Blogs

Payloads: Fluid Dynamics in Space (FLUIDICS): The crew disconnected and stowed the Fluidics HDD and its cable from the CMAU Z-book laptop. The measurement of liquid displacement within a sphere in microgravity relates to a given kinematic representation of a spacecraft’s fuel tank. The FLUIDICS investigation evaluates the Center of Mass (CoM) position regarding a …

Mission managers have given the “go” for two astronauts to exit the International Space Station on Thursday and conduct a seven-hour spacewalk. While the spacewalk preparations were under way, the rest of the Expedition 68 crew kept up its ongoing schedule of human research, botany, and physics experiments. Flight Engineers Nicole Mann of NASA and …

NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission held a critical design review (CDR) last week with a NASA Standing Review Board (SRB). This mission-level review was the culmination of individual CDRs conducted for all the instruments and subsystems.

Payloads: ADvanced Space Experiment Processor (ADSEP): The ADSEP hardware was installed and activated. A Tissue Cassette was inserted for equipment check out. ADSEP is a thermally controlled single-middeck-locker equivalent that accommodates up to three cassette-based experiments that can be independently operated. Its companion hardware consists of a collection of several experiment cassettes, each doubly or …

Two Expedition 68 astronauts continue gearing up for a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday at the International Space Station. The orbital residents also kept up a host of research activities as they serviced science gear, studied human research, and explored future technologies. The next spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. EST on Thursday to …

On Jan. 15, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) experienced a communications delay within the science instrument, causing its flight software to time out. Following a full investigation by NASA and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) teams, the cause was determined to likely be a galactic cosmic ray, a form …

Payloads: Actiwatch-Plus (AWP): The crew connected the AWP devices to a Human Research Facility (HRF) rack Universal Serial Bus (USB) hub to charge them and transfer data for subsequent downlink. The Actiwatch-Plus is a waterproof, non-intrusive, sleep-wake activity monitor worn on the wrist of a crewmember and contains a miniature uniaxial accelerometer that produces a …

The Expedition 68 crew kicked off Monday preparing for a spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station’s power generation system on Thursday. The orbital residents also researched a variety of space phenomena and packed a cargo craft ahead of its upcoming departure. Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration …

The Expedition 68 crew members turned their attention toward understanding how muscles adapt to microgravity on Friday after intensive bone studies earlier in the week. The International Space Station residents also continued processing the bone research samples, worked on orbital plumbing, and resumed spacewalk preparations. NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio were back …

Payloads: Muscle Tone in Space (Myotones): Crewmember and operator performed the skin marking and Myotones Device measurements. The Myotones investigation observes the biochemical properties of muscles (e.g. muscle tone, stiffness, elasticity) during long-term exposure spaceflight environment. Results from this investigation can provide a better understanding of the principles of human resting muscle tone. This could …