Payloads: Advanced Plant Experiment-07 (APEX-07): A harvest was performed for the plants that have been growing in petri plate experiment containers in the Veggie Facilities. This harvest follows approximately 12 days of plant growth for the Arabidopsis thaliana. APEX-07 examines how changes in gravity and other environmental factors associated with spaceflight affect plants at the …
Following the Next Steps in Webb’s Journey
After two weeks of complex structural deployments, Webb has passed a major milestone and is now fully unfolded in space. For insight on what to expect in the months ahead and how to follow along, we hear from Alexandra Lockwood, project scientist for Webb science communications at the Space Telescope Science Institute: "Words can't describe …
Crew Starts Week with Space Agriculture, Human Cells and Spacesuits
The Expedition 66 crew kicked off Monday promoting space agriculture and observing how the human cell adapts to weightlessness. Two cosmonauts are also gearing up for the first spacewalk of 2022 set to begin next week at the International Space Station. Growing plants in space is critical to keeping crews healthy as NASA and its …
Primary Mirror Wings Deployed, All Major Deployments Complete
Today, at 1:17 p.m. EST, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope completed all of its large-scale deployments with the extension and latching of its starboard primary mirror wing. Now that the telescope is structurally fully deployed – with the secondary mirror tripod and both primary mirror wings in place – the three-month process of aligning all …
Starboard Primary Mirror Wing Deployment Underway
The Webb mission operations team has given the ‘go-ahead' to move forward with the extension of its starboard primary mirror panel. This is the last of the major deployments on the observatory, and its completion will set the stage for the remaining five and a half months of commissioning, which consist of settling into stable …
First of Two Primary Mirror Wings Unfolds
Webb's iconic primary mirror is taking its final shape. Today, the first of two primary mirror wings, or side panels, was deployed and latched successfully. Each side panel holds three primary mirror segments that were engineered to fold back to reduce Webb's overall profile for flight. The process of deploying the port side mirror wing …
Primary Mirror Deployment Has Begun
Engineers have begun the final stage of Webb's major structural deployments: the unfolding of its two primary mirror wings. These side panels, which were folded back for launch, each hold three of the observatory's 18 hexagonal, gold-coated mirror segments. The team is beginning today with the mirror wing on the port (left) side of the …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/06/2022
Payloads: Acoustic Diagnostics: Acoustic Diagnostics (AUDIO) measurements were taken. The Acoustic Upgraded Diagnostics In-Orbit (Acoustic Diagnostics) investigation tests the hearing of ISS crew members before, during, and after flight. This study assesses the possible adverse effects of noise and the microgravity environment aboard the ISS on human hearing. The investigation compares the relationship between the …
Biology, Agriculture Studies as Astronaut Begins Record-Breaking Spree
Biology and agriculture were the dominant research themes aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. Also, an Expedition 66 Flight Engineer is beginning a set of record-breaking milestones before returning to Earth at the end March. NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Kayla Barron started work Thursday morning inside the Kibo laboratory module examining mice for …