Space life

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren prepares to enjoy a taco during dinner time aboard the space station. Four of the seven Expedition 67 crew members took the day off on Monday following a busy week of science and maintenance aboard the International Space Station . Last week saw Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren , Bob Hines , Jessica Watkins , and Samantha Cristoforetti focus on upgrading life support systems. The quartet moved the Life Support Rack from the Harmony module to the Tranquility module to demonstrate its capacity to remove carbon dioxide and recover oxygen for the crew. The Oxygen Generation System rack was moved from Tranquility to the U.S. Destiny laboratory module to test its ability to detect hydrogen and protect its systems. Hines and Watkins would spend Thursday and Friday exploring how cognition and perception is affected when living in space long-term. Scientists are using the data to help astronauts adapt to the differing gravity environments of the Moon, Mar...

Astronauts (from left) Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Kjell Lindgren talked to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday when she visited the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The Expedition 67 crew wrapped up its workweek today with a host of advanced space science work while also beginning preparations for next month’s crew departure activities on the International Space Station . Friday’s research topics looked at human cognition and perception, space botany, and Earth observations. The microgravity investigations take place inside and outside the orbital lab helping scientists and engineers develop solutions benefitting the Earth and space economies. NASA Flight Engineers Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins were back in the Columbus laboratory module on Friday morning exploring how cognition and perception is affected when living in space long-term. The duo took turns lying horizontally inside Columbus while gripping and maneuvering a specialized device i...

The sun’s glint beams across the English Channel and the North Sea in between England and the northern European coast as the station orbited 263 miles above. More human research, including how astronauts move around in microgravity as well as the effect of weightlessness on vision, packed the science program aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The seven-member Expedition 67 crew also continued its ongoing focus on life support, orbital plumbing, and electronics systems maintenance. The lack of an up and down reference while living in microgravity affects how astronauts manipulate and grip objects. Researchers want to get a closer understanding of that behavior to keep astronauts safe in the differing gravitational environments of deep space travel, planets, moons, and asteroids. NASA Flight Engineers Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins took turns seated inside the Columbus laboratory module on Thursday for the long-running GRIP experiment . The duo gripped and maneuve...

The International Space Station flies into an orbital sunrise 261 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northwestern Spain. Space botany and eye checks were at the top of the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. Life support system upgrades also continued during the middle of the week for the Expedition 67 crew members. Understanding how plants and humans are affected by long-term exposure to microgravity is key to prolonging mission success beyond low Earth orbit and to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA and its international partners are learning how crews can sustain themselves independently of ground support for longer periods of time. Growing vegetables on space missions is critical so astronauts can feed themselves without the support of cargo missions regularly launching from Earth to replenish crews. The XROOTS space agriculture study does not use soil and is exploring growing radishes and mizuna greens on the station using hydr...

(Clockwise from left) Astronauts Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, Kjell Lindgren, and Samantha Cristoforetti pose for a portrait during dinner time in the space station’s Unity module. Life support and computer maintenance filled the Expedition 67 crew schedule on Tuesday following a busy Labor Day aboard the International Space Station . The station’s four astronauts focused on a variety of biology and physics research on the U.S. holiday as they photographed growing vegetables and explored how fuel behaves in space . In the orbiting lab’s Russian segment, the crew’s three cosmonauts continued cleaning up after last week’s spacewalk and studied how to exercise effectively in weightlessness. On Tuesday, the crew’s attention turned to servicing orbital hardware ensuring the space station’s life support systems and computer networks operate continuously. NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren removed the Tranquility module ’s oxygen generation system (OGS) rack and installed it in the U...

Spacewalkers Oleg Artemyev (bottom left) and Denis Matveev (right) extend the Russian Strela cargo crane from the Zarya module toward the Poisk module following work on the European robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev , both of Roscosmos, concluded their spacewalk at 5:12 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 47 minutes. Artemyev and Matveev completed their major objectives, which included relocating an external control panel for the European robotic arm from one operating area to another and testing a rigidizing mechanism on the arm that will be used to facilitate the grasping of payloads. In addition, the duo extended a Strela telescoping boom from the Zarya module to the Poisk module . Additional spacewalks are planned to continue outfitting the European robotic arm and to activate Nauka’s airlock for future spacewalks. The work on the European robotic arm will be used to move spacewalkers and payloads around the Russian s...

The European robotic arm is seen attached to the Nauka module of the International Space Station, the worksite for today’s spacewalk by two cosmonauts. Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev, both of Roscosmos, began a spacewalk at 9:25 a.m. EDT to continue outfitting the European robotic arm on the International Space Station ’s Nauka laboratory by opening the hatch of the Poisk docking compartment airlock. Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the  NASA app , and the agency’s  website . The duo is relocating an external control panel for the arm from one operating area to another and testing a rigidizing mechanism on the arm that will be used to facilitate the grasping of payloads. Artemyev is wearing a Russian spacesuit with red stripes, while Matveev is wearing a Russian suit with blue stripes. This will be the eighth spacewalk in Artemyev’s career, and the fourth for Matveev. It is the eighth spacewalk at the station in 2022 ...