Space life

Commander Sergey Prokopyev wears a head cap with sensors and practices potential piloting techniques for futuristic planetary missions. Two Expedition 68 astronauts continue gearing up for a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday at the International Space Station . The orbital residents also kept up a host of research activities as they serviced science gear, studied human research, and explored future technologies. The next spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. EST on Thursday to continue upgrading the space station’s power generation system. Flight Engineers Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space completing the hardware installation job that they began on Jan. 20 during their first spacewalk. NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, will begin live spacewalk coverage at 6:45 a.m. Mann and Wakata started Tuesday morning organizing their tools, tethers, and other spacewalking ...

Astronaut Nicole Mann is pictured during her first spacewalk on Jan. 20, 2023, to prepare the orbiting lab for its next roll-out solar array. The Expedition 68 crew kicked off Monday preparing for a spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station ’s power generation system on Thursday. The orbital residents also researched a variety of space phenomena and packed a cargo craft ahead of its upcoming departure. Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) began their day reviewing procedures for a spacewalk set to begin at 8:15 a.m. EST on Thursday. The duo will spend about seven hours completing the installation of hardware to ready the space station for its next roll-out solar array on the starboard truss structure . This will be their second spacewalk together and they will finish the external installation job they began on Jan. 20 . NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio joined Mann and Wakata during Monda...

Expedition 68 Flight Engineers Anna Kikina and Koichi Wakata pose together aboard the space station. Credit: Roscosmos The Expedition 68 crew members turned their attention toward understanding how muscles adapt to microgravity on Friday after intensive bone studies earlier in the week. The International Space Station residents also continued processing the bone research samples, worked on orbital plumbing, and resumed spacewalk preparations. NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio were back in the Kibo laboratory module on Friday cleaning up after completing work for an advanced bone healing study . The duo finalized sample processing in Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox , stowed the samples in a science freezer, then cleaned up the research hardware and its components. Those samples will be returned to Earth and compared to a control group to study the effectiveness of a new bone-graft adhesive. Results may improve the healing ability of bone fractures and the treatmen...

Astronaut Nicole Mann is pictured during a spacewalk on Jan. 20, 2023, upgrading the space station’s power generation system. The Expedition 68 astronauts are cleaning up following three days of advanced bone repair studies while getting ready for an upcoming spacewalk. The International Space Station ’s three cosmonauts continued their space physics and Earth imagery work, as well as maintaining orbital lab systems. NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio are cleaning up biology research hardware and finalizing sample processing after three full days of bone healing research . The duo worked inside the Kibo laboratory module servicing the samples then stowing them into science freezers. Those samples will be packed on a future SpaceX Dragon cargo mission for return then analyzed and compared to control samples in laboratories on Earth. The two astronauts also cleaned Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox and its components where the intensive bone investigation work took pl...

Astronauts (middle left to right) Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio pose with spacewalkers (far left and right) Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata following the completion of a spacewalk on Jan. 20, 2023. Wednesday was the last full day of research operations aboard the International Space Station to learn how to improve bone healing therapies both on Earth and in space. The Expedition 68 crew members also studied the human heart and plasma physics and set up Earth imagery hardware. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann , Josh Cassada , and Frank Rubio and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata wrapped up three days of continuous research into bone growth. The quartet spent the day inside the Kibo laboratory module studying research samples in the Life Science Glovebox to understand the bone healing process in microgravity. Cassada will work on Thursday and Friday cleaning up the space biology hardware and completing sample processing. Weightlessness inhibits bone tiss...

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada peers through one of the seven windows in the cupola, the space station’s “window to the world.” Four Expedition 68 astronauts are midway through their bone research activities this week helping doctors improve treatment for bone conditions on and off the Earth. The three cosmonauts living aboard the International Space Station kept up their physics research, tested spacecraft communications gear, and conducted eye exams. Weightlessness reveals phenomena that are difficult or impossible to study in Earth’s gravity environment. Scientists on the ground use the space station’s research facilities to study and observe this unique phenomena and provide advanced solutions benefiting a host of space and Earth-bound industries. Four astronauts aboard the orbiting lab are in the middle of an experiment that is studying a bone graft adhesive that may reverse the effects of weightlessness on stem cells and bone tissue. Doctors have learned that microgravity inh...

The space station’s solar arrays and a small satellite orbital deployer are pictured as the orbiting lab soared above the African nation of Namibia. Space medicine was the top research priority aboard the International Space Station on Monday as four Expedition 68 astronauts explored healing bone conditions. The orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts spent the day studying a variety of physics, packing a resupply ship, and servicing station hardware. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann , Josh Cassada , and Frank Rubio joined Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for an all-day bone research session in the Kibo laboratory module . The quartet worked in Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox servicing research samples for the Osteopromotive Bone Adhesive study. Living in microgravity may affect skeletal stem cells and bone tissue regeneration, or bone repair. Researchers are studying a bone graft adhesive on the space station with the potential to reverse the effects...

NASA and its international partners have approved the crew for Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2). Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the privately funded mission. Aviator John Shoffner of Knoxville, Tennessee, will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists will be announced later. Learn more about station activities by following the  space station blog ,  @space_station  and  @ISS_Research  on Twitter, as well as the  ISS Facebook  and  ISS Instagram  accounts. Get weekly video highlights at:  https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videupdate/ Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here:  www.nasa.gov/subscribe from Space Station https://ift.tt/vnarJWi

Spacewalkers (from left) Koichi Wakata and Nicole Mann are pictured installing hardware on the space station preparing the orbiting lab for its next roll-out solar array. Credit: NASA TV NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata concluded their spacewalk at 3:35 p.m. EST after 7 hours and 21 minutes. Mann and Wakata completed work left over from a previous spacewalk for a platform on which a set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) for the station’s 1B power channel will be installed later this year, as well as most of the work to install a similar mounting platform for a set of iROSAs for the 1A power channel. Due to time constraints, plans to bolt a final strut for the second platform were deferred until a future spacewalk. There is no impact to station operations. The installation is part of a series of spacewalks to augment the International Space Station’s power channels with new iROSAs. Four iR...

Expedition 68 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Josh Cassada prepares a roll-out solar array for deployment during a spacewalk on Dec. 22, 2022. NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata began a spacewalk at 8:14 a.m. EST to complete the installation of two mounting platforms as part of planned solar array augmentation on the starboard side of the space station’s truss. The duo will complete the installation of a mounting platform on the 1B power channel that was started during a previous spacewalk, and begin installing a mounting platform on the 1A power channel. The installation is part of a series of spacewalks to augment the International Space Station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four iROSAs have been installed so far, and two more will be mounted to the platforms installed during this spacewalk in the future. Mann, designated as extravehicular crew member 2 (...

Expedition 68 Flight Engineers Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata pose with an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), also known as a spacesuit on Dec. 28, 2022. NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata is now underway and is also available on the NASA app , the space station blog and the agency’s  website . The two Expedition 68 crew members are preparing to exit the  International Space Station ‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin at about 8:15 a.m. EST and last approximately the six-and-a-half-hours. Mann and Wakata will work to complete the installation of two mounting platforms as part of planned solar array augmentation on the starboard side of the space station’s truss. The duo will complete the installation of a mounting platform on the 1B power channel that was started during a previous spacewalk, and begin installing a mounting platform on the 1A power c...

Astronaut Koichi Wakata wears virtual reality goggles aboard the space station while training for a spacewalk. The first spacewalk of 2023 will begin on Friday to continue upgrading the International Space Station ’s power generation system. The Expedition 68 crew members finalized preparations today for the excursion while continuing advanced space research and orbital lab maintenance. Astronauts Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Nicole Mann of NASA are due to spend about six-and-a-half hours working outside the station during a spacewalk on Friday . The two flight engineers will turn the batteries on inside their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, at 8:15 a.m. EST signifying the start of a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk. The duo will work on the far end of the station’s starboard truss structure in their EMUs and install a modification kit enabling the future installation of a roll-out solar array. NASA TV, on the agency’s app...

The Full Moon is pictured behind the SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship while the space station was orbiting above southern Brazil. On Jan. 17, NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada , with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann , worked inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship collecting tools and readying the spacecraft for a seat liner move. The seat liner move, completed today, Jan. 18, ensures NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio will be able to return to Earth in the unlikely event of an emergency evacuation from the International Space Station . Rubio originally launched to the station with cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev  and  Dmitri Petelin  aboard the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship on  Sept. 21, 2022 . The change allows for increased crew protection by reducing the heat load inside the MS-22 spacecraft for Prokopyev and Petelin in case of an emergency return to Earth. Learn more about station activities by following the  space station blog...

Astronaut Josh Cassada conducts research operations inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox for a space physics study. Spacewalk preparations are continuing aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 68 crew ensures the operations of research hardware in microgravity. Flight Engineers Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are scheduled for their first spacewalk together at the end of the week. The astronauts spent a couple of hours on Tuesday morning reviewing procedures they will use to install power upgrades hardware that will ready the orbiting lab for its next roll-out solar array on a future spacewalk. The duo will set their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, to battery power at 8:15 a.m. EST on Friday signifying the beginning of their spacewalk. Mann and Wakata are expected to work outside in the vacuum of space for about six-and-a-half hours on the starboard side of the space station’s tr...

Astronauts Koichi Wakata and Nicole Mann are pictured inside the space station’s Destiny laboratory module. Spacewalk preparations continue onboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 68 crew begins it weekend. The orbital residents also worked on space botany and robotics while maintaining orbital lab operations on Friday. Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) worked throughout Friday familiarizing themselves with an upcoming spacewalk. The pair was joined by NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio for computerized spacewalk training and a conference with specialists on the ground. Two astronauts are scheduled exit the station and mount hardware on the truss structure readying the orbital lab for its next roll-out solar array. Cassada also continued tending to tomato plants growing for the Veg-05 space botany study and worked on cargo transfers inside the Cygnus space freighter from North...

Astronaut Nicole Mann poses with an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), also known as a spacesuit, aboard the space station. The seven Expedition 68 crew members split their day between spacesuits and space science. A spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station ’s power system is planned soon as advanced microgravity research is ongoing aboard the orbital lab. Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) partnered together inside the Quest airlock readying a pair of Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, for an upcoming spacewalk. The pair were joined by NASA Flight Engineers Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada checking EMU components and preparing Quest ahead of the next spacewalk to prepare the station for its next roll-out solar array. Meanwhile, space research is continuously taking place aboard the space station whether the experiments are operated manually by the astronauts, remotely by scientists on E...

NASA and Roscosmos are adjusting the International Space Station flight plan after completing an investigation into a coolant leak on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the station. NASA hosted a joint  media briefing  Wednesday about the Roscosmos-led investigation to update the public on the Soyuz status and the forward strategy. As a part of the work, Roscosmos engineers determined the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft is not viable for a normal crew return, but is available for crew return in an emergency aboard the space station. The Soyuz MS-22 will be replaced by the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft that will launch to the space station without a crew on Monday, Feb. 20. NASA astronaut  Frank Rubio  and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin will return to Earth in the replacement Soyuz after spending several additional months on the station. NASA has been working with Roscosmos throughout the investigation and will continue to work with its C...

The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is pictured departing the vicinity of the space station following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port. SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down at 5:19 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 11, north of Cape Canaveral off the Florida coast, marking the return of the company’s 26th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The spacecraft carried approximately 4,400 pounds of valuable scientific experiments and other cargo back to Earth. Some of the scientific investigations returned by Dragon include: Deep space radiation protection: A vest designed to protect astronauts from high doses of radiation caused by unpredictable solar particle events is returning to Earth after months of testing. Crew members wore the Astrorad vest while performing daily tasks and provided feedback about how easy it is to put on, how it fits and feels, and the range of motion possible while wearing it. The vest...

The Full Moon is pictured behind the SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship while the space station was orbiting above southern Brazil. Four Expedition 68 astronauts are enjoying Tuesday off after spending the weekend packing a U.S. cargo craft and readying it for departure on Monday. The International Space Station ’s three cosmonauts spent their day concentrating on cardiac research while servicing a variety of orbital lab systems. The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship is orbiting Earth following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 5:05 p.m. EST on Monday . Dragon will return about 4,400 pounds of station hardware and scientific cargo when it splashes down off the coast of Florida on Wednesday. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann , Josh Cassada , and Frank Rubio along with Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) completed loading Dragon a couple of hours before it departed on Monday. The quartet worked over the weekend and into Monday ...

The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is pictured approaching the International Space Station on Nov. 27, 2022, to resupply the Expedition 68 crew. Live coverage of the departure of SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station is underway on NASA Television, the agency’s website , and the NASA app . After receiving a command from ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, Dragon will undock at 5:05 p.m. from the zenith port of the station’s Harmony module and fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station On Wednesday, Jan. 11, controllers will command a deorbit burn. After re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft will make a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida. NASA TV will not broadcast the deorbit burn and splashdown. Updates will be posted on the agency’s space station blog. Learn more about station activities by following the  space station blog ,  @space_station  and  @ISS_...