Author: ekisliuk

Commander Scott Kelly and one-year crewmate Mikhail Kornienko continue their contribution to the fluid shifts study with the aid of Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. Data from this long-term study hopes to reveal correlations between the distribution of fluid in the body and changes in vision during prolonged stays in microgravity.

Final preparations are underway for tomorrow’s spacewalk by Tim Kopra and Tim Peake to replace the failed Sequential Shunt Unit and regain the use of power channel 1B that went down on November 13. The 6 ½ hour spacewalk will also involve the spacewalkers deploying cables for the future installation of International Docking Adapters on Pressurized Mating Adapters that will accommodate the arrival of U.S. commercial crew vehicles.

Make sure to tune in to NASA TV tomorrow morning for a live look at U.S. EVA #35. Coverage begins at 6:30 a.m. EST: www.nasa.gov/nasatv

The crew is involved in a number of different experiments today, including more fluid shift studies, the SPRINT experiment, and experiment Matroyshka-R.

Tim Kopra was taking part in the SPRINT experiment today, which evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise to minimize loss of muscle, bone and cardiovascular function.

Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko is working with Matroyshka, which measures radiation dosages aboard the International Space Station.

Tim Kopra, Time Peake, and Yuri Melenchenko will be reviewing medical training and CPR procedures today.

NASA TV will be broadcasting Friday’s spacewalk starting at 6:30 a.m. EST: www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Preparation continues for Tim Peake and Tim Kopra for Friday’s 7:55 a.m. EST spacewalk. Today, they will be re-familiarizing themselves with the tools needed to perform the Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU) change out.

Aside from spacewalk preparation, Commander Scott Kelly and Tim Peake will also be setting up the JAXA Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) equipment. It will be installed into the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack 2 (MSPR2) work volume inside of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM).

Commander Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko continue their fluid shift activities with help from Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. Today’s activities are the third part of this experiment in which the Russian Chibis (Lower Body Negative Pressure – LBNP) is worn and ultrasound measurements of their eyes are taken.

Astronauts Tim Peake and Tim Kopra continue to prepare for their 6.5 hour spacewalk on Friday of this week. During the spacewalk they will be replacing a failed voltage regulator which will return power to one of the eight power channels.

Meanwhile, Commander Scott Kelly is gathering hardware for the fluid shifts experiment. Tomorrow, he and his one-year mission crewmate Mikhail Kornienko will be putting on the Russian Chibis suit, a lower body suit which redistributes fluids back to their legs. During this part of the experiment, they will be taking ultrasounds of their eyes to explore the correlation between body fluid distribution and potential changes in vision.

Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov has been taking readings for the Vibrolab experiment. Monitoring micro vibrations can help to understand how tiny movements affect science experiments on station.

Astronauts Tim Peake and Tim Kopra are getting ready for a spacewalk next week to replace a failed voltage regulator. The duo are scheduled to work outside for 6.5 hours on Jan. 15 for the replacement work and other tasks.

In preparation, Kopra worked on the U.S. spacesuits today that he and Peake will wear next week. Peake, a British astronaut with the European Space Agency, began collecting and configuring their spacewalk tools.

The Expedition 46 crew also continued more advanced space science research onboard the International Space Station. Commander Scott Kelly joined his fellow One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko for the Fluid Shifts study. That experiment explores how microgravity increases brain pressure which pushes back on a crew member’s eyes, resulting in changes to their vision.

Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov studied radiation exposure, how international crews relate during missions and worked on maintenance tasks. His fellow cosmonaut and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko looked at magnetic fields and coulomb crystals and transferred cargo from the newest Progress 62 cargo craft.