Two astronauts are preparing to exit the International Space Station on Saturday to install a new roll-out solar array. Their Expedition 68 crewmates assisted the duo on Friday while continuing an array of advanced space science and orbital lab maintenance. NASA Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio spent Friday checking their batteries, tools, and …
Orion has left its distant lunar orbit and is on its return journey home. The spacecraft successfully completed the distant retrograde departure burn at 3:53 p.m. CST, firing its main engine for 1 minute 45 seconds to set the spacecraft on course for a close lunar flyby before its return home. The burn changed Orion’s …
Payloads: Human Research Facility Veggie Facility (HRF Veg): Profile of Mood States (POMS) short form questionnaires was completed. The Pick-and-Eat Salad-Crop Productivity, Nutritional Value, and Acceptability to Supplement the ISS Food System investigation is a phased research project that includes Veg-04A, Veg-04B, Veg-05, and HRF Veg. This work addresses the need for a system to …
The Expedition 68 crew began installing a new space botany experiment today while gearing up for a spacewalk planned for this weekend. The orbital residents are also continuing their research into the nervous system, unpacking a U.S. cargo craft, and keeping up International Space Station systems. NASA and its international partners have been learning how …
The Artemis I mission management team met today to review the overall status of the flight test and polled “go” for Orion to depart from its distant retrograde orbit, where it has been since Nov. 25. Orion will conduct a burn to depart the orbit at 3:53 p.m. CST Thurs., Dec. 1 and begin its …
ISS Reboost: Today, the ISS performed a reboost using the 81 Progress 8 R&D thrusters. This reboost is one of several reboosts setting up phasing for 67 Soyuz 2-Orbit rendezvous and 68 Soyuz landing in March. The burn duration was 12 minutes 3 seconds with a Delta-V of 1.20 m/s and a total of 214kg …
Science and spacewalk preparations kept the Expedition 68 crew busy throughout Wednesday. Meanwhile, the International Space Station is orbiting slightly higher after a docked cargo craft fired its engines during the morning. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Frank Rubio began the morning cleaning and stowing biology hardware used to transfer research samples from the SpaceX …
Engineers continued with the jet firing development flight test objective that began on flight day 12. Today, teams demonstrated the “low” portion of the reaction control thruster firing time range. This test objective is designed to exercise the reaction control system jets in a different configuration to model how thruster jets will be used during …
Payloads: ICE Cubes #7: Experiment Cubes were removed for the ICE Cubes Facility and replaced with new cubes which recently arrived on SpX-26. The Artery in Microgravity – Orbit Your Thesis! (Ice Cubes #7) is a student-built experiment, part of the European Space Agency’s “Orbit Your Thesis!” program that investigates blood flow through models of …
New science experiments delivered aboard a U.S. cargo craft are being activated aboard the International Space Station this week. The Expedition 68 crew is also preparing for upcoming spacewalks in December. NASA Flight Engineers Nicole Mann and Frank Rubio worked together on Tuesday unloading research samples from the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft. The duo carefully …
