ISS Daily Summary Report – 4/02/2020

Veggie PONDS Validation: The crew removed the Germination Cap from each Veggie Ponds Module and added water to reservoirs of each module in both facilities. Photos were taken and plant thinning was performed as needed. Organisms grow differently in space, from single-celled bacteria to plants and humans. Future long-duration space missions will require crew members to grow their own food. Therefore, understanding how plants respond to microgravity and demonstrating the reliable vegetable production on orbit are important steps toward that goal. Veggie PONDS uses a newly developed passive nutrient delivery system and the Veggie plant growth facility aboard the ISS to cultivate lettuce and mizuna greens which are to be harvested on-orbit, and consumed, with samples returned to Earth for analysis.

Engineered Heart Tissues: The crew performed sample fixations on selected tissue chambers and performed cell culture media exchanges on the remaining tissue chambers. A Human iPSC-based 3D Micro-physiological System for Modeling Cardiac Dysfunction in Microgravity (Engineered Heart Tissues) assesses human cardiac function in microgravity. It uses 3D cultured cardiac muscle tissue that mimics the architecture and function of adult human cardiac muscle. A magnet-based sensor placed underneath the tissue culture chamber allows real-time, non-destructive analysis of the functional performance and maturation of the tissues in space, which is compared with those cultured on Earth.

Mobile SpaceLab:  The crew de-installed and stowed the Mobile SpaceLab hardware. This completes the objectives for this experiment. The Mobile SpaceLab is a tissue and cell culturing facility that launches and returns on International Space Station (ISS) resupply vehicles to offer investigators a quick-turnaround, high-throughput platform to perform sophisticated microgravity biology interrogations. The Mobile SpaceLab operates with autonomous microfluidic delivery of multiple reagents as well as automated brightfield and fluorescence microscopy. The Mobile SpaceLab can perform a biology experiment autonomously for up to a month on the ISS without the need for crew operations.

Bartolomeo: The ground robotic teams successfully installed the new Bartolomeo platform on to the Columbus module. Check was completed and the Antenna boom and OSIRIS boom were successfully deployed. The European external platform Bartolomeo is an enhancement of the ISS European Columbus Module and its infrastructure. Designed to meet user requirements from the commercial and institutional sector, Bartolomeo is a new external payload hosting facility on the ram side of Columbus that is mechanically attached to the ram-facing primary and secondary trunnions, and uses the Columbus Parking Position Interface (PAPOS) for electrical and data interfacing. 

Systems

SpX-20 Preparation for Unberth/Release: Several activities on the plan were in preparation for SpX-20 unberth and release. The crew installed a single stowage locker, transferred the Mobile Spacelab payload onto Dragon and completed Dragon release and departure proficiency training. Currently, SpX-20 is scheduled to unberth on April 6th.

Queso Service Pack: Crew performed configurations changes to the iPads onboard following the Queso Service Pack deploy. As part of the Queso SP, the ISS server was upgraded and split in two requiring the crew to update their connection settings and bookmarks on the iPads.

Completed Task List Activities:

  • SpX-20 Cargo Operations

Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

  • ISS Soyuz Phasing Reboost via 74P Nadir Progress Mid-Ring Thrusters
  • Bartolomeo Platform Installation

Look Ahead Plan

Friday, 4/3 (GMT 094)
Payloads:

  • POLAR sample transfer to CS (NASA)

Systems:

  • Crew Off Duty Day 

Saturday, 4/4 (GMT 095)
Payloads:

  • MHU-5 Transfer Familiarization (JAXA)
  • NanoRacks Module-09 Ops 5 (NASA)
  • PCG10 MELFI insert (NASA)
  • NR Science Box removal (NASA)
  • MVP2 Cell-03 removals (NASA)

Systems:

  • COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Crew Command Panel (CCP) Checkout
  • Dragon Vestibule Outfitting Kit (VOK) Gather
  • Robotics Work Station (RWS) Display and Control Panel (DCP) Checkout 

Sunday, 4/5 (GMT 096)
Payloads:

  • No payload activities

Systems:

  • Dragon Center Stack Cargo Loading
  • Dragon Egress and Close Out 

Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

  • Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
  • Columbus Video Camera Assembly 1 Adjustment
  • COL1D2 Lower Restraints Check 1
  • Light Ions Detector Data Acquisition Unit Move [Aborted]
  • Verify shutter closure on SM windows 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14
  • СКПФ1, СКПФ2 Dust Filter Replacement and MRM1 Gas-Liquid Heat Exchanger (ГЖТ) Cleaning
  • COLUMBUS Bay 2 cleanup [Aborted]
  • COL1D2 Lower Restraints Check 2 [Aborted]
  • Mobile Spacelab Stow
  • COL1D2 Rack Rotation Up [Aborted]
  • Light Ions Detector Data Acquisition Unit Return [Aborted]
  • Dragon CTB Transfer
  • ESA Low NO Analyzer Wanted Poster
  • Sokol Space Suit leak check
  • Sokol Suit Dryout, Suits 1 and 2 Setup for Drying
  • LSG Work Volume Deploy
  • Orthostatic Stability Evaluation with LBNP
  • EHT MELFI Sample Retrieval Operation 1
  • USOS Window Shutter Close
  • Veggie Ponds Germination Cap Remove
  • Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)
  • Environmental Health System (EHS) – Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK) Stow Operation
  • Terminate Drying Suits 1,2
  • Food Acceptability Survey
  • Dragon Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH) Filter Bag Installation
  • Start drying the third space suit and setup the first pair of gloves for drying
  • Cold Stowage Double Coldbag Gather
  • Finish drying the first pair of gloves and start drying the second pair
  • Terminate Drying the Second Pair of Gloves
  • Dragon F5A1 Locker Installation
  • Changeout of ПФ1-4 dust filter cartridges in SM
  • On-board Training (OBT) Dragon Departure Review
  • LSG Primary Crew Restraint Unfold
  • EHT Tissue Chamber Media Change and Fix/Preservation
  • On Board Training (OBT) Dragon Ground Control Release Self Study
  • Drying of the third suit – end, start drying the third pair of gloves
  • iPad Web page Bookmark refresh after Queso SP deployment
  • EHT MELFI Sample Insertion Operations Session 1
  • EHT MELFI Sample Insertion Operations Session 2
  • Drying the 3rd pair of gloves
  • Stow suits and gloves after drying
  • Collecting atmospheric condensate samples [КАВ] from [СРВ-К2М] up to Gas-Liquid Mixture Filter (ФГС) to Russian Samplers, terminate
  • Multiple User System for Earth Sensing Server Vent Cleaning
  • Food Physiology Crew Diet Briefing
  • EMERGENCY Cartridge Stow
  • LSG Primary Crew Restraint Fold
  • LSG Work Volume Stow
  • SSC Queso service pack and update iPad bookmarks
  • Flight Director/ISS CREW CONFERENCE