The next crew to liftoff to the International Space Station arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site on the U.S. Independence Day awaiting a historic July 20 liftoff. New Expedition 60 crewmates Andrew Morgan, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov are in final mission preparations in Kazakhstan. The trio arrived July 4 counting down to a …
NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) Installation: In preparation for the planned satellite launch on Wednesday, the crew installed the NRCSD-16 hardware on the Multipurpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) which is attached to the Japanese Experiment Module Airlock (JEMAL) slide table. The slide table was subsequently retracted, and the JEMAL was closed and depressurized. The NRCSD is a …
The Expedition 60 crew is configuring more CubeSats for deployment and working on space plumbing aboard the International Space Station today. Back on Earth, three crewmembers from the U.S., Italy and Russia are in training for their launch to the station on July 20. NASA astronaut Nick Hague installed hardware that will deploy seven CubeSats …
NRCSD (NanoRacks External Cygnus CubeSat Deployer): The crew reviewed procedures for the upcoming NRCSD-16 installation currently planned for next week. The NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer is a stackable, modular, ground loaded launch case. Each NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer accommodates up to eight launch cases. The NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer meets the growing demand to deploy CubeSat format satellites …
A satellite deployer ejected a CubeSat into Earth orbit last night from outside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. Today, the three Expedition 60 crewmembers explored microgravity’s effect on humans and plants to support longer spaceflight missions. The RED-EYE microsatellite is orbiting Earth today to demonstrate satellite communications and attitude control technologies. NASA Flight …
Human Resources Facility (HRF) 1 Centrifuge: The crew set up and checked out the HRF1 Centrifuge and Payload drawer. HRF-1 provides an on-orbit laboratory that enables scientists conducting human life science research to evaluate the physiological, behavioral, and chemical changes induced by space flight. Research performed using HRF-1 provides data to help scientists understand how …
Virtual reality filming, space gardening and biomedical research were on the timeline for two NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station today, while a cosmonaut took care of computer hardware and life support maintenance. Flight Engineer Christina Koch tended to plants today growing inside Europe’s Columbus laboratory module for the Veg-04 botany study. She later …
Genes in Space-6: The crew stowed the Biomolecule Sequencing device which was used for the Genes in Space-6 experiment. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage caused by increased exposure to radiation can affect the long-term health of astronauts. Genes in Space-6 determines the optimal DNA repair mechanisms that cells use in the spaceflight environment. The investigation evaluates …
The Expedition 59 crew on board the International Space Station captured this image of a meteor at 7:21:23 GMT on May 10, on a night pass over the Pacific Ocean and California coast. (Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center)
Three humans are orbiting Earth today as the new Expedition 60 trio and are back on duty aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 59 trio returned to Earth Monday and is re-adjusting to Earth gravity while another crew prepares for its launch at the end of July. NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague …