This whole collection is NGC 1858, an open star cluster in the northwest region of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way that boasts an abundance of star-forming regions. NGC 1858 is estimated to be around 10 million years old.
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NASA will provide live coverage of the Artemis I uncrewed Orion spacecraft’s return flyby of the Moon on Monday, Dec. 5, as well as its return to Earth on Sunday, Dec. 11.
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Two astronauts are preparing to exit the International Space Station on Saturday to install a new roll-out solar array. Their Expedition 68 crewmates assisted the duo on Friday while continuing an array of advanced space science and orbital lab maintenance.
NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio spent Friday checking their batteries, tools, and cameras they will use on a spacewalk scheduled to begin at 7:25 a.m. EST on Saturday. The duo will exit the Quest airlock in their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, and translate over to the Starboard- 4 truss segment worksite for the seven-hour spacewalk. Once there, the spacewalkers will install the new roll-out-solar array, also known as an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, or iROSA, augmenting the station’s power generation system.
Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reviewed today the steps they will need to assist Cassada and Rubio during Saturday’s spacewalk. The pair will assist the astronauts in and out of their EMUs, maneuver the Canadarm2 robotic arm, as well as monitor the spacewalkers during the excursion.
Mann kicked off Friday morning as crew medical officer and conducted a health examination on Cassada and Rubio which is standard the day before a spacewalk. Mann measured the astronauts’ vital signs including temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate.
Aside from assisting with spacewalk preparations, Wakata also had time for a variety of science activities at the end of the week. He started the morning inside the cupola photographing four different small satellites as they were deployed into Earth orbit from outside the Kibo laboratory module. The veteran space station resident then replaced components inside the TangoLab space research and development facility. Finally, Wakata took samples out of the BioLab incubator and photographed them for the Sutures in Space investigation that observes wound healing in microgravity.
Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos tested 3-D printing in space before photographing station crew activities such as research, maintenance, and exercise. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin also participated in the crew photography session before servicing the Zvezda service module’s ventilation system. Flight Engineer Anna Kikina worked on Zvezda’s power supply system and photographed the interior condition of the Rassvet and Poisk modules.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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Mark Garcia
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The Expedition 68 crew began installing a new space botany experiment today while gearing up for a spacewalk planned for this weekend. The orbital residents are also continuing their research into the nervous system, unpacking a U.S. cargo craft, and keeping up International Space Station systems.
NASA and its international partners have been learning how to grow fresh food on the orbiting lab for several years. Today, NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann began installing the new Veg-05 space agriculture study that will soon grow dwarf tomatoes with the astronauts testing fertilizer techniques, microbial food safety, nutritional value, and taste. Growing fresh food during future missions farther away from Earth may promote crew morale and reduce crew dependency on space cargo missions.
Veteran station astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) serviced microbe samples being observed for the Neural Integration System biotechnology experiment. Wakata fed the microbes inside the Cell Biology Experiment Facility, a specialized incubator with an artificial gravity generator, for the study that may provide insights into neuromuscular conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
Mann and Wakata later joined NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio and continued preparing for a spacewalk planned to start at 7:25 a.m. EST on Saturday. The quartet reviewed the steps Cassada and Rubio will use to install a roll-out solar array on the station’s Starboard- 4 truss segment during the seven-hour excursion. Mann and Wakata will be inside the station supporting the duo before, during, and after the spacewalk.
The roll-out-solar array, also known as an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, or iROSA, was extracted from inside the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship’s unpressurized trunk by ground controllers remotely commanding the Canadarm2 robotic arm. The iROSA was then placed on a starboard truss structure attachment point. From there, the spacewalkers will retrieve the roll-out solar array on Saturday and install it on the starboard truss segment. The new iROSA is augmenting the space station’s power generation system.
The space station’s three cosmonauts spent Thursday servicing a variety of life support hardware and space station gear. Roscosmos Commander Sergey Prokopyev began the day checking cameras and their components before cleaning the Zvezda service module’s ventilation system. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin completed his 24-hour heart monitoring activity on Thursday morning then worked on Ethernet cable connections and orbital plumbing gear. Flight Engineer Anna Kikina spent the day maintaining an assortment of station systems and their components ensuring the orbiting lab operates in tip-top shape.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/
Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe
Mark Garcia
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On the sixth day of the Artemis I mission, Nov. 21, 2022, the Orion spacecraft’s optical navigation camera captured black-and-white images of craters on the Moon below.
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