Archivos de la categoría ISS News

Station Ramps Up for Crew Swap and Spacewalk Preps

NASA and SpaceX are preparing for a Commercial Crew swap taking place this month at the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) astronauts are staying busy as two cosmonauts gear up for a pair of spacewalks outside the orbiting lab’s Russian segment.

Two Commercial Crew missions are getting ready to trade places on the orbiting lab by the end of April. The four SpaceX-Crew-4 astronauts are in quarantine counting down to liftoff aboard the Dragon Freedom crew ship from Florida at 5:26 a.m. EDT on April 23. Commander Kjell Lindgren will lead Pilot Robert Hines and Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti on a ride to the station’s Harmony module where they will dock just over 24 hours later.

The new quartet will replace the SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts who are due to leave the station at the end of April inside the Dragon Endeavor crew ship. Commander Raja Chari, Pilot Tom Marshburn and Mission Specialists Kayla Barron and Matthias Maurer will splashdown off the coast of Florida after living and working nearly six months in space.

The four Ax-1 crew members continue to focus on their busy slate of space research ahead of their undocking planned for next week. Former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria partnered with Pilot Larry Connors and analyzed human cells for the Aging and Heart Health study. The duo also joined Mission Specialist Eytan Stibbe from Israel taking turns wearing a headset that monitors cognitive performance and brain activity in weightlessness. Mission Specialist Mark Pathy from Canada spent some time in the cupola photographing landmarks on Earth.

Two cosmonauts are ramping up their preparations for a pair of spacewalks set for April 18 and April 28. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev are reviewing procedures they will use to activate the European Robotic Arm outside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module during both excursions. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov spent the day helping the cosmonauts get ready for their spacewalks.

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Powered by WPeMatico

Science, Spacewalks Preps Underway as Crew-4 Targets Launch

It was a very busy day aboard the International Space Station as the 11-person crew focused on human research experiments and spacewalk preparations. Back on Earth, four Commercial Crew astronauts are in quarantine ahead of their planned to launch to the orbiting lab in less than two weeks.

Expedition 67 Commander Tom Marshburn of NASA began his day continuing to explore how living in space affects cellular aging and cardiac cells. Afterward, he moved on and assisted the four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts with their packed schedule of microgravity research. Flight Engineers Kayla Barron of NASA and Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) collected and stowed their blood samples in the morning for an ongoing muscle biochemical properties study.

Next, Barron serviced a diverse array of research hardware throughout the day including the Life Science Glovebox, a mixed-reality headset, and finally a science freezer. Maurer set up acoustic monitoring hardware before powering up the CIMON mobile artificial intelligence companion for a technology demonstration.

NASA Flight Engineer Raja Chari configured a commercial microscope that can be operated on the station and remotely from the ground to streamline imaging and analysis for a variety of space research. Chari then turned his attention to departure preparations for he and his SpaceX Crew-3 crewmates at the end of the month before wrapping up the day with orbital plumbing activities.

Two spacewalks with cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev are currently scheduled for April 18 and 28. Today, the duo was joined by fellow cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov and reviewed the procedures the spacewalkers will use during both excursions to ready the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module for the European Robotic Arm (ERA).

The four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts had a full day of space science and commercial and private activities. Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria resumed his cancer research while Pilot Larry Connor continued testing a miniature antenna. Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy were back exploring brain dynamics and transmitting 3D images of humans to space.

The next Commercial Crew mission to the orbiting lab, SpaceX Crew-4, is now targeted to launch on April 23 at 5:26 a.m. EDT. The mission’s four astronauts, including Commander Kjell Lindgren, Pilot Robert Hines, and Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti, have entered their quarantine period to ensure their health and protect the crew aboard the orbiting lab.

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

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Powered by WPeMatico

Busy Science Day Explores Human Research and Space Physics

The 11 astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard the International Space Station today worked on a multitude of science experiments that may improve life for humans on and off the Earth. The space research on the orbiting lab ran the gamut of biology, physics and Earth observations.

Expedition 67 Commander Tom Marshburn set up a glucometer and blood tubes to explore how living in weightlessness affects insulin resistance for the Vascular Aging study. He also continued helping the four Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) astronauts get up to speed with operations aboard the space station.

Flight Engineer Raja Chari of NASA configured Actiwatches that monitor light conditions and an astronaut’s activities to help doctors understand a crew member’s wake-sleep in space. NASA Flight Engineer Kayla Barron worked inside the Life Science Glovebox and set up the Fluidic Space Optics experiment that could impact the development of space telescopes. ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer collected air samples for chemical analysis then set up blood collection hardware for the Myotones muscle biomechanics study.

Veteran astronaut and Ax-1 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria researched how space affects brain activity and increases the risk of cancer. Ax-1 Pilot Larry Connor also explored brain dynamics, then installed a miniature antenna demonstration, and held an educational event with students on Earth.

The two Ax-1 Mission Specialists also had a full schedule researching a variety of space phenomena throughout the orbiting lab on Tuesday. Israeli crew member Eytan Stibbe assisted Connor with the antenna work then focused on the space liquid behavior study that Barron had set up earlier. Mark Pathy from Canada photographed Earth landmarks from inside the cupola then explored holoportation while wearing an augmented reality headset.

The station’s three cosmonauts from Roscosmos focused on their contingent of activities throughout the orbiting lab’s Russian segment. Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev worked on cargo activities inside the ISS Progress 79 resupply ship, then joined first time space-flyer Sergey Korsakov and trained for operations of the European Robotic Arm. New cosmonaut Denis Matveev studied advanced Earth photography techniques and worked on maintenance activities.

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Powered by WPeMatico

11 Astronauts Busy with Research, Cargo Work and Spacewalk Preps

It was very busy on the International Space Station on Monday with the orbiting lab hosting 11 crew members including the four-member Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew. The private astronauts and the seven-member Expedition 67 crew were engaged in a multitude of tasks today such as packing a U.S. cargo ship, researching life science, and preparing for a pair of Russian spacewalks.

NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Kayla Barron swapped cargo in and out of the U.S. Cygnus space freighter today. The duo replenished the station’s galley with food from Cygnus while stowing trash and other discarded items inside the resupply ship ahead of its departure at the end of May. The astronauts were also joined by NASA Commander Tom Marshburn and ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer during some of the cargo work.

Maurer spent the majority of Monday setting up hardware for the Transparent Alloys physics study and the AstroPi computer that students can program from Earth to understand the space environment. Marshburn helped the four Ax-1 astronauts get up to speed with space station operations and emergency procedures.

Former NASA astronaut and Ax-1 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is on his fourth space flight and his first as an Axiom Space astronaut. He partnered with Ax-1 Pilot Larry Connor today exploring how living in microgravity affects cellular aging and cardiac cells. The other two Ax-1 astronauts, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe, explored DNA sequencing, brain dynamics, the cardiovascular system, and tested holoportation, or transmitting mixed-reality, 360-degree images of humans to space.

Two cosmonauts continue gearing up for a pair of spacewalks later this month to configure the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module for the European Robotic Arm (ERA). Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev had a fitness test, checked their Orlan spacesuits, and installed pressure tanks in the Poisk module as part of standard pre-spacewalk preparations. Russian Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov set up hardware to assist the spacewalkers during the ERA work outside Nauka.

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

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Powered by WPeMatico

Four Ax-1 Astronauts Enter Station, Meet Expedition 67 Crew

Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe, and Mark Pathy now are aboard the International Space Station following Crew Dragon’s hatch opening at 10:13 a.m. EDT, Saturday, April 9.

Ax-1 docked to the orbital complex at 8:29 a.m. while the spacecraft were flying 260 miles above the central Atlantic Ocean. It is the first mission with an entirely private crew to arrive at the orbiting laboratory.

The Axiom crew are joining Expedition 67 crew members, including NASA astronauts Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Korsokov, and Denis Matveev.

The welcome ceremony is targeted to begin about X a.m. with the following participants:

• Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Michael Suffredini, president and CEO, Axiom Space

The Ax-1 crew will spend more than one week aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting science, education, and commercial activities.

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

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Powered by WPeMatico