Cargo Mission Ready to Launch Amid Busy Space Science Schedule

The Progress 82 cargo craft stands atop its rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad in Kazakhstan during pre-launch processing. Credit: RSC/Energia
The Progress 82 cargo craft stands atop its rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad in Kazakhstan during pre-launch processing. Credit: RSC/Energia

A new resupply mission stands ready to launch from Kazakhstan tonight to the International Space Station. As the seven Expedition 68 crewmates await their space delivery they tended to vegetables, scanned each other’s eyes, tested robotic inventory scanning, and explored plasma physics.

A rocket with the ISS Progress 82 cargo craft atop is counting down to its lift off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome at 8:20 p.m. EDT today to the orbiting lab. Filled with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to replenish the orbital residents, the Progress 82 will take a two-day trip to the space station and automatically dock to the Poisk module at 10:49 p.m. EDT on Thursday. NASA TV will broadcast the events live on the agency’s app and website with launch coverage beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and docking coverage at 10:15 p.m. on Thursday.

Back in space, the four astronauts and three cosmonauts aboard the station concentrated on numerous state-of-the-art science experiments benefiting humans both in space and on Earth. Ranging from space botany, human research, and microgravity physics, the studies help crew members adjust to long-term missions in weightlessness and provide innovations enhancing products and services on Earth.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio spent Tuesday morning nourishing and monitoring vegetables growing inside the Columbus laboratory module. The XROOTS investigation explores soilless methods, or hydroponic and aeroponic techniques, to grow crops in space and sustain crews living off the Earth.

Rubio also joined his fellow flight engineers, Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, both from NASA, and Koichi Wakata from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for eye scans using the Human Research Facility’s ultrasound device. The optic exams give researchers insight into how microgravity affects the eye’s shape, pressure, retinas and vision.

Mann, who also cleaned and inspected U.S. module hatch seals, joined Wakata and pointed their cameras outside the station photographing the condition of solar array components. In addition, Wakata turned on an Astrobee robotic free-flyer to demonstrate its use of wireless technology, or radio frequency identification, to manage cargo inventory on the space station. Cassada worked inside the Zarya module to maximize storage space.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev configured research hardware in the Columbus module to explore plasma crystals, or highly-charged microparticles, to gain fundamental space physics knowledge and possibly improve the design of future spacecraft. Cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Anna Kikina took turns studying future planetary spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques. Petelin then went on and explored how the digestion system adapts to microgravity, while Kikina observed Earth’s nighttime atmospheric glow in the near-ultraviolet wavelength.



from Space Station https://ift.tt/YrQUcPO

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Station Wraps Busy Week Before Cygnus Cargo Mission Launches

Image
This high exposure photograph from the International Space Station shows Earth’s atmospheric glow and a starry sky as the orbital complex soared above the Pacific Ocean. The Expedition 70 crew is looking ahead to the arrival of a U.S. cargo craft due to arrive at the International Space Station next week. Meanwhile, the Axiom Space 3 (Ax-3) crew finished its first week in orbit with a busy schedule of research, education, and media activities. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft will take its first ride atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket when it lifts off at 12:29 p.m. EST on Monday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The private space freighter will be carrying over 8,200 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies, and lab hardware to the orbiting outpost. NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli is due to capture Cygnus with the Canadarm 2 robotic arm at 3:35 a.m. on Wednesday. She will be on duty that morning along with fellow NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara who will monitor Cygn...
Read more

Dream Chaser Undergoes Testing at NASA Test Facility in Ohio

Image
NASA and Sierra Space are making progress on the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. The uncrewed cargo spaceplane is planned to launch its demonstration mission in 2024 to the orbital complex as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services. Credit: Sierra Space/Shay Saldana NASA and Sierra Space are preparing for the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. Dream Chaser and its companion cargo module, called Shooting Star, arrived at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, for environmental testing, scheduled to start in mid-December, ahead of its first flight, scheduled for the first half of 2024. The Neil Armstrong Test Facility, part of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, is home to multiple test facilities, including the Space Environments Complex and the In-Space Propulsion Facility, both stops for Dream Chaser. The complex is home to the Mechanical Vib...
Read more

Crew Dragon Suit Checks as Station Begins Orbital Reboosts

Image
This long-exposure photograph from the space station reveals the Milky Way glittering above a bright but exaggerated atmospheric glow blanketing the Earth’s horizon. The Expedition 63 crew checked out SpaceX Crew Dragon suits today and stayed busy with a full slate of space research. The International Space Station also completed the first of three orbital reboosts to get ready for the next crew mission in October. Flight Engineers Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken inspected the suits they will wear when they return to Earth aboard the Crew Dragon spaceship. The duo tried on their suits for a fit check and ensured the components are in good condition. They are scheduled to depart the station on Saturday and splashdown the following day. NASA TV will cover all the departure activities live. The homebound-duo started the day replacing environmental control system (ECS) hardware aboard the orbiting lab. That work required temporarily removing a plant habitat from the Unity module to...
Read more