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Human research, space botany, and tiny satellites filled the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The seven Expedition 68 crew members also split their day on maintaining lab systems and packing a U.S. cargo craft for departure. It was the second day of operations for the GRIP study as NASA Flight Engineer …

Payloads: BioNutrients-2: BioNutrients-2 Production Bags were hydrated, agitated, and incubated. BioNutrients demonstrates a technology that enables on-demand production of human nutrients during long-duration space missions. The process uses engineered microbes, like yeast, to generate carotenoids from an edible media to supplement potential vitamin losses from food that is stored for very long periods. Specially designed …

The Expedition 68 crew kicked off the new year with an array of microgravity research aboard the International Space Station aimed at sustaining future crews farther away from Earth. The seven orbital residents from the United States, Japan, and Russia explored a wide variety of phenomena including space nutrition, dexterous manipulation, and microbe samples collected …

After its 1.4-million-mile mission beyond the Moon and back, the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived back at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Dec. 30. The capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11 and was transported by truck across the country from Naval Base San Diego in California to Kennedy’s Multi …

Payloads: Causal Analysis of Cardiorespiratory Coupling on the ISS (CARDIOBREATH): The crew donned the Bio-Monitor Garment and Headband. The crew then connected the equipment to both the Data Unit and the Bio-Monitor App for a 1.5 hr data collection during a CEVIS exercise session. Astronauts experience changes in their cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal systems during …

Research and maintenance activities aboard the International Space Station continue into the new year while engineers and managers discuss Soyuz capabilities and potential next steps in response to the Soyuz MS-22’s external cooling loop leak. The Expedition 68 crew remains in good condition, performing a variety of maintenance and research activities and looks forward to some …

Payloads: NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer Mission-24 (NRCSD-24): The crew set up a camcorder to record video and take still photos of the satellite deployment from the NRCSD-24 deployer. NRCSD-24 is an external deployer that is installed in the JEM airlock and robotically placed in the deploy configuration using the JEM Remote Manipulator System (RMS). NRCSD-24 deployed …

Payloads: Actiwatch-Plus: Four Actiwatch Plus devices were connected to the HRF Payload Drawer on HRF Rack 1 to allow battery charging and data downlink. The Actiwatch-Plus is a waterproof, non-intrusive, sleep-wake activity monitor worn on the wrist of a crewmember. It contains a miniature uniaxial accelerometer that produces a signal as the subject moves. The …

Payloads: NanoRacks Module-89 (Moon Gallery): Module-89 was removed from NanoRacks MainFrame A and stowed. NanoRacks Module-89 houses the Moon Gallery experiment that evaluates the performance of a single-board computer platform with a high-quality camera in the space station’s radiation environment. Photos and videos taken with the camera become part of an art installation known as …

Payloads: All Solid-State Lithium-ion Battery (AS LiB) and Small PL Multi-purpose Controller-2 (MCU-2): The AS LiB and MCU-2 were installed on the appropriate components on the Exposed Facility Unit-2 (EFU-2) in preparation for return to the external environment. AS LiB is designed to have a broad operating temperature range from -40 ℃ to 120 ℃ …