Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

Bone and Brain Research Fine-Tuning Long-Term Astronaut Health

Bone and brain research wrapped up the week aboard the International Space Station on Friday helping doctors keep astronauts healthy when living in weightlessness. The Expedition 73 crew also checked out spacesuit gear, conducted ultrasound eye scans, and photographed Earth landmarks.

Bone health is critical in space with astronaut’s experiencing accelerated aging-like symptoms similar to older patients on Earth. Keeping astronauts fit in microgravity requires extra attention to protect crew health and prepare their bodies for the return to Earth. NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim processed bone stem cell samples inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox to explore the molecular mechanisms of space-induced bone loss. The new investigation recently delivered aboard a Space X Dragon cargo craft seeks to safeguard a crew member’s skeletal system and possibly treat aging conditions and bone diseases on Earth.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov studied brain adjustment in microgravity and wore virtual reality goggles and responded to computerized stimuli. Researchers will review the results from the ongoing study to learn how a crew’s sense of balance and spatial orientation adapts to weightlessness informing future spaceflight training.

NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman worked in the Quest airlock and performed pressure and leak checks on spacesuit jetpack components. The jetpacks are attached to the rear of spacesuits and are a safety mechanism a spacewalker would use to maneuver back to the space station in the unlikely event they became untethered from their worksite. Cardman also inspected and cleaned metal oxide canisters that remove carbon dioxide from the spacesuits.

Cardman also joined Flight Engineers Mike Fincke of NASA and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) for regularly scheduled eye scans with the Ultrasound 2 device. Doctors on the ground observed the downlinked scans in real time to learn how microgravity affects the cornea, lens, and optic nerve.

Statin Commander Sergey Ryzhikov kicked off his shift servicing the Zvezda service module’s ventilation system before ending his day downloading imagery of Australian and South American landmarks. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky uninstalled navigation hardware from the Progress 92 cargo craft that docked to the orbital lab on July 5. Zubritsky later joined Platonov and filmed an educational video demonstrating how objects move in space.

Looking ahead to the next cargo resupply mission, NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 5:49 p.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 15, for the launch of the next commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, delivering science and supplies to the orbital complex.

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

Space Fitness and Agriculture Top Station Science Schedule

The Expedition 73 crew explored microgravity’s effect on bone and plant cells and studied futuristic space workouts aboard the International Space Station on Thursday to keep astronauts fit and promote space agriculture.

The lack of gravity aggravates bone loss on astronauts similar to the aging process on Earth. Exercising every day in space slows the rate of bone loss but does not eliminate it completely. NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman explored the molecular mechanisms of space-induced bone loss for a new investigation delivered aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on Aug. 25. The duo took turns operating the study and processing bone stem cell samples inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox. Results could help the human skeletal system adapt to spaceflight and lead to advanced treatments for aging conditions and bone diseases on Earth.

Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) also worked inside Kibo processing algae and tobacco plant cells and stowing them in an artificial gravity-generating research incubator. The cell samples will be imaged inside JAXA’s COSMIC fluorescent microscope to visualize microgravity’s effect on plant cell division and microstructures. Insights may lead to improved methods for growing plants on spacecraft and growing crops on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA Flight Engineer Mike Fincke began his shift working out for an exercise study observing what happens to a crew member’s bone, muscle, and aerobic health when training without a treadmill on a spacecraft. Fincke worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device that mimics free wights in Earth’s gravity for the human research experiment. Researchers are exploring how the lack of walking on a spacecraft will affect future crews and are adjusting space exercise programs. Due to the size limits of a spacecraft, lighter exercise equipment will be necessary to maintain resistive and aerobic training on long duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov started his shift downloading imagery of Central and Southeast Asia automatically captured overnight as the crew slept. Afterward, he worked on computer software upgrades and filled out a questionnaire helping scientists understand how international crews and mission controllers from around the world communicate with each other.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Alexey Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov spent their shift on Thursday servicing a wide variety of life support and electronics gear. Zubritsky started his day in the Zarya module examining its power systems then moved into the Zvezda service module and refilled the Elektron oxygen generator. Platonov participated in the computer software upgrades throughout the station’s Roscosmos segment and filmed an educational video demonstrating how objects move in space.

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

Head and Eye Health, Dragon Reboost Preps, and Emergency Drill Fill Crew Day

Preventing space-caused head and eye pressure impacts using specialized medical hardware was the top research theme aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 73 residents also continued unpacking a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft and practiced an emergency drill aboard the orbital outpost.

Microgravity pulls a crew member’s body fluids toward the head leading to potential eye structure and vision changes. One common, easily visible symptom is called “puffy face” where an astronaut’s face appears swollen and redder. Researchers are looking at a unique thigh cuff worn on an astronaut’s leg that may counteract the headward fluid shifts reducing pressure on the head and eyes.

Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) led the thigh cuff study on Wednesday testing the biomedical device on NASA Flight engineer Mike Fincke. Yui also scanned Fincke’s legs with the Ultrasound 2 device as electrodes on Fincke’s chest measured his cardiac activity. Doctors on the ground monitored gaining real time insights into astronaut health to learn how to protect crews on longer duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman spent their shift focusing on cargo operations inside the SpaceX Dragon. The duo continued unpacking some of the several tons of gear including human research experiments and life support hardware.

Dragon also delivered an external payload, a reboost kit, or an independent propellant system located in the spacecraft’s trunk that will use two Draco engines to demonstrate the ability to maintain the orbital outpost’s altitude. On Tuesday, robotics controllers on the ground remotely commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to visually inspect the new propellant hardware before Dragon fires its Draco engines in September reboosting the station’s altitude.

All four astronauts also joined the orbiting lab’s three Roscosmos cosmonauts station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineers Alexey Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov and practiced procedures for a simulated emergency. The septet reviewed the steps they would use on a computer tablet in unlikely events such as an ammonia leak, a depressurization, or a fire. The crew also practiced emergency communication and coordination with mission controllers from around the world.

Before the emergency drill, Ryzhikov began his shift testing the performance of electronics hardware in the Zarya module before jogging on the Zvezda service module’s treadmill for a fitness evaluation. Zubritsky set up multispectral imaging gear in a station window and photographed areas of western Africa. Platonov started his day downloading imagery of Central Asia captured automatically during the crew’s sleep shift. Afterward, he checked Roscosmos life support systems and collected station air samples to analyze for trace contaminants such as carbon dioxide and ammonia to ensure a safe breathable environment.

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

Crew Sets Up Liver Tissue Research and Preps for Dragon Reboost

Expedition 73 opened the hatch to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft shortly after its arrival on Monday and has begun unloading advanced science experiments to continue benefitting humans living on and off the Earth. The International Space Station residents also prepared for next month’s Dragon reboost and kept up lab maintenance and Earth observations.

NASA Flight Engineer Mike Fincke opened Dragon’s hatch following a series of pressure and leak checks about an hour-and-a-half after it docked to the Harmony module’s forward port at 7:05 a.m. EDT on Monday. Shortly afterward, he was followed inside by NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui unpacking time sensitive research samples and installing them inside station science freezers for preservation and upcoming analysis.

The station’s newest investigation, MVP Cell-07, or Maturation of Vascularized Liver Tissue Construct in Zero Gravity, was unloaded from Dragon on Monday and is now underway aboard the orbital outpost. Cardman set up a portable glovebag in Harmony’s maintenance work area and installed experiment modules containing liver tissue into an artificial gravity generator. The biotechnology investigation will explore how bioprinted, or engineered, liver tissues containing blood vessels behave in microgravity. Results may improve long term health for astronauts and improve quality of life for patients on Earth.

Kim continued unpacking some of the several thousand pounds of crew supplies and lab hardware Dragon delivered on Monday. Fincke and Yui also removed portable science freezers containing research samples inside Dragon and installed them inside station science freezers. The trio later joined Cardman at the end of their shift and reviewed plans for Dragon’s upcoming reboost of the space station’s orbit in September. Dragon will fire its reboost kit, an independent propellant system using two Draco engines, to demonstrate its ability to maintain the orbital outpost’s altitude.

Working in the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab, station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov spent his day swapping out computer networking gear while Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky activated Earth observation gear and cleaned life support gear. Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov collected radiation measurements, worked on orbital plumbing tasks, and also activated automated Earth imaging gear for an overnight photography session of the Asian continent.

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

SpaceX Dragon Docks to Station Delivering New Science, Supplies

At 7:05 a.m. EDT, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module. 

The spacecraft carried over 5,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory on SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply services mission for NASA. The mission launched at 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 24 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

Research conducted aboard the space station advances future space exploration – including Artemis missions to the Moon and astronaut missions Mars – and provides multiple benefits to humanity. 

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