Blogs

The Expedition 53 crew is working out on a new exercise device today and testing new lights for their impact on health. Back on Earth, a new resupply rocket stands at its launch pad ready for a Saturday launch to the International Space Station. Astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei worked out on the …

Airway Monitoring:  Using the Portable Pulmonary Function System (PFS), the crew performed calibrations and conducted high and low nitric oxide (NO) measurements in the US Laboratory. The Airway Monitoring investigation aims to determine the pulmonary nitric oxide turnover in weightlessness and in combined weightless, hypobaric and hypoxic environments, as well as the lung diffusion capacity …

Two astronauts are training for Monday’s planned arrival of Orbital ATK’s newest Cygnus cargo craft dubbed the S.S. Eugene Cernan. The crew is also analyzing the International Space Station’s atmosphere and studying how crew performance adapts to microgravity. Orbital ATK is counting down to a Veteran’s Day launch of its Cygnus spacecraft atop an Antares …

On Monday, Nov. 6, 2017, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft arrived at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for environmental tests.

Personal Radiation Shielding for Interplanetary Missions (PERSEO):  Today the crew performed an initial checkout of a radiation shielding garment for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) PERSEO Project. They filled the garment with water, donned the garment, and later doffed the garment before draining the water.  PERSEO evaluates the efficacy of a personal radiation protection system, …

The Expedition 53 crew explored ways to protect astronauts from space radiation as well as dust particles floating inside a spacecraft. The residents of the International Space Station also worked on cosmic ray gear, a U.S. spacesuit and audio equipment. European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli tested a personal radiation shielding garment today. Water, used …

  Orbital ATK’s eighth commercial cargo mission is set to launch to the International Space Station at 7:37 a.m. EST Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11. The Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo craft will blast off from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, with over 7,000 pounds of food, supplies and research gear. Two astronauts will be …

MBSU transfer and installation:  On Friday, ground controllers attempted to transfer the recently repaired spare Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) through the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Airlock (A/L) and install it on its stowage location on External Stowage Platform 2 (ESP2).  The JEM A/L outer door opened as commanded, but the slide table did not …

VEG-03 Science Harvest: The crew cut one to three leaves from each plant for consumption and then preserved them in foil and inserted them into cold stowage for science data. The remainder of the plants will be left to grow and sprout new leaves.  The Veg-03 investigation uses the Veggie plant growth facility to cultivate …

When astronauts depart for missions to deep space, they will cross the Crew Access Arm about 300 feet above the ground to board their spacecraft. The access arm was delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 17, 2017, to install on the mobile launcher in preparation for the first flight of the …