 8:44 p.m., Thursday, July 14, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After Dragon spends about one month attached to the space station, the spacecraft will return to Earth with cargo and research.
Among the science experiments Dragon is delivering to the space station are:
Mapping Earth’s Dust
The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, employs NASA imaging spectroscopy technology to measure the mineral composition of dust in Earth’s arid regions. Mineral dust blown into the air can travel significant distances and affect Earth’s climate, weather, vegetation, and more. For example, dust containing dark minerals that absorb sunlight can warm an area, while light-colored mineral dust can cool it. Blowing dust also affects air quality, surface conditions such as rate of snow melt, and phytoplankton health in the ocean. The investigation collects images for one year to generate maps of the mineral composition in the regions on Earth that produce dust. Such mapping could advance our understanding of the effects of mineral dust on human populations now and in the future.
Speedier Immune System Aging
Aging is associated with changes in the immune response known as immunosenescence. Microgravity causes changes in human immune cells that resemble this condition, but happen faster than the actual process of aging on Earth. The Immunosenescence investigation, sponsored the by International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, uses tissue chips to study how microgravity affects immune function during flight and whether immune cells recover post-flight. Tissue chips are small devices that contain human cells in a 3D structure, allowing scientists to test how those cells respond to stresses, drugs, and genetic changes.
Soil in Space
On Earth, complex communities of microorganisms carry out key functions in soil, including cycling of carbon and other nutrients and supporting plant growth. Dynamics of Microbiomes in Space sponsored by NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences, examines how microgravity affects metabolic interactions in communities of soil microbes. This research focuses on microbe communities that decompose chitin, a natural carbon polymer on Earth.
High School Student Weather Study
BeaverCube is an education mission that will teach high school students aerospace science by having them design a CubeSat. BeaverCube will host one visible and two infrared imagers to measure cloud properties, ocean surface temperatures, and ocean color to study Earth’s climate and weather systems. It also will demonstrate an application for the use of shape memory alloy technology via an in-orbit calibration technique.
Genes, No Cells
Cell-free technology is a platform for producing protein without specialized equipment of living cells that need to be cultured. Genes in Space-9, sponsored by the National Lab, demonstrates cell-free production of protein in microgravity and evaluates two cell-free biosensors that can detect specific target molecules. This technology could provide a simple, portable, and low-cost tool for medical diagnostics, on-demand production of medicine and vaccines, and environmental monitoring on future space missions.
Better Concrete Biopolymer Research for In-Situ Capabilities looks at how microgravity affects the process of creating a concrete alternative made with an organic material and on-site materials, such as lunar or Martian dust, known as a biopolymer soil composite. Using resources available where construction takes place makes it possible to increase the amount of shielding.
These are just a few of the hundreds of investigations currently being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Advances in these areas will help keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars through NASA’s Artemis program.
Dragon Approaches Station for Docking Live on NASA TV
The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship lifts off atop the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida just after sunset. Credit: SpaceX
The SpaceX Dragon is on track to arrive at the International Space Station today, Saturday, July 16, with an expected docking of the cargo spacecraft about 11:20 a.m. EDT. NASA Television coverage will begin at 10 a.m. Watch live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
When it arrives to the space station, Dragon will dock autonomously to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module, with NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins monitoring operations from the station.
Dragon successfully launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 8:44 p.m. EDT, Thursday, July 14, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying more than 5,800 pounds of research, hardware, and supplies to the International Space Station.
Crew Awaits Dragon Filled with New Science Benefitting Humans
The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship lifts off atop the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida just after sunset. Credit: NASA TV
More than 5,800 pounds of new science experiments and crew supplies are on their way to the International Space Station after the successful launch of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft on Thursday. Dragon blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:44 p.m. and reached orbit less than nine minutes later beginning its day-and-a-half-long trip to the orbital lab.
The U.S. space freighter is scheduled to dock automatically to the Harmony module’s forward port at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday. NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins will be on duty monitoring Dragon’s automated rendezvous and docking. NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, will begin live coverage at 10 a.m. as Dragon approaches the station for a monthlong stay.
Astronauts Relax Before Busy Weekend of Cargo Dragon Preps
Expedition 67 astronauts (clockwise from left) Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, Kjell Lindgren, and Samantha Cristofroetti pose for a portrait during dinner time aboard the space station.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon cargo craft atop stands at the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. More than 5,800 pounds of new science experiments and crew supplies are packed inside Dragon awaiting a liftoff tonight at 8:44 p.m. EDT.
The U.S. commercial resupply ship will orbit Earth for a day-and-a-half before catching up to the International Space Station on Saturday. Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins of NASA will be on duty monitoring Dragon during its automated approach and rendezvous until it automatically docks to the Harmony module’s forward port at 11:20 a.m.
Hines, Watkins, and NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren are off-duty today relaxing before kicking off a weekend of preparations for the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon. The trio will spend Friday configuring station research hardware to accommodate the new science experiments as well as reviewing Dragon’s rendezvous and cargo operations. Hines and Watkins will open Dragon’s hatch about an hour-and-half after docking on Saturday. The duo will then be joined by Lindgren and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti to begin unpacking and activating critical research.
Cristoforetti was busy on Friday working on other ongoing space station experiments. She first reviewed procedures for an experiment that uses metal surfaces with different textures and properties as a way to prevent microbial growth in microgravity. Afterward, she connected the Kubik temperature-controlled incubator to the Columbus laboratory module’s power supply. Cristoforetti also turned on the Astrobee robotic free-flyers that began remotely maneuvering inside the Kibo laboratory module using algorithms programmed by students on Earth.
Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev participated in a fitness evaluation on Thursday morning. The cosmonauts took turns pedaling on an exercise cycle with sensors attached to themselves that monitored and recorded their cardiac activity. Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov worked on Russian ventilation systems before videotaping and photographing crew activities on the station.
