Crew health and space biology were the top research objectives for the Expedition 70 crew at the beginning of the week. The International Space Station residents also had their hands full with a host of standard lab maintenance tasks. Meanwhile, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft looks to Wednesday at the earliest for its departure. Observing …
Payloads: Advanced Resistive Exercise Device-Kinematics (ARED-K): The ARED-K components were powered on to allow continued verification and troubleshooting of data pathways needed to support experiment operations. Resistive exercise is used as a countermeasure to musculoskeletal deconditioning in microgravity and currently ISS crews perform resistive exercise using ARED. However, a major unknown is the internal bone …
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 5:05 p.m. EST Wednesday, Dec. 20, for the undocking of the company’s 29th Dragon commercial resupply services mission from the International Space Station due to unfavorable weather conditions. Joint teams continue to evaluate weather conditions as a cold front passes through the splashdown zones off the coast of …
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 5:05 p.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 19, for the undocking of the company’s 29th Dragon commercial resupply services mission from the International Space Station due to unfavorable weather conditions. Joint teams continue to evaluate weather conditions as a cold front passes through the splashdown zones off the coast of …
The Expedition 70 crew is continuing to pack a U.S. cargo spacecraft readying for its departure early next week. The seven residents living aboard the International Space Station also explored virtual reality while servicing a variety of science and life support hardware. NASA and SpaceX are postponing the Sunday, Dec. 17, undocking of a SpaceX …
Payloads: Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial Coatings-2 (Antimicrobial Coatings-2): The crew performed the routine periodic touching of the six experiment placards deployed in various locations throughout the ISS, and took photos. Antimicrobial Coatings-2 tests an antimicrobial coating on several different materials that represent high-touch surfaces. Some microbes change characteristics in microgravity, which could create new risks …
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 …
A U.S. cargo spacecraft is poised to undock from the International Space Station and return to Earth as mission managers monitor weather conditions at the return splashdown zones. Meanwhile, the seven Expedition 70 residents turned their attention to a variety of health activities and lab maintenance activities. NASA and SpaceX are postponing the Saturday, Dec. …
Payloads: Astro Bit: Materials were gathered to support upcoming Astro Bit experiment activities. As part of the ultra:space, Coding on ISS with Astro Bit experiment, students in Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries design an experiment that can also be repeated aboard the ISS with an interesting scientific outcome. The students program their own BBC …
In our last post, we described how VIPER, NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, is using artificial intelligence to create several options for the VIPER team to plan the rover’s path during its mission to the lunar South Pole. Today, we’ll share more about how AI also is used to help human operators drive VIPER and …
