Space Station – Off The Earth, For The Earth

Biomedical Research, Spacewalk Preps Wrap Week on Station

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko inspects the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft during a spacewalk on Dec. 11, 2018.

Biomedical duties to understand how space affects the human body and develop ways to treat microgravity-induced conditions were the prime research objectives for the Expedition 71 crew on Friday. The orbital residents also continued loading a U.S. cargo craft for its upcoming departure and preparing for a spacewalk at the International Space Station.

Living long-term in the weightlessness environment creates fluid shifts and blood pressure issues that doctors seek to address and promote crew health. The astronauts use a variety of biomedical tools collect their health data and monitoring how their body adapts to microgravity.

One of the most visible symptoms of living in space is a condition called “puffy face.” This is a result of body fluids moving toward a crew member’s head due to microgravity. Astronauts have reported this condition may also cause internal head and eye pressure affecting vision. A new thigh cuff, similar to a blood pressure cuff, is being tested for its ability to prevent space-caused fluid shifts toward an astronaut’s head. NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps partnered together for that investigation performing chest scans with the Ultrasound 2 device, measuring blood pressure, and conducting eye exams. Doctors are exploring if the thigh cuff can be worn in space to counteract the headward fluid shifts for healthier crews.

NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson attached electrodes to herself, wore a sensor-packed cap, and operated a portable ultrasound device on Friday. She was measuring her brain blood flow and blood pressure simultaneously. Scientists are studying how the brain regulates blood flow in weightlessness potentially revealing new therapies for spaceflight-induced and Earthbound blood pressure conditions.

NASA astronaut Mike Barratt spent all day Friday tending to mice living in rodent habitats located in the Destiny laboratory module. He refilled food and water and cleaned the habitats where the mice are being treated with a gene therapy that may improve eye health in space.

All four NASA astronauts will go into the weekend readying the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft for its undocking scheduled for April 26. The quartet has been taking turns all week transferring cargo in and out of Dragon. Next week, the NASA foursome will be making room inside the spacecraft and packing finalized experiments that will be returned to Earth for analysis.

Spacewalk preparations were underway once again in the Roscosmos segment of the orbital laboratory. Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub checked their Orlan spacesuits for leaks, tested their suits’ communications and medical components, and reviewed procedures to ready the Poisk airlock for their April 25 spacewalk. The duo will exit the station for seven hours of hardware installation work on the Poisk module.

Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin joined his Roscosmos crewmates on Friday afternoon for the Poisk airlock procedure reviews. He started his day pedaling on a treadmill for a periodic fitness evaluation. Grebenkin completed his shift after practicing futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques that may be used on planetary missions.

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

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Advanced Research and Ongoing Spacewalk Preps Pack Schedule

Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is pictured during a spacewalk on Dec. 11, 2018, to inspect the Soyuz MS-09 crew ship. Credit: NASA TV

The Expedition 71 crew had its hands full on Thursday with a multitude of research activities filling the schedule. The orbital septet also continued gearing up for next week’s spacewalk amidst ongoing cargo operations aboard the International Space Station.

Advanced space science is continually taking place aboard the orbital outpost with the experiments being run by astronauts, remotely controlled by researchers on the ground, or autonomously operated. The equipment housing and powering the research also requires constant monitoring and maintenance ensuring high quality results that provide valuable insights into microgravity phenomena.

NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Tracy C. Dyson split their schedule on Thursday servicing hardware supporting a pair of different investigations. Epps began her day in the Kibo laboratory module cleaning components and swapping samples inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace. The high temperature research device explores the thermophysical properties of materials difficult to observe in Earth’s gravity environment. Next, Dyson set up biomedical hardware she will use on Friday to measure how the brain regulates blood flow in the absence of gravity. Results may lead to new therapies and countermeasures for spaceflight-induced and Earthbound blood pressure conditions.

NASA Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Matthew Dominick spent their morning supporting two space biology investigations looking at separate but critical phenomena. Barratt attached electrodes to his chest and used an ultrasound device to scan his vascular system with remote guidance from doctors on Earth. The medical data is being used to assess the cardiovascular risk of living in space and is one part of the CIPHER human research study. Dominick swabbed surfaces throughout the station’s U.S. segment collecting microbe samples for analysis. The specimens will be treated on the orbital lab and examined on Earth to determine microbial resistance to antibiotics and the risk to crew health.

Dominick then partnered up with Barratt mid-afternoon testing portable breathing gear. At the end of the day, Dominick joined Dyson and swapped cargo in and out of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Dragon is due to complete its cargo mission and depart the station on April 26. Dyson earlier collected microbe samples for incubation and analysis. Epps wrapped up her shift installing a computer with a camera pointed out a window in the Destiny laboratory module for Earth observations.

Spacewalk preparations have been well underway this week as cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub get ready for a seven-hour excursion to swap hardware outside the space station on April 25. The Roscosmos duo began the day pedaling on an exercise cycle for a pre-spacewalk fitness evaluation. Afterward, the crewmates checked their Orlan spacesuit systems and components inside the Poisk airlock.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin remained focused on life support maintenance and orbital plumbing tasks in the cosmonaut’s portion of orbital outpost. Later in the afternoon, he participated in the spacewalk preparations staging standard medical equipment and tools in Poisk.

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

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Crew Works Cargo, Biomedical Ops, and Spacewalk Preps

Astronaut MIke Barratt installs a small satellite orbital deployer inside the Kibo laboratory module's airlock. — Astronaut MIke Barratt installs a small satellite orbital deployer inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock.

Cargo operations and spacewalks preparations topped the schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 71 crew members also worked on biomedical research and reviewed procedures for a simulated emergency.

NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt kicked off their day swapping cargo in and out of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft that arrived at the orbital outpost on March 23. Afterward, NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps took over the cargo transfers and wrapped up the work before lunchtime. Dragon is due to undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing port and return to Earth at the end of the month.

The quartet regrouped in the afternoon and participated in a pair of space biology activities to help doctors understand how the human body adapts to weightlessness. First, Barratt operated the Ultrasound 2 device and scanned Dyson’s neck, shoulder, and leg veins as part of regularly scheduled medical checkups. Barratt then joined Dominick and Epps to try on and test a garment that may help crews adjust quicker to the return to Earth’s gravity after a long-term space mission. The threesome then measured the circumference of the waist and right leg during the garment fit check.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub continue preparing for this year’s first spacewalk. The duo from Roscosmos were once again collecting tools, configuring spacesuits, and readying the Poisk airlock for their planned seven-hour spacewalk scheduled for April 25. The pair also took turns during the morning wearing a cap packed with sensors while practicing on a computer futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques that may be used on planetary missions. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin worked throughout the day servicing a variety of life support hardware and video gear in the space station’s Roscosmos segment.

At the end of the day, all seven orbital residents gathered together and watched a video describing the operation of emergency simulation software. Next, the crewmates familiarized themselves with emergency hardware, such as breathing masks, and procedures, including closing hatches and evacuation paths.

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

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Space Science and Spacewalk Preps Keep Crew Busy

Astronaut Jeanette Epps smiles for a portrait after she finished conducting a HAM radio session with Italian students.

The Expedition 71 crew members continued ongoing biology and physics research, as well as spacewalk preparations on Tuesday. The seven International Space Station residents also kept up more CubeSat work, cargo operations, and lab maintenance throughout their shifts.

Eye checks were on the schedule Tuesday as NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt contributed to the CIPHER human research study. The duo participated in a pair of eye exams looking at the retina and optic nerve for one portion of the investigation that examines ocular structure and function in microgravity. Results may inform countermeasures that protect an astronaut’s vision on long-term space missions farther away from Earth.

Dyson earlier replaced cardiac cell samples inside the Advanced Space Experiment Processor, a research incubator, that were printed using the BioFabrication Facility. Barratt installed a small satellite orbital deployer into the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock. The Japanese robotic arm will grapple the deployer and point it away from the station where it will release a series of CubeSats into Earth orbit for scientific and technology research.

NASA Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps and Matthew Dominick joined each other during the afternoon finalizing hardware swaps inside the Cold Atom Lab. During the installation work the duo also cleaned filters and checked power readings on the research device that observes the quantum behavior of atoms chilled to near absolute zero.

Dominick began his day processing blood samples with Dyson spinning them in a centrifuge for later analysis. The duo later took turns transferring cargo in and out of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub continue preparing for an April 25 spacewalk that will see the Roscosmos duo work outside in the vacuum of space for about seven hours. The two crewmates spent the afternoon gathering spacewalking tools and preparing their Orlan spacesuit components for upcoming operations. During the morning, the pair took turns studying spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques that may be used on future planetary missions.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin spent the majority of his day servicing life support components inside the Zvezda service module. At the end of the day, Grebenkin moved to the Tranquility module and worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device for an exercise evaluation.

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

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NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Begins Stacking Operations

Photo of Boeing's Starliner that will take NASA astronauts to the International Space Station In May 2024. — Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, set to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station, passes in front of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, set to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station, is lifted and stacked on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket — https://blogs.nasa.gov/boeing-crew-flight-test/

NASA teams joined Boeing on April 16 to move the Starliner spacecraft out of the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the launch site.

Technicians lifted and connected the spacecraft to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are the first to launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex-41. The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.

After successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station.

Wilmore and Williams will wrap up flight preparations in Houston and arrive at NASA Kennedy no earlier than Thursday, April 25.

Learn more about the NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test by following the mission blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.

NASA Completes Analysis of Recovered Space Object

In March 2021, NASA ground controllers used the International Space Station’s robotic arm to release a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries from the space station following the delivery and installation of new lithium-ion batteries as part of power upgrades on the orbital outpost. The total mass of the hardware released from space station was about 5,800 pounds.

The hardware was expected to fully burn up during entry through Earth’s atmosphere on March 8, 2024. However, a piece of hardware survived re-entry and impacted a home in Naples, Florida. NASA collected the item in cooperation with the homeowner and analyzed the object at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Recovered stanchion from the NASA flight support equipment used to mount International Space Station batteries on a cargo pallet. The stanchion survived re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere on March 8, 2024, and impacted a home in Naples, Florida

As part of the analysis, NASA completed an assessment of the object’s dimensions and features compared to the released hardware and performed a materials analysis. Based on the examination, the agency determined the debris to be a stanchion from the NASA flight support equipment used to mount the batteries on the cargo pallet. The object is made of the metal alloy Inconel, weighs 1.6 pounds, is 4 inches in height and 1.6 inches in diameter.

The International Space Station will perform a detailed investigation of the jettison and re-entry analysis to determine the cause of the debris survival and to update modeling and analysis, as needed. NASA specialists use engineering models to estimate how objects heat up and break apart during atmospheric re-entry. These models require detailed input parameters and are regularly updated when debris is found to have survived atmospheric re-entry to the ground.

NASA remains committed to responsibly operating in low Earth orbit, and mitigating as much risk as possible to protect people on Earth when space hardware must be released.

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

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Crew Begins Week with Spacesuits, Space Physics, and Human Research

The official Expedition 71 crew portrait with (bottom row from left) Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA astronauts Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps. In the back row (from left) are, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko.

Spacesuits and space physics kicked off the work week for the Expedition 71 crew. The International Space Station residents also continued their ongoing human research activities and cargo operations.

NASA astronauts Mike Barratt and Matthew Dominick took turns on Monday servicing a pair of U.S. spacesuits. Barratt spent the morning inside the Quest airlock dumping and filling the suits’ water tanks then filtering their cooling loops. In the afternoon, Dominick wrapped up the maintenance work and deconfigured and powered down the spacesuits.

Barratt earlier joined NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson in the Columbus laboratory module as she checked his eye function. After Barratt’s spacesuit work, NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps checked his blood pressure and scanned his veins with the Ultrasound 2 device. The biomedical work is part of the CIPHER investigation to gain a broad view of the physiological and psychological changes astronauts experience during long-term space missions.

Dyson moved on and removed a small satellite orbital deployer from the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock after it deployed three CubeSats into Earth for communications and technology studies. At the end of her shift, Dyson tested her vision by reading characters off a standard eye chart.

Epps and Barratt also alternated their schedules continuing to swap cargo in and out of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. Epps then began replacing hardware inside the Cold Atom Lab, a quantum research device for observing the behavior of atoms chilled to lower than the average temperature of the universe.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are gearing up for the next spacewalk set for 10:55 a.m. EDT on April 25. The duo spent Monday reviewing their spacewalk tasks, measuring their arm strength, and replacing components on their Orlan spacesuits. Kononenko and Chub are expected to spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space removing and installing hardware on the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin worked throughout the day primarily on life support maintenance tasks. The first-time space flyer also photographed electrical components inside the Zarya module then updated the station’s inventory management system.

NASA, Boeing Prep Starliner to Join Rocket Ahead of Crew Flight Test

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 4, 2022. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

The spacecraft set to carry two NASA astronauts on the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station is ready to move from its production facility to the launch site. Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will roll out of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday, April 16, to the Vertical Integration Facility at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to connect to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The crewed flight test is targeting launch no earlier than 10:34 p.m. Monday, May 6 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will fly aboard Starliner and will dock at the space station’s forward port of the Harmony module. The duo will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before Starliner makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.

After successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station. The Starliner capsule, with a diameter of 15 feet (4.56m) and the capability to steer automatically or manually, will carry four astronauts, or a mix of crew and cargo, for NASA missions to low Earth orbit.

Learn more about NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test by following the mission blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.

Eye, Brain Research and Cardiac Cell Printing Wrap Up Station Week

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson works in the BioFabrication Facility's portable glovebag located in the International Space Station's Columbus laboratory module. — NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson works in the BioFabrication Facility’s portable glovebag located in the International Space Station’s Columbus laboratory module.

Advanced space biology continued on Friday aboard the International Space Station to develop and test therapies for a range of space-caused and Earthbound health conditions. The Expedition 71 crew members also fit in light maintenance duties and their daily exercise sessions during their busy research schedule.

Eye health has been a main research focus this week as the crew conducted standard eye exams and investigated spaceflight-induced vision issues. Mice on the station are being treated with a gene therapy that may prevent retinal conditions and reduced vision associated with living in space. The mice will be returned aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft for analysis on Earth.

NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps split their shift on Friday and took turns feeding the mice and cleaning the rodent habitats located in the Destiny laboratory module. During the rest of their day, the two astronauts serviced a variety of life support and science hardware and worked out on a treadmill, exercise cycle, and the advanced resistive device.

NASA astronaut Mike Barratt spent most of his day in the Kibo laboratory module servicing brain organoid samples and injecting a test drug into the specimens. Working in Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox, Barratt spent his shift treating the samples and placing them in the Space Automated Bioproduct Laboratory, a research incubator, for later analysis. Results from the study may lead to insights into microgravity’s effect on the central nervous system and potential treatments for neurological diseases on Earth.

3D bioprinting continued onboard the orbital outpost on Friday as NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson worked in the Columbus laboratory module operating the BioFabrication Facility. She swapped sample cassettes in and out of the device then stowed printed cardiac cell samples inside the Advanced Space Experiment Processor for a two-month incubation period. The samples will be returned to Earth for future analysis. The biotechnology study may enable future space crews to print on-demand meals and medicines and doctors on Earth to engineer replacement organs and tissues for patients.

The space station’s three cosmonauts had an off-duty day and observed Cosmonautics Day which celebrates cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first spaceflight on April 12, 1961. Station Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineers Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin downlinked a video message commemorating Gagarin’s first mission. The trio from Roscosmos then deactivated and disconnected sensors that were monitoring and recording their body functions.

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

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Advanced Tech and Life Science on Station Today Promoting Health

The Soyuz MS-25 crew ship is pictured docked to the Prichal docking module as the space station soared into an orbital sunset above the Indian Ocean.

Nanomaterials manufacturing, 3D bioprinting, and astronaut eye health were the main research topics aboard the International Space Station on Friday. The Expedition 71 crew members also continued servicing spacesuits and conducted an emergency drill.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft recently delivered to the orbital outpost a biotechnology study to demonstrate the in-space production of nanomaterials that mimic DNA. NASA Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps and Mike Barratt worked on the second portion of that experiment on Thursday mixing then treating the research samples for analysis. Epps began her day mixing solutions in the Life Science Glovebox to create specialized nanomaterials. During the afternoon, Barratt applied sound and light treatments to the samples then stowed them aboard Dragon for analysis back on Earth. Results may lead to advanced therapies for space-caused and Earthbound health conditions.

The duo partnered back together at the end of the day for eye scans using standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist’s on Earth. Barratt operated the hardware with guidance from doctors on the ground peering into Epp’s eyes and examining her retina and optic nerve for the B Complex eye health investigation.

Cardiac cell printing was back on the schedule on Thursday as NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick operated the BioFabrication Facility located inside the Columbus laboratory module. He swapped sample cassettes inside the bioprinter then processed the printed cell samples for incubation. Results may enable future space crews to print meals and medicines or doctors to manufacture organs and tissues for patients on Earth.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson joined Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and practiced a simulated emergency return to Earth. The trio trained on a computer on the steps necessary to quickly enter the Soyuz crew ship and undock from the station for a controlled descent back to Earth.

Next, Dyson spent the rest of her day analyzing microbe samples, conducting a health checkup, and replacing orbital plumbing components. Kononenko and Chub activated a pair of Orlan spacesuits, installed components on the suits, then performed leak checks ahead of a Roscosmos spacewalk planned for April 25.

Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin started his day with blood tests then attached electrodes to himself that will monitor his heart activity for 24 hours. Afterward, he worked on Roscosmos life support maintenance before installing imagery hardware to study Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, 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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