Blogs

Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEM A/L) Depress: The crew has depressurized the JEM A/L and vented the remaining air in preparation for the deployment of Satlet Initial Mission Proofs and Lessons (SIMPL) early Friday morning. Personal Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Monitor Installations: After reviewing reference material, the crew completed software and hardware installation activities by configuring …

In the middle of a workday where the Expedition 53 crew performed a routine emergency drill and additional ocular ultrasounds to map any eye changes, there was, most certainly, a higher (phone) call that actually came from more than 200 miles below the International Space Station at the Vatican: Pope Francis phoned in. It was …

Node 3 Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Photos:  This morning, the crew removed the WHC Kabin, took photographs of surrounding areas, and then replaced the WHC Kabin. These high-resolution, high-quality photos of seat track locations in the vicinity of the WHC and Node 3 Mid-Bay will be analyzed by teams on the ground.  These analyses …

Mid-week, the crew of Expedition 53 completed tasks to investigate the various ways microgravity affects the human body and shared the benefits of the International Space Station with students in Kiev, Ukraine, during a Public Affairs in-flight event. At 11 a.m. EDT, Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA spoke with U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch live on …

Extravehicular Mobility Unit Loop Scrub:  Today, the crew configured Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suits 3003 and 3008 for loop scrubbing.  Once the scrubbing activity was complete, they reconfigured hardware and performed iodination of Ion Filters for both suits. A sample of the water was obtained after the loop scrub activity to determine the effectiveness of …

Lighting Effects:  A 51S crewmember conducted a Visual Performance Test by stowing the hardware in their crew quarters, setting the light to the correct mode, turning all other light sources in the crew quarters off, and performing a Numerical Verification Test and a Color Discrimination Test. The completed tests were photographed and downlinked. The Lighting …

After a trio of spacewalks this month, including the final one conducted last Friday by Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA, the Expedition 53 crew returned to a schedule of full-time science this week. Today, the crew explored how lighting aboard the International Space Station affects their performance and health. One …

Engineers lifted and installed a third umbilical on the mobile launcher at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a fit check. The tower on the mobile launcher will be equipped with several connections or launch umbilicals like this one. After the fit check was completed, the umbilical was lowered down and will be installed …

USOS Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) #46:  Randy Bresnik (as EV1) and Joe Acaba (as EV2) successfully performed US EVA #46 with a Phased Elapsed Time (PET) of 6 hrs 49 min. The primary goals of the EVA were to Remove and Replace (R&R) a fuse in the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Enhanced ORU Temporary …

Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA completed a 6 hour, 49 minute spacewalk at 2:36 p.m. EDT. The two astronauts installed a new camera system on the Canadarm2 robotic arm’s latching end effector, an HD camera on the starboard truss of the station and replaced a fuse on the …