Blogs

The Expedition 63 crew readied a pair of tiny satellites for deployment and finished packing a Russian cargo craft for departure. The International Space Station residents also checked on BEAM today then worked on life support and computer maintenance. Two CubeSats were installed inside a NanoRacks small satellite deployer this morning for release into Earth …

Payloads Fluids Integrated Rack/Light Microscopy Module (FIR/LMM)/CDM change out: As a continuation of the CDM experiment, the crew installed the sixth of the ten experiment modules on the FIR/LMM.  Capillary-Driven Microfluidics in Space (Capillary Driven Microfluidics or more simply, CDM) examines the drawing of fluids into a tiny narrow tube in microgravity. Results may improve …

Today is my first day fully transitioned as the head of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and I am honored to lead a new era of human spaceflight. You’ll hear me say this time and time again: exploration is a team sport. I saw that in low-Earth orbit with NASA, industry and our …

A Russian cargo craft is due to depart the International Space Station in the middle of the week after seven months on orbit. The five-member Expedition 63 crew stayed busy all-day Monday continuing the upkeep of space research gear and life support hardware. The Progress 74 (74P) resupply ship is being packed with trash and …

Payloads Astrobee: The crew powered on both Astrobee free flier units and verified the LEDs were as expected.  Following this, the ground team loaded the appropriate software/maps and adjusted settings.  The ground then commanded one of the Astrobee free fliers to undock and maneuver in the JEM.  These activities are preparation for the upcoming Kibo …

Three panels for the Artemis II Orion stage adapter were built by AMRO Fabricating Corp. in South El Monte, California and shipped to Marshall where engineers and technicians from NASA are joining them using a sophisticated friction-stir welding process to form the Orion stage adapter. This critical part of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will send the Artemis …

Spacesuit checks were on the schedule today for the Expedition 63 crew following a spacewalk to replace aging batteries on the International Space Station. The orbital residents also juggled a variety of science activities. NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken are back to work today after Wednesday’s spacewalk to swap batteries and route cables …

Systems USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #66/S6 Battery EVA #2:  Chris Cassidy (EV1) and Bob Behnken (EV2) performed a 6 hour 1 minute EVA that completed the following tasks in support of the S6 Channel 1B battery transition from nickel hydrogen (NiH2) to lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries: Li-ion Battery D from EP to S6 IEA Slot 6 …

NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Robert Behnken concluded their spacewalk at 12:14 p.m. EDT. During the six hour and one-minute spacewalk, the two NASA astronauts completed half the work to upgrade the batteries that provide power for one channel on one pair of the station’s solar arrays. The new batteries provide an improved and more …

NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Robert Behnken have begun the second of two scheduled spacewalks to replace batteries on one of two power channels on the far starboard truss (S6 Truss) of the International Space Station. The spacewalkers switched their spacesuits to battery power at 7:13 a.m. EDT to begin the spacewalk, which may last …