Blogs

The six-member Expedition 53 crew heads into Thanksgiving observing how living in space affects the human body and packing the Cygnus cargo craft. The orbital crewmates are also preparing for next month’s arrival of the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. Veteran space station residents Paolo Nespoli and Sergey Ryazanskiy were back inside the Columbus lab module …

Sarcolab-3:  With USOS operator assistance, a Russian subject ingressed the Muscle Atrophy Research & Exercise System (MARES) chair in the Columbus module and adjusted pads and restraints for the Sarcolab-3 ankle protocol.  The operator then collected ultrasound images of the subject’s leg. The data collected for Sarcolab-3 will be compared to pre and post flight …

More CubeSats were ejected from the International Space Station today to demonstrate and validate new technologies. Back inside the orbital lab, the Expedition 53 crew continued outfitting an experimental module and studying life science. Two more tiny satellites were deployed from the Kibo laboratory module into Earth orbit today to research a variety of new technologies …

NanoRack CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) #13 Deploy: Today three NRCSD #13 deployers were individually ground commanded by JAXA to deploy from the International Space Station (ISS). Due to the configuration of single- and double-wide deployers, NRCSD #13 has a total five deployers (silos 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8).  There are no deployers for silos 2, 4, …

An experimental module attached to the International Space Station is being prepared for upcoming cargo operations. Tiny research satellites were also ejected from the orbital lab while a pair of Expedition 53 crew members scanned their leg muscles today. BEAM, officially called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, is being outfitted this week for future stowage …

NanoRack Cubesat Deployer (NRCSD) #13: Installation: This morning, the JEM A/L inner hatch was opened and the slide table was extended to the JPM side. The crew then installed the NRCSD #13 deployer onto the Multipurpose Experiment Platform (MPEP). The slide table was retracted from the JPM side and the inner hatch was closed.  The …

Marrow: Upon wakeup, a 52S crewmember conducted breath and ambient air sample collections for the Marrow investigation, which looks at the effect of microgravity on bone marrow. It is believed that microgravity, like long-duration bed rest on Earth, has a negative effect on the bone marrow and the blood cells that are produced in the …

When NASA’s Parker Solar Probe lifts off on top of a Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle in summer 2018, it will undergo both intense vibration from the physical forces of the rocket engines, as well as acoustic effects from the sound of the engines and the rocket going through the atmosphere. Verifying the spacecraft and its systems are ready for the rigors of launch is one of the most important parts of testing. On Nov. 3, Parker Solar Probe passed vibration testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland, where it was designed and built. On Nov. 14, the spacecraft successfully completed acoustic testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and is now being prepared for further environmental tests.

  Expedition 53 checked out a specialized microscope and worked on the International Space Station’s toilet today. More supplies and hardware are also being offloaded from the newly-arrived Cygnus cargo craft. Commander Randy Bresnik opened up the Fluids Integrated Rack this morning to take a look at its Light Microscopy Module (LMM), an advanced space …

Probiotics Operations: The crew completed the second half of the second sampling phase that began on GMT 316 with fecal sample collections. Today’s activities included saliva sample collections, a questionnaire, and a capsule intake. This sampling phase was the second of four sampling phases for the JAXA Probiotic experiment. Some species of harmful bacteria such …