Fluidics: Today the crew set up the Fluidics experiment hardware and executed Run 1. Fluidics is a fluid mechanics experiment with two main objectives: perform a Slosh study to investigate fluid behavior under microgravity during satellite maneuvers, and a Wave Turbulence study to investigate the impact of capillary effect on wave turbulence without being masked …
Investigations this week set the stage for longer missions in space
Kicking off the new week, the Expedition 55 crew aboard the International Space Station continued studies evaluating crew health, performance and sustainability for long-duration space missions. For one such investigation, a crewmate set up Neuromapping hardware to perform tests for Flight Day 90, conducting strapped in and free-floating body configurations. This experiment studies whether long …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/09/2018
Electro-static Levitation Furnace (ELF): Today the crew exchanged the sample cartridges within ELF to prepare for upcoming ground commanded operations. The newly installed cartridge was found to be slightly misaligned and an activity is planned for next week to resolve the issue. The ELF is an experimental facility designed to levitate, melt and solidify materials …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/08/2018
Plant Gravity Perception (PGP): Today the crew replaced four of the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) Experiment Containers (ECs) for the next Plant Gravity Perception experiment run. Two of the ECs powered up and remained powered. For this investigation, normal and mutated forms of thale cress, a model research plant, are germinated to support the …
Plant and Flame Studies Alongside Plumbing, Life Support Work
Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 55 crew continued exploring how plants adapt to gravity and began preparing for a suite of combustion experiments. The trio is also continuing the maintenance of the station’s life support systems and its microgravity science operations. NASA astronaut Scott Tingle put his green thumb to work today supporting …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/07/2018
Airway Monitoring: In support of the European Space Agency (ESA) Airway Monitoring investigation, today the crew completed calibration of the hardware in the US Laboratory and then completed two different measurement protocols; the low Nitric Oxide (NO) protocol which determines how much NO is exhaled with respiration, and the high NO protocol, which determines how …
Station Upkeep and Orbital Science as Ground Crew Trains
The three orbiting Expedition 55 crew members focused on maintenance of the International Space Station while studying Earth and biomedical sciences today. Meanwhile, a new set of station crewmates are in Kazakhstan for final training before beginning their mission in two weeks. Commander Anton Shkaplerov once again worked throughout Wednesday on life support maintenance in …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 3/06/2018
Airway Monitoring: In support of the European Space Agency (ESA) Airway Monitoring investigation, today the crew set up hardware in the US Laboratory for nitric oxide measurements to be taken tomorrow. Airway Monitoring aims to determine the pulmonary nitric oxide turnover in weightlessness and in combined weightless, hypobaric and hypoxic environments as well as determining …
Solar Panels Opened on NASA’s TESS Satellite
Technicians dressed in clean room suits check the solar panels, which were deployed, on NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the PHSF, the satellite is being processed and prepared for its flight. TESS is scheduled to launch April 16, …