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Space Biology, Spacesuits, and Dragon Training Top Day for Astronauts, Cosmonauts

Life science and docked spacecraft training were the prime tasks aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The nine orbital residents also split their day on a variety of maintenance tasks including spacesuit work and orbital plumbing.

NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick kicked off their day collecting biological samples and data to understand how living in weightlessness affects the human body. Dyson first processed her saliva samples and stowed them in a science freezer for later analysis. She then attached an acoustic monitor near her ear to measure station noise levels a crew member experiences in a 24-hour period. Dominick removed brain wave sensors from his ears that recorded his sleep patterns then he filled out a questionnaire documenting his sleep quality.

Dyson also worked in the Columbus laboratory module and studied the ability to remotely control robots on a planetary surface from a spacecraft for the Surface Avatar experiment. Dominick spent the afternoon in the Tranquility module checking the performance of components on the waste and hygiene compartment, the orbital outpost’s bathroom.

NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps photographed Dyson during her robotics experiment. She then spent the afternoon reconfiguring life support gear before removing batteries from spacesuits at the end of the day. NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt started his day inspecting spacesuit safety jetpacks that would be used to maneuver safely back to the station in the unlikely event a spacewalker became untethered from the orbital lab.

Epps and Barratt also joined Dominick and Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin midday and reviewed standard SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft emergency undocking procedures. The SpaceX Crew-8 quartet docked to the station on March 5 and is due to return to Earth aboard Endeavour in late August.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, representing Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, took turns during the morning pedaling on an exercise cycle while attached to heart and breathing sensors that measured their aerobic capacity. The duo then split up as Wilmore serviced a pair of research freezers that preserve scientific samples and Williams installed hardware on an experiment that is exploring atmospheric reentry and thermal protection systems.

The Roscosmos segment’s three cosmonauts including Grebenkin had their day packed with continuing space research and laboratory upkeep duties. Expedition 71 Commander Oleg Kononenko spent the morning working on ventilation systems in the Nauka science module then completed his day studying futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub replaced life support gear in the Zarya module then joined Grebenkin for a photographic inspection of panels inside the Zvezda service module. Grebenkin earlier jogged on a treadmill for a regularly scheduled physical fitness test.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center remained closed to all but essential personnel today following Hurricane Beryl’s landfall near Matagorda, Texas. Mission Control  continues to support International Space Station and NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission.  If employees feel safe to do so, the center will be open for on-site work beginning Wednesday.

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

Robotics, Cargo Ops, and Health Research to Kick Start Week

A full day of robotics and cargo ops kept the Expedition 71 and Boeing Crew Flight Test crews busy on Monday as the nine orbital residents kick off a week of maintenance and science aboard the International Space Station. The crew also scheduled in some time for human health research and physical science activities.

NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson, Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick, and Mike Barratt all completed a round of robotics training throughout the day ahead of the departure of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter. The quartet practiced capturing a cargo craft and trained to operate the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Cygnus, which was captured by the robotic arm on Feb. 1, will be released by robotics controllers later this month for disposal over the South Pacific Ocean, ending its five-and-a-half-month mission at the orbital lab. Along with training, Dominick and Epps spent part of the day loading trash and discarded gear inside the spacecraft.

Epps also processed and separated Hicari samples in the Kibo Laboratory for future return to Earth. Hicari, an experiment led by JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency), investigates high-quality crystal growth of semiconductors. Later on, she inventoried emergency equipment, including the fire extinguisher, masks, and air supply tanks.

Meanwhile, research to assess psychological and physiological responses to microgravity was underway in the Destiny module. Dyson collected biological samples for the Standard Measures investigation, then stowed them in MELFI, the orbital lab’s ultra-cold freezer, for future analysis.

Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams worked together to review use procedures for the Fluid Systems Servicer, which drains, purges, and circulates fluids on systems aboard the space station. Wilmore then refilled coolant loops in the water pump assembly located in the Columbus module.

Cargo ops, robotics activities, and health research also occupied the three cosmonauts’ schedules on Monday. In the morning, Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin donned a device that captures blood pressure measurements to study how the cardiovascular system adapts to microgravity. He then practiced his piloting techniques during a Pilot-T session. Current station Commander Oleg Kononenko loaded trash and discarded gear inside Progress 87, which is slated to undock from the station in August. He later joined by Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub to inspect and photograph windowpanes to assess their condition for future maintenance.

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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Abby Graf

Maintenance Tasks Continue Into Friday for Crew

Orbital maintenance and upkeep occupied Friday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station as the two crews went back to work following a day off on Thursday to observe the Independence Day holiday.

In preparation for the future installation of new exercise equipment, Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick and Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams worked together throughout the day inside the Columbus module to swap out an empty rack that previously housed retired exercise gear.

Afterward, Dominick and Williams moved into the Tranquility module to reinstall the toilet system after the pressure control pump motor was replaced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, NASA astronaut Mike Barratt focused on additional orbital plumbing tasks, including a fluid transfer from the wastewater processing system and a manual fill of the water recovery system.

In the Kibo Laboratory, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps spent a majority of the day recording a video survey of hardware that enables data communications between space and Earth. The video was then downlinked to ground teams for analysis. After lunch, Epps analyzed water samples that were collected on Wednesday to assess for microbial growth.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson kicked off her day by loading new software onto the Surface Avatar program which allows crew members to remotely control robots on Earth and investigate how haptic controls, user interfaces, and virtual reality could command surface-bound robots from long distances. Dyson was then joined by cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub to complete on-orbit emergency training.

Kononenko and Chub also completed hearing assessments on Friday, then loaded trash and discarded gear inside Progress 87, which is slated to undock from the orbiting laboratory in mid-August. Their crewmate, Alexander Grebenkin, worked maintenance on the water recovery system then completed some computer work in the Nauka 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 weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Crew Observes Earth’s Nighttime Atmosphere, Conducts Station Maintenance

The Expedition 71 and Boeing Crew Flight Test crews had a light duty day on Wednesday, focusing on Earth observations and station upkeep.

While soaring 250 miles above our home planet, the International Space Station passes into orbital nighttime roughly every 45 minutes. During these night periods, crew members can observe events in Earth’s atmosphere that are otherwise difficult to capture during daylight. In the morning, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps entered the cupola to set up equipment for the Thor-Davis investigation. She then used the high-speed Davis Camera to observe and capture thunderstorms in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The camera, specially designed to track electrical activity at up to 100,000 frames per second, could be used during future missions to record processes in severe electrical storms.

In the Japanese Experiment Module, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson spent most of the morning relocating the Internal Ball Camera before reactivating the hardware at its new docking station. Afterward, she audited emergency medical kits and hardware.

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick spent most of the day in the Tranquility module to remove and replace a ventilation fan, while his crewmate, Mike Barratt, worked in the Columbus module to clear out hardware and stowage in preparation for the future installation of new exercise equipment.

Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams teamed up on Wednesday to continue work on the wastewater processing system, removing and replacing a failed pressure control pump motor.

In the Roscosmos segment, Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub began the day prepping and donning a watch that will record their movement, physical activity, and sleep over the next 36 hours. The duo then prepped for some routine flight simulation training while their crewmate, Alexander Grebenkin, observed Earth’s nighttime atmosphere in near-ultraviolet.

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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Abby Graf

Routine Health Assessments and Cargo Ops Top Tuesday’s Schedule

Hearing assessments, eye exams, and cargo ops topped Tuesday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 71 and Boeing Crew Flight Test crews also scheduled in some time to connect with students back on Earth and prepare for upcoming mission activities.

As part of regularly scheduled exams in low Earth orbit, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. Dyson all completed hearing assessments throughout the day. Epps prepped for upcoming Thor-Davis activities—an investigation that observes thunderstorms in Earth’s upper atmosphere—and reconfigured the EarthKam for future operations.

Dominick connected with students from St. Luke’s College in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during an Amateur Radio call, giving them an opportunity to ask questions about living and working in microgravity as the space station orbited overhead.

Barratt and Dyson teamed up in the afternoon to deconfigure spacesuit components after a water leak in Dyson’s service and cooling umbilical unit forced an early end to a spacewalk on Monday, June 24. The next spacewalk outside of the orbiting laboratory, with Dyson and Barratt, is scheduled for July 29.

Later in the evening, Barratt received an eye exam, guided by Epps, to help researchers better understand how microgravity affects vision. Meanwhile, Dyson was joined by Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore to load trash and discarded gear inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft. Cygnus is scheduled to be released from the Unity module later this month for disposal over the South Pacific Ocean, ending its five-and-a-half month stay at the orbiting lab.

Crew Flight Test Pilot Suni Williams spent a majority of the day on Starliner operations then assessed the air flow of the pump filter attached to the Advanced Plant Habitat. At the end of the day, Williams was joined by all eight of her crewmates for a conference with ground teams.

All three cosmonauts in microgravity donned acoustic monitors throughout the day to capture sound measurements around the station. In the Zvezda Service Module, Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub tested a 3D printer to assess its ability to manufacture space hardware, then later inspected and photographed panels and cable routes of a Roscosmos physics experiment that examines neutron radiation.

Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin continued hose replacement work on the water processing system, then studied the glow of Earth’s nighttime atmosphere in near-ultraviolet. Meanwhile, Commander Oleg Kononenko began loading trash and discarded gear inside Progress 87, which is slated to undock from the orbiting laboratory in August.

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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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

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Abby Graf