Blogs

Story Time From Space Meniscus Demonstration: The crew narrated and recorded a video demonstration exploring how a fluid behaves in free fall (microgravity) and how acceleration compared to free fall will make fluid behave the same as it would on the ground (1-G environment). Story Time From Space combines science literacy outreach with simple demonstrations …

The Expedition 50 crew members explored a variety of space phenomena today to help researchers improve life for humans and stimulate children’s curiosity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Scientists are working to understand how fluids behave not just in spacecraft fuel tanks and containers but also inside an astronaut’s body. Microgravity creates a headward …

Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI)-1 Autostop and Recovery: MELFI-1 went to Autostop mode Friday evening (during crew sleep). The Cold Stowage team performed troubleshooting including a rack reboot but remained in autostop.   Failure signature had anomalous values on the 120 and 28 volt inputs, as well as failure statuses on multiple …

Mission controllers are preparing to release Japan’s Kounotori cargo ship from the International Space Station at the end of the week. Meanwhile, the Expedition 50 crew is getting ready for a new protein crystal experiment and reconfiguring combustion science gear. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is getting ready to complete its sixth cargo mission to …

Fluid Shifts Before, During and After Prolonged Space Flight and Their Association with Intracranial Pressure and Visual Impairment (Fluid Shifts): The third 49S crewmember performed their second day of the Flight Day 45 Day (FD45) Fluid Shifts operations in the Russian Service Module (SM).  The subject donned the Chibis device, and while the crewmember was …

Milky blue swirls in the Bering Sea stem from Alaska's Bogoslof Island, which has been erupting since mid-December 2016.

The International Space Station residents are wrapping up their work week today installing and checking science communications gear. The Expedition 50 crew is also continuing to explore how long-term space flight affects eyesight. Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet worked on increasing the operations and communication capabilities of science gear. The duo worked …

Vacuum Access Port (VAP) Installation and Leak Check: Today, the crew installed a VAP in Node 2 from the LAB Vent Relief Valve to provide vacuum access capability for Visiting Vehicles berthed to Node 2 Nadir after PMA3 is relocated to Node 2 Zenith. Once installed, the VAP and lines were depressed and a leak …

The Expedition 50 crew is continuing its investigation into vision changes and eye damage some astronauts have experienced after long-term missions in space. Living in the microgravity environment causes a headward fluid shift that may be causing pressure behind astronauts’ eyes resulting in visual and physical changes. Two cosmonauts, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, and …