Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Dragon Operations Underway During Advanced Biology Studies

Dragon spacecraft operations were underway aboard the International Space Station on Friday as four crew members prepare to return to Earth and another quartet prepares to swap docking ports. Meanwhile, microgravity science continued apace as the Expedition 72 crew explored how weightlessness affects stem cells, plant growth, and equilibrium.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission is about to complete a seven-month mission aboard the orbital outpost that began on March 3. The homebound quartet, with NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, completed final reviews on Friday for their departure aboard the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft targeted for Sunday at 6:05 a.m. EDT.

NASA+ will stream Crew-8’s hatch closing and undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port beginning at 4 a.m. on Sunday. NASA+ will also start its live coverage of Crew-8’s return to Earth at 2:30 p.m. on Monday before Dragon splashes down at 3:38 p.m., pending weather. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The most recent Dragon spacecraft to visit the orbital outpost, Freedom, will switch docking ports a few days after Endeavour competes its mission. Crew-9 Commander Nick Hague from NASA will lead NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore along with cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard Freedom during the quick ride from Harmony’s forward port to the port vacated by Crew-8. The foursome spent about an hour on Friday training for their relocation activities. NASA+ will cover the relocation activities live when mission managers finalize a time and date for Dragon’s port switch.

The Dragon crew members are still a part of the 11-member Expedition 72 crew and kept up their advanced space research activities on Friday helping NASA and its international partners keep humans healthy on and off the Earth. Williams and Wilmore serviced stem cell samples for microscope operations to learn how to treat blood diseases and cancers. Dominick and Epps were back on space botany research investigating how plants absorb water in space to support self-sufficient missions farther away from Earth. Barratt uninstalled and stowed hardware that enabled observations of how plants grow in the microgravity and radiation environment. Finally, Hague joined NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, who arrived at the orbiting lab aboard the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, for eye scans with the Ultrasound 2 device.

The two cosmonauts who launched to space with Pettit, Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, took turns exploring how the lack of gravity affects their sense of balance, vision, and other sensory cues. The pair attached sensors near their eyes and ears and wore virtual reality goggles that tracked their eye movements to improve astronaut training and adaptation and promote therapies for patients on Earth.

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

Station Keeps Up Biology Studies as Crew-8 Nears Departure

The Expedition 72 crew members explored how space affects exercise and plant growth on Thursday helping NASA and its international partners plan human missions farther away from Earth. The International Space Station residents are also preparing for the departure of four crewmates and continuing to maintain science and life support systems.

The lack of gravity accelerates the loss of bone and muscle mass in crew members living and working in the weightless environment of space. As a result, astronauts exercise for two hours every day to counter the space-caused physical deconditioning and maintain their health ensuring mission success. Researchers monitored NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague as he pedaled on an exercise cycle while attached sensors and wearing breathing gear that measured his aerobic capacity. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner jogged on a treadmill for a regularly scheduled fitness evaluation. Researchers monitor the workout sessions and analyze the data to ensure safe and effective workouts while living in microgravity.

Hague also joined station Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore, both NASA astronauts, and reviewed emergency hardware and procedures in the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft. The NASA trio then teamed up with Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov and called down to Earth for a conference with SpaceX mission controllers. Gorbunov launched to space aboard Freedom with Hague on Sept. 28. Williams and Wilmore will return to Earth with the Freedom  duo in February of 2025.

NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Mike Barratt spent all day Thursday studying how to water plants in space. Barratt set up space botany hardware in the Harmony module while Dominick performed research operations for the Plant Water Management 5 experiment. The investigation explores using low-gravity watering methods such as hydroponics and aeroponics to support plant growth in space.

NASA Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Jeanette Epps focused on science maintenance during their shifts on Thursday. Pettit calibrated biology imaging hardware in the Kibo laboratory module that can detect space-caused inflammatory changes in organisms. Epps packed stem cell research hardware for return to Earth then powered down the KERMIT fluorescence microscope used to image the stem cell samples.

Meanwhile, Epps and her fellow SpaceX Crew-8 crewmates Dominick, Barratt, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin called to Mission Control in Houston on Thursday and gave their farewell remarks. The Commercial Crew quartet is targeted to undock from the Harmony’s space-facing port aboard SpaceX Dragon Endeavour no earlier than 3:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday, weather pending. NASA+ will broadcast the crew departure activities and Dragon’s parachute-assisted splashdown the following day at a site to be determined. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Watch the farewell remarks on YouTube.

Finally, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin started his day on a space physics experiment studying how free-flying objects in microgravity move in relation to the speed and trajectory of the space station. Afterward, he spent the rest of his day servicing Roscosmos computers and ventilation systems.

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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Mark Garcia

Crew Studies Exercise, Veins, and Plants Before Quartet’s Farewell

Space biology topped the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday as the Expedition 72 crew explored how weightlessness affects exercising, veins, and plants. Meanwhile, four SpaceX Crew-8 members continue targeting Sunday, Oct. 13, for their departure, weather pending.

Scientists are studying how to work out effectively in microgravity to prevent space-caused accelerated bone and muscle loss. NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick, set up high-definition video cameras and a motion capture system that monitored him while working out on the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED) in the Tranquility module. The ARED mimics the inertial forces of lifting free weights on Earth to maintain muscle health during long-term space missions. Pettit’s exercise session was for the ARED Kinematics study that compares the results of both Earth and space workouts to improve space exercise programs and counter musculoskeletal deconditioning.

Commander Suni Williams took charge as the crew medical officer on Wednesday and scanned the neck, shoulder, and leg veins of NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague using the Ultrasound 2 device examining his circulatory health. Williams also configured radio frequency hardware and serviced samples for the Gaucho Lung drug treatment study. Hague installed biology imaging hardware in the Kibo laboratory module that can detect space-caused inflammatory changes in organisms.

NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps spent her day replacing components that remove carbon dioxide and ethylene from inside Kibo’s Plant Habitat to support an upcoming space botany study. NASA Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Butch Wilmore spent their day on maintenance as Barratt charged spacewalking tool batteries and Wilmore swapped out experimental hardware for an advanced life support system study.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin continued packing for his return to Earth targeted for no earlier than Sunday. He will return with fellow Crew-8 members Dominick, Barratt, and Epps aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. The Commercial Crew quartet will call down to Mission Control at 3 p.m. EDT on Thursday for farewell remarks live on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The orbiting lab’s three other cosmonaut flight engineers Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov focused on their complement of Roscosmos science and maintenance. Ovchinin replaced a fire extinguisher in the Nauka science module and jogged on a treadmill for a regularly scheduled fitness evaluation. Vagner installed a hyper spectrometer to obtain Earth imagery in a variety of wavelengths. Finally, Gorbunov set up carbon dioxide monitoring gear, tested Roscosmos laptop computers, and conducted a space physics experiment. Gorbunov also joined Hague at the end of the day and discussed with mission controllers their experience riding to space aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom.

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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Mark Garcia

Relaxation, Science, and Maintenance as Crew Departure Preps Continue

The seven NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station relaxed and took a break on Tuesday before the SpaceX Crew-8 mission leaves. Meanwhile, the four Roscosmos cosmonauts stayed busy focusing on their complement of research and lab maintenance.

Expedition 72 Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps of NASA and Alexander Grebenkin from Roscosmos are now targeting departure from the orbital outpost aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft for no earlier than 3:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday, pending weather. The quartet is scheduled to call down to Mission Control Center in Houston for farewell remarks at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday. Watch live coverage of both events on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA’s three Crew-8 astronauts Dominick, Barratt, and Epps cleared their schedules on Tuesday and relaxed following several days of cargo packing, departure training, and spacecraft configurations inside Dragon Endeavour. Crew-8 cosmonaut Grebenkin stayed busy spending the first half of his day obtaining Earth imagery in the visible and near-infrared spectrum. Afterward, he serviced the ventilation system inside the Nauka science module.

The other four NASA astronauts residing aboard the space station including Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineers Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit also had the day off on Tuesday. Pettit, however, did spend a couple of hours testing a free-flying, robotic camera in the cupola then photographing the deployment of the CySat-1 and DORA (Deployable Optical Receiver Array) CubeSats outside the Kibo laboratory module. The quartet has been assisting the homebound Crew-8 members with their return activities and will soon adjust their sleep schedules to accommodate Endeavour’s undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port.

The four cosmonauts aboard the station, including Grebenkin, stayed busy on Tuesday continuing their advanced microgravity science and orbital upkeep tasks for Roscosmos. Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin installed Earth imaging hardware in Harmony that can be remotely controlled by students on the ground to photograph Earth landmarks. Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner spent his day replacing gas and water filters in Nauka and cleaning smoke detectors in the Rassvet module. Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov measured carbon dioxide levels aboard the station then worked on standard orbital plumbing duties.

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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Mark Garcia

Biology, Physics Research Fill Schedule as Crew Awaits Departure

Space biology and physics were the main focus of research operations for the Expedition 72 crew aboard the International Space Station on Monday. Meanwhile, four Commercial Crew members are waiting for their final departure date before returning to Earth.

NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague worked in the Columbus laboratory module swapping filters inside the BioLab’s incubator. BioLab supports the observation of microbes, cells, tissue cultures and more to understand the effects of weightlessness and radiation on organisms. NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit set up a laptop computer on the Cell Biology Experiment Facility, a research incubator with an artificial gravity generator, located in the Kibo laboratory module.

Station Commander Suni Williams explored space physics on Monday mixing gel samples and observing with a fluorescence microscope how particles of different sizes gel and coarsen. Results are expected to benefit the medicine, food, and cosmetic industries. NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, who has been aboard the station with Williams since June 6, trained to operate advanced life support gear installed in the Microgravity Science Glovebox for a different space physics experiment then relaxed the rest of the day.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov wore a sensor-packed cap that recorded his responses as he practiced futuristic planetary piloting techniques on computer. Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin inspected and cleaned the Electromagnetic Levitator that can levitate samples exposed to high temperatures for thermophysical research. Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner started out his day cleaning smoke detectors and testing batteries before ending his shift imaging Earth’s nighttime atmosphere in near-ultraviolet wavelengths.

NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Mike Barratt, both SpaceX Crew-8 members, began the day in the Tranquility module unpacking and transferring cargo stowed in the NanoRacks Bishop airlock. More than just a stowage module, Bishop can also house science experiments that can also be placed in the external microgravity environment.

The two other crewmates representing Crew-8, Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps of NASA and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos, spent their day packing cargo inside the Dragon Endeavour, handing over their mission responsibilities, and relaxing.

The four Crew-8 members will wait a few more days before saying farewell to the Expedition 72 crew aboard the orbital outpost. Mission managers are monitoring weather conditions off the coast of Florida and will announce an undocking and splashdown time and date, weather pending, for the foursome inside Endeavour.

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/

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

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Mark Garcia