Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

Astronauts, Cosmonauts Focus on Maintenance; SpaceX Crew-9 Introduces Itself

The orbital residents representing Expedition 71 and NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test switched gears on Friday and turned their attention to a host of lab maintenance activities. The nine astronauts and cosmonauts living and working aboard the International Space Station focused on spacewalking tools, computer networks, housecleaning, and inspections at the end of the week.

NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps joined each other midday Friday and reorganized cargo inside the Unity module ahead of the Aug. 5 arrival of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter. Dyson and Barratt then finished the afternoon inside the Quest airlock collecting and stowing tools used during earlier spacewalk preparations.

Epps began her day with NASA astronaut and Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore examining the Permanent Multipurpose Module for open spaces before spending her afternoon exercising. NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick checked the overhead crew quarters in the Harmony module and measured its ventilation system airflows after spending his morning working out.

Wilmore also joined Starliner Pilot Suni Williams and tested cloud network connectivity using a pair of computer tablets linked to mission applications and other computer services. Williams then recorded a video for junior high and high school students demonstrating 3D printing operations in microgravity. Toward the end of the day, the NASA duo called down to Boeing mission personnel and discussed Starliner spacecraft systems and operations. The day before, NASA and Boeing managers provided a Starliner status update during a televised news conference.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko kicked off his day synchronizing digital cameras with space station cameras.  The five-time visitor to the orbital outpost worked the rest of the day with Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub continuing ongoing inspections in the aft-end of the Zvezda service module. Chub began his day conducting research activities in Zvezda before the inspection work.

The next crew to visit the International Space Station, SpaceX Crew-9, introduced itself today during a televised crew news conference live on NASA TV on Friday. Commander Zena Cardman, Pilot Nick Hague, and Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson and Aleksander Gorbunov are counting down to a mid-August launch to the orbital lab aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance for a six-month mission. Earlier, mission managers from NASA and SpaceX discussed the Crew-9 mission and other upcoming missions to the orbiting lab. Watch the SpaceX Crew-9 Crew News Conference and the Mission Overview on YouTube.

Beginning Monday, July 29^th, the IMC Daily Summary will be discontinued.

To learn more about the groundbreaking science and engineering happening daily on the International Space Station, please visit the space station blog at https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/, or browse a variety of space station research resources at https://nasa.gov/iss-science.

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

Ultrasound Scans Continue to Understand Space Effects on Humans

Space biology was back on the schedule Thursday as the crewmates aboard the International Space Station resumed exploring how living in weightlessness affects the human  body. The orbital residents also worked on Starliner spacecraft configurations, serviced spacesuit components, and continued lab inspections.

Expedition 71 Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps and Matthew Dominick, both from NASA, kicked off their day collecting blood and saliva samples, processing them for upcoming analysis, and stowing the biological specimens in a science freezer. The duo then joined NASA astronaut Mike Barratt in the afternoon for vein scans with the commercial ButterlyIQ Ultrasound device before and after workout sessions on the advanced resistive exercise device. Results may inform researchers what happens to the body when exercising in microgravity and demonstrate the effectiveness of the FDA-approved portable scanner for space operations.

Barratt began his day with NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson in the Columbus laboratory module and explored how living in space affects blood pressure. Dyson scanned Barratt’s veins with the Ultrasound 2 device and collected data from a monitor measuring his heart rate. The study is just one of 14 investigations that are part of the CIPHER human research experiment and explores the cardiovascular health risks of living and working on a long-term space mission. Dyson then spent her afternoon uninstalling and stowing spacesuit batteries and metal oxide containers in the Quest airlock.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Commander and Pilot for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, entered their Starliner crew ship for checkouts on Thursday. The duo examined the spacecraft’s communications systems, set up computer tablets, and charged camera batteries inside the vehicle docked to the Harmony module’s forward port.

Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich of NASA and Mike Nappi of Boeing provided a status update of the Starliner spacecraft on NASA TV today. Watch the televised news conference on YouTube.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub partnered together throughout Thursday continuing to inspect the vestibule in the aft end of the Zvezda service module where the Progress 87 is docked. While Kononenko spent most of his shift checking out Zvezda, Chub had time for swapping out an electronics unit on an exercise cycle then tested video communications and command gear in the Progress 88 resupply ship docked to the Poisk module.

Mission managers will discuss the upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the orbital outpost during a mission overview live on NASA TV at 11 a.m. EDT on Friday. Then at 1 p.m., the Crew-9 members Commander Zena Cardman, Pilot Nick Hague, and Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson and Aleksander Gorbunov will introduce themselves and discuss more details of their space station mission.

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

Ultrasound Scans for Crew Today on Station Promoting Health

Human research to protect crew health was the dominant science topic aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. Household duties such as cleaning and inspections to keep the orbital outpost in tip-top shape also continued in low Earth orbit for the nine lab crewmates.

Researchers have learned that living in the weightless environment for months at a time affects the human body in numerous ways. Scientists constantly examine crews working on the space station to understand the space-caused physiological changes. Observations will help doctors develop countermeasures and keep astronauts healthy as NASA plans months long and possibly years long missions beyond low Earth orbit and to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps partnered together all-day Wednesday to test a thigh cuff that may reverse fluid shifts that impact a crew member’s vision while living in space. Dyson attached sensors to her chest and the cuff to her leg with assistance from Epps during the morning. Next, Epps scanned Dominick’s veins with the Ultrasound 2 device then measured his blood pressure. Epps also examined Dominick’s eyes using standard medical imaging hardware found in an optometrist’s office on Earth. The thigh cuff study is exploring ways to prevent headward fluid shifts in astronauts that cause eye structure and vision changes.

Ultrasound scans were also on the schedule for NASA astronauts Mike Barratt from Expedition 71 and Butch Wilmore from Boeing’s Crew Flight Test to image an astronaut’s veins following an exercise session. Barratt led the biomedical work and scanned Wilmore’s veins after his hourlong workout on the advanced resistive exercise device. Barratt used the commercial ButterlyIQ Ultrasound imaging device during the 90-minute research session to understand how the human body adjusts to exercising in space. Results may also demonstrate the effectiveness of the FDA-approved portable scanner for space operations.

Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson and Starliner Pilot Suni Williams from NASA spent their day on maintenance tasks including housecleaning and science hardware installations. Dyson started her morning cleaning the starboard side of the Unity module and organizing cargo stowed in the Columbus laboratory module. During the afternoon, she went back to Unity and wiped down surfaces in its deck compartment. Williams was back inside the Tranquility module finalizing the installation of the ArgUS Mission 1 hardware inside the NanoRacks Bishop airlock. The advanced technology demonstration will be placed outside in the vacuum of space to test the external operations of communications, computer processing, and high-definition video gear.

Over in the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab, Commander Oleg Kononenko kicked off his day exploring futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques crews may use on planetary missions. He worked the rest of the day continuing inspections in the aft end of the Zvezda service module. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub began his shift with the ongoing Zvezda inspections then wrapped up his day servicing a Roscosmos oxygen generator.

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Mark Garcia

Station Schedule Returns to Science on Tuesday

Microgravity science picked up on Tuesday following the previous day’s focus on lab maintenance and housecleaning activities aboard the International Space Station. The nine orbital residents set up a host of science gear for external research and explored future space piloting techniques while also concentrating on daily household tasks.

Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore from NASA pointed a pair of cameras in the cupola toward Earth for thunderstorm monitoring. He plugged the high-speed Thor-Davis camera and a regular digital camera into the Astro Pi computer to record lightning and electrical activity at speeds up to 100,000 frames per second. Observations may help improve Earth climate models, lead to a better understanding of atmospheric dynamics, and demonstrate the advanced camera’s potential for future space applications.

NASA astronaut and Starliner Pilot Suni Williams installed the ArgUS Mission 1 research hardware inside the NanoRacks Bishop airlock where it will soon be robotically placed outside in the vacuum of space for experimentation. The advanced technology demonstration consists of three types of payloads designed to explore communications, computer processing, and high-definition video in the external microgravity environment.

Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson spent the first half of her day inspecting a variety of station hardware including cryogenic gloves, cold stowage hardware, and the BioFabrication Facility, a research device being tested for its ability to print organ-like tissues in microgravity. During the afternoon, Dyson turned her attention to commercial activities and tested proprietary gear inside the Kibo laboratory module.

NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps spent all day Tuesday on maintenance tasks. Dominick replaced carbon dioxide removal components in the Destiny laboratory module then videotaped his crew quarters’ airflow ducts as mission controllers monitored in real time. Barratt cleaned ventilation systems in his crew quarters located in the port side of the Harmony module before servicing electronic components on the Kermit fluorescence microscope. Epps started her day relocating a vibration sensor then took a cognition test just before lunchtime. In the afternoon, she set up a thigh cuff to study space-caused fluid shifts in astronauts then examined electrical systems supporting life support components.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko from Roscosmos was back on inspection activities in the aft end of the Zvezda service module. He photographed glass panes and installed a smoke detector in Zvezda’s rear port where the Progress 87 cargo craft is docked. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub studied futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques on a computer during the morning then assisted Kononenko with the Zvezda inspection activities in the afternoon. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin focused his efforts on life support system maintenance in 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 weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Station Begins Week with Maintenance and Eye Checks

The week kicked off with lab maintenance aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 71 and Starliner crews relocated science gear, cleaned crew quarters, and conducted inspections. Eye checks were also on the schedule at the end of the day for four orbital residents.

Three NASA astronauts took turns during the first half of Monday moving the NanoRacks external platform from the Tranquility module to the Kibo laboratory module. Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore of Boeing’s Crew Flight Test started the work moving gear and making space to access the NanoRacks Bishop airlock in Tranquility where the external platform was stowed. Afterward, station Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Matthew Dominick removed the external platform from Tranquility’s airlock and installed it inside Kibo’s airlock. The platform from NanoRacks can host a variety of payloads exposed to the external space environment for science experiments, technology demonstrations, and more.

Dominick then spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning his crew quarters located in the overhead compartment of the Harmony module. NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps started her morning also cleaning her crew quarters in Harmony’s deck compartment. The pair each worked half a day cleaning their living spaces’ ventilation systems and airflow sensors. Epps later set up the camera robot, which can capture imagery and real-time video for downloading to mission controllers, and checked out its free-flying operations in Kibo.

NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson started her day servicing a research furnace before configuring panels inside the Destiny laboratory module. Dyson spent the rest of the afternoon deep cleaning the Unity module vacuuming dust and wiping down surfaces with disinfectant wipes. Starliner Pilot Suni Williams of NASA reconfigured power systems in the Columbus laboratory module, loaded software on a Microgravity Science Glovebox computer, then wrapped up her shift collecting station air samples for analysis.

At the end of the day, Dominick, Barratt, and Epps joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin for a regularly scheduled eye exam. The quartet took turns looking at a standard eye chart and reading characters off of it to test their vision acuity and contrasty sensitivity.

Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub split their day on inspection activities in the aft end of the Zvezda service module where the Progress 87 cargo craft is docked. Kononenko also set up hardware to observe luminous clouds and Earth’s upper atmosphere while Chub checked out batteries and their cables inside Zvezda.

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