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The Expedition 62 crew spent Monday on a variety of human research activities while also exploring Earth from the vantage point of the International Space Station. NASA is studying how astronauts’ bodies adapt to living and working in space as mission managers plan longer human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The long-running Fluid …

Food Physiology: The crew participated in a briefing to discuss dietary details with Food Physiology team.  The Integrated Impact of Diet on Human Immune Response, the Gut Microbiota, and Nutritional Status During Adaptation to Spaceflight (Food Physiology) experiment is designed to characterize the key effects of an enhanced spaceflight diet on immune function, the gut …

Food Acceptability: The crew completed a Food Acceptability Survey using the Data Collection Tool on an SSC (Station Support Computer). This investigation seeks to determine the impact of repetitive consumption of food currently available from the spaceflight food system.  Results will be used in developing strategies to improve food system composition to support crew health …

New bone research kicked off on the International Space Station today to improve human health on and off the Earth. The Expedition 62 crew also practiced an emergency simulation with ground controllers. Living in space causes bone loss and scientists are studying ways to offset the negative effects to ensure long-term mission success. Results from …

Dose Distribution Inside the ISS – 3D (DOSIS 3D): As a continuation of the troubleshooting, the crew swapped the DOSTEL-1 and DOSTEL-2 data cables inside the DOSIS Main Box, then checked status of the DOSIS LEDs, and removed the DOSTEL-1 if needed.  This experiment uses active and passive detectors to determine the radiation doses inside …

The Cygnus space freighter is open for business at the Unity module where it will stay for the next three months. The Expedition 62 crew has begun unloading over three tons of science, supplies and station hardware delivered Tuesday to replenish the orbital lab. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan opened Cygnus’ hatch a …

By Jessica Merzdorf / GRAND MESA LODGE, COLORADO After visiting with part of the SnowEx 2020 airborne team, we headed up the mountain to rendezvous with the ground team, stationed at Grand Mesa Lodge. "Does anyone have a headache?" asked Jerry Newlin, SnowEx operations manager, as we left the little town of Delta and the …

Double Cold Bag (DCB):  The crew transferred and unpacked three refrigerated Double Cold Bags (DCB) into the appropriate MELFI, GLACIER, MERLIN, and ambient locations.  After the science items were removed from the DCBs, the ice bricks and DCBs were temporarily stowed to dry out.  The DCBs are passive (non-powered) bags which are used to maintain …

By Jessica Merzdorf / GRAND MESA LODGE, COLORADO What is it like to do science nearly 2 miles above sea level? At a majestic 10,500 feet elevation, Grand Mesa is the world's tallest mesa, or flat-topped mountain. It's also the site of an intense month of data collection by NASA's SnowEx 2020, a ground and …

Soon after its arrival to NASA's Kennedy Space Center last week, the Mars 2020 rover was moved to the Florida spaceport's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, where it has been undergoing processing for its mission later this year. The spacecraft was flown to Kennedy from California aboard a C-17 aircraft on Feb. 12. Targeted for mid-July 2020, the …