The Expedition 66 crew is getting ready for a spacewalk on Wednesday while packing a U.S. resupply ship for its departure on Friday. Meanwhile, the International Space Station also hosted a pair of space biology studies exploring exercise and vision. Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov finalized their preparations today for the first spacewalk of …
Payloads: Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air-2 (ANITA-2): The crew assisted with the initial power-up of the ANITA-2 system by closing switches and adjusting a video camera to monitor the unit. Following this, the ground was unable to successfully ping the unit and is discussing the issue. ANITA-2 is a compact gas analyzer which can analyze …
Payloads: Advanced Nano Step: The Advanced Nano Step experiment return bag was transferred to a MERLIN unit in preparation for return to the ground for analysis. Advanced Nano Step, more formally known as Effects of Impurities on Perfection of Protein Crystals, Partition Functions, and Growth Mechanisms, monitors and records how the incorporation of specific impurity …
The Expedition 66 crew is wrapping up the work week continuing its Russian spacewalk preparations while packing a U.S. resupply ship for departure next week. The orbital residents also had time set aside for eye checks and science hardware work. The SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle is due to complete its mission at the International Space …
This week, engineers and technicians successfully completed an engineering test series of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as part of the integrated testing before launch. After replacing and testing one of four RS-25 engine controllers, the team conducted several tests to ensure …
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket detached from the company’s CosmicGirl aircraft at approximately 5:53 p.m. EST (2:53 p.m. PST) on Jan. 13, 2022, launching NASA’s 29th Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission and the 13th CubeSat in the TechEdSat series. This launch, also known as STP-27VPB, lifted off at approximately 4:39 p.m. EST (1:39 p.m. PST) …
Payloads: AstroPi: After moving an AstroPi from Columbus to a Node 2 window, the focus and aperture were adjusted for the 5mm camera lens. This was performed during ISS orbital day to make sure the camera was viewing the Earth. Two augmented Raspberry Pi computers (called AstroPis) were originally flown to the ISS as part …
On Jan. 11, engineers and technicians with Exploration Ground Systems retracted and extended the Orion spacecraft crew access arm as part of ongoing work leading up to the Artemis I wet dress rehearsal targeted for late February. The arm rotates from its retracted position and interfaces with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at the …
Space biology research and spacewalk preparations kept the Expedition 66 crew busy aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The orbital residents also ensured space hardware including exercise gear, a specialized microscope, and fluid systems continued operating in tip-top shape. Living long-term in microgravity affects every aspect of the human body and the eyes are …
With major deployments complete, Webb continues its journey to its final halo orbit around L2. In the meantime, there are several smaller deployments in the next couple of weeks, which constitute the beginning of a several-month phase of aligning the telescope’s optics. This week, we have started the process of moving the mirror segments (all …
