Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

Human Research Ahead of Spacewalk Preview on NASA TV

Spacesuit preparations took a break on Thursday as the Expedition 70 crew turned its attention it to human research including behavioral studies, eye exams, and a fitness evaluation. The International Space Station residents also focused on an array of science hardware maintenance and orbital plumbing tasks.

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara spent her day participating in the CIPHER human research study to understand how living in space affects an astronaut’s mind and body. She practiced simulated robotics maneuvers on a computer to assess changes in her cognition and brain function. She also processed blood and urine samples for insights into her immune and heart health. The experiment is observing the combined effects of radiation, isolation, long distances, microgravity, and closed environments on crews.

Two flight engineers, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA and Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), had a busy day of science hardware work, robotics training, and eye checks. Moghbeli started her schedule replacing components on the Cold Atom Lab and inspecting the quantum physics research facility. Furukawa began his shift configuring cameras and lights that will be installed outside the space station later. The pair then joined each other after lunch reviewing robotics procedures for an upcoming spacewalk. Finally, Furukawa examined Moghbeli’s eyes using standard medical imaging gear found in a doctor’s office on Earth.

NASA managers will discuss two spacewalks scheduled for Oct. 12 and 20 for science and maintenance at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday on NASA TV. For the first spacewalk, astronauts O’Hara and Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) will collect external microbe samples for analysis. The second spacewalk will see O’Hara and Moghbeli remove and replace communications and solar array hardware.

Mogensen, commander of Expedition 70, spent Thursday afternoon in the Tranquility module servicing life support components. Before that, he joined his crewmates Moghbeli and Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov for a medical emergency training session. The astronauts gathered together locating medical hardware, coordinating rescue roles, and practicing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, as part of the training session. The foursome launched to the orbital lab as members of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission on Aug. 26, 2023.

Earlier, cosmonaut Nikolai Chub assisted Borisov as he attached sensors to himself and pedaled on an exercise cycle for a physical fitness evaluation. Doctors evaluate the downlinked exercise data to understand a crew member’s aerobic and cardiovascular conditioning in weightlessness. Chub would spend the rest of the day on electronics and computer maintenance.

The orbiting lab’s most experienced crew member, cosmonaut and five-time station visitor Oleg Kononenko, started his day in the Zvezda service module replacing orbital plumbing parts. Afterward, Kononenko swapped gases for a space physics study and synchronized clocks on cameras to station computers.

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Mark Garcia

Spacesuits, Research, and Treadmill Work Top Crew’s Day

The Expedition 70 crew continues preparing for a pair of spacewalks for science and maintenance outside the International Space Station. The orbital residents are also studying space piloting, observing Earth, and working on a treadmill today.

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen are getting ready for their first spacewalk set to begin at 10 a.m. EST on Oct. 12. The duo will use specialized tools to collect microbe samples from specific areas outside of the station. Scientists want to analyze the types of microbes that may be able to survive the harsh environment of outer space.

NASA TV will broadcast both a spacewalk preview briefing and the upcoming spacewalks. The preview briefing, set for 1 p.m. EDT on Friday, will highlight next week’s spacewalk activities, as well as another spacewalk scheduled for Oct. 20 with O’Hara and fellow NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli. The Oct. 12 spacewalk broadcast begins at 8:30 a.m.

O’Hara and Mogensen tried on their spacesuits today with assistance from Moghbeli and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. The duo tested the suits’ communication capabilities with ground controllers and practiced using some of the tools and procedures they will use during the microbe-sampling spacewalk. Moghbeli and Furukawa will assist the duo in and out of their spacesuits and monitor their spacewalking activities next week.

The three Roscosmos flight engineers split their day with a variety of space science and maintenance activities. Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko attached sensors to himself measuring his responses as he practiced docking a spacecraft on computer. The study aims to keep station crew members familiar with piloting a spacecraft and train crews for future missions. First-time cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov pointed his camera towards Earth and photographed forests to monitor the effects of natural and human activities.

Kononenko then joined Nikolai Chub, also a first-time cosmonaut, and spent the afternoon working on regularly scheduled maintenance on a treadmill inside the Zvezda service module. Chub and Borisov also worked on a variety of electronics and life support maintenance throughout the orbital lab’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

Crew Preps for Spacewalks to Analyze Microbes, Replace Hardware

Spacewalk preparations and exercise gear maintenance were the primary tasks for the Expedition 70 crew aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. Hearing tests and a variety of science and hardware tasks rounded out the day’s plan for the orbital crewmates.

Three astronauts are stepping up preparations for a pair of spacewalks planned this month for science and maintenance. Both spacewalks, planned for Oct. 12 and 20, will be broadcast live on NASA TV, on the agency’s app, and website.

The first spacewalk will see ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen and NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara swabbing external station surfaces for microbes. They will carefully collect microbe samples from specific areas on the station using specialized tools. The samples will later be analyzed to determine the types of microbes that may survive in the vacuum of space. This will be the first spacewalk for both astronauts.

The second spacewalk will be with O’Hara going out once again, but this time with NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli who is going on her first spacewalk. The duo will remove faulty radio communications gear and install new solar array hardware during the six-and-half-hour excursion.

Moghbeli tried on her spacesuit on Tuesday afternoon and tested its ability to communicate with mission controllers on the ground. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Mogensen both assisted Moghbeli in the Quest airlock as she ensured her spacesuit was in operable condition.

Furukawa began his day with O’Hara inside the Destiny laboratory module replacing the orbital lab’s exercise cycle. The duo spent the morning uninstalling the workout hardware, updating its components, installing the new cycle, then activating the new aerobic and cardiovascular gear.

At the end of the day, O’Hara took turns with Roscosmos Flight Engineers Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko to conduct a hearing test. Chub earlier installed a variety of cameras to monitor Earth’s upper atmosphere as well as accurately predict the station’s location in space. Kononenko and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov would spend most of their day servicing a variety of Roscosmos hardware. The pair worked throughout the orbital lab working on electronics, communications, and life support gear.

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

October Begins with Human Research and Space Physics

The Expedition 70 crew is beginning its first full week together following last week’s departure of the station’s longest-serving crew at 371 days. The seven International Space Station residents kicked off Monday with human research and space physics, as well as spacesuit work and life support maintenance.

NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli started her day setting up the Echo ultrasound system in the Columbus laboratory module for the Vascular Aging study. She scanned her neck, leg, and heart with support from ground personnel to help doctors understand accelerated aging-like symptoms that occur in a crew member’s arteries while living in space. Moghbeli also worked on station hardware as she set up a lighting system that will be placed outside the Kibo laboratory module in the vacuum of space.

Eye checks were also on the schedule as NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara examined the eyes of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa using standard medical imaging gear. Doctors are studying how weightlessness affects the retina, the shape of the eye, vision, and other properties to ensure good optical health in space.

O’Hara also joined Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) servicing spacesuits in the Quest airlock. The duo took turns cleaning cooling loops inside the suits before O’Hara finalized the work and recharged suit water tanks and refilled cooling and ventilation garments. Furukawa studied procedures that he will use soon to help astronauts suit up in support of upcoming spacewalks.

Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, on his fifth space station mission, set up a video camera for a plasma physics experiment in the Columbus lab. The space physics study observes low temperature gaseous mixtures composed of ionized gas, neutral gas, and micron-sized particles, or plasma crystals, and may improve microgravity research methods and spacecraft designs.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov began his morning strapping sensors to himself for a 24-hour session measuring his cardiac activity and blood pressure. Afterward, he photographed battery cables in the Nauka science module then moved on to orbital plumbing duties. Cosmonaut Nikolai Chub connected cables to an optical telescope with a radio detector, checked battery temperatures and connections in Zvezda service module, and finally cleaned the Rassvet module’s ventilation 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.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Station Reboost, Spacesuit Work, Maintenance Close Outs for Crew Friday

The Expedition 70 crew members kept busy Friday as they look ahead to an off-duty weekend. The International Space Station is back to seven residents after one NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts departed early Wednesday morning. The seven members spent time today preparing spacesuits for upcoming spacewalks and closing out maintenance procedures they began earlier this week.

Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara of NASA both worked on spacesuit preparations ahead of a round of spacewalks that will take place in October. Working separately, O’Hara recharged spacesuit water tanks while Mogensen scrubbed water from cooling loops inside the suits.

Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA spent the majority of this week removing and replacing components of the Cold Atom Lab (CAL), which chills clouds of atoms to temps near absolute zero, allowing crew members to study their fundamental behavior, a task that is much more difficult to probe at higher temps. Today, she wrapped up maintenance work on CAL, completing the installation of the science module and re-mating power and data connections.

After lunch, Moghbeli worked with Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in the Kibo Laboratory. The duo removed sample carriers on MISSE, which analyzes how exposure to space affects the performance and durability of materials and components such as paints, fabrics, seals, and solar cell technologies. The samples were then stowed for future analysis on Earth. Afterward, Furukawa removed and replaced the filter on the station’s Potable Water Dispenser, a system that provides water for crew consumption and food preparation.

Following yesterday’s off-duty day, the three Roscosmos Flight Engineers were back to orbital tasks today. Konstantin Borisov worked in the Nauka module conducting maintenance, while Nikolai Chub ran the 3D printer in the Zvezda module. He then moved on to work in Nauka with Oleg Kononenko to install and connect cables to a water processing system. Kononenko also spent part of the day preparing for an upcoming experiment that studies transport properties of complex plasmas.

Ahead of the weekend, the space station is orbiting slightly higher after the 85P fired its engines for 6 minutes and 22 seconds Friday morning. The orbital reboost sets up the correct phasing for the ISS Progress 86 resupply mission later this year.

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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Abby Graf