JAXA – Page 154 – Space Station

Crew Continues On Orbit Research as New Rocket Rolls Out

The Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft is raised into position on the launch pad Monday, July 20, 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The three-member Expedition 44 crew explored microgravity science today while maintaining the systems of the International Space Station. Back on Earth, a Soyuz rocket rolled out to its launch pad today before Wednesday’s launch of three new crew members to the orbital laboratory.

One-Year crew member Scott Kelly worked throughout Monday primarily on station life support maintenance after some plant photography. His fellow One-Year crew member, Mikhail Kornienko, worked on the Kaskad and Motocard experiments. Commander Gennady Padalka conducted research for the Fluid Shifts and the Vibrolab studies.

A new trio of Expedition 44 crew members saw their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft roll out to its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Cosmonaut and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui will launch July 22 at 5:02 p.m. EDT from Kazakhstan (July 23, 3:02 a.m. Baikonur time) for a five month mission on the space station.

New Crew at Launch Site, Cubesat Deployments Begin

A new trio of space station crew members arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Friday to complete mission preparations. In space, the orbital residents began a series of Cubesat deployments.

The Expedition 44/45 crew comprised of Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui are wrapping up preflight training in Kazakhstan. They will launch July 22 aboard the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft for a six-hour ride to the International Space Station.

On board the International Space Station, One-Year crew member Scott Kelly set up the Japanese Kibo airlock for Cubesat deployments this week. Kelly also explored fluid physics for the Capillary Beverage study. Cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko studied liquid crystals and observed chemical reactions in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Russian Resupply Ship Rolls Out, Crew Preps for Japanese Cargo Craft

The ISS Progress 60 cargo craft is at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: RKK Energia

The next Russian resupply ship to launch to the International Space Station rolled out to its launch pad today. The crew is also preparing for Japan’s next cargo mission due in August.

The ISS Progress 60 (60P) cargo craft is at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad preparing for a 12:55 a.m. EDT launch Friday from Kazakhstan. The 60P is delivering more than 3 tons of food, fuel and supplies to the crew and will dock to the Pirs docking compartment.

NASA astronaut and One-Year crew member Scott Kelly worked Wednesday to also get the station ready for another cargo craft, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kounotori HTV-5, due for launch Aug. 16. It will lift off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan for a four day trip to the station where it will be grappled and berthed to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node.

The two cosmonauts, Commander Gennady Padalka and One-Year crew member Mikhail Kornienko, were on the Russian side of the orbital lab conducting science and maintenance. The duo explored the dynamic forces the station experiences caused by mission events such as vehicle dockings and spacewalks including internal activities like physical exercise.

Packed Day of Science before Thanksgiving on Orbit

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.

› Read more about Blind and Imagined

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.

Kibo Laboratory Module — 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

Botany Science and Network Reconfigs as Future Crew Relaxes

Barry Wilmore in Destiny — Commander Barry Wilmore is in the Destiny lab module filling a water bag. Credit: NASA TV

The three orbiting Expedition 42 crew members are wrapping up the work week with science, cargo transfers and maintenance. Meanwhile, another crew is on the ground awaiting its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Commander Barry Wilmore worked in the Kibo laboratory checking out the lab module’s robotic arm. He was also in the Destiny lab module studying plants, which can provide oxygen and food for future crews, for the Seedling Growth experiment. His fellow crewmates Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova worked in the station’s Russian segment off-loading cargo from the docked ISS Progress 57 resupply ship and reconfiguring networks.

The next Expedition 42 trio is in Kazakhstan relaxing in their crew quarters at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur. Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineers Terry Virts and Samantha Cristoforetti are preparing for a six hour trip to the International Space Station; they’re launching Nov. 23 aboard the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft.

Barry Wilmore in Kibo — Wilmore reconfigures robotics cables in Japan’s Kibo laboratory module. Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 41 Opens Progress Hatch as Orbital Sciences Conducts Investigation

Cosmonauts Max Suraev and Alexander Samokutyaev opened the hatch to the ISS Progress 57 space freighter which arrived Wednesday morning. Suraev also joined NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman for descent training in advance of their Nov. 9 landing in the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft.

Flight Engineers Barry Wilmore and Alexander Gerst scrubbed cooling loops in the U.S. spacesuits throughout the day. Gerst also changed the water in the Kibo laboratory’s Aquatic Habitat.

Orbital Sciences Corp. has completed an initial assessment of its launch facility in Virginia after Tuesday night’s catastrophic failure of the Antares rocket.

› Visit NASA’s Orbital Sciences page for the latest information

New Progress Resupply Craft Arrives at Station

Traveling about 261 miles over the Atlantic Ocean, the unpiloted ISS Progress 57 Russian cargo ship docked at 9:08 a.m. EDT to the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station.

The craft is delivering almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies, including 1,940 pounds of propellant; 48 pounds of oxygen; 57 pounds of air; 926 pounds of water; and 2,822 pounds of spare parts, supplies and experiment hardware for the six members of the Expedition 41 crew currently living and working in space. Progress 57 is scheduled to remain docked to Pirs for the next six months.

For more information about the current crew and the International Space Station, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/station.

Progress Arrives at Station — The ISS Progress 57 is moments from docking to the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station.