Month: February 2024

Vessel Scans, Cognition Tests, and Cargo Work Top Tuesday’s Schedule

NASA astronauts (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara pose together for a portrait inside the International Space Station's Unity module.
NASA astronauts (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara pose together for a portrait inside the International Space Station’s Unity module.

A host of biomedical studies were underway aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday to help doctors understand the effects of microgravity on the human body. The Expedition 70 crew also continued its ongoing cargo transfers and lab maintenance activities.

Blood vessel scans took place throughout the day on the orbital lab providing researchers data revealing how astronaut’s adapt to long-term missions in microgravity. NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli started first attaching electrodes to herself and scanning her right leg’s femoral artery with an ultrasound device. Doctors on the ground monitored the scans as they were being downlinked in real time. Results may provide insights into space-caused accelerated aging-like symptoms seen in astronauts’ arteries.

During the afternoon, ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen scanned the neck, shoulder, and leg veins of NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara. Scientists monitored the data as it was downlinked using the Ultrasound 2 device. Observations may lead to countermeasures lowering the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in space.

Mogensen earlier stocked the food pantry in the Unity module and inspected the advanced resistive exercise device. O’Hara swapped optical fiber samples inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox and installed the Spaceborne Computer-2 to demonstrate its faster speeds and artificial intelligence capabilities. Moghbeli cleaned the Veggie facility hardware following the completion of the APEX-10 plant-microbe study.

Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) spent his day contributing to the CIPHER experiment, a suite of 14 human research investigations. He began his day collecting a blood sample, spinning it in a centrifuge, then stowing it in a science freezer. Next, he took a cognition test and a robotics test measuring his brain function in space. At the end of his shift, Furukawa collected a urine sample and stowed it in a science freezer for later analysis. CIPHER seeks to provide a better understanding of the physiological and psychological changes crews may experience while living and working in space.

Two cosmonauts, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, spent Tuesday unpacking the newly arrived Progress 87 cargo craft. The Roscosmos resupply ship docked to the Zvezda service module’s rear port on Saturday morning delivering almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the station crew. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov spent his day checking ventilation equipment in the Zarya module then measured the vibrations Zvezda experiences while orbiting 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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Resupply Ship Docks to Station Completing Space Delivery

The Progress 70 cargo craft approaches the Zvezda service module's rear port for a docking to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
The Progress 70 cargo craft approaches the Zvezda service module’s rear port for a docking to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

An uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 87 spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station’s aft port of the Zvezda service module at 1:06 a.m. EST, as the orbiting laboratory was 260 miles over the south Pacific Ocean. The spacecraft launched on a Soyuz rocket at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14 (8:25 a.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Progress is delivering almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station for the Expedition 70 crew.

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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Resupply Ship Approaching Station for Docking Live on NASA TV

The Progress 86 resupply ship is pictured approaching the space station for a docking on Dec. 3, 2023.
The Progress 86 resupply ship is pictured approaching the space station for a docking on Dec. 3, 2023.

NASA+, NASA Television, the agency’s website and the NASA app now are providing live coverage of the docking of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.

The uncrewed Progress 87 launched on a Soyuz rocket at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14 (8:25 a.m. Baikonur time Thursday, Feb. 15) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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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Stem Cell Research Continues, Crew Preps for Cargo Arrival

NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara works on a bone cell study inside the Life Science Glovebox located inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module. O’Hara was working on the Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-A investigation that may provide a better understanding of space-caused bone loss and aging-related bone conditions on Earth.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara works on a bone cell study inside the Life Science Glovebox located inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. O’Hara was working on the Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-A investigation that may provide a better understanding of space-caused bone loss and aging-related bone conditions on Earth.

Stem cell research carried into Friday as the Expedition 70 crew members worked to wrap up an experiment that began earlier in the week. As science continued aboard the International Space Station, a cargo craft is currently in orbit preparing to approach the orbiting laboratory for an automatic docking scheduled for the early morning hours Saturday.

Two cosmonauts, Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, are gearing up to be on duty monitoring the automated docking of the Progress 87 cargo craft, which launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14. Loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, Progress is scheduled to dock to the station at 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. Kononenko and Chub spent Friday preparing for the upcoming cargo delivery by reviewing telerobotically operated rendezvous unit (TORU) procedures, which allows them to remotely control an arriving spacecraft in the unlikely event it could not automatically dock.

In the Kibo Laboratory, another day of stem cell research was underway for four orbital residents. Throughout the morning, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, with assistance from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa, processed samples inside the Life Sciences Glovebox for the Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-A (MABL-A) investigation. The duo carried out the experiment to help scientists assess the effects of microgravity on bone marrow stem cells, which may provide a better understanding of space-caused bone loss and aging-related bone conditions on Earth.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, with assistance from ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen, then took over the work with MABL-A, sampling additional stem cells throughout the afternoon.

O’Hara also spent some time conducting maintenance in the Bishop Airlock. Furukawa removed old and installed new CO2 units in Kibo’s gas supply equipment, Moghbeli conducted some orbital plumbing, and Mogensen analyzed some bacteria samples that were collected earlier in the week.

In the Roscosmos segment, Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov ran a distillation cycle on the water processing unit. Later on, he conducted an experiment to analyze Earth’s nighttime atmosphere in near-ultraviolet.

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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Stem Cell Science and Human Research Studies Ahead of Cargo Arrival

The seven-member Expedition 70 crew gathers for a dinner time portrait inside the International Space Station's Unity module. In the front row from left are, Flight Engineers Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, and Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). In the back row are, Commander Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency), NASA Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara, and Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.
The seven-member Expedition 70 crew gathers for a dinner time portrait inside the International Space Station’s Unity module. In the front row from left are, Flight Engineers Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, and Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). In the back row are, Commander Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency), NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara, and Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

A cargo craft loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies is currently in orbit heading to the International Space Station, targeting early Saturday for docking. As the Expedition 70 crew members await the arrival of Progress 87, stem cell science, heart rate data collection and eye exam activities topped their research schedule on Thursday.

Progress 87 successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the cargo craft will automatically dock to the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 1:12 a.m., with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on duty to monitor the spacecraft’s arrival.

Aboard station, four orbital residents spent most of the day on the Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Microgravity Induced Bone Loss (MABL-A) investigation. MABL-A—delivered aboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th Commercial Resupply Mission—assesses the effects of microgravity on bone marrow stem cells. In the morning, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara collected BioCell samples inside the habitat with assistance from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furkawa. In the afternoon, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli took over the BioCell sampling work with assistance from ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen.

Mogensen also spent part of the day photographing Plant-Microbe Interactions in Space (APEX-10) petri plates—another investigation that launched aboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th resupply mission—to examine whether beneficial microbes can mitigate some of the negative effects the space environment can have on plant growth and development.

In the afternoon, O’Hara conducted an array of activities for the CIPHER investigation, including the collection of heart rate data and completing an eye exam. 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 Roscosmos segment, Chub worked with Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov to film an educational video that demonstrates the capabilities of Roscosmos scientific hardware aboard station. Meanwhile, Kononenko conducted some routine maintenance in Zarya module. Near the end of the day, Borisov examined the Earth’s nighttime atmosphere in near-ultraviolet for an ongoing investigation aboard the orbital lab.

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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Cargo Craft Successfully Launches to Station

The Progress 87 cargo craft launches to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Feb. 14, 2024. Credit: NASA TV
The Progress 87 cargo craft launches to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Feb. 14, 2024. Credit: NASA TV

The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 87 is safely in orbit headed for the International Space Station following launch at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14 (8:25 a.m. Baikonur time Thursday, Feb. 15) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The resupply ship reached preliminary orbit, and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned, on its way to meet up with the orbiting laboratory and its Expedition 70 crew members.

Progress will dock to the aft port of the Zvezda service module two days later at 1:12 a.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 17. Live coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 12:30 a.m. Progress will deliver almost three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the space station.

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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Progress Cargo Craft Launching Live on NASA TV

The ISS Progress 75 resupply ship is pictured with a Full Moon above the Earth’s horizon after undocking from the station. Credits: NASA
The ISS Progress 75 resupply ship is pictured with a Full Moon above the Earth’s horizon after undocking from the station. Credits: NASA

NASA+, NASA Television, the agency’s website and the NASA app are providing live coverage of the launch of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.

The unpiloted Progress 87 is scheduled to lift off on a Soyuz rocket at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14 (8:25 a.m. Baikonur time Thursday, Feb. 15) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Progress will dock to the aft port of the Zvezda service module two days later at 1:12 a.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 17 . NASA coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 12:30 a.m.

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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Crew Replaces Scientific Hardware; Cargo Craft Readies for Launch

The ISS Progress 81 resupply ship from Roscosmos is pictured 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean after undocking from the Zvezda service module's rear port on Feb. 7, 2023.
The ISS Progress 81 resupply ship from Roscosmos is pictured 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean after undocking from the Zvezda service module’s rear port on Feb. 7, 2023.

The Expedition 70 crew is counting down to the arrival of new cargo as Progress nears its launch on Wednesday. Aboard the International Space Station, scientific hardware replacements and cargo audits topped the schedule for the seven orbital residents.

The Progress 87 cargo craft is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, Progress will dock to the station around 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, where it will remain for approximately six months.

In the Kibo Laboratory, Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) spent the day working on the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF). ELF allows safe thermophysical research in microgravity, providing scientists and engineers the opportunity to observe what happens to materials exposed to high temperatures in the space environment. With assistance from Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara of NASA, Furukawa retrieved ELF, then replaced sensor controllers on the device before reinstalling it.

O’Hara completed some orbital plumbing tasks in the morning, and after assisting Furukawa, she swapped the sleeves in the Life Sciences Glovebox, which is a sealed work area astronauts use to conduct various life sciences and technology investigations.

In the Destiny module, Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) installed new sample cartridges in the Materials Science Laboratory, a payload used for materials research in microgravity. Afterward, Mogensen collected water samples from the station’s Potable Water Dispenser, before completing a VR for Exercise and VR Mental Care session.

As part of ongoing science, crew members study burning in microgravity to determine how material flammability is affected by fuel temperatures through an experiment called SoFIE-GEL. In the morning, Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA replaced experiment samples for the investigation. She then moved on to cargo ops, unloading supplies and science that were delivered aboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th commercial resupply mission.

In the Roscosmos segment, the trio of cosmonauts—Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Konstantin Borisov—kept busy with inventory and cargo audits throughout the day. Borisov also ran a Pilot-T session, an ongoing experiment that allows crew members to practice piloting techniques.

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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Tech Installs and Maintenance for Crew Ahead of Cargo Launch

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara, both from NASA, pose for a portrait inside the Destiny laboratory module.
Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, both from NASA, pose for a portrait inside the Destiny laboratory module.

Equipment installs and station maintenance topped the in-orbit schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The Expedition 70 crew members expanded on work that began yesterday while completing some maintenance around station as they await the arrival of an upcoming cargo craft.

The Progress 87 cargo craft is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, Progress will dock to the station around 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17.

As one cargo resupply ship readies for launch, two cosmonauts—Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub—were on duty last night, Feb. 12, to monitor the departure of the Progress 85 cargo craft. Progress undocked from the orbital lab at 9:09 p.m. before it reentered Earth’s atmosphere three hours later and harmlessly burned up over the Pacific Ocean.

Kononenko and Chub had a light duty day afterward, focusing on cargo audits and preparations for future experiments.

Meanwhile, ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen spent the bulk of his day working in the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock. He installed the Nanoracks-GITAI S2 modular robotic arm, which demonstrates the design, build, and operations of extravehicular robotic systems. This tech demonstration aims to aid in the development of robots for in-space assembly and manufacturing, supporting future commercial lunar missions.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli spent her day on a few different tasks, collecting blood pressure data for the Vascular Aging investigation, stowing the Bio-Monitor garment and headband she donned yesterday, and collecting atmosphere samples throughout the station.

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara assisted Mogensen with the Nanoracks-GITAI S2 install before photographing Plant-Microbe Interactions in Space (APEX-10) petri plates, which launched aboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th commercial resupply mission to the station. The new investigation examines whether beneficial microbes can mitigate some of the negative effects the space environment can have on plant growth and development.

In the Kibo Laboratory, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa spent his day recording space demonstrations suggested by students for JAXA’s Try Zero-Gravity educational activity. Students can vote for and suggest tasks for JAXA astronauts to carry out on station, such as putting in eye drops, performing push-ups on the ceiling, and more, to allow the youth to interact with station residents and learn about living and working in microgravity.

In the Roscosmos segment, Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov completed some orbital maintenance tasks and ran a distillation cycle on the Roscosmos water management system.

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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Crew Conducts Stem Cell Research and Training as Cargo Craft Nears Launch

NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flght Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli works inside the Life Science Glovebox for the Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-A investigation.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flght Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli works inside the Life Science Glovebox for the Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-A investigation.

A busy week of science and prep for an upcoming cargo delivery kicked off aboard the International Space Station on Monday as the Expedition 70 crew set its sights on new stem cell research and orbital training.

Two cosmonauts, Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, are gearing up to be on duty monitoring the automated docking of the Progress 87 cargo craft, which is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, Progress will dock to the station around 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. In preparation of the upcoming cargo delivery, the cosmonauts trained on the telerobotically operated rendezvous unit, or TORU, which allows them to remotely control an arriving spacecraft in the unlikely event it could not automatically dock.

Meanwhile, the Progress 85 cargo craft, which arrived to the station about six months ago, will undock from the station at 9:09 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12 About three hours later, it will be commanded to deorbit before harmlessly burning up over the Pacific Ocean.

While training for the upcoming mission was underway, two NASA Flight Engineers, Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, focused a majority of their day on the Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Microgravity Induced Bone Loss (MABL-A) investigation. MABL-A, which was delivered aboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th Commercial Resupply Mission nearly two weeks ago, assesses the effects of microgravity on bone marrow stem cells. The duo worked separately throughout the day to sample BioCells inside the habitat with assistance from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa.

Later on, Moghbeli donned the Bio-Monitor garment and headband, which monitors and records vital signs while crew members perform daily activities. Afterward, she was joined by Furukawa, ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen, and Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov to complete orbital training in the unlikely event an emergency were to occur on station.

Near the end of the day, Mogensen, with assistance from Furukawa, unstowed the NanoRacks External Platform then mounted a pressure management device to it before configuring power and data cables.

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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