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Station Schedule Returns to Science on Tuesday

Microgravity science picked up on Tuesday following the previous day’s focus on lab maintenance and housecleaning activities aboard the International Space Station. The nine orbital residents set up a host of science gear for external research and explored future space piloting techniques while also concentrating on daily household tasks.

Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore from NASA pointed a pair of cameras in the cupola toward Earth for thunderstorm monitoring. He plugged the high-speed Thor-Davis camera and a regular digital camera into the Astro Pi computer to record lightning and electrical activity at speeds up to 100,000 frames per second. Observations may help improve Earth climate models, lead to a better understanding of atmospheric dynamics, and demonstrate the advanced camera’s potential for future space applications.

NASA astronaut and Starliner Pilot Suni Williams installed the ArgUS Mission 1 research hardware inside the NanoRacks Bishop airlock where it will soon be robotically placed outside in the vacuum of space for experimentation. The advanced technology demonstration consists of three types of payloads designed to explore communications, computer processing, and high-definition video in the external microgravity environment.

Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson spent the first half of her day inspecting a variety of station hardware including cryogenic gloves, cold stowage hardware, and the BioFabrication Facility, a research device being tested for its ability to print organ-like tissues in microgravity. During the afternoon, Dyson turned her attention to commercial activities and tested proprietary gear inside the Kibo laboratory module.

NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps spent all day Tuesday on maintenance tasks. Dominick replaced carbon dioxide removal components in the Destiny laboratory module then videotaped his crew quarters’ airflow ducts as mission controllers monitored in real time. Barratt cleaned ventilation systems in his crew quarters located in the port side of the Harmony module before servicing electronic components on the Kermit fluorescence microscope. Epps started her day relocating a vibration sensor then took a cognition test just before lunchtime. In the afternoon, she set up a thigh cuff to study space-caused fluid shifts in astronauts then examined electrical systems supporting life support components.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko from Roscosmos was back on inspection activities in the aft end of the Zvezda service module. He photographed glass panes and installed a smoke detector in Zvezda’s rear port where the Progress 87 cargo craft is docked. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub studied futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques on a computer during the morning then assisted Kononenko with the Zvezda inspection activities in the afternoon. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin focused his efforts on life support system maintenance in the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment.

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 Garcia

Station Begins Week with Maintenance and Eye Checks

The week kicked off with lab maintenance aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 71 and Starliner crews relocated science gear, cleaned crew quarters, and conducted inspections. Eye checks were also on the schedule at the end of the day for four orbital residents.

Three NASA astronauts took turns during the first half of Monday moving the NanoRacks external platform from the Tranquility module to the Kibo laboratory module. Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore of Boeing’s Crew Flight Test started the work moving gear and making space to access the NanoRacks Bishop airlock in Tranquility where the external platform was stowed. Afterward, station Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Matthew Dominick removed the external platform from Tranquility’s airlock and installed it inside Kibo’s airlock. The platform from NanoRacks can host a variety of payloads exposed to the external space environment for science experiments, technology demonstrations, and more.

Dominick then spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning his crew quarters located in the overhead compartment of the Harmony module. NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps started her morning also cleaning her crew quarters in Harmony’s deck compartment. The pair each worked half a day cleaning their living spaces’ ventilation systems and airflow sensors. Epps later set up the camera robot, which can capture imagery and real-time video for downloading to mission controllers, and checked out its free-flying operations in Kibo.

NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson started her day servicing a research furnace before configuring panels inside the Destiny laboratory module. Dyson spent the rest of the afternoon deep cleaning the Unity module vacuuming dust and wiping down surfaces with disinfectant wipes. Starliner Pilot Suni Williams of NASA reconfigured power systems in the Columbus laboratory module, loaded software on a Microgravity Science Glovebox computer, then wrapped up her shift collecting station air samples for analysis.

At the end of the day, Dominick, Barratt, and Epps joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin for a regularly scheduled eye exam. The quartet took turns looking at a standard eye chart and reading characters off of it to test their vision acuity and contrasty sensitivity.

Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub split their day on inspection activities in the aft end of the Zvezda service module where the Progress 87 cargo craft is docked. Kononenko also set up hardware to observe luminous clouds and Earth’s upper atmosphere while Chub checked out batteries and their cables inside Zvezda.

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

Crewmates Off-Duty on Station as Cosmonauts Work Cargo and Lab Upkeep

It was an off-duty day at the end of the week for most of the crew members aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts and cosmonauts relaxed most of Friday with time set aside for their daily workouts, light household duties, and public affairs activities.

Two cosmonauts representing Expedition 71, Commander Oleg Kononenko and Fight Engineer Nikolai Chub, had a busy day however, packing a cargo craft, transferring fluids, and inspecting lab hardware. Kononenko, who is on his fifth space station mission, continued loading the Progress 87 resupply ship with trash and discarded gear ahead of the spacecraft’s departure in mid-August. He also inspected surfaces inside the vestibule in the aft end of the Zvezda service module where the Progress 87 is docked. Chub also performed inspection work in the aft end of Zvezda then worked on orbital plumbing tasks transferring fluids from the Roscosmos segment of the station into the Progress 87 vehicle.

Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams, both NASA astronauts representing Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, spent a few moments inside the spacecraft docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. The duo entered Starliner in the afternoon, turned on its lights and displays to access tablet computers, then powered them down after recharging overnight.

The rest of the Expedition 71 crew, including NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin, took a break from their daily research and maintenance activities. The quintet used their day off for personal time with calls to family, recreation, looking at the Earth below, and more. The crewmates also  continued their daily workouts on the treadmill, the exercise cycle, and advanced resistive exercise device to maintain muscle and bone health in microgravity.

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 Explores Fluid Shifts, Hot Physics During Cargo and Household Duties

Thursday’s scientific objectives aboard the International Space Station included exploring ways to counter the effects of weightlessness on the human body and understanding how microgravity affects high-temperature physics. The two orbital crews also worked on research hardware, cargo transfers, household duties, and more throughout the workday.

Expedition 71 Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps and Matthew Dominick from NASA spent their shift together on Thursday testing a thigh cuff that may reverse the space-caused flow of body fluids toward an astronaut’s head. Dominick wore the thigh cuff that may change how fluids flow in the body as sensors recorded his physiological data. Epps scanned his veins with the Ultrasound 2 device, measured his blood pressure, and peered into Dominick’s eyes using standard medical imaging gear. Doctors on the ground remotely monitored the biomedical activities to determine the effectiveness of the thigh cuff. Results may counter the headward fluid shifts and prevent changes to eye structure and vision that may occur during long-term space missions.

Working in the Kibo laboratory module, NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson stowed gear in Kibo’s logistics module to make space for an upcoming cargo delivery on the next Cygnus mission from Northrop Grumman. Afterward, Dyson cleaned the inside of Kibo’s Electrostatic Levitation Furnace and swapped samples inside the research facility that safely explores the thermophysical properties of materials exposed to temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Celsius or more.

NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt focused mainly on household tasks throughout Thursday. He first replaced lithium-ion batteries in radiation detectors and lab hardware before swapping out orbital plumbing gear inside the Tranquility module.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams of Boeing’s Crew Flight Test started their day servicing a variety of research hardware. Wilmore installed science gear inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox setting up a physics study that will observe how microparticles react to an electrical field. Williams disconnected cables and flash drives from a microscope ahead of troubleshooting activities. In the afternoon, the duo entered the Starliner spacecraft and conducted proficiency training inside the vehicle docked to the Harmony module’s forward port.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub, both from Roscosmos, partnered together loading the Progress 87 resupply ship with trash and obsolete gear ahead if its departure planned for mid-August. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin tested Roscosmos laptop computers and recharged their batteries.

Beginning Monday, July 29^th, the IMC Daily Summary will be discontinued.

To learn more about the groundbreaking science and engineering happening daily on the International Space Station, please visit the space station blog at https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/, or browse a variety of space station research resources at https://nasa.gov/iss-science.

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

Wednesday’s Station Research Focuses on Space Plants, Free-Flying Robotics

On Wednesday, space plants and free-flying robotics dominated the science schedule aboard the International Space Station. Orbital plumbing, cargo packing, and an emergency drill rounded out the day for the nine crew members living aboard the orbital outpost.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams of Boeing’s Crew Flight Test continued exploring ways to effectively water plants in the weightless environment. The duo took turns throughout the day in the Harmony module testing how root models and plants of various sizes would absorb water in microgravity . The Plant Water Management study looks at techniques such as hydroponics and air circulation to nourish plants growing aboard spacecraft and space habitats.

Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson coordinated with ground controllers and tested an Astrobee robotic free flyer’s ability to autonomously maneuver and recognizes gestures inside the Kibo laboratory module. She set up the cube-shaped, toaster-sized robotic assistant ahead of a student competition to write the best algorithms that will guide the Astrobee. NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps activated the Astrobee before lunchtime and removed items in Kibo allowing Dyson to access the robotic free flyer’s docking apparatus. Epps also recorded another DNA research demonstration video for students on Earth.

NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Mike Barratt took turns on Wednesday cleaning up orbital plumbing tools used to service the Tranquility module’s bathroom, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment. Dominick also relocated protein crystal research hardware, loaded software on the Microgravity Science Glovebox computer, then reorganized cargo and trashed stowed in the Destiny laboratory module. Barratt trained Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin on the operations of the COLBERT treadmill then audited and stowed spacesuit components.

At the beginning of the day, the crew of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, Dominick, Barratt, Epps, Grebenkin, trained for the unlikely event they would need to evacuate the station in an emergency. Dyson, who rode to the station aboard the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship, also joined the quartet reviewing their emergency responses and procedures during the hourlong session.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub began loading the Progress 87 cargo craft with garbage and discarded gear prior to its departure from the Zvezda service module in mid-August. Grebenkin had an off-duty day spending most of his time relaxing and working out on the treadmill and advanced resistive exercise device.

Beginning Monday, July 29^th, the IMC Daily Summary will be discontinued.

To learn more about the groundbreaking science and engineering happening daily on the International Space Station, please visit the space station blog at https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/, or browse a variety of space station research resources at https://nasa.gov/iss-science.

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