Blogs

Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR)/Light Microscopy Module (LMM):  The crew replaced the confocal camera which stopped responding on June 22.  The confocal system allows observation of very narrow depths-of-field in 3 dimensional samples, essentially allowing many different layers of the sample to be observed and later reconstructed as a 3 dimensional image.  Recovery of this system …

The Expedition 60 crew explored space biology and radiation exposure aboard the International Space Station today. The orbital residents also filmed a virtual reality experience and oversaw the deployment of a set microsatellites. NASA astronaut Christina Koch tended plants and stored microalgae samples for a pair of biology studies investigating ways to support long-term missions …

By Miles Hatfield NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center On Friday, June 28, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed a solar prominence erupting off the limb, or edge, of the Sun. Solar prominences are loops of comparatively cold, dense solar material that become suspended in the Sun's super-hot outer atmosphere. Because they are colder and denser than …

The three Expedition 60 crewmembers aboard the International Space Station focused primarily on keeping the orbiting lab in tip-top shape today. At the end of the workday, the trio split up for some space gardening and Earth photography. NASA Flight Engineers Christina Koch and Nick Hague teamed up on Tuesday replacing components in the station’s …

GLACIER2:  The crew performed a routine desiccant pack swap and verified a Quick Disconnect (QD) fitting on the Glacier2 water supply line was not leaking. GLACIER provides a double middeck-locker-size freezer/refrigerator for a variety of experiments that require temperatures ranging from +4 °C (39 °F) and -160 °C (-301 °F). The GLACIER is compatible with …

The next crew to liftoff to the International Space Station arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site on the U.S. Independence Day awaiting a historic July 20 liftoff. New Expedition 60 crewmates Andrew Morgan, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov are in final mission preparations in Kazakhstan. The trio arrived July 4 counting down to a …

NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) Installation:  In preparation for the planned satellite launch on Wednesday, the crew installed the NRCSD-16 hardware on the Multipurpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) which is attached to the Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) slide table.  The slide table was subsequently retracted, and the JEMAL was closed and depressurized. The NRCSD is a …

The Expedition 60 crew is configuring more CubeSats for deployment and working on space plumbing aboard the International Space Station today. Back on Earth, three crewmembers from the U.S., Italy and Russia are in training for their launch to the station on July 20. NASA astronaut Nick Hague installed hardware that will deploy seven CubeSats …

NRCSD (NanoRacks External Cygnus CubeSat Deployer): The crew reviewed procedures for the upcoming NRCSD-16 installation currently planned for next week. The NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer is a stackable, modular, ground loaded launch case.  Each NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer accommodates up to eight launch cases. The NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer meets the growing demand to deploy CubeSat format satellites …

A satellite deployer ejected a CubeSat into Earth orbit last night from outside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. Today, the three Expedition 60 crewmembers explored microgravity’s effect on humans and plants to support longer spaceflight missions. The RED-EYE microsatellite is orbiting Earth today to demonstrate satellite communications and attitude control technologies. NASA Flight …