Space life

(From left) Astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara pose for portraits in their spacesuits at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Final preparations are underway as the Expedition 70 crew gets ready for a maintenance spacewalk on Wednesday. Meanwhile, human research and a manufacturing study continued aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. Mission managers have given the go for NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara to conduct a near seven-hour spacewalk beginning at 8:05 a.m. EDT Wednesday . The duo will remove radio communications gear and swap hardware that enables the orbiting lab’s solar arrays to track the Sun. NASA TV will begin its spacewalk coverage at 6:30 a.m. on the agency’s app and website. The duo was joined today by Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration) for the daylong spacewalk preparations. Moghbeli and O’Hara kicked off the day with standard me...

This nighttime view from the space station shows the city lights of the northeastern United States and its major urban areas. Monday was a busy day for the seven Expedition 70 crew members packed with spacesuit work, microgravity research, and cargo operations. Two astronauts are also due to exit the International Space Station on Wednesday for a maintenance spacewalk. Two astronauts and a cosmonaut joined each other on Monday afternoon practicing powering up spacesuits and suiting up their spacewalking crewmates inside the Quest airlock . The trio of flight engineers, including Jasmin Moghbeli from NASA, Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Nikolai Chub from Roscosmos, activated suit life support and communications components, checked water and oxygen levels, then performed a suit fit check. Moghbeli and NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara are scheduled to start a spacewalk on Wednesday at 8:05 a.m. EDT for about seven hours of communications a...

Three spacesuits are pictured inside the space station’s Quest airlock in preparation for upcoming spacewalks. Spacewalk preparations and ongoing human research kept the Expedition 70 crew busy at the end of the week. Meanwhile, two cosmonauts continued cleaning up after completing a spacewalk at the International Space Station in the middle of the week. NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli are scheduled to exit the Quest airlock on Nov. 1 for a six-and-half-hour maintenance spacewalk on the orbital lab. The duo will remove an electronics box called the Radio Frequency Group that was part of a communications antenna system. They also will replace one of 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the station’s port solar alpha rotary joint. The bearings enable the station’s solar arrays to track the Sun. The duo started Friday morning organizing their spacewalking tools in Quest. In the afternoon, both astronauts tested the functionality of their spacesuit helmets, cameras, ...

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (suit with red stripes) and Nikolai Chub (suit with blue stripes) are pictured during a spacewalk for maintenance on Oct. 25, 2023. The Expedition 70 crew is gearing up for another spacewalk planned at the beginning of November for maintenance on the outside of the International Space Station . The next United States orbital segment spacewalk now is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 1, to allow the International Space Station crew and flight control team additional time to prepare for the excursion. NASA astronauts   Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli will exit the station’s Quest airlock to remove an electronics box called the Radio Frequency Group that was part of a communications antenna system. They also will replace one of 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the station’s port solar alpha rotary joint. The bearings enable the station’s solar arrays to track the Sun. The spacewalk was previously planned for Monday, Oct. 30. U.S. Spacewalk 89 will be th...

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (red stripes) and Nikolai Chub (blue stripes) prepare a synthetic radar communications system for installation during their seven-hour and 41-minute spacewalk. Credits: NASA TV Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub concluded their spacewalk Oct. 25 at 9:30 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 41 minutes. During the spacewalk, Kononenko and Chub inspected and photographed an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, as well as isolated the radiator from Nauka’s cooling system. During the radiator inspection, a bubble of coolant liberated at the leak site and the crew wiped down their suits prior to continuing the spacewalk. The two cosmonauts also released a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology; however, the nanosatellite’s solar sail failed to deploy as far as cameras could track its departure from the station. The cosmonauts also installed a synthetic radar communications system. One of four panels on the radar sys...

Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko (left) and Nikolai Chub (right) of Roscosmos are pictured in the Orlan spacesuits they will wear during a seven-hour spacewalk. NASA Television coverage is underway for today’s spacewalk with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. The duo will venture outside of the International Space Station’s Poisk module to install a synthetic radar communications system and release a nanosatellite to test solar sail technology. While outside the station, they also will inspect and photograph an external backup radiator on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module that experienced a coolant leak on Oct. 9. Coverage of the spacewalk is on NASA Television, the NASA app , and the agency’s website . Kononenko and Chub will exit out of the Poisk module at about 1:55 p.m. EDT. Kononenko is wearing the Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, while Chub is wearing the suit with blue stripes. This is the sixth spacewalk in Kononenko’s career, and the first for Chu...

Roscosmos spacewalker Oleg Kononenko (suit with red stripes) works outside the International Space Station over 250 miles above Earth on Dec. 11, 2018, during a seven-hour, 45-minute spacewalk. The seven orbital residents kept busy on Tuesday preparing for a round of upcoming spacewalks. While reviewing procedures and prepping tools were at the forefront of today’s tasks, the Expedition 70 crew members also had some time for station maintenance activities and health exams. Two cosmonauts are gearing up to exit the station’s Poisk module tomorrow at 2:20 p.m. for a planned seven-hour spacewalk . Flight Engineers Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos had a light duty morning before preparing the Orlan suits they will wear outside of the station to install communications hardware, deploy a nanosatellite, and inspect the external backup radiator that experienced a coolant leak . As a result of detailed analysis of contamination risk after a coolant loop leak occurred on the ba...

NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara is pictured trying on her spacesuit and testing its components aboard the International Space Station’s Quest airlock in preparation for an upcoming spacewalk. Spacewalk preparations topped the Expedition 70 crew members’ schedule today as two Roscosmos cosmonauts gear up to exit the station on Wednesday, Oct. 25, and two NASA astronauts look ahead to their first spacewalk next week. Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will venture outside of the International Space Station ’s Poisk module at 2:10 p.m. EDT on Wednesday to install communications hardware, deploy a nanosatellite, and inspect the external backup radiator that experienced a coolant leak . The duo worked together today prepping tools they’ll use during their seven-hour excursion and installing lights and video cameras to the helmets of the Orlan suits they will don. NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara worked in tandem today as t...

Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli is suited up testing her spacesuit’s components with assistance from astronaut Andreas Mogensen. The Expedition 70 crew reached the end of the week focusing primarily on a pair of upcoming spacewalks. There was also time aboard the International Space Station for research and cargo operations as Axiom Space announced future private missions dates. NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli partnered together Friday afternoon organizing the tools they will use on a spacewalk planned for Oct. 30 . The pair will exit the Quest airlock and spend about six-and-a-half hours removing electronics gear and replacing solar array hardware on the orbital lab. Before the spacewalk preparations, O’Hara inspected hardware on the Human Research Facility , documented her daily food and medicine intake, and downlinked medical data to researchers on the ground. Moghbeli began her day collecting blood pressure measurements, moved on to life support maintenance, th...

Astronaut Loral O’Hara is pictured trimming her hair aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 70 crew continued its space health and Earth science studies while servicing a variety of research hardware on Thursday. The International Space Station is orbiting higher today as its residents also inspected emergency gear and reviewed tasks for an upcoming spacewalk. DNA analysis was back on the schedule as NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli used a portable DNA sequencer to identify bacteria extracted from station water samples. The technology study will help keep crews and spacecraft safe with less dependence on Earth as NASA plans missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. She also wore the Bio-Monitor vest and headband for a 48-hour session testing the wearables’ ability to monitor an astronaut’s health comfortably while minimally interfering with their daily activities. Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) worked inside the cupola again testing th...

The waning gibbous Moon is pictured from the space station as it soared into an orbital nighttime above the Atlantic Ocean. Space biology and Earth science were the main research objectives aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 70 crew also continued its ongoing cargo operations and spacewalk preparations. NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara focused on a pair of different life science experiments to help keep crews healthy during long-term missions. The research contributes not only to the knowledge of microgravity’s affect on humans but also informs countermeasures and innovations to protect future crews exploring farther away from Earth. Moghbeli began her day using a portable DNA detection device that can be found in laboratories and classrooms on Earth to identify bacteria extracted from water samples collected aboard the orbital outpost. Known as BioMole , the study is demonstrating the ability to monitor the spacecraft’s microbi...

(From left) Astronauts Andreas Mogensen, Loral O’Hara, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Satoshi Furukawa show off dosimeters that monitor the amount of radiation the crew is exposed to in space. Four Expedition 70 astronauts had a light-duty day on Tuesday fitting in biology research and robotics during the afternoon. The International Space Station ’s three cosmonauts continued focusing on an upcoming spacewalk while also working on their own slate of research and robotics. NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara  and  Jasmin Moghbeli partnered together for a couple of hours on cardiac research for the CIPHER study. Moghbeli operated the Ultrasound 2 device with support from ground doctors and scanned O’Hara’s chest to assess cardiovascular risks in microgravity. CIPHER is comprised of 14 studies exploring a range of psychological and physiological conditions astronauts may experience during long-term space missions. The duo also took turns unpacking cargo and loading trash inside Northrop ...

Four Expedition 70 crew members pose for a portrait inside their crew quarters. Clockwise from bottom are, astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa, and Loral O’Hara. As a result of the ongoing review by NASA managers and engineers after a coolant leak from a backup radiator on the International Space Station ’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, a spacewalk that was targeted for no earlier than Thursday, Oct. 19 now is deferred until later this year. The spacewalk date was adjusted to allow engineers additional time to complete analysis of the coolant leak, which occurred and stopped on Oct. 9. The coolant is not toxic or hazardous for the crew, but experts are discussing how to best keep small traces of the substance from getting into some internal systems to avoid equipment degradation over time. The tasks planned for this spacewalk are not time-sensitive and the schedule adjustment has no impact on space station operations. A spacewalk scheduled fo...

Astronauts (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara pose for a portrait in front of the Cold Atom Lab. The physics research device observes the quantum behavior of atoms chilled to near absolute zero. International Space Station managers have rescheduled a pair of spacewalks as they continue to review data from a backup radiator leak that has since ceased. In the meantime, the Expedition 70 crew members had a busy day at the end of the week packed with space research, cargo operations, and more spacewalk preparations. The next U.S. spacewalk at the orbiting laboratory will take place at 8:35 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 19. Astronauts Loral O’Hara from NASA and Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) will spend about six-and-a-half hours swabbing station surfaces to collect potential samples of microbes that might survive in the extreme environment of outer space. NASA TV will begin its spacewalk coverage at 7 a.m. on the agency’s app and website. A second U.S. spa...

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara is pictured trying on her spacesuit and testing its components aboard the International Space Station ahead of an upcoming spacewalk. Two United States operating segment spacewalks outside the International Space Station have been rescheduled for no earlier than Thursday, Oct. 19, and Monday, Oct. 30, as a result of ongoing review by NASA managers and engineers after a coolant leak from a backup radiator on the station’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. The spacewalks were deferred from their original target dates to allow engineers additional time to complete their analysis of the coolant leak, which occurred on Oct. 9 and has now stopped. During the first spacewalk NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen will exit the station’s Quest airlock to collect samples for analysis to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex. They also will replace a high-definition ca...

The International Space Station’s U.S. segment and portions of the Russian segment are pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021. Prominent at the top in this view, are the Columbus laboratory module, the Harmony module and its space-facing docking port, and the Kibo laboratory module with its external pallet. Credit: NASA NASA and its industry partners Boeing and SpaceX are planning for the next set of missions to the International Space Station for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program . Crew-8 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to the orbiting laboratory is targeted to launch no earlier than mid-February. The mission will carry NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick , commander; Michael Barratt , pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps , as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin to the space station to conduct a wid...

The space station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during its departure and flyaround on Nov. 8, 2021. NASA engineering and flight control teams are continuing to review data and video associated with a coolant leak from a backup radiator on the station’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module (MLM). Two United States segment spacewalks originally scheduled for Thursday, Oct.12, and Friday, Oct. 20, have been postponed until the review is complete. New dates will be announced later. The leak has now ceased, as was reported by Roscosmos flight controllers and evidenced by NASA external station camera views, which show only residual coolant droplets. The primary radiator on Nauka continues to work normally, providing full cooling to the module with no impacts to the crew or to space station operations. The backup radiator was delivered to the space station on the Rassvet module during space shuttle mission STS-132 in 2010. It was transferred to the Nauka during a Ros...