Blogs

Fluid Shifts Before, During and After Prolonged Space Flight and Their Association with Intracranial Pressure and Visual Impairment (Fluid Shifts):  Kelly and Padalka performed a system test of the Ultrasound in the Service Module.  The crew configured the ultrasound, laptop, and video, and with assistance from the ground remote guider, then performed an ultrasound scan.  …

Ocular Health (OH): Virts and Cristoforetti completed their Return (R)-30 OH today.  They each performed ultrasounds of their eye with the assistance of the other crewmember acting as a Crew Medical Officer (CMO).  Virts, again with Cristoforetti as his CMO, performed an ultrasound echocardiogram. The Ocular Health protocol calls for a systematic gathering of physiological …

SpaceX-6 Dragon Departure:  Overnight, the crew disconnected both power jumpers, installed the Center Disk Cover, and closed Node 2 Nadir Hatch.  They then successfully depressurized and pressure checked the Node 2/Dragon vestibule.  Dragon was unberthed from the Node 2 Nadir docking port and subsequently released by the crew utilizing the Space Station Remote Manipulator System …

SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:42 p.m. EDT, about 155 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, marking the end of the company’s sixth contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The spacecraft is returning more than 3,100 pounds of NASA cargo and science samples from the International …

Scott Kelly, NASA’s One-Year crew member, flawlessly released the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the grips of the Canadarm2 at 7:04 a.m. EDT this morning. Mission Control in Houston had earlier commanded the station’s 57.7 foot long robotic arm to remove Dragon from the Harmony module and place it in its release position. After its release, …

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft was released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm at 7:04 a.m. EDT. The capsule will begin a series of departure burns and maneuvers to move beyond the 656-foot (200-meter) “keep out sphere” around the station and begin its return trip to Earth. The capsule is currently scheduled to splashdown …

NASA Television will provide live coverage of the departure of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station beginning at 6:45 a.m. EDT. Dragon was detached from the Earth-facing side of the station’s Harmony module earlier this morning. Mission control will maneuver Dragon into place then turn it over to Expedition 43 robotic arm …

Double Cold Bag (DCB) Packing:  Virts and Kelly packed the +4 degrees Celsius (°C) DCB with conditioned Ice Bricks and samples from Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI)-2 and -32°C DCBs with Ice Bricks and frozen samples from MELFI-3.  The +4°C DCB will be returning with Cell Shape and Expression, CASIS PCG-3, …

The Expedition 43 crew completed preparations on Wednesday to send SpaceX’s Dragon cargo vehicle back to Earth. NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Terry Virts transferred samples from two of the station’s Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS, or MELFI, freezers for return on Dragon. These included samples from the Cell Shape and Expression, …

USOS Crew Reduced Duty Day: Today was a reduced duty day for the USOS Crew as a result of sleep shifting in preparation for SpaceX-6 departure on Thursday, 21 May 2015. Fluid Shifts Before, During and After Prolonged Space Flight and Their Association with Intracranial Pressure and Visual Impairment (Fluid Shifts): Kornienko begun his Flight …