Three-Day Weekend Aboard Lab Ahead of June Cargo Mission

An aurora is pictured streaming above the Indian Ocean in between Australia and Antarctica on April 19, 2021.
An aurora is pictured streaming above the Indian Ocean in between Australia and Antarctica on April 19, 2021.

The seven orbital residents that comprise the Expedition 65 crew aboard the International Space Station took a well-deserved day off on Monday. May looks to be relaxed month, following a very busy April, with no spacecraft activities on the calendar until June.

It was a three-day weekend on the orbiting lab today as the five astronauts and two cosmonauts took Monday off. The septet cleared its schedule for personal activities such as looking at the Earth below, talking to family, watching movies and playing games.

The crewmates continued their daily workouts as each crew member exercises about two hours a day to counteract the lack of gravity on their bodies. There are U.S. and Russian treadmills, an exercise cycle and an advanced resistive exercise device that the space residents use to maintain muscle and bone health in weightlessness.

There were also urine sample collections aboard the orbital lab today which are part of a variety of ongoing studies into the effects of long-term spaceflight on humans. Those samples were stowed in a science freezer for later analysis by scientists on Earth.

The next cargo mission planned to replenish the Expedition 65 crew is targeted for launch on June 3. The SpaceX Cargo Dragon will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center and dock on June 4 to the Harmony module’s space-facing international adapter. The Cargo Dragon will deliver new solar arrays to augment the space station’s power system.



from Space Station https://ift.tt/3bcGjQY

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crew Sets Up Advanced Science Gear, Loads Cargo Ship With Trash

Image
A glacier, pictured from the International Space Station, in the Laguna San Rafael National Park ends at the Rio Nevado in Aysén, Chile. The Expedition 63 crew started the workweek checking out hardware supporting life science, combustion research and ongoing Earth observations. A Russian cargo craft docked to the International Space Station is also being packed with old gear for disposal toward the end of the year. The multitude of microgravity research that takes place every day on the orbiting lab, requires regular maintenance and monitoring by the crew or scientists on the ground. The ongoing research supports innovative applications and insights benefitting Earth and space industries. Today, Commander Chris Cassidy serviced an advanced space microscope and swapped components supporting safe combustion investigations. Cassidy first configured the Light Microscopy Module , part of the Fluids Integrated Rack , which supports basic physics and biology research. Next, the veteran N
Read more

DNA Repairs, Self-Replicating Materials Highlight Thursday’s Research

Image
(From left) Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA with Roscosmos Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner pictured during various station activities. Thursday’s science schedule aboard the International Space Station focused primarily on DNA and physics research including ongoing Earth photography sessions. The Expedition 63 trio also maintained life support gear and packed a Russian cargo ship. The space environment affects a variety of biological and physical phenomena adapted and designed for Earth’s gravity and atmosphere. Organisms from microbes to humans experience a variety of critical changes in microgravity. Fuels, materials and a host of other physical conditions also go through a series of important modifications. NASA and its international partners study these effects to ensure the health of astronauts and safety of spacecraft planned for future missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. DNA studies have been ongoing for years on the station to understand
Read more

JAXA, NASA astronauts Capture Cygnus Resupply Ship

Image
The Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply ship is pictured about 30 meters away from the space station approaching its capture point near the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV At 4:38 a.m. EST, Expedition 64  Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency used the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2 to grapple the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft as Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA monitored Cygnus systems during its approach. Next, ground controllers will command the station’s arm to rotate and install Cygnus, dubbed the S.S.  Katherine Johnson , on the Earth-facing port of the station’s Unity module . NASA Television coverage of installation will begin at 6 a.m., and installation of the Cygnus spacecraft to the space station is expected to be completed later this morning. Cygnus will remain at the orbiting laboratory for a three-month stay. Watch live on the agency’s website or on the NASA app. Learn more about space station activi
Read more