Archivos de la categoría ISS News

Astronaut Health Study and Spacesuit Work Onboard Station

The three Expedition 58 crew members continued studying today the upward flow of fluids inside astronauts’ bodies caused by living in space. The crew also worked on packing a U.S. cargo craft and servicing U.S. spacesuits at the International Space Station.

One easily recognizable symptom of living in space is the “puffy face” astronauts get due to the upward flow of fluids in the body. Underlying impacts of this phenomenon include head and eye pressure changes that occur off Earth which the Fluid Shifts experiment is seeking to better understand.

All three crew members gathered in the Zvezda service module throughout the day using a special suit to temporarily reverse these upward fluid shifts. NASA astronaut Anne McClain wore the Lower Body Negative Pressure suit, which pull fluids downward, while Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques checked her head and eye pressure using a variety of biomedical devices. Commander Oleg Kononenko assisted the duo with guidance from specialists on the ground.

McClain and Saint-Jacques also partnered up before lunchtime to get the Cygnus resupply ship ready for its departure on Feb. 12. The duo reviewed packing procedures and stowed inventory aboard the U.S. space freighter from Northrop Grumman.

McClain started the day installing the new Facet Cell crystal growth experiment in the Kibo laboratory module. She spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning cooling loops on U.S. spacesuits in the Quest airlock as NASA prepares for spacewalks at the orbital lab later this year.

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Mark Garcia

Tech Work and Life Science Ahead of Orbital Boost Today

Satellite and combustion technology are being worked on today aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 58 crew also studied botany and psychology while the station raised its orbit in a planned reboost maneuver.

Anne McClain of NASA installed new SlingShot small satellite deployer gear inside the Cygnus space freighter. SlingShot will deploy small research satellites from Cygnus after it departs the space station’s Unity module in February and reaches a safe distance.

McClain also transferred biomedical hardware for the Fluid Shifts head and eye pressure study into the Zvezda service module for continuing research. She later worked in the Columbus lab module installing a light meter to measure the amount of light nourishing plants inside the Veggie botany facility.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques opened up the Combustion Integrated Rack and configured hardware inside the flame and soot research device. The work is being done ahead of operations for the Advanced Combustion in Microgravity Experiments that encompass a set of five independent gaseous flames studies.

He later typed his mood, thoughts and emotions into an electronic journal for the Behavioral Core Measures experiment. The psychological study seeks to understand how the spacecraft environment, long-term separation from family and friends, loss of day-night cycle and other factors impact crew behavior.

In the Russian segment of the station, Commander Oleg Kononenko transferred fluids and packed trash into the docked Progress 70 (70P) cargo craft. The Progress resupply ship is due to undock from the Pirs docking compartment on Jan. 25.

A second docked Progress cargo craft, the 71P, fired its engines shortly after 1:01 p.m. EST to raise the station’s orbit.  The reboost comes in advance of upcoming cargo missions and the next crew launch in February.

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Mark Garcia

Crew Studies Space-Caused Eye Pressure and Cultural Differences

The Expedition 58 crew focused again today on studying head and eye pressure changes astronauts experience while living in space. The crew then went on to more science hardware and life support maintenance aboard the International Space Station.

Flight Engineers Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques worked throughout Thursday morning researching the upward flow of fluids that occurs inside astronauts’ bodies. The duo conducted eye scans with a variety of devices to measure eye pressure changes caused by these fluid shifts in microgravity.

McClain then spent the afternoon connecting cables and installing parts on the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) that houses small experiments in the Kibo lab module. Saint-Jacques replaced electronics gear in the Kubik incubator that enables research on seeds, cells and small animals in the Columbus lab module.

Commander Oleg Kononenko ensured the upkeep of life support gear and other station systems in the Russian segment of the orbital lab. The veteran cosmonaut of three previous Expeditions ended the day exploring how station crew members from around the world interact and learn to live together in space.

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Mark Garcia

Astronauts Study Head and Eye Pressure, Wearable Body Monitor

Human research took precedence aboard the International Space Station today as the Expedition 58 crew explored how astronauts adapt to living in space. The orbital residents also performed more ordinary roles as computer technicians and plumbers.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain is studying today the fluid shifts from an astronaut’s lower body to the upper body and how they impact the head and eyes during a spaceflight. She collected her blood samples for the long-running experiment, spinning them in a centrifuge before stowing the samples in a science freezer.

Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques measured his blood pressure beginning operations with the new Bio-Monitor system from the Canadian Space Agency. The wearable device monitors an astronaut’s physiological data in real-time with minimum interference to crew activities.

McClain also had time to relocate and deploy a laptop computer from the Harmony module to the Columbus lab module. Saint-Jacques spent the rest of Wednesday afternoon replacing parts in the space station’s toilet located in the Tranquility module.

Commander Oleg Kononenko worked on Russian maintenance in the orbital lab before inspecting and photographing windows in the Russian modules. He wrapped up the day on a pair of ongoing Earth observation studies photographing natural and man-made phenomena.

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Mark Garcia

Station Trio Practices Emergency Before Radiation, Physics Research

The Expedition 58 crew members started Tuesday with an emergency drill before splitting up for more space research and hardware maintenance.

Commander Oleg Kononenko led Flight Engineers Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques through a simulated emergency this morning aboard the International Space Station. The trio practiced communication and coordination with Mission Control Centers in Houston and Moscow.

The unlikely emergency scenarios the crew trains for include events such as depressurization, ammonia leaks and fires. Responses include quickly donning safety gear, closing a module hatch to isolate pressure and ammonia leaks, extinguishing a fire and evacuating the station aboard the Soyuz crew ship.

McClain then moved on to cable and parts work on the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) that can house a variety of smaller experiments. She wrapped up the day photographing Saint-Jacques as he installed neutron detectors for an experiment to understand how space radiation impacts astronauts.

Kononenko worked today on the Electromagnetic Levitator that exposes materials to extremely high temperatures to explore their thermo-physical properties in the microgravity environment. The four-time station cosmonaut later went on to routine maintenance on life support systems in the orbital lab’s Russian segment.

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Mark Garcia