Blogs

Biological Rhythms 48 Hour Experiment:  Flight Engineer (FE)-5 Parmitano configured and donned an Actiwatch, attached electrodes to his chest, and will wear the Digital Walk Holter Electrocardiogram (ECG) for JAXA’s 48 hour Biological Rhythms experiment. This study examines the circadian variation of astronaut’s cardiac autonomic function during space flight. The research is expected to provide …

The launch team for MAVEN will have two hours to begin the flight on launch day. The window opens Nov. 18 at 1:28 p.m. EST and closes at 3:28 p.m. EST. The launch window is dictated by a number of factors, primarily the alignment of Earth and MAVEN’s destination, Mars. The spacecraft will fly into …

  Congratulations to Jaimen W. for solving the October Puzzler the fastest.  The answer is Chile’s Lluta River. See the Image of the Day that we published on November 1, 2013, for details about the area. Phil Echelman was right on Jaimen’s heels, responding with the correct answer just two minutes after Jaimen. Congratulations also […]

35S Soyuz Relocation: Soyuz 35S and its crew consisting of Commander (CDR) Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer (FE)-5 Parmitano, and FE-6 Nyberg undocked from the ISS Mini-Research Module (MRM)-1 at 3:33 am CDT and docked to the Service Module (SM) Aft port at 3:54 am CDT. Prior to undocking, the crew performed leak checks on the vestibule …

Wonder what MAVEN would’ve seen on Mars if it had been in orbit there over Halloween? Read this for the answer.

In early September, I drove down to Wallops Flight Facility to set up our GPS base station in preparation for the test flight. The test flight is to verify that everything is working as expected, and to do some calibration, since the C-130 is a new platform for the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS). LVIS […]

Microbiome Investigation: Flight Engineer (FE)-6 Nyberg performed her return minus 14 (R-14) day session of the Microbiome investigation. This included taking surface samples in the ISS, performing body sample collections, inserting samples into cold stowage and answering survey questions.  The Microbiome experiment investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and …

Editor’s note: In fall 2013, researchers aboard a NASA C-130 traveled to Greenland to study changes in the ice sheet and sea ice following the summer melt season. Other airborne campaigns, like NASA’s Operation IceBridge, study changes on an annual basis and this is the first large-scale airborne survey of seasonal change. The C-130, equipped […]

Spinal Ultrasound Scans: Flight Engineer (FE)-3 Hopkins supporting as the operator conducted Flight Day 150 cervical and lumbosacral ultrasound scans of FE-5 Parmitano with remote guidance from the ground team.  This investigation aims to characterize microgravity-associated spinal alterations during and after spaceflight using in-flight ultrasound. Results from this research will provide data to enhance crew health …