Archivo de la etiqueta: iss

Crew Works Vein Scans and Muscle Stimulation Prior to Upcoming Departure

Vein scans and muscle stimulation were the primary research activities aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday to learn how to keep crews healthy in space. The Expedition 72 crewmates also continued preparing for an upcoming crew departure while unpacking a cargo craft.

NASA Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Don Pettit partnered throughout the day on space biology experiments providing doctors insights on how their bodies are adapting to weightlessness. Doctors use the data to continuously improve crew training and develop countermeasures to help astronauts maintain their strength and fitness during long-duration space missions.

The duo first performed vein scans in the Columbus laboratory module using the Ultrasound 2 device. Hague operated the biomedical hardware with remote guidance from doctors on the ground who were peering at Pettit’s neck, shoulder, and leg veins. Next, Pettit assisted Hague as a control unit sent signals to electrodes that stimulated Hague’s leg muscles including the quadriceps and triceps. Electrical muscle stimulation may improve muscle function, shorten workout sessions, and lead to lighter exercise equipment offsetting space-caused muscle atrophy.

Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore, both NASA astronauts, focused on housekeeping duties cleaning ventilation systems and checking electrical hardware inside the Harmony module’s crew quarters. Williams also set up temporary crew quarters in the Columbus module to house the SpaceX Crew-10 members targeted to arrive next week. Wilmore loaded new software on a science laptop computer in the Kibo laboratory module.

At the end of the day, Hague, Williams, and Wilmore joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov inside the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft and continued training and coordinated their roles before their forthcoming return to Earth. After the Crew-10 mission arrives, the homebound quartet will board Dragon a few days later, undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing port, and splash down off the coast of Florida ending the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

Earlier, Gorbunov set up imaging hardware to observe Earth’s nighttime atmospheric glow in near-ultraviolet wavelengths and began packing for his ride back to Earth. His fellow cosmonauts, Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner were back inside the Progress 91 cargo craft unloading supplies to replenish the Expedition 72 crew.

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

Departing Crew Talks to Journalists, Keeps Up Human Research and Lab Maintenance

Crew departure preparations and cargo unloading topped the schedule for the Expedition 72 crew aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The orbital residents also kept up their human research activities ensuring crews stay healthy while living in space.

Three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut joined each other on Tuesday and practiced the procedures they will use when they depart the orbital outpost in mid-March. Nick Hague will command the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft with Mission Specialists Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Aleksandr Gorbunov during the ride back to Earth. They used Dragon computer tablets and reviewed the steps they will use when Dragon backs away from the orbital outpost and reenters Earth’s atmosphere for a splashdown off the coast of Florida. Hague and Gorbunov have been at the station since Sept. 29, 2024. Williams and Wilmore arrived at the orbital outpost on June 6.

Williams and Wilmore, along with Hague, called down to Mission Control today and discussed their upcoming departure with journalists on the ground. Hague stated at the beginning of the pre-departure news conference, “Here in a few short days Crew-10 is going to arrive. And we are going to hand the baton to Crew-10 and we are going to return to Earth at the end of a successful long-duration mission aboard the space station.”

Their replacements, the SpaceX Crew-10 members, are targeted to launch on March 12. The next Dragon spacecraft will carry Commander Anne McClain and Pilot Nichole Ayers, both NASA astronauts, and Mission Specialists Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos. The new quartet will join Expedition 72 before becoming the Expedition 73 crew in mid-April.

Advanced space research continued apace as the orbital residents helped scientists on the ground understand how weightlessness affects the human body. Hague was back on exercise research working out on the advanced resistive exercise device, which mimics free weights on Earth, and pedaling on an exercise cycle as a sensor-packed vest and headband recorded his health data. Pettit set up a microscope and a science laptop computer in the Kibo laboratory module to learn how cells sense gravity and possibly treat space-caused muscle atrophy and osteoporosis.

Williams and Wilmore focused on housekeeping throughout Tuesday. Williams packed trash and discarded gear inside the Cygnus space freighter before setting up a camera to photograph the Moon illuminated by sunshine reflected from Earth. Wilmore swapped out a water resupply tank in the Destiny laboratory module then reorganized cargo stowed in the Columbus laboratory module.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner continued unloading some of the nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies that arrived inside the Progress 91 cargo craft on March 1. The duo also joined Gorbunov and participated in a test for a study 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 A. Garcia

Metal 3D Printing and Heart Health Kicks Off March on Station

Metal 3D printing and cardiovascular health kicked off the research schedule at the beginning of the week for the Expedition 72 crew. Crew arrival preparations are also underway at the International Space Station as a new cargo craft is being unloaded.

Manufacturing parts and tools in space will be a more effective approach to spacecraft maintenance in the future rather than relying on fuel-dependent cargo missions launched from Earth to resupply crews. Self-reliance will be key as crewed missions travel beyond low Earth orbit and to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA’s station Commander Suni Williams explored space-manufacturing on Monday and opened up the Metal 3D Printer, located in the Columbus laboratory module. She removed a printed sample from the experimental device then replaced it with a substrate, a material used to print objects. She packed up the sample for analysis back on Earth then reconnected the space-manufacturing printer inside Columbus’ European Drawer Rack-2.

NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit began his day in the Kibo laboratory module loading research gear in Kibo’s airlock for placement in the external microgravity environment. Afterward, he serviced high-definition video hardware inside Columbus before working on the orbital plumbing system in the Tranquility module. At the end of his shift, he assisted Williams while she retrieved a sample from inside the Metal 3D Printer.

NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device while wearing a sensor-packed vest and headband. The Bio-Monitor wearables recorded Hague’s health data during his exercise session that doctor’s will analyze to understand space-caused aging-like symptoms detected in astronaut’s arteries. Results may lead to deeper insights into microgravity’s effect on a crew member’s metabolism, arteries, and bones potentially improving health for humans on Earth and in space.

Hague earlier reviewed procedures for monitoring an approaching SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft as the SpaceX Crew-10 mission nears its launch to the orbital outpost currently targeted for March 12. Crew-10 Commander Anne McClain and Pilot Nichole Ayers, both NASA astronauts, are quarantining at Kennedy Space Center with Mission Specialists Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Kirill Peskov from Roscosmos before beginning their mission.

NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore worked throughout the day on electronics maintenance. He began his shift checking power connections and inspecting safety devices that prevent electric shock. Next, he charged computer tablets before analyzing station water samples for potential hazardous chemicals and organic compounds.

Five spacecraft are now parked at the orbiting lab following the docking of the Progress 91 resupply ship to the Zvezda service module on March 1. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner opened the Progress 91 hatch over the weekend and spent Monday unloading some of the near three tons of food, fuel, supplies.  

Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov tested the lower body negative pressure suit that may prevent fluids from accumulating in a crew member’s upper body caused by living in weightlessness. The specialized suit is being tested for its ability to draw fluids back to the lower body counteracting space-caused head and eye pressure.

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

Progress Cargo Craft Docks to Station Resupplying Crew

The unpiloted Progress 91 spacecraft arrived at the aft port of the orbiting laboratory’s Zvezda Service module at 6:02 p.m. EST, March 1. The spacecraft launched at 4:24 p.m. EST (2:24 a.m. Baikonur time) Feb. 27, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

The Roscosmos spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 72 crew aboard the International Space Station and will remain docked for approximately six months before departing for a re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew. 

.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

Crew Studies Space Exercise While Waiting for Saturday Delivery

Exercise research and muscle stimulation were the main research topics aboard the International Space Station on Friday to keep crews fit in weightlessness and in the confinement of a spacecraft. The Expedition 72 crew also prepared for Saturday’s arrival of a cargo mission while working on spacesuit maintenance and housekeeping duties.

Working out every day in space is necessary to counteract the effects of weightlessness including muscle and bone loss. The crew spends two hours seven days a week jogging on a treadmill, pedaling on an exercise cycle, and working out on the advanced resistive exercise device that mimics free weights on Earth.

NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague spent his day on a pair of experiments investigating how the lack of gravity impacts an exercising astronaut. For his first experiment he wore a sensor-packed vest and headband that recorded his health data as he pedaled on an exercise cycle. Afterward, he downlinked the medical data so doctors on the ground could analyze his heart and breath rate, blood pressure, and more. Hague’s next experiment required him to wear electrodes that stimulated his leg muscles with small electrical signals. Results may improve muscle function, shorten workout sessions, and lead to lighter exercise equipment offsetting space-caused muscle atrophy.

Spacesuit work and lab cleanup filled the last day of the work week for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, and Suni Williams. Wilmore was in the Quest airlock powering up a high-definition camera and swapping life support components on a spacesuit. Pettit switched out an optical cartridge inside the Mochii miniature scanning electron microscope then monitored its ground-controlled operations. Williams began her day collecting body samples for stowage and later analysis. Next, she inspected materials research hardware from the European Space Agency.

Roscosmos’ new Progress 91 cargo craft is orbiting Earth today carrying three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 72 crew following its launch on Thursday. The Progress 91 is scheduled to dock to the Zvezda service module’s aft port at 6:03 p.m. EST on Saturday where it will stay for a six-month cargo mission. NASA+ will begin its live rendezvous and docking coverage at 5:15 p.m.

Cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner will be on duty monitoring Progress 91 and at the controls of the TORU, or telerobotically operated rendezvous unit, ready to remotely control the approaching spacecraft, if necessary, though unlikely. The duo called down to mission controllers on Friday and discussed preparations for Saturday’s automated arrival of the Progress 91. Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov spent his day in the Nauka science module primarily working on the orbital plumbing 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.

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Mark A. Garcia