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 …
Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Liquid Carryover Issue: This morning, the liquid carryover sensor in the WHC annunciated resulting in a shutdown of the WHC. This sensor is downstream of the Wring Collector (COT) and detects an overflow condition in the WHC. This afternoon, when the crew opened the WHC panel, they found a large …
Two astronauts are counting down to a spacewalk planned for next Friday to replace a failed voltage regulator. While those preparations are under way, the crew is also exploring human research, life science and advanced physics. Next week’s spacewalkers are NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake. They will replace a …
Kubik-6 Ebox Exchange: Yesterday, Kelly unstowed the European Space Agency (ESA) Kubik-6 facility and exchanged the centrifuge and thermal eBoxes in preparation for the Kubik-6 commissioning. Today he activated and checked out the facility. Kubik is a small controlled-temperature incubator / cooler used to study biological samples in a microgravity environment. It is equipped with …
