Crew Ends Week Closing Out Health Investigations and Completing Training

Crew Ends Week Closing Out Health Investigations and Completing Training

NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps is pictured floating in microgravity aboard the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps is pictured floating in microgravity aboard the International Space Station.

The seven International Space Station residents are moving into an off-duty weekend following a busy week of crew departures, health investigations, and spacesuit operations. The Expedition 70 crew spent Friday wrapping up procedures that began earlier in the week and completing some SpaceX Dragon training.

Yesterday, first-time station resident Jeanette Epps processed blood samples for the Immunity Assay investigation. The NASA Flight Engineer continued that work into Friday to monitor how spaceflight impacts cellular immune function. After lunch, Epps carried out an experiment to test the efficiency of an antimicrobial coating in space before completing some crew orientation activities as she continues to adjust to living and working in low Earth orbit.

Following yesterday’s set up of the Cerebral Autoregulation investigation, Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick measured blood flow in the brain using non-invasive methods to provide researchers insights on how the brain regulates its blood supply in microgravity. For this specific investigation, Dominick used the Cardiolab Portable Doppler, an instrument that measures blood flow velocity to the brain and blood pressure waveforms in the arteries.

The NASA resident then configured the Sleep in Orbit device, which examines the physiological differences between sleep on Earth and in space. The microgravity environment can affect the daily rhythm and sleep patterns of astronauts. Research from Sleep in Orbit could guide the development of measures that mitigate poor sleep and its effects on astronauts as missions stretch further.

Flight Engineers Michael Barratt and Loral O’Hara of NASA both completed a round of SpaceX Dragon rendezvous and docking training on Friday. O’Hara also conducted some maintenance on the BioFabrication Facility and stowed tools she used earlier in the week while configuring spacesuits. Barratt spent the rest of his day inspecting equipment that would be used in the unlikely event an emergency were to occur on station.

In the Roscosmos segment, Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineers Alexander Grebenkin and Nikolai Chub spent the morning conducting a weekly conference with ground teams. Afterward, Grebenkin replaced some condensate pump lines while Kononenko and Chub teamed up once more to complete another round of eye exams.


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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Abby Graf

Station Reboost, Health Investigations, and Spacesuit Work Top Schedule on Thursday

Station Reboost, Health Investigations, and Spacesuit Work Top Schedule on Thursday

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers and NASA astronauts Loral O'Hara and Michael Barratt post for a portrait together aboard the International Space Station.
Expedition 70 Flight Engineers and NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Michael Barratt post for a portrait together aboard the International Space Station.

Cargo operations, health investigations, and spacesuit preparations topped Thursday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 70 septet gears up for another crew arrival.

The morning kicked off with NASA Flight Engineer Michael Barratt assisting Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps, also from NASA, with a blood sample collection for the Immunity Assay investigation. Afterward, Epps processed the blood samples to monitor how spaceflight impacts stressors on cellular immune function.

Barratt was then joined by NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara to swap cargo in and out of the Cygnus space freighter. In the afternoon, O’Hara switched gears to complete some spacesuit work that began earlier this week. She installed battery packs, and checked the audio system, power and data cables, thermal covers, and helmets. O’Hara then powered up the spacesuits to assess if all components were working properly.

NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick set up equipment for two different health investigations throughout the day. He first set up the Cerebral Autoregulation investigation, which measures blood flow in the brain before, during, and after spaceflight to provide insights into how the brain regulates its blood supply in the microgravity environment. He then moved on to prepping ultrasound equipment for eye exams before completing some crew orientation activities.

Once the ultrasound equipment was set up, Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos took turns conducting eye exams on one another. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin, also from Roscosmos, spent his day running a distillation cycle on the water processor, familiarizing himself with computer systems, and replacing condensate lines in the ventilation system.

Three crew members—NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, and Flight Engineer Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus—are preparing to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft near the end of March.

The space station is orbiting slightly higher after the ISS Progress 87 thrusters fired for 18 minutes and 17 seconds Thursday morning. The orbital reboost sets up the correct phasing for the upcoming Soyuz arrival.


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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Human Health Studies Occupy Schedule on Wednesday

Human Health Studies Occupy Schedule on Wednesday

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps of NASA, pose for a photo together inside the International Space Station's Destiny module. The trio arrived to the station March 5 as part of NASA's Space-X Crew-8 mission, marking their first trip to the orbiting laboratory.
Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps of NASA, pose for a photo together inside the International Space Station’s Destiny module. 

The International Space Station’s population is back down to seven as Monday saw the departure of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7. The seven orbital residents of Expedition 70 spent Wednesday conducting a variety of human health research, while four crew members continue to adjust to life in space.

Astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency), Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos undocked from the forward-facing port of the Harmony module at 11:20 a.m. EDT Monday, March 11 before splashing down off the coast of Florida at 5:47 a.m. Tuesday, March 12. The quartet’s return to Earth marks the end of their six-month microgravity research mission.

Ahead of departure, Mogensen passed over command of the orbiting laboratory to cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko on Sunday, March 10. Now Commander, Kononenko will spend a few months more in space before heading back to Earth.

In the Columbus Laboratory Module, first-time station resident Jeanette Epps set up Kubik, a controlled-temperature incubator that is used to study biological samples in microgravity. The NASA Flight Engineer then moved onto some orbital plumbing tasks in the evening, before joining Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick for some crew orientation activities.

Dominick, also first-time station resident from NASA, collected blood samples in the morning for ongoing human health investigations in low-Earth orbit. By conducting human health research, doctors and scientists on Earth will gain a better understanding of how the body adapts to space. The data could be used to advance future science as missions stretch beyond low-Earth orbit.

Human health studies were also a main focus on Wednesday for Flight Engineers Michael Barratt and Loral O’Hara of NASA. The duo completed some tasks for the CIPHER investigation. CIPHER, or Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research, is an all-encompassing, total-body approach that examines how humans adapt to spaceflight.  In the afternoon, Barratt set up an ultrasound scanner and blood pressure measurement gear to conduct scans on O’Hara. In the evening, Barratt had his neck, clavicle, shoulder, and back of the knees scanned by Dominick, using another ultrasound scanning device.

Barratt and O’Hara also tackled some spacesuit prep on Wednesday. The duo removed and replaced components on spacesuits, including the water line vent tubes. Spacesuit work will continue throughout the week as the crew prepares for a round of spacewalks scheduled for later this year.

Over in the Roscosmos segment, Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin replaced condensate pump lines in the ventilation system before completing some crew orientation tasks as he continues to adjust to life in microgravity. Kononenko received an ultrasound eye exam guided by Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos.


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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Abby Graf

Dragon Undocks From Station, Crew Headed Back to Earth

Dragon Undocks From Station, Crew Headed Back to Earth

SpaceX's Dragon Endurance spacecraft carrying the Crew-7 quartet approaches the International Space Station for docking on August 27, 2023, as it soared 261 miles above the Atlantic ocean.
SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft carrying the Crew-7 quartet approaches the International Space Station for docking on August 27, 2023, as it soared 261 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov inside undocked from the forward-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 11:20 a.m. EDT to complete a nearly six-month science mission.

NASA coverage of Crew-7’s return will continue with audio only, and full coverage will resume at the start of the splashdown broadcast. Real-time audio between Crew-7 and flight controllers at NASA’s Mission Audio stream will remain available and includes conversations with astronauts aboard the space station and a live video feed from the orbiting laboratory.

NASA TV coverage will resume at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday until Dragon splashes down at approximately 5:50 a.m. on Tuesday, March 12, off the coast of Florida and Crew-7 members are recovered.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission launched Aug. 26, 2023, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


More details about the mission and NASA’s commercial crew program can be found by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Abby Graf

Dragon Hatch Closed; Crew Readies for Undocking From Station

Dragon Hatch Closed; Crew Readies for Undocking From Station

Four Expedition 70 crewmates pose in the pressure suits they will wear when they return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon "Endurance" spacecraft. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mohgensen, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. The quartet arrived at the International Space Station on Aug. 27, 2023, as SpaceX Crew-7 members aboard Dragon and will splash down off the coast of Florida inside the same spacecraft completing a six-and-a-half-month space research mission.
Four Expedition 70 crewmates pose in the pressure suits they will wear when they return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon “Endurance” spacecraft. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mohgensen, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.

At 9:15 a.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.

NASA+, NASA TV, the NASA app and the agency’s website will air live coverage beginning at 11 a.m., for undocking scheduled at 11:20 a.m. Following conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA coverage of Crew-7’s return will continue with audio only, and full coverage will resume at the start of the splashdown broadcast at 4:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Real-time audio between Crew-7 and flight controllers at NASA’s Mission Audio stream will remain available.


More details about the mission and NASA’s commercial crew program can be found by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

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 updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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

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Abby Graf