Space Station

Botany and physics topped the research schedule as spacewalk cleanup duties continued aboard the International Space Station on Friday. The Expedition 69 crew also focused on life support maintenance as a U.S. cargo craft fired it engines to boost the orbital outpost.

Sustaining crews independently of cargo missions and taking advantage of microgravity for better manufacturing techniques are key targets for NASA’s and its international partners’ research programs. Friday’s science specifically looked at growing crops in space and advancing manufacturing techniques.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio set up seed bags for the Plant Habitat-03B study to understand how characteristics of plants grown in space change from one generation to the next. Results may inform ways to grow repeated generations of space crops to support future crewed missions. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi worked in the Microgravity Science Glovebox servicing samples to learn how to manufacture superior graphene aerogel in microgravity. The SUBSA-μgGA physics study seeks to benefit Earth and space industries for better power storage, environmental protection, and chemical sensing.

The duo also assisted NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg who worked throughout Friday swapping life support gear in the Tranquility module. A failed heat exchanger was removed and a new one was installed then connected to new low temperature loop hoses. NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen aided his crewmates on Friday photographing Alneyadi’s research work and helping Hoburg during his life support maintenance. Bowen later removed sensors that measured his blood pressure and downloaded the data to doctors on the ground.

Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin continued cleaning their spacesuits and stowing tools and accessories following Wednesday’s spacewalk to install orbital debris shields and relocate a portable workstation. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev assisted with the spacewalk cleanup work finalizing operations with the European robotic arm and stowing medical kits on Friday.

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft’s delta velocity thruster fired at 10:35 a.m. EDT Friday for 22 minutes, 48 seconds in a reboost of the International Space Station. The planned maneuver was designed to further refine the phasing for the Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo spacecraft launch on Tuesday, Aug. 22, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and its docking to the station Thursday, Aug. 24. It was one of two scheduled reboosts to target the proper trajectory for the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 launch and two-orbit rendezvous to the orbiting complex on Sept. 15, as well as the Soyuz MS-23 undocking and landing on Sept. 27.

The reboost also continued the certification of the use of Cygnus as a second spacecraft currently capable of conducting such a maneuver. The Cygnus reboost increased the station’s altitude by 3/10 of a mile at apogee and 2.8 miles at perigee and put the space station in an orbit of 262.5 x 257.6 statute miles.

Crew members who will soon fly aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission will enter quarantine Friday in one of the major milestones before they head to the launch site in Florida to start their mission to the International Space Station. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket is targeted to launch Crew-7 no earlier than 3:49 a.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 25 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.

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The Expedition 69 crew is continuing to unpack a U.S. cargo craft before it fires engines to reboost the International Space Station on Friday. The orbital residents are also continuing their science and maintenance activities while cleaning up the day after a spacewalk.

NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Stephen Bowen continued unpacking some of the several tons of science and supplies still packed inside the Cygnus space freighter on Thursday. Cygnus will also fire it engines on Friday reboosting the orbital outpost. This will raise the station to the correct altitude for the upcoming arrival of a Roscosmos cargo craft in two weeks. The station will also be in the proper phasing for a Soyuz crew swap mission planned in mid- to late September.

Rubio also opened up the Combustion Integrated Rack to troubleshoot the computer electronics inside. Bowen monitored his blood pressure throughout the day and swapped samples in the Microgravity Science Glovebox for a space manufacturing study.

NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg spent his day on inflight maintenance as he replaced charcoal filters in the Harmony module and loaded new software on a tablet computer. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi organized food bags, helped Rubio unload the Cygnus cargo craft, then finally replaced window scratch panes in the cupola.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin are cleaning their Orlan spacesuits and stowing spacewalking gear following Wednesday’s spacewalk. The duo spent six hours and 35 minutes in the vacuum of space installing orbital debris shields and relocating a portable workstation on the Roscosmos segment of the space station.

Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev is returning the European robotic arm (ERA) to its stowage configuration on the Nauka science module.  Fedyaev commanded the ERA during Wednesday’s spacewalk moving the workstation from the Rassvet module to Nauka and testing its ability to maneuver a spacewalker with Prokopyev attached for the first time.

The Roscosmos trio got a late start on Thursday after sleeping in following a good night’s rest. During their cleanup activities, Prokopyev and Petelin also called down to mission controllers to discuss the previous day’s spacewalk activities.

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Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Stem cells and space botany were the top research objectives for the Expedition 69 crew on Tuesday while still working to unpack a new U.S. cargo craft. Two cosmonauts are also “go” to exit the International Space Station on Wednesday for more upgrades on the orbital lab.

Life science in microgravity enables researchers to observe biological phenomena and achieve unique insights that would be impossible in Earth’s gravity environment. Scientists then apply the new knowledge potentially improving a variety of Earth-bound conditions including human health and agriculture.

Two experiments aboard the station today addressed new cancer therapies and ways to grow crops in space. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio worked in the Kibo laboratory module servicing stem cell samples for the StemCellEX-H Pathfinder study that seeks to improve therapies for blood diseases and cancers such as leukemia. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi harvested leaves from thale cress plants that are similar to cabbage and mustard for the Plant Habitat-03 experiment to learn how to grow food and sustain crews on future space missions.

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg focused their day primarily on orbital maintenance. Bowen replaced air filters in the Destiny laboratory module while Hoburg monitored the performance of the advanced resistive exercise device for troubleshooting in the Tranquility module. The duo also had time set aside for some science activities as Bowen processed his blood samples for analysis and Hoburg tested station potable water samples for quality.

All four astronauts continued unpacking some of the 8,200 pounds of science and supplies delivered aboard the Cygnus space freighter on Friday. Cargo activities will be ongoing until late October when Cygnus departs the station completing a three-month orbital stay.

Two cosmonauts are ready to begin the 10^th spacewalk at the station this year to install orbital debris shields and relocate hardware on the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin have completed their procedure reviews and Orlan spacesuit configurations and will begin a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk at 10:45 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, begins its live spacewalk coverage at 10:15 a.m.

Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev will support the two spacewalkers on Wednesday as he commands the European robotic arm (ERA) from inside the Nauka science module during the planned six-hour and 30-minute excursion. Fedyaev started his day joining Prokopyev and Petelin for the final spacewalk procedures review. He then spent the rest of the day configuring the ERA preparing it for hardware transfers during Wednesday’s spacewalk.

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Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, 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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A U.S. cargo craft is open for business at the International Space Station and two cosmonauts are gearing up for a spacewalk on Wednesday. The Expedition 69 crew also kicked off the work week exploring high temperature physics and ways to make semiconductor crystals.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio worked throughout Monday unpacking some of the 8,200 pounds of science and supplies delivered aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter on Friday. A couple of the new experiments include investigations looking at the formation of 3D neuron cell structures and an Astrobee robotic free-flyer to assist astronauts. News crew supplies include food, water, life support gear, and spacewalking hardware.

Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) worked on a pair of different space physics investigations on Monday. Bowen swapped out samples inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace that explores the thermophysical properties of materials subjected to high temperatures in microgravity. Alneyadi set up new hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox to improve the technology of producing semiconductor crystals.

NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg began his day on science maintenance work swapping out research gear and inspecting a rack in the Columbus laboratory module. He also serviced new Cold Atom Lab hardware inside the Destiny laboratory module. The Cold Atom Lab observes the quantum behavior of atoms chilled to temperatures near absolute zero. Hoburg also joined his crewmates and assisted Rubio as he unloaded cargo from inside Cygnus.

Two cosmonauts are in final preparations for the year’s 10^th spacewalk out of the station set to begin at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk airlock in their Orlan spacesuits and spend about six and a half hours installing micrometeoroid orbital debris shields and relocating hardware. The duo from Roscosmos spent Monday configuring communications gear and checking their spacesuits for leaks. This will be Prokopyev’s and Petelin’s sixth spacewalk together since their first on Nov. 17, 2022.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent his day primarily on life support tasks. He started Monday replacing heat exchanger fans in the Nauka science module. In the afternoon, Fedyaev worked on the Zvezda service module’s Elektron oxygen generator that splits reclaimed water into oxygen and hydrogen.

On Aug. 5, the Progress 83 spacecraft’s thrusters fired for three minutes, 16 seconds in a planned avoidance maneuver to provide the International Space Station an extra measure of distance away from a predicted track of a debris fragment.

The thruster firing occurred at 10:03 p.m. EDT, and the maneuver had no impact on station operations, including the trajectory phasing for either the upcoming Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo launch on Tuesday, Aug. 22, and SpaceX Crew-7 launch on Aug. 25.