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<\/a>The Expedition 64<\/a> crew is making final preparations today for the arrival of a U.S. resupply ship while keeping up the momentum of space research. The next two spacewalks also have been scheduled to continue hardware installations and upgrades at the International Space Station<\/a>.<\/p>\n Northrop Grumman\u2019s Cygnus space freighter is counting down to its launch from Virginia on Saturday at 12:36 p.m. EST to the orbiting lab. It will rendezvous with the station on Monday when Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi<\/a> of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)\u00a0 commands the Canadarm2 robotic arm<\/a> to capture Cygnus at about 4:40 a.m. NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins<\/a> will monitor Cygnus\u2019 approach and rendezvous as it reaches a point about 10 meters from the station.<\/p>\n The duo practiced a variety of robotics maneuvers on a computer today to capture Cygnus. The training simulates different approach scenarios for the U.S. space freighter as the astronauts familiarize themselves with the necessary robotic capture techniques.<\/p>\n Two more spacewalks are planned at the orbiting lab on Feb. 28 and March 5. On the first spacewalk, NASA astronauts Kate Rubins<\/a> and Victor Glover<\/a> will set up the station for upcoming solar array upgrades. For the second spacewalk, Rubins will be joined by Noguchi for maintenance on coolant and communication systems.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s science work on the station encompassed physics, biology and human research. Flight Engineer Shannon Walker<\/a> set up hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox<\/a> to explore how liquids and gases behave together in space for the Packed Bed Reactor Experiment<\/a>. Rubins continued swabbing station surfaces to collect microbe samples for DNA sequencing and analysis<\/a>. Glover joined Noguchi wearing virtual reality helmets for a study researching how time perception<\/a> and cognition is affected in weightlessness.<\/p>\n In the station\u2019s Russian segment, Commander Sergey Ryzhikov<\/a> and Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov<\/a> serviced an array of life support systems and electronics gear. Cargo transfers from the ISS Progress 77 cargo craft are also ongoing.<\/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 is making final preparations today for the arrival of a U.S. resupply ship while keeping up the momentum of space research. The next two spacewalks also have been scheduled to continue hardware installations and upgrades at the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman\u2019s Cygnus space freighter is counting down to its launch \u2026 Continue reading