Blogs

The unpiloted Russian Progress 66 cargo craft departed the International Space Station today after a five-month stay. Loaded with trash and other items no longer needed by the Expedition 52 crew, the Progress automatically undocked from the Pirs Docking Compartment on the Earth-facing side of the Russian segment of the complex at 1:46 p.m. EDT. …

Efficacy and Metabolism of Azonafide Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Microgravity (ADCs in Microgravity):  The crew retrieved a BioCell Habitat, inoculation kits and ADC samples from a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), set up hardware inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Work Volume and inoculated the Multiwall BioCells using Inoculum syringes.  Later today …

The Expedition 52 crew embarked on tasks Wednesday to further NASA’s eventual journey to Mars and aid researchers in understanding how to stimulate cancer-fighting drugs to target cancer cells—and cancer cells alone—in the human body. The astronauts lent their opinions to a food questionnaire designed to explore if the current food available in the spaceflight …

Capillary Structures:  The crew set up hardware for the Capillary Structures investigation, then performed a stability assessment and transferred the hardware to the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM).  Life-support systems on the ISS require special equipment to separate liquids and gases including rotating or moving devices that could cause contamination if they break or fail.  This …

Body Measures: On Saturday, a crewmember completed the Body Measures Flight Day 244 session with assistance from a trained operator. NASA is collecting in-flight anthropometric data to assess the impact of physical body shape and size changes on suit sizing.  Still and video imagery is captured and a tape measure is used to measure segmental …

At the end of June, the commissioning of SAGE III/ISS was successfully completed. The project phase came to a close and the science mission officially started July 1. SAGE III continues to operate well on the space station and data product development is moving along. This single profile measurement was made over the western desert […]

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 52 astronauts furthered investigative data for NASA’s Human Research Program, collecting in-flight data and blood and urine samples over the weekend. Today, the crew will take additional samples for the Biochem Profile, Repository and Cardio Ox investigations. An ultrasound was also used for the Cardio Ox study, which seeks …

Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) Operations:  Today the crew brought the JEMAL Slide Table into the JEM from the Airlock and replaced the Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) on the Slide Table with the Handhold Experiment Platform (HXP) Adapter.  The HXP Adapter will support the Exposed Experiment Handhold Attachment Mechanism 1 (ExHAM 1) operations …

By Kevin Matyi The motion of the moon is what causes eclipses, but the dramatic change in sunlight is what makes them so impressive to observers. But what exactly is happening when the moon passes in front of the sun? The moon is blocking the sun’s light from reaching Earth, but there is more to …