Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Post-Spacewalk Cleanup, Physics and Biology Research Wrap Up Week

Two NASA astronauts took a half-a-day off on Friday following a spacewalk the previous day then cleaned up spacesuit gear and held a conference with specialists on the ground. Meanwhile, science continued aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 72 crew studied space physics and biology.

Flight Engineer Nick Hague and Commander Suni Williams worked six hours in the vacuum of space on Thursday servicing astrophysics hardware and replacing orientation and navigation components. The duo relaxed a few hours on Friday before packing gear removed from the outside of the station and recharging spacesuit water tanks and lithium-ion batteries.

Williams also worked with NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit in the Quest airlock stowing a rate gyro assembly and planar reflector that she had removed and replaced the day before on the outside of the orbital outpost. The rate gyro assembly, which provides data on the space station’s orientation, and the planar reflector, which provides navigational data, will both be returned to Earth for examination.

NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore assisted Williams and recharged water tanks and the lithium-ion batteries that power the spacesuits during spacewalks. The day before, Wilmore photographed the spacesuit gloves following the completion of the spacewalk for inspection by engineers in Mission Control. At the end of his shift on Friday, Wilmore joined Pettit, Williams, and Hague and held a standard debriefing session with mission controllers and discussed their experiences before, during, and after Thursday’s spacewalk.

Hague and Wilmore also had time for science as they swapped physics hardware inside the Destiny laboratory module. The advanced research gear supports a physics furnace that operates in Destiny’s Microgravity Science Glovebox for an experiment that is exploring semiconductor crystal manufacturing in space.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner once again joined each other and explored how microgravity affects blood flow to the human circulatory system’s tiniest vessels. The pair attached sensors to their forehead, fingers, and toes providing data researchers studying how blood circulates to crew member’s limbs in space. Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov inventoried hardware in the Zarya and Zvezda modules then activated Earth observation gear that monitors man-made and natural disaster in a variety of wavelengths.

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 the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Spacewalkers Wrap Up X-Ray Telescope Repair Job and More

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Nick Hague concluded their spacewalk at 2:01 p.m. EST on Jan. 16. It was the fourth spacewalk for Hague and the eighth for Williams, and it was the 273rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

Williams and Hague completed their primary objectives, including removing and replacing a rate gyro assembly, installing patches to cover damaged areas of light filters on the NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) x-ray telescope, and replacing a reflector device on one of the international docking adapters. The pair also checked access areas and connector tools that astronauts will use for future Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer maintenance.

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 the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Two Astronauts Start Spacewalk for Astrophysics Hardware Work

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams began a spacewalk at 8:01 a.m. EST at the International Space Station.

The duo will remove and replace a rate gyro assembly that helps provide orientation control for the station, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for an X-ray telescope called NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and replace a reflector device used for navigational data on one of the international docking adapters. The pair also will check access areas and connector tools that will be used for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Hague is crew member 1 wearing a suit with red stripes. Williams is spacewalk crew member 2, wearing an unmarked suit.

NASA’s coverage continues on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

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 the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

NASA+ Spacewalk Coverage Begins for X-Ray Telescope Repair

NASA’s coverage is underway on NASA+ as two astronauts will conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at approximately 8 a.m. EST and last about six and a half hours.

Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Nick Hague will exit the station’s Quest airlock to remove and replace a rate gyro assembly that helps provide orientation control for the station, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for an X-ray telescope called NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and replace a reflector device used for navigational data on one of the international docking adapters.

Additionally, the pair will check access areas and connector tools astronauts will use for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Hague will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and wear a suit with red stripes. Williams will serve as spacewalk crew member 2 and wear an unmarked suit. This will be the fourth for Hague and the eighth for Williams. It will be the 273rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

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 the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Crew Wraps Up Spacewalk Preps, Keeps Up Human Research

Two NASA astronauts have finalized preparations for the first spacewalk of 2025 to service astrophysics hardware on the International Space Station. The rest of the Expedition 72 crew split the day between assisting the upcoming spacewalkers and keeping up human research.

Flight Engineer Nick Hague and space station Commander Suni Williams, both from NASA, will set their spacesuits to internal battery power at 8 a.m. EST on Thursday beginning a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. They will exit the Quest airlock and patch light leaks in the NICER X-ray telescope then ready the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for future upgrades. The experienced spacewalking duo will also replace advanced engineering hardware to maintain station orientation and provide navigation data. NASA+ begins its spacewalk coverage at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Hague and Williams started Wednesday in Quest reviewing the procedures they will use to fulfill their spacewalking tasks. The pair also staged spacesuits and organized the specialized tools inside Quest. NASA Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Butch Wilmore assisted with the spacewalking preparations then joined Hague and Williams for a readiness review with mission controllers on the ground at the end of their shift.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner were back on human research duty on Wednesday attaching sensors to their forehead, fingers, and toes measuring how blood flows to the tiniest vessels in microgravity. Scientists want to understand how the human circulatory system in the limbs of crew members adapt to living long-term in microgravity. Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov took a fitness test pedaling on an exercise cycle while electrodes measured his aerobic and cardiovascular output ensuring his health in weightlessness. All three cosmonauts also continued their orbital maintenance tasks servicing a variety of life support gear throughout the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment.

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 the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia