Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

Wearables, Exercise Research on Station Help Doctors Protect Crews

Several Expedition 72 crew members began Monday attaching a variety of sensors to themselves and exercising so researchers can see how their bodies are adapting to living and working in microgravity. The International Space Station crewmates also kept up their science maintenance and life support duties at the beginning of the week.

Flight Engineers Nichole Ayers and Takuya Onishi worked on a pair of different space biology studies throughout Monday providing data scientists can use to keep crews healthy on long-duration missions. Ayers from NASA put on a sensor-packed vest and headband at the beginning of the day for a 48-hour session measuring her cardiovascular health. Her medical data is being collected for the Space Health investigation and can be viewed real-time on a computer tablet for rapid medical support off the Earth.

Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) wore markers attached to his legs as a motion capture system recorded his workout on the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED) that mimics weights on Earth. Doctors will use the insights from the ARED Kinematics study to understand how working out in space affects an astronauts muscles and bones to improve exercise in weightlessness.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner completed a weeklong space biology study on Monday exploring how blood flows from a crew member’s head to their limbs in space. The veteran duo once again attached sensors to their forehead, fingers, and toes observing how the circulatory system adapts to spaceflight.

NASA Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Anne McClain partnered together on Monday removing physics research hardware from inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox. The science gear was being used to explore how particles move between hot and cold temperature regions and learn how to separate viruses from biological fluids to improve disease detection.

Flight Engineer Kirin Peskov spent Monday servicing electronics and life support gear throughout the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab. Peskov first restored the functionality of a thermal sensor on the Zvezda service module. Next, he measured the electrical properties of a compressor unit before wrapping up his day cleaning ventilation systems and transferring water between station tanks.

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 A. Garcia

Cygnus Departs Station After Release from Robotic Arm

At 6:55 a.m. EDT, the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm, which earlier detached Cygnus from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the station was flying about 260 miles over the Pacific Ocean. 

The Cygnus spacecraft successfully departed the space station more than seven and a half months after arriving at the microgravity laboratory to deliver about 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo for NASA. 

Following a deorbit engine firing on Sunday, March 30, Cygnus will begin a planned destructive re-entry, in which the spacecraft – filled with trash packed by the station crew – will safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. 

Cygnus arrived at the space station Aug. 6, 2024, following a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It was the company’s 21st commercial resupply services mission to the space station for NASA. The spacecraft is named the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee in honor of the former NASA astronaut.   

Get space station news, images and features via 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 A. Garcia

Cygnus Departing Station Soon Live on NASA+

Live coverage of the departure of the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station is underway on NASA+, with its release from the robotic arm scheduled for 6:55 a.m. EDT. Coverage will conclude following departure from station.

Flight controllers on the ground sent commands earlier Friday morning for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and then maneuvered the spacecraft into position for its release. NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers will monitor Cygnus’ systems during its departure from the space station.

After a deorbit engine firing on Sunday, March 30, Cygnus will begin a planned destructive re-entry, in which the spacecraft – filled with trash packed by the station crew – will safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Cygnus arrived at the space station Aug. 6, 2024, following a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It was the company’s 21st commercial resupply services mission to the space station for NASA. The spacecraft is named the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee in honor of the former NASA astronaut.    

Get space station news, images and features via 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 A. Garcia

Cellular Immunity, Robotics, and Cargo Departure Preps Top Crew Day

The Expedition 72 crew members explored ways to protect their immune and circulatory systems in microgravity and tested robotic docking procedures aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The orbital residents also finished packing a U.S. cargo craft ahead of its departure on Friday.

Without Earth’s gravity pulling down, an astronaut’s body begins quickly changing in a multitude of ways that teams of doctors study every day to keep crews healthy on long-duration missions. One experiment, the Immunity Assay investigation, collects blood and saliva samples from crew members for processing and stowage in science freezers. Afterward, the samples are returned to Earth for analysis to detect space-caused cellular stress and tissue damage possibly leading to treatments for crews. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Takuya Onishi submitted his samples for the study on Thursday that may help researchers prevent stress-related immunity conditions in space and on Earth.

Station Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, continued their space biology investigation exploring how blood flows from the brain to their limbs in microgravity. The duo took turns wearing sensors attached to their forehead, fingers, and toes revealing how the circulatory system adapts to spaceflight. The veteran cosmonauts are in the middle of a weeklong study adding to the vast knowledge of space medicine doctors will use to protect crews traveling farther away from Earth.

As humans begin spending more time off the Earth the space industry continuously advances promoting new technologies benefitting crews in space as well as society on Earth. A pair of toaster-sized Astrobee robotic free-flyers were maneuvering inside the Kibo laboratory module testing autonomous docking techniques on Thursday. NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit activated the devices and monitored them in collaboration with engineers on the ground. The technology demonstration may enable satellite servicing, orbital refueling, spacecraft repair, and manufacturing in space.

The Cygnus cargo craft is in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm and still attached to the Unity module’s space-facing port. Robotics controllers will remotely command Canadarm2 to detach Cygnus from Unity overnight then release it into Earth orbit at 6:55 a.m. EDT on Friday. NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers will be on duty monitoring Cygnus as it departs the space station completing a seven-and-a-half-month stay at the orbital lab. NASA+ will begin its broadcast of Cygnus’ release and departure at 6:30 a.m.

Ayers and fellow NASA astronaut Anne McClain finished packing Cygnus and configured the spacecraft for its removal on Thursday. The duo exited Cygnus, closed its hatch, conducted leak checks, then depressurized the vestibule, or the area in between Cygnus and the orbiting lab.

Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov spent the first half of his shift servicing an oxygen generator in the Zvezda service module. In the afternoon, Peskov tested a video camera that can image natural and manmade catastrophes on Earth in a variety of wavelengths. He wrapped up his day continuing to replace life support gear that condenses and purifies water in Zvezda.

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Mark A. Garcia

Science-Packed Day Advancing Crew Health Before Cargo Mission Ends

Vision studies, a blood investigation, and more were underway aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday informing scientists how astronauts adapt to long duration spaceflight. The knowledge gained from the ongoing investigations is helping NASA and its international partners protect crews while planning missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Expedition 72 Flight Engineers Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, both NASA astronauts, joined each other on Wednesday for two sessions of the CIPHER investigation to learn how microgravity affects a crew member’s eye structure and vision. The duo first set up a variety of medical imaging hardware to examine the retina and optic nerve. Ayers led both biomedical studies starting with the first research session that saw McClain wear electrodes measuring her retinal response to light. For the second session, McClain peered into a device, operated by Ayers, that provides high resolution images of the retina and optic nerve.

Veteran NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit also spent his day on space biology first collecting his blood, saliva, and urine samples, then processing them, and finally stowing them in a science freezer for future analysis. Pettit also took a standard vision test looking at an eye chart to measure his visual acuity, or ability to recognize small details with precision. Doctors on the ground are constantly monitoring astronauts’ eyes to counter well-known space-caused symptoms and ensure long-term crew health.

Flight Engineer Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) joined in Wednesday’s biomedical studies first assisting Pettit with his blood collection activities then photographing Ayers and McClain during their eye studies. Onishi, who is on his second space station mission, spent the rest of his shift on even more space research as he checked out a spherical robot camera and turned on a Kubik research incubator for a cellular immunity study. At the end of his shift, he joined Ayers and set up the T-Mini wearable research hardware that measures an astronaut’s core body temperature and provides wireless medical evaluation capabilities.

Station Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner were back together on Wednesday continuing to study how living in weightlessness affects the circulatory system. Doctors are exploring how blood circulates back and forth from a crew member’s head to their limbs in space to assess cardiac health.

Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov, during the first half of his shift, continued replacing life support gear that condenses and purifies water in the Zvezda service module. Next, the first-time space flyer downloaded radiation data collected to measure the amount of radiation the orbiting lab and its crew is exposed to.

The Canadarm2 robotic arm is being readied for its upcoming grapple and release of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus space freighter scheduled for 6:55 a.m. EDT on Friday. Robotics controllers on the ground reconfigured the Canadarm2 for spacecraft operations on the orbital lab where it will visually inspect Cygnus on Thursday before removing it from the Unity module and releasing it into Earth orbit on Friday completing a seven-and-a-half-month cargo mission.

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 A. Garcia