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The first spacewalk of 2020 is set for Wednesday and the Expedition 61 crew is finalizing spacesuit checks and procedure reviews. The residents aboard the International Space Station also had time set aside for more microgravity research today. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch are preparing to step outside into the vacuum of space …

Food Acceptability:  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 and performance on long duration missions. Today, the ISS crew completed the Questionnaire to provide feedback for this …

The Expedition 61 crew is continuing more research today into how the human body adapts to living in microgravity. U.S. spacesuits aboard the International Space Station are also being readied for the first of three spacewalks planned to start Jan. 15. Eye checks were on the schedule Friday afternoon as astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina …

The rocket that will launch a new spacecraft to study the Sun is beginning to take shape at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The first-stage booster for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is "on stand," meaning it has been raised to a vertical position inside the complex's Vertical Integration Facility. In the coming days, the one solid rocket booster needed for the mission will be added to the booster, followed by the single-engine Centaur upper stage.

Human research and space biology filled the lab schedule aboard the International Space Station today. The Expedition 61 crewmembers are also ramping up for a trio of spacewalks set to begin next week. NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Meir and Commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) started Thursday collecting their blood samples. The duo …

CBEF-L (Cell Biology Experiment Facility-L): The crew removed the Plant Experiment Unit from the CBEF-L facility and reconfigured the Video output cables for multiple channel ops. CBEF-L is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) new subrack facility, which is an upgraded facility of the original Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) currently aboard the International Space …

Rodent Research-19 (RR-19): The crew completed the Life Science Glovebox Cleaning activity. Mighty Mice in Space: Preclinical Evaluation of a Broad Spectrum Myostatin Inhibitor to Prevent Muscle and Bone Loss Due to Disuse uses rodent models on the ISS to investigate the potential benefits of targeting the myostatin (MSTN) and activin signaling pathways to prevent …

The Expedition 61 crew is gearing up for the first three spacewalks of 2020 set for this month. Meanwhile, the International Space Station is bustling with an array of microgravity research activities today. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch will conduct the first two spacewalks scheduled for Jan. 15 and Jan. 20. The duo …

No science operations; crew off-duty. Systems: SpX-19 Unberth/Release:  The SpX-19 Dragon vehicle was robotically released from the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) at approximately 4:05 am CT.  The ISS Commander was stationed at the Robotic Work Station (RWS), monitored the release of Dragon, and commanded the first two separation burns. The Dragon vehicle splashed …

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down at 10:42 a.m. in the Pacific Ocean about 271 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, marking the end of the company’s 19th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. A key component being returned aboard Dragon is a faulty battery charge-discharge unit (BCDU), which failed …