Astronaut Terry Virts works inside the Combustion Integrated Rack in this photograph taken Nov. 28.
Commander Barry Wilmore completed spacesuit maintenance work Thursday and began testing the spacesuit to return it to service. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti cleaned up and stowed the spacesuit hardware and tools. The next U.S. spacewalk is targeted for early 2015.
After the spacesuit work Wilmore joined Flight Engineers Samantha Cristoforetti and Terry Virts to review activities planned for next week’s SpaceX Dragon launch scheduled for Dec. 16. Virts and Cristoforetti earlier started their day on medical science and a periodical fitness check. Virts went on to open the Combustion Integrated Rack for fuel gear replacement work.
Veteran station residents and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Alexander Samokutyaev were back at work inside the Zarya cargo module installing overlay sheets on interior panels and disinfecting them. Russia’s first female cosmonaut Elena Serova worked science studying radiation in the station and the Sun’s influence on Earth’s magnetic field.
Samokutyaev also joined Serova for observation of the cardiovascular system while working out on an exercise bike. Shkaplerov worked throughout the day studying chemical reactions in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts discussed their mission today with CNN International and The Navy Times. Credit: NASA TV
NASA astronaut and Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry Virts worked on medical science Wednesday morning and later set up commercial research gear for an experiment to be delivered on the next SpaceX mission. Meanwhile, station Commander Barry Wilmore and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti continued this week’s maintenance work on a U.S. spacesuit.
During the morning Wilmore and Cristoforetti joined Virts for eye scans using the station’s Ultrasound equipment. At the end of the day, Samantha put on an armband sensor that monitors a body’s core temperature for a study that observes how a crew member adapts to a 24 hour cycle in space.
Cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova were back at work installing gear and connecting cables for a micrometeoroid detection experiment. Veteran station resident Anton Shkaplerov started his day installing software updates on Russian laptop computers then spent the afternoon auditing the laptops.
Meantime, SpaceX is counting down to the launch of its Dragon commercial cargo craft Dec. 16 at 1:31 p.m. EST. NASA TV will provide live coverage of science, technology and pre-launch briefings including the launch itself.
Astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti (foreground) and Barry Wilmore work on a U.S. spacesuit inside the Quest airlock. Credit: NASA TV
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and Commander Barry Wilmore began fan pump separator replacement work Tuesday on a U.S. spacesuit. Cristoforetti started her day with medical science collecting saliva and urine samples for stowage in a science freezer. NASA astronaut Terry Virts worked on a variety of science including updating Ultrasound scanner software, checking a botany experiment and participating in an eye exam.
Veteran cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov started their day in the Zarya cargo module installing overlay sheet on interior panels. Russia’s first female cosmonaut to join a station crew, Elena Serova, conducted a photographic inspection on windows in the station’s Russian segment.
The cosmonaut trio also worked on their task list of Russian experiments studying such things as chemical reactions in Earth’s atmosphere, detecting micrometeoroid impacts and a crew member’s sensory adaptation to long-term microgravity.
Meantime, SpaceX is counting down to the launch of its Dragon commercial cargo craft Dec. 16 at 1:31 p.m. EST. NASA TV will provide live coverage of science, technology and pre-launch briefings including the launch itself.
NASA astronaut Terry Virts (foreground) poses with his fellow Expedition 42 crew members behind him — (from left) Elena Serova, Alexander Samokutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov.
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti joined Commander Barry Wilmore on Monday reviewing procedures to replace a fan pump separator on a U.S. spacesuit. Earlier, Wilmore partnered up with NASA astronaut Terry Virts for the Body Measures experiment that studies changes to a crew member’s body shape while living in microgravity.
Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Elena Serova got together for a chemistry education experiment during the morning. Later, Serova joined Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev for Russian maintenance work.
The International Space Station is getting ready for the SpaceX-5 mission scheduled for liftoff Dec. 16. The Dragon commercial cargo craft will take a two day trip to the station before it is captured by the Canadarm2 and berthed to the Harmony node. Virts worked during the afternoon to activate a communications unit that will send commands to Dragon as it closes in on the space station next week.
iss042e016770 (Nov. 27, 2014) — Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Terry Virts works out on an exercise bicycle in the Destiny laboratory.
The six-member Expedition 42 crew aboard its orbital home and laboratory is conducting international science and advanced maintenance. Back on the ground, NASA is preparing for the launch of its new Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on its first test flight, the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission. The International Space Station is providing valuable experience and research that will help further future exploration missions on Orion.
The week-long servicing of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly continued Wednesday as astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts replaced filters and checked for leaks. The device removes humidity and carbon dioxide from the station’s environment.
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti was in Europe’s Columbus lab module cleaning the BioLab. The facility allows the observation of micro-organisms, plants and invertebrates and their adaptation to microgravity. The cosmonauts in the station’s Russian segment gathered in Japan’s Kibo lab module to record a televised event in between their regularly scheduled duties.
At KSC, Orion will launch atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket Thursday at 7:05 a.m. EST for a two-orbit test mission taking it 3,600 miles above Earth’s surface. EFT-1 will last less than 4-1/2 hours and will end when Orion splashes down in the Pacific Ocean for recovery by NASA personnel.
Commander Barry Wilmore (back) and Flight Engineer Terry Virts are working on the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly in the Kibo laboratory. Credit: NASA TV
Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts were back at work Tuesday for more maintenance on the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly. The device removes humidity and carbon dioxide from the International Space Station’s environment.
Wilmore later removed and stowed a printed test object, or coupon, from the new 3D printer located in the Destiny lab’s Microgravity Science Glovebox. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti started the 3D print job earlier in the day.
Fellow cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova partnered up on routine communications maintenance work. They were later joined by their newest crewmate, Anton Shkaplerov, on a chemistry experiment designed to educate Russian students.
Italian astronaut and Expedition 42 crew member Samantha Cristoforetti prepares for 3D printing work inside the Destiny laboratory’s Microgravity Science Glovebox. Credit: NASA TV
NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts worked Monday conducting intricate maintenance on a device that removes carbon dioxide from the International Space Station’s atmosphere. The duo later joined cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti for a review of emergency procedures and evacuation paths.
Cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev spent the morning unloading cargo from the ISS Progress 57 resupply ship. During the afternoon, he worked maintenance in the Russian segment of the orbital laboratory.
Russia’s first female flight engineer on the space station, Elena Serova, updated antivirus software on laptop computers and cleaned fans and filters. She also worked on a variety of science experiments including studying blood circulation in microgravity and advanced space photography techniques.
Commander Barry Wilmore talks about what he’s grateful for, gives thanks to the military for their service and reveals what he and Expedition 42 crew are eating on Thanksgiving. Watch his video message. Credit: NASA TV… http://youtu.be/ieR7yhigASg
The International Space Station is operating at full capacity as the six-member Expedition 42 crew ramps up new science experiments by setting up research hardware.
Commander Barry Wilmore partnered up with new Flight Engineer Terry Virts in Japan’s Kibo laboratory module setting up a nanosatellite deployer known as Cyclops. Wilmore then moved on to science freezer maintenance while Virts worked on the Aniso Tubule botany study and measured air velocity in Kibo.
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on her first space mission set up gear for the Blind and Imagined experiment that observes visual and sensory changes in crew members on long-duration space missions. The three cosmonauts worked on a variety of Russian science experiments including the study of the cardiovascular system, radiation exposure in the station and plasma research.
The NASA astronauts on the orbital complex will have a light day on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and will share a meal with the rest of their crewmates.
The Kibo laboratory module, where the Cyclops nanosatellite deployer is being prepared for service, is seen from a camera on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
NASA astronauts Baryy Wilmore and Terry Virts talk to journalists from Nashville, Tenn. and Baltimore, Md. Credit: NASA TV
The International Space Station’s population stands at six after three new crew members arrived Sunday night. After a six hour ride that began at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineers Terry Virts and Samantha Cristoforetti docked to the Rassvet module beginning a 5-1/2 month stay at the orbital laboratory.
Monday was a day of rest for all six Expedition 42 crew members. However, it was back to work Tuesday as the crew was scattered around the station to transfer cargo from the new Soyuz, conduct science and work maintenance.
Cristoforetti, Europe’s newest station astronaut, was in the Columbus laboratory module getting the European Physiology Module ready for upcoming installation work. Virts, worked inside Japan’s Kibo lab, getting a small satellite deployer ready for installation. Shkaplerov spent time on crew orientation and cargo transfers.
Commander Barry Wilmore reviewed the new 3-D Printer payload. Cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev was conducting diagnostic work inside the Zarya cargo module. Russia’s first female cosmonaut on the station, Elena Serova, worked on various maintenance tasks throughout the Russian segment.
The six International Space Station crew members, in orbit 260 miles above Earth, will enjoy a somewhat traditional Thanksgiving dinner but with a few tweaks.
While most Americans are roasting turkeys and emptying cranberry sauce out of cans, the station crew will be cutting open bags of freeze-dried, irradiated and thermostabilized foods.
Their menu will include traditional holiday fare with a space-food flair — irradiated smoked turkey, thermostabilized candied yams and freeze-dried green beans and mushrooms. The meal also will feature NASA’s own freeze-dried cornbread dressing — just add water. Dessert features thermostabilized cherry-blueberry cobbler.
The space station Expedition 42 crew is made up of Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore of NASA, Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA, Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov, Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of Russia’s Roscosmos and Italian Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency.
Station food generally resembles that, for the most part, flown in space since the inception of the Space Shuttle Program some 30 years ago. NASA is researching and developing ways to extend the shelf-life of food needed for deep space missions, such as those to Mars, and to minimize the volume of packaging. The agency also is using the International Space Station as a laboratory to learn how to grow plants, such as lettuce, in space.
Future crew members spending Thanksgiving in space may have one traditional staple, fresh sweet potatoes. The sweet potato may be one of the crops chosen for crews to grow on deep space missions. It provides an important energy source — carbohydrate — as well as beta-carotene.
The sweet potato is able to adapt to a controlled environment with artificial sunlight. It is highly adaptable to a variety of vine-training architectures. The main shoot tip, or the end of the main vine, is the only really sensitive part. It sends hormones throughout the plant that stimulate root development, which is important since it is the roots that become the sweet potatoes. The side shoots, if picked when young, are tender and can be eaten in salads, improving the plant’s usefulness.
Scientists believe most food items in the transit food system on future deep space missions will resemble those used on the station. Advanced processing and packaging methods will be needed to provide extended shelf lives and improved nutrition for the longer missions. Stored food and salad crops will be used in the early stages of planetary stays until permanent living bases are constructed.
