NASA's Parker Solar Probe has begun the second of 24 planned orbits, on track for its second perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun, on April 4, 2019.
All Systems Go As Parker Solar Probe Begins Second Sun Orbit

NASA's Parker Solar Probe has begun the second of 24 planned orbits, on track for its second perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun, on April 4, 2019.
ISS Experience setup and recording: The crew set up the hardware in Node 1, recorded themselves with The ISS Experience Z- Cam answering questions from the ISS Experience Astronaut Log, then moved the ISS Experience hardware to Node 2. Questions were related to the astronaut’s personal experience, adaptation to life in space, and space exploration. …
A Russian cargo ship left the International Space Station this morning and was deorbited for a destructive demise over the Pacific Ocean. The Expedition 58 crew now turns its attention to the departure of a U.S. space freighter next month. The Progress 70 (70P) resupply ship ended its six-and-a-half month stay at the station when …
A Russian Progress 70 (70P) cargo craft undocked from the International Space Station today at 7:55 a.m. EST loaded with trash and discarded gear. It will orbit Earth a few more hours before reentering the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean for a fiery but safe destruction. The Progress delivered three tons of food, fuel …
FIR/LMM/Biophysics-5-2 Plate Installation: The crew installed Biophysics Plate s/n 2002 onto the PACE (Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment) LED Base inside the FIR/LMM (Fluids Integrated Rack/Light Microscopy Module) AFC (Auxiliary Fluids Container) and dispensed oil on the plate. LMM/Biophyscs-5-2 looks at the relationship between solution convection – the movement of molecules through the fluid – and …
Materials ISS Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) Troubleshooting: Performed as planned ground-commanded troubleshooting, today a file downlink attempt was made on the MISSE Science Carrier-11 (MSC-11). This was not successful and the engineering team will assess the errors reported during the attempt. Also as part of the troubleshooting, MSC-9 was powered-up and its power profile monitored …
The Expedition 58 crew opened up the International Space Station’s “closet” today stowing hardware inside the experimental module. The three orbital residents also reviewed medical emergency procedures and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program announced a crew update Tuesday. The Bigelow Experimental Activity Module (BEAM) had its stay extended at the orbital lab in November of 2017. …
Fluid Shifts: In support of the final day of Fluid Shifts operations, the crew performed a Chibis (lower body negative pressure) Imaging session. The video issues experienced yesterday did not occur today and the ground teams report today’s session occurred nominally. Fluid Shifts is a NASA investigation, divided into Dilution Measurements, Baseline Imaging, and Baseline …
The three Expedition 58 crew members continued studying today the upward flow of fluids inside astronauts’ bodies caused by living in space. The crew also worked on packing a U.S. cargo craft and servicing U.S. spacesuits at the International Space Station. One easily recognizable symptom of living in space is the “puffy face” astronauts get …
FIR/LMM/Biophysics-5 Configuration: While the crew was installing Biophysics-5 plate number 3 into the FIR/LMM (Fluids Integrated Rack/Light Microscopy Module), they noted some condensate on the plate and its capillaries. When they attempted to blot the condensate with a lint-free cloth, one of the capillaries was broken and the plate was bagged for safety reasons. The …