Blogs

Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing continue to predict an 80 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Launch is scheduled for April 16 at 6:32 p.m. EDT on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, from Space Launch Complex 40 …

NASA's TESS satellite is scheduled to launch Monday, April 16, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, on an ambitious mission to search for planets outside our solar system. Tune in Sunday for a series of briefings and events broadcast live on NASA TV. Catch the NASA Social Mission Overview at 11 a.m., a prelaunch news …

Metabolic Tracking (MT): Today the crew injected thawed inoculum into multiwell BioCells, which were then inserted into a NanoRacks Plate Reader.  The crew also took samples from the BioCell A group and collected surface and air samples while photographing each location.  The samples were placed into a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS …

Ever wanted a deeper dive into the life of the International Space Station? The flight directors in charge of the teams that oversee its systems have written a 400-page book that offers an inside look at the time and energy the flight control team at the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in …

The Expedition 55 crew continued exploring today the numerous ways the human body is affected when living in space long-term. More cargo transfers are also taking place both inside and outside the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. NASA Flight Engineer Scott Tingle processed human tissue cultures for the Metabolic Tracking (MT) experiment to help doctors understand …

Plant Gravity Perception (PGP): The final Plant Gravity Perception experiment completed today with three of the Experiment Containers (ECs) maintaining power in the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS).  The crew removed seed cassettes from the ECs and placed them in a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI).  For this investigation, normal and …

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is making strides toward its upcoming liftoff. The planet-hunting spacecraft is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday, April 16, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Inside Kennedy Space Center's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the TESS spacecraft was sealed within …

Today’s research aboard the International Space Station is primarily focusing on how plants react and how medicine works in space. The Expedition 55 crew and robotics controllers are also continuing cargo operations inside and outside the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft. Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold participated today in the Plant Gravity Perception experiment, one of several …

Metabolic Tracking (MT): The crew set up MT hardware and materials for thawing and inoculation. They then injected the thawed inoculum into multiwell BioCells, which were inserted into the NanoRacks Plate Reader-2.  NanoRacks Plate Reader-2 is a laboratory instrument designed to detect biological, chemical or physical events of samples in microtiter plates. The Metabolic Tracking …

The Expedition 55 crew explored a wide variety of life science today studying how different biological systems are affected by long-term exposure to microgravity. The multi-faceted space residents observed human genetic and tissue samples, rodents and fruit flies aboard the orbital laboratory today. Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold started his morning gearing up the student-designed Genes …