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Cardiology, combustion and CubeSats filled Thursday’s research schedule as three Expedition 61 crewmates are one week away from returning to Earth. The Cygnus space freighter is also poised to depart the International Space Station on Friday and complete one more mission. NASA astronaut Christina Koch is nearing the end of her 328-day mission aboard the …

CAL (Cold Atom Lab): The crew inspected, replaced when needed, and reconnected the Fiber Optics Cabling and ports. The CAL produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero, much colder than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms have almost no …

The Expedition 61 crew’s schedule was packed today as they researched space biology and packed a pair of spaceships for departure. Wednesday morning also saw the deployment of an experimental satellite outside the International Space Station. Blood draws and eye checks are part of the crew’s regimen of biomedical activities to help doctors keep astronauts …

At 4:37 a.m. EST on Jan. 29, 2020, NASA's Parker Solar Probe broke speed and distance records as it completed its fourth close approach of the Sun.

Ultra-cold science and nanosatellites kept the Expedition 61 crew busy on Tuesday while the International Space Station is getting ready for the departure of a cargo craft and crew ship. The Cold Atom Lab (CAL) enables research into the quantum effects of gases chilled to nearly absolute zero, which is colder than the average temperature of …

Refabricator: The ground teams successfully initiated and completed the first of five tensile sample prints using material that was once-recycled on the ground. The Refabricator’s objective is to demonstrate a unique process for repeatable, closed-loop recycling of a polyetherimide/polycarbonate plastic material for additive manufacturing in the microgravity environment of the ISS.  Eventually, Refabricator type hardware …

By Ellen Gray /NASA'S WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, VIRGINIA/ After a cloudy and rainy morning, by 1:50 pm the sun had come out and the skies were clear for take-off at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The P-3 Orion research aircraft outfitted with eleven instruments to measure conditions inside snow clouds was heading north to …

Engineers on the ground have begun powering up the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer’s (AMS) thermal system following a successful repair spacewalk over the weekend. The Expedition 61 astronauts are now preparing a U.S. cargo craft for its departure at the end of the week. It took four spacewalks over three months to restore and upgrade thermal …

Tests to measure the center of gravity and moments of inertia for the Mars 2020 rover aeroshell were performed on the spin table inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rover is being manufactured at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and, once complete, will be delivered to …

NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have adjusted the launch date of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft to Friday, Feb. 7, from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida due to the rescheduling of the mission’s Wet Dress Rehearsal. Solar Orbiter will launch aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41. The two-hour launch window opens at 11:15 p.m. EST. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA and NASA. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space.