Blogs

By the time this hits the press, we will be well on our way. After building the sleds, tuning up the PistenBullys, and going for a couple of test drives around the station, we are about as ready as we are ever going to be. Onward! While on the road, we will be staying the […]

Synthetic Bone BioCell Operations: The crew completed microscopy operations for Synthetic Bone and then took a sample from each well on the Synthetic Bone Multiwell BioCell and exchanged the fluids with media in each well.  The samples were placed in a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI).  This experiment uses facilities aboard …

67 Progress (67P) Undock: 67P undocked from the Service Module (SM) aft port at 7:03 PM CST on Wednesday evening.  The Deorbit burn was completed at 10:10 PM CST.  Spaceflight-induced Hypoxic/ROS Signaling (APEX-05):  The crew harvested thale cress from all 20 Petri plates in which the plants have been growing in the Veggie facility for …

After a Russian cargo ship departed the International Space Station Thursday, the Expedition 54 crew is wrapping up the final work week of 2017 orbiting Earth and conducting science. The six astronauts and cosmonauts will go into the last weekend of 2017 with light duty and family conferences before taking New Year’s Day off. The …

Filled with trash, the unpiloted ISS Progress 67 Russian cargo ship undocked from the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station at 8:03 p.m. EST. Just after 11 p.m., Russian flight controllers will send commands to fire the Progress’ engines and deorbit the space freighter, sending it to a destructive …

67 Progress (67P) Undock: This evening, 67P is scheduled to undock from the Service Module (SM) aft port at 7:03 PM CST. Arthrospira-B (Batch Culture) Assembly: Four Arthrospira experiment containers were removed from the Biolab Incubator to exchange the reservoirs inside the Biolab.  Following the exchange of the reservoirs, the ECs were reinstalled back onto …

The International Space Station’s three newest crew members are beginning their second week familiarizing themselves with the orbital lab’s operations and systems. They and the other three Expedition 54 crew mates are also busy today with cargo operations, space science and station maintenance. Also, a Russian cargo craft is departing the station tonight after a …

Rodent Research 6 (RR-6):  In support of the on-going RR-6 investigation, the crew removed the mice and restocked the rodent habitats with new food bars in addition to cleaning the lids and interiors cages of the habitats. The Rodent Research-6 (RR-6) mission uses mice flown aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and maintained on Earth …

Tom and I have been very busy this week, working with our team and with the folks here on station to build the infrastructure associated with our traverse platform. We arrived at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station about a week ago and were extremely pleased to find that the sleds for our traverse were ready for […]