Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Cancer and Heart Studies, Spacesuit Swaps Aboard Station Today

Life science continues ramping up aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 64 crew explores cancer therapies and heart conditions.

NASA Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Victor Glover set up research hardware to create high quality antibody crystals Thursday morning for a new cancer study. The space medical research could accelerate the development of advanced therapies on Earth that target cancer cells.

Rubins then spent the afternoon servicing samples for the Cardinal Heart study that observes microgravity’s affect on aging and weakening heart muscles. Glover participated in ultrasound eye exams with fellow Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi.

NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, with assistance from Noguchi, spent the day swapping U.S. spacesuits inside the SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship today. One spacesuit was launched to the station on Sunday ready for operations another will return to Earth next month for maintenance.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov configured gear inside the Poisk mini-research module before working on the Zarya module’s ventilation system. Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov swapped fuel bottles inside the Combustion Integrated Rack that enables safe research into fuel and flame studies.

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Mark Garcia

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Space Research Revealing New Insights into Heart, Muscles and Stem Cells

The Expedition 64 crew kicked off an array of new space biology experiments delivered this week aboard the SpaceX Cargo Dragon. The International Space Station residents will be gaining unique insights about the human heart, muscles and stem cells that only microgravity can provide.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins started looking at cardiovascular cells inside the Life Science Glovebox today for the Cardinal Heart study. She serviced samples to help scientists understand the aging and weakening of heart muscles to provide new treatments for humans on Earth and astronauts in space.

Mice are being set up inside specialized habitats today so researchers can continue studying how weightlessness affects the musculoskeletal system. NASA Flight Engineers Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins removed several dozen rodents from the Cargo Dragon vehicle and placed them inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. Observations may enable advanced drug delivery systems to treat muscle diseases on Earth and prevent muscle atrophy in space.

JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi continued his stem cell research today to enable organ growth and understand genetic changes in space. The three-time space visitor viewed cell samples today with a microscope in the Kibo laboratory module to benefit organ transplant and regenerative technology.

Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov spent Wednesday working on Russian life support systems and science experiments. The duo worked on water transfers and air vent cleaning before setting up hardware to observe Earth’s atmosphere at different wavelengths.

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Mark Garcia

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Crew Unpacks Dragon and Activates New Science

Six spaceships, three U.S. and three Russian, are parked at the International Space Station after Monday’s arrival of the upgraded SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle. The Expedition 64 crew will spend the rest of December focusing on science as 2021 shapes up to be a busy year on the orbital lab.

Two Dragon spaceships, one cargo craft and one crew ship, are docked to the station’s Harmony module for the first time ever. The Cargo Dragon docked Monday afternoon to Harmony’s space-facing port where it will stay for one month. The Crew Dragon has been docked to Harmony’s forward port since Nov. 16 and will return four astronauts back to Earth in the spring.

Cargo Dragon’s hatch was opened shortly after its automated docking and the crew soon began unpacking and activating the first of 2,100 pounds of new science investigations. The U.S. resupply ship’s main payload, the NanoRacks Bishop science airlock, will be installed with the Canadarm2 robotic arm to the Tranquility module later this month.

NASA Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Michael Hopkins began Tuesday offloading the Dragon-transported critical research samples and stowing them in science freezers to be examined later. Their crewmates Kate Rubins installed new science freezers in the station, while Victor Glover set up newly delivered habitats carrying rodents for analysis.

A new human stem cell experiment, Space Organogenesis, got underway today after JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi collected biological samples and research hardware from Dragon. Microgravity will give scientists insight into growing organs and observing genetic changes which could impact regenerative medicine.

In the Russian segment of the station, Commander Sergey Ryzhikov explored advanced space photography techniques before working on cargo operations with the docked Progress 76 resupply ship. His fellow cosmonaut, Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, worked on Earth observation hardware then serviced repair tools.

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Mark Garcia

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New SpaceX Cargo Dragon Docks to Station

While the International Space Station was traveling 268 miles over the southern Indian Ocean, a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to the space-facing side of the orbiting laboratory’s Harmony module for the first time at 1:40 p.m. EST, Monday, Dec. 7. NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover monitored docking operations for Dragon.

Some of the science being delivered on this mission includes a study aimed at better understanding heart disease to support development of treatments for patients on Earth, research into how microbes can be used for biomining on asteroids, and a tool being tested for quick and accurate blood analysis in microgravity. The first commercially owned and operated airlock on the space station, the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock, arrives in the unpressurized trunk of the Dragon cargo spacecraft. Bishop will provide a variety of capabilities to the orbiting laboratory, including CubeSat deployment, and support of external payloads.

The Dragon launched on SpaceX’s 21st contracted commercial resupply mission at 11:17 a.m. EST Sunday, Dec. 6 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After Dragon spends approximately one month attached to the space station, the spacecraft will return to Earth with cargo and research.

Keep up to date with the latest news from the crew living in space by following https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, and the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

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New Dragon Spaceship Arriving at Station Today

SpaceX Dragon is on track to arrive at the International Space Station, with an expected docking of the cargo spacecraft around 1:30 p.m. EST. NASA Television coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. Watch live at http://www.nasa.gov/live.

When it arrives to the space station, Dragon will automatically dock to the space-facing side (zenith) of the station’s Harmony module with NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover monitoring operations. Dragon lifted off Sunday, Dec. 6 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cargo spacecraft with more than 6,400 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware will support dozens of investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory. It will be the first time a cargo Dragon autonomously docks to the station and will join the Dragon Resilience that brought the Crew-1 astronauts to orbit as the second Dragon spacecraft parked at the space station.

Keep up to date with the latest news from the crew living in space by following https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, and the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

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