Archivos de la categoría ISS News

Health Activities, Payload Repairs and Departure Prep Top Crew’s Monday Schedule

The ten residents living aboard the International Space Station have a jam-packed Monday as three Expedition 69 crew members are completing their final duties before departure and others complete an array of health exams and repairs to orbital payloads.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio began his day replacing clogged pumps on the BioFabrication Facility. After lunch, he moved on to collecting biological samples for the Food Physiology investigation, which assesses if an enhanced diet helps astronauts better adapt to spaceflight. Near the end of the day, Rubio continued departure prep ahead of his journey back home to Earth.

Rubio, along with Roscosmos Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, will undock from the station’s Prichal module at 3:55 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 27. The three long-serving crew members will take a short ride home, landing in Kazakhstan at 7:17 a.m. the same day. Following more than a year-long mission, Rubio is now the record-holder for the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut. He, along with Prokopyev and Petelin, will return after 371 days in space.

ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen spent his morning on the station’s bicycle, CEVIS, partaking in the CARDIOBREATH investigation—a study that assesses the combined effects of cardiovascular and respiratory adaptions on blood pressure during spaceflight. In the evening, he donned virtual reality goggles to train for spacewalk emergencies in the unlikely event they would occur using SAFER, the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue. Attached to the spacesuits, the device allows astronauts to safely return to the station if they were to become untethered. VR sessions allow astronauts to be “outside” of the orbiting laboratory while tracking movements of their hands and bodies during training.

NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli completed a suite of health activities today. In the morning, she took a cognition test for the ongoing Standard Measures investigation. She was later joined by NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa for ultrasound scans of arteries in the neck, clavicle, shoulder, and behind the knees, which helps doctors on Earth study how astronauts adapt to microcavity.

Moghbeli also took some time midafternoon to begin the uninstallation of the Cold Atom Lab science instrument in preparation for future repairs. Meanwhile, O’Hara conducted microbial research, analyzing surface and air samples that were collected last week, while Furukawa worked in the Kibo Laboratory Module continuing solid combustion research.

The other three cosmonauts aboard the orbiting laboratory split up duties as Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov ran the Pilot-T experiment to practice piloting techniques and was later joined by Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko to collect microbial samples around various Russian modules. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub spent part of his day inventorying cargo then moved on to crew orientation activities.

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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Abby Graf

Space Botany, Station Upkeep, and Departure Prep for Crew on Friday

Friday sees a busy day for the Expedition 69 crew ahead of their off-duty weekend aboard the International Space Station. Preparing for upcoming crew departures and October spacewalks, health exams, and space gardening topped the ten crew members’ research schedules today.

Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA started her day with orbital plumbing and maintenance on the EXPRESS racks, payloads used for storing research experiments. After lunch, she continued station upkeep tasks, removing and troubleshooting lights and inspecting the station’s cupola, or “window to the world.” Later in the day, Moghbeli was joined once again by ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa for another round of eye exams.

Mogensen then moved into some space gardening, harvesting the final round of Arabidopsis plants, part of the Plant Habitat-03 investigation. The experiment aims to help researchers better understand how adaptations of plants in one generation could transfer to the next, given the environmental stress of the microgravity environment. Research as such provides an array of scientific data that can be applied on future space missions.

Ahead of eye exams, Furukawa spent his morning in the Kibo Laboratory Module, installing solid combustion into the Multipurpose Payload Rack, research of this magnitude helping improve fuel efficiency and fire safety both on orbit and on Earth.

Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara of NASA was joined by Mogensen and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio in the morning to replace batteries and install restraint straps and helmet lights to spacesuits in preparation for a round of U.S. spacewalks in October.

After spacesuit maintenance, Rubio was joined by Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitiri Petelin of Roscosmos to train on descent of the Soyuz spacecraft they’ll take home in just a few short days. After spending over a year in space, the three long-serving residents will undock from the station’s Prichal Module at 3:55 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 27. Following a quick ride back home, they will land in Kazakhstan at 7:17 a.m.

The three other crew members of Roscosmos split up orbital duties today. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov conducted maintenance activities in the Nauka module, while Oleg Kononenko donned a sensor-packed cap to practice piloting techniques and explore how spacecraft can be controlled on future planetary missions as part of the ongoing Pilot-T investigation. Powered on earlier this week, the EarthKam—a digital camera mounted on the station that is remotely controlled by students to take photographs of Earth—was shut off and stowed for future use by Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub.

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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Abby Graf

Rubio Spends One Full Year in Space; Cleaning and Maintenance Tasks Top Thursday’s Schedule

As the Expedition 69 crew members near the end of their work week, the ten orbital residents completed a variety of cleaning and maintenance tasks on Thursday aboard the International Space Station.

After arriving to the orbital outpost on Sept. 21, 2022, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has reached one full year in space today. His record-breaking mission has included dozens of scientific investigations that have helped researchers better understand how humans thrive while living and working in space. Rubio spent most of his 365^th day on station upkeep, performing maintenance on the Human Research Facility, removing and replacing its pressure sensor block. In the evening, he collected biological samples for the ongoing Standard Measures investigation.

Flight Engineers Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara of NASA began their day in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) cleaning smoke detectors. The duo then split up after lunch, Moghbeli removing and replacing cables on the network router in the Destiny Laboratory Module, while O’Hara studied training materials on the station’s new Potable Water Dispenser. O’Hara then joined ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen to review spacesuit operations.

Meanwhile, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa kick-started his day with the required two hours of exercise for astronauts, using the station’s bike, CEVIS, and the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, or ARED. The rest of his day was spent working in JEM, collecting samples from the Water Recovery System for future analysis.

The five Roscosmos cosmonauts living in low-Earth orbit worked on separate tasks today as two prepare to head home to Earth next week. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov worked in the Nauka module, removing and replacing vacuum pumps, while Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub ran the 3D printer in the Zvezda service module. Their fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who arrived to the orbiting laboratory just last week with O’Hara and Chub, ran an experiment that assesses cardiovascular and respiratory function.

The other two long-serving station residents, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, reached one year in space today along with Rubio. The duo spent their 365^th day continuing to prepare for their journey back home to Earth next week on Sept. 27.

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.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Abby Graf

NASA Seeks Proposals from US Industry for Station Deorbit Spacecraft

NASA has released a request for proposal from U.S. industry for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), a spacecraft meant to safely deorbit the International Space Station as part of its planned retirement.

To maximize value to the government and enhance competition, the acquisition will allow offerors flexibility in proposing Firm Fixed Price or Cost Plus Incentive Fee for the Design, Development, Test and Evaluation phase. The remainder of the contract will be Firm Fixed Price.

Since 1998, five space agencies (the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the State Space Corporation “Roscosmos”) have operated the International Space Station, with each responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it provides. The station was designed to be interdependent and relies on contributions from across the partnership to function. The United States, Japan, Canada, and the participating countries of ESA (European Space Agency) have committed to operating the station through 2030, and Russia through at least 2028.

At the conclusion of the International Space Station program, the station will be deorbited in a controlled manner to avoid populated areas. The safe deorbit of the International Space Station is a shared responsibility of all five space agencies through partner contributions based on mass percent ownership by agency. In the future, the United States plans to transition its operations in low Earth orbit to commercially-owned and -operated platforms to ensure continued access and presence in space for research, technology development, and international collaboration.

In a years-long effort, NASA and its partners studied deorbit requirements and previously developed a preliminary strategy and action plan that evaluated the use of multiple Roscosmos Progress spacecraft to support deorbit operations. These efforts now indicate a new spacecraft solution would provide more robust capabilities for responsible deorbit. To initiate development of this new spacecraft, NASA released the request for proposal.

The USDV is focused on the final deorbit activity. It will be a new spacecraft design or modification to an existing spacecraft that must function on its first flight and have sufficient redundancy and anomaly recovery capability to continue the critical deorbit burn. As with any development effort of this size, the USDV will take years to develop, test, and certify.

For additional information about deorbit plans, visit: International Space Station Transition FAQs.

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 Garcia

Health Activities, Microbial Research for Orbital Residents Today; Crew Handovers Continue

Ten orbital residents are keeping busy Wednesday with a variety of tasks including eye exams, station maintenance, and training. While new members of the Expedition 69 crew familiarize themselves with hardware and equipment, others are completing more prep work ahead of their departure from the International Space Station next week.

After donning the Sleep in Orbit hardware overnight, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen started his day filling out a questionnaire that helps researchers gain insight into astronauts’ sleep in space and compare that data to sleep on Earth. Midmorning, he was joined by NASA astronauts and first-time station residents, Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli, to make adjustments to their spacesuits that will be used on future spacewalks.

After lunch, Mogensensen and Moghbeli were joined by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa to conduct ultrasound eye exams. Furukawa spent most of his morning collecting surface samples for microbial analysis ahead of the exam. Afterward, he moved on to collecting air samples to continue the microbial research.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio spent Wednesday gearing up for his trek home to Earth next week following a record-breaking mission. He spent part of his day working in the Japanese Experiment Module conducting maintenance before moving onto departure prep, including crew handover activities and prepping items that will return home with the crew on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft.

Rubio, as well as Roscosmos Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, launched to the space station on Sept. 21, 2022, and will undock on Sept. 27 after spending over one year in space. The two cosmonauts joined Rubio in crew handover and departure prep activities today as they prepare for a change in command and continue to train the newly arrived crew.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who arrived to the orbital outpost last Friday along with O’Hara, completed crew orientation early on in the day. In the evening, the two were joined by Mogensen, O’Hara and Prokopyev to familiarize themselves with hardware and equipment throughout various station modules.

Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos spent most of the day conducting an experiment that studies the glow of Earth’s atmosphere at night in near ultraviolet.

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.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Abby Graf