Archivo de la etiqueta: iss

Progress Cargo Mission Lifts Off to Station for Saturday Arrival

The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 91 spacecraft is safely in orbit headed for the International Space Station following a launch at 4:24 p.m. EST (2:24 a.m. Baikonur time) Feb. 27, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

After a two-day in-orbit journey to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock to the aft port of the orbiting laboratory’s Zvezda Service module at 6:03 p.m., Saturday, March 1. 

NASA’s rendezvous and docking coverage will begin at 5:15 p.m. on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.  The spacecraft will deliver about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the space station. 

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 Counts Down to Launch Today on NASA+

The unpiloted Progress 91 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 4:24 p.m. EST (2:24 a.m. Baikonur time) on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Roscosmos spacecraft will liftoff carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 72 crew aboard the International Space Station.

NASA’s live coverage is underway on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. 

After a two-day in-orbit journey to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock to the aft port of the orbiting laboratory’s Zvezda Service module at 6:03 p.m., Saturday, March 1. NASA’s rendezvous and docking coverage will begin at 5:15 p.m. on NASA+. 

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 Works Eye Checks, Stomach Scans Before Cargo Mission Launches Today

Eye checks and stomach scans dominated the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Thursday ensuring astronauts stay healthy in weightlessness. The Expedition 72 crew is also gearing up for the arrival of a new cargo mission this weekend.

Doctors have diagnosed eye conditions in astronauts who have reported vision issues after living and working in microgravity for months at a time. A variety of eye exams scheduled throughout a mission help researchers track and understand the space-caused optical symptoms and develop treatments to keep crews healthy.

NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore kicked off the first set of eye exams on Wednesday scanning the eyes of NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Nick Hague using the Ultrasound 2 device. The trio was inside the Columbus laboratory module as doctors on the ground monitored the downlinked biomedical data in real time examining the crew’s cornea, lens, and optic nerve.

The second set of eye exams included Williams, Hague, and Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov who peered into a high-resolution medical imaging device examining their retina. Flight Engineers Don Pettit of NASA and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, with remote guidance from doctors on Earth, assisted with the eye study to detect and counter eye and vision issues caused during space missions.

At the beginning of his shift, Hague removed blood samples from the Kubik research incubator and spun them in the Human Research Facility’s centrifuge. He then processed the specimens for stowage in a science freezer for later analysis. The samples will be studied on the space station to understand space-caused stress on cells and tissue and how the human immune system adapts to weightlessness.

Gorbunov and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner were back on space digestion research at the beginning of their shift on Wednesday. The two cosmonauts joined each other for ultrasound scans of their stomachs before and after breakfast for a long-running human research investigation to learn how weightlessness impacts their digestion system.

The Progress 91 cargo craft is counting to its launch to the orbital outpost from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:24 p.m. EST today. Ovchinin and cosmonaut Ivan Vagner will be on duty when Progress 91 and its three tons of food, fuel, and supplies arrives on Saturday and docks to the Zvezda service module’s aft port at 6:03 p.m. Both the launch and docking will be broadcast live on NASA+.

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 Explores Cellular Immunity, Digestion and Waits for Cargo Mission

Cellular immunity and digestion were the main research topics on Wednesday as the Expedition 72 crew explored space biology aboard the International Space Station. The orbital residents also worked on spacesuit maintenance and prepared for the arrival of a new cargo mission this weekend.

NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague began his day collecting his blood and saliva samples for the Immunity Assay investigation. Before breakfast, he began his saliva work processing and stowing the samples in a science freezer. Then he treated his blood samples and spun them in a centrifuge before finally loading the specimens in a pair of temperature controlled Kubik incubators. The samples will be analyzed on the space station to understand space-caused cellular stress and tissue damage. Results may reveal how an astronaut’s immune system responds to the lack of gravity and improve ways to monitor crew health on missions farther away from Earth.

Spacesuit work filled the day for NASA Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Butch Wilmore who partnered together inside the Quest airlock. The duo cleaned water cooling loops, swapped components, and checked the communications system on a spacesuit following a pair of spacewalks in January and before another spacewalk planned for the spring. Pettit later loaded disposable cargo inside the Cygnus space freighter while Wilmore removed space physics hardware from inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox.

NASA’s station Commander Suni Williams spent her day on inspection activities throughout the orbital outpost’s U.S. segment. She looked at portable fire extinguishers, breathing masks, emergency air supply tanks, and other safety hardware ensuring their functionality. Williams completed her shift inside the Columbus laboratory module inspecting air ducts inside temporary crew quarters that host visiting crews for short periods of time.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Aleksandr Gorbunov and Ivan Vagner joined each other for ultrasound scans of their stomachs before and after breakfast on Wednesday to understand how weightlessness impacts their digestion system. Gorbunov then collected air samples in the Zvezda, Nauka, and Rassvet modules for analysis. Vagner later joined Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin and trained for an upcoming cargo mission.

The Roscosmos Progress 91 cargo craft is at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan counting down to launch at 4:42 p.m. EST on Thursday. The Progress 91 is scheduled to dock to Zvezda’s aft port at 6:03 p.m. on Saturday delivering three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the Expedition 72 crew. Vagner and Ovchinin prepared for the Progress 91’s arrival and trained on the TORU, or telerobotically operated rendezvous unit, located in Zvezda that can remotely command and control an approaching Roscosmos spacecraft if necessary.

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 Departs Station After Six Months

The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 89 spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 3:17 p.m. EST, Feb. 25, 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 Aug. 14 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 to the station, the spacecraft arrived at the orbiting laboratory Aug. 17 and automatically docked to the aft port of the orbiting laboratory’s Zvezda Service module.

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

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Mark A. Garcia