Blogs

Commander Scott Kelly and one-year crewmate Mikhail Kornienko continue their contribution to the fluid shifts study with the aid of Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov. Data from this long-term study hopes to reveal correlations between the distribution of fluid in the body and changes in vision during prolonged stays in microgravity. Final preparations are underway for …

Fluid Shifts Before, During and After Prolonged Space Flight and Their Association with Intracranial Pressure and Visual Impairment (Fluid Shifts):   Kelly continued his Return minus 45 day (R-45) Fluid Shifts activities today in the Russian Segment with assistance from Kornienko and Volkov and guidance from the ground team.   He performed Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Cerebral …

The crew is involved in a number of different experiments today, including more fluid shift studies, the SPRINT experiment, and experiment Matroyshka-R. Tim Kopra was taking part in the SPRINT experiment today, which evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise to minimize loss of muscle, bone and cardiovascular function. Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko …

Electrostatic Levitation Furnaces 1 and 2  (ELF 1 & 2) Setup:  Kelly and Peake  set up the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) ELF equipment for installation in the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack 2 (MSPR2) work volume in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM).   The crew was unable to complete all of the installation activities today.  They …

Preparation continues for Tim Peake and Tim Kopra for Friday’s 7:55 a.m. EST spacewalk. Today, they will be re-familiarizing themselves with the tools needed to perform the Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU) change out. Aside from spacewalk preparation, Commander Scott Kelly and Tim Peake will also be setting up the JAXA Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) equipment. It …

Neuromapping:  Kopra completed a NeuroMapping Neurocognitive test on a Human Research Facility laptop.  The Neuromapping experiment studies whether long-duration spaceflight causes any changes to the brain, including brain structure and function, motor control, and multi-tasking; as well as measuring how long it takes for the brain and body to recover from those possible changes. Previous …

Astronauts Tim Peake and Tim Kopra continue to prepare for their 6.5 hour spacewalk on Friday of this week. During the spacewalk they will be replacing a failed voltage regulator which will return power to one of the eight power channels. Meanwhile, Commander Scott Kelly is gathering hardware for the fluid shifts experiment. Tomorrow, he …

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Status:  Following yesterday’s pretreated urine leak discovery and cleanup, today Peake worked to successfully change out the WHC Pump Separator, Wring Collector (COT), Air Filter, Liquid Indicator and Electrical cables.  WHC has since been activated and is operating nominally.   Robotics Refueling Mission (RRM):  Last night, ground controllers transferred RRM …

Two astronauts were back at work today preparing the spacesuits and tools they will use next week during a maintenance spacewalk. The crew also wrapped up some plumbing work while continuing a wide variety of space science. Flight Engineers Tim Kopra and Tim Peake checked out their U.S. spacesuits ensuring a good fit and readied …

"Since its discovery, Pluto has proven consistently troublesome to the theorist." – Sir Patrick Moore, The Observer's Book of Astronomy (1971) Written 45 years ago, these words are more appropriate today than Moore could have ever imagined. Greetings, I'm Dr. Orkan Umurhan, a scientist on New Horizons' Geology and Geophysics Investigation (GGI) Team. Pluto's surface …