Archivo de la etiqueta: iss

NASA Announces Spacewalkers for Robotic Arm Repair Work

Spacewalk preparations filled the schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday as a pair of astronauts gear up for next week’s external robotics repair job. CubeSat maintenance and eye checks rounded out the day for the Expedition 74 crew.

NASA flight engineers Chris Williams and Jessica Meir will once again wear their spacesuits and work together in the vacuum of space to repair a wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm starting at 7:35 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 30. The duo will spend about six hours and 40 minutes on the outside of the orbital lab replacing the malfunctioned wrist joint on Canadarm2 that has been in operation for over 25 years. NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) analyzed the issue and determined a spacewalk was necessary to replace the wrist joint with a spare already on the station. NASA and CSA officials will preview the upcoming spacewalk tasks during a news conference on NASA’s YouTube channel at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 25.

Williams tried on his spacesuit Tuesday and tested the suit in its powered configuration with assistance from flight engineer Sophie Adenot from ESA (European Space Agency). The duo worked inside the Quest airlock checking the pressurized suit’s comfort and mobility and its communications and life support systems while engineers on the ground monitored.

Williams then joined Meir and reviewed on a computer a 3D interactive animation of the procedures and maneuvers they will use to return the Canadarm2 to full motion. Afterward, the pair took turns servicing emergency jet packs that will be installed on the spacesuits the day the spacewalk begins. Meir also installed batteries inside the pistol grip tools — designed especially for microgravity — they will use to work on the robotic arm.

Adenot and NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway, who will monitor the spacewalkers from inside the orbital outpost, studied their spacewalk support roles including carefully adjusting the Canadarm2 into position during the repair work. Hathaway also had time for CubeSat work first removing a small satellite orbital deployer that was stowed inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock. Next, he installed a set of CubeSats inside the NanoRacks CubeSat deployer that will soon be placed outside Kibo’s airlock for deployment into Earth orbit. The tiny satellites were designed by university students for a variety of communications and technology investigations.

Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov joined flight engineer Sergei Mikaev in the Harmony module for eye checks using standard medical imaging hardware. Doctors on the ground were examining how living in space affects the retina, lens, and cornea. Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev continued testing artificial intelligence tools to boost crew efficiency and communications in space.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Crew Starts Week with Bioengineering, Space Manufacturing, and Spacewalk Preps

Bioengineering cartilage tissues and manufacturing advanced materials kicked off the week aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 74 crew members also ramped up preparations for a spacewalk and conducted vision tests on Monday.

NASA flight engineer Jessica Meir split her day working on a pair of investigations — one focused on biotechnology and the other on space‑based manufacturing. She began her shift inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox, nourishing living cartilage cells. Scientists are studying how these cells grow larger in weightlessness, research that could guide new treatments for arthritis or sports injuries. Later, in the Harmony module, she photographed colloidal crystals — microscopic particles floating in liquid — to capture how they naturally arrange themselves into orderly 3D structures in microgravity. The results could help the design and development of next‑generation materials and technologies for both Earth and space industries.

In between the space science work, Meir joined NASA flight engineer Chris Williams and reviewed plans for a spacewalk to repair a wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm scheduled for June 30. The duo examined spacewalking tools and spacesuits, studied emergency procedures, and more in the Quest airlock. Williams then configured Quest and staged a spacesuit inside the airlock for the upcoming spacewalk.

NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway worked on spacesuit maintenance inside Quest, filling water tanks and cleaning a water-cooling system that keeps the suit’s temperature stable during a spacewalk. Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) briefly inspected another spacesuit preparing it for a fit check then readied two cameras and their thermal shields for spacewalk photography duties. NASA will soon announce the two spacewalking astronauts and provide a live televised briefing with more details this week.

Vision tests were on the schedule on Monday as Williams took turns with cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev reading characters off a standard eye chart inside the Destiny laboratory module. Kud-Sverchkov, the station’s commander, then photographed and inspected docking components on the Rassvet and Poisk modules. Mikaev partnered with flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev, both Roscosmos flight engineers, for more testing of artificial intelligence tools to boost crew efficiency and communications in space.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Advanced Tech on Station Informing Space-Designed Health Treatments

The Expedition 74 crew explored how weightlessness affects cartilage growth and the digestive system on Thursday to protect crew health and improve patient care on Earth. The orbital residents are also gearing up for a robotics maintenance spacewalk at the end of the month on the International Space Station.

Conducting research in the microgravity environment of the orbiting laboratory provides unique insights unobtainable in Earth’s gravity. This helps scientists, doctors, and engineers develop space-influenced therapies, medicines, and products leading to advances in human health, industrial processes, spacecraft designs, and more.

Cartilage cells are growing aboard the orbital outpost that may inform new ways to treat disabilities and repair injuries. NASA flight engineers Jessica Meir and Chris Williams worked together on the biotechnology investigation using the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox. Williams retrieved the cartilage cell samples preserved in a science freezer then thawed them to begin scientific operations. Next, Meir nourished the cell samples inside the glovebox and stowed them inside a research incubator so they could begin growing. Manufacturing cartilage tissues in space could lead to self-repairing implants on Earth and advanced fitness techniques for astronauts on a long-term spaceflight.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev joined each other after breakfast and scanned their abdominal region using an ultrasound device for a digestion study. The real-time biomedical data will give doctors insight into how microgravity affects the blood flow and shape of a crew member’s digestive organs after a meal. Results may help advance methods to monitor and improve digestive health both on Earth and in space.

Meir and flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) also conducted ultrasound scans using ESA’s EchoFinder-2 device to image the major blood vessels and key organs in their abdomen. The human research experiment uses augmented reality to assist with the scans and artificial intelligence to recognize organs. The lightweight, easy-to-use gear may enable independent crew health monitoring on spacecraft travelling to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Adenot then joined NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway and studied procedures necessary to prepare astronauts for a spacewalk. The duo reviewed spacesuit handling techniques, Quest airlock pressurization and depressurization steps, and emergency responses. Adenot also partnered with Meir and Williams and serviced the lithium-ion batteries that power the spacesuits. NASA will soon announce the two astronauts who will exit the space station on June 30 to repair a wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev had a busy day of science and maintenance beginning his shift downloading and reading data collected from a station radiation detector. Afterward, Fedyaev transferred water from the Progress 94 resupply ship into tanks inside the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment. Finally, the two-time cosmonaut wrapped up his shift testing artificial intelligence tools to boost crew efficiency and communications in space.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Advanced Health Research on Station Using Augmented, Virtual Reality Tools

Biomedical tests using augmented and virtual reality tools to advance space health dominated the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 74 crew is also turning its attention to a spacewalk at the end of the month following the departure of a U.S. cargo spacecraft.

NASA flight engineers Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway began their shift in the Columbus laboratory module conducting vein scans with guidance from doctors on the ground. The duo took turns scanning each other with the EchoFinder-2 ultrasound device that collects health data using augmented reality and artificial intelligence tools. The medical hardware provided by ESA (European Space Agency) provides a screen using augmented reality to guide the operator’s probe motion and artificial intelligence software to detect the subject’s organs. The lightweight, easy-to-use gear may enable independent crew health monitoring on spacecraft travelling to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Afterward, Hathaway moved to the Harmony module and loaded bacteria samples into a portable DNA sequencer to read their genetic code. Scientists will use the knowledge to understand bacterial resistance to antibiotics in the space environment potentially affecting an astronaut’s ability to fight an infection.  

Meir assisted NASA flight engineer Chris Williams who wore virtual reality goggles for a test measuring his ability to detect balance, movement, orientation in microgravity. The goggles recorded Williams’s eye movements as he responded to visual stimuli generated by computer software operated by Meir. The vestibular system investigation, just one part of the CIPHER suite of 14 human research experiments, is studying how astronauts neurologically adapt to weightlessness to improve crew training and safety.

ESA flight engineer Sophie Adenot helped her crewmates with the digital health science on Wednesday first setting up the EchoFinder-2 hardware, connecting it to a computer tablet, and installing a camera to track the vein study. Next, Adenot configured Harmony’s maintenance work area and retrieved a mini-cold bag to house the bacteria samples for the antibiotics study. Finally, she took pictures of the Moon to observe Earth’s light reflecting off the lunar surface.

All four astronauts gathered together at the end of their shift for a conference call with spacewalk experts on the ground. The quartet and the engineers discussed the tools and procedures necessary to repair a wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm during a spacewalk planned for June 30. NASA will soon announce the spacewalkers and provide a live televised briefing for more details before the end of the month.

Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev conducted another neurological study while wearing a virtual reality headset and responded to computerized stimuli as electrodes measured brain activity and tracked eye movement, testing his sense of direction, movement, and position. Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, both from Roscosmos, started their shift in the Nauka science module checking the operation of components supporting the Elektron oxygen generator. Kud-Sverchkov then tested communications gear inside the Soyuz MS-28 crew spacecraft. Mikaev took a computer quiz documenting his mental state before terminating a 24-hour heart and blood pressure monitoring session.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is back on Earth following its undocking from the orbital outpost on Tuesday and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 5:11 a.m. PDT/8:11 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. Dragon returned sensitive scientific samples from investigations studying stem cell manufacturing, cartilage tissue printing, and more to treat a range of conditions from blood diseases, cancers, and cartilage injuries.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

SpaceX Dragon Splashes Down in Pacific, Completes Cargo Mission

At 5:11 a.m. PDT (8:11 a.m. EDT), the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of California near Oceanside, marking the return of the 34th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for NASA.

Dragon undocked at 12:25 p.m. EDT on June 16, carrying samples that could shape future space exploration and life on Earth.  Research returning includes bioprinted organ and cartilage tissue, data on improving cryogenic fuel storage for future space missions, and DNA‑inspired materials to develop new cancer treatments. The returning hardware includes an ocular imaging device used to monitor crew members’ eye health, an absorbent bed that filters trace contaminants from cabin air, and a separator pump from the waste and hygiene compartment.

The spacecraft arrived at the space station on May 17 after launching two days earlier on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

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