![\"Expedition](\"https:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/spacestation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/240\/2020\/12\/blog_iss064e011646.jpg\")
<\/a>The Expedition 64<\/a> crew continues exploring how microgravity affects the heart to improve health for humans on and off the Earth. Northrop Grumman has booked its next Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station for early next year.<\/p>\n NASA Flight Engineers Kate Rubins<\/a> and Michael Hopkins<\/a> partnered up today for the Cardinal Heart<\/a> study to learn how to treat aging and weakening heart cells. Hopkins peered at heart tissue samples through a microscope while Rubins serviced those samples in the Kibo laboratory module<\/a>\u2019s Life Sciences Glovebox<\/a>.<\/p>\n Blood sample collections were on the morning schedule for Flight Engineer Victor Glover<\/a> as he took glucose measurements for the Vascular Aging<\/a> study. He then moved on to a space manufacturing study<\/a> that seeks to vastly improve the production and quality of optic fibers.<\/p>\n On the maintenance front, JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi<\/a> serviced U.S. spacesuits throughout Tuesday scrubbing cooling loops in the U.S. Quest airlock<\/a>. NASA Flight Engineer Shannon Walker<\/a> continued installing and outfitting the station\u2019s new bathroom, the Universal Waste Management System<\/a>, in the Tranquility module<\/a>.<\/p>\n Commander Sergey Ryzhikov<\/a> worked during the morning replacing components inside the Zvezda service module<\/a>\u2019s treadmill then moved on to cargo transfers inside the Progress 76 resupply ship<\/a>. Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov<\/a> swapped fuel bottles inside the Combustion Integrated Rack<\/a> research facility before configuring life support and communications hardware<\/p>\n Northrop Grumman<\/a> has announced Feb. 20 for the launch of its Cygnus space freighter to the space station with several tons of cargo to resupply the crew. Cygnus will take a two-day trip to the orbiting lab before it is captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm<\/a> and installed to the Unity module<\/a> where it will stay for two months.<\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Garcia <\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Expedition 64 crew continues exploring how microgravity affects the heart to improve health for humans on and off the Earth. Northrop Grumman has booked its next Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station for early next year. NASA Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Michael Hopkins partnered up today for the Cardinal Heart study \u2026 Continue reading