Blogs

68P Launch and Dock Delay:  68P was planned for launch at 04:30 AM Central time, but the launch was aborted during final countdown.  Russian teams are looking into the cause of the abort.  The next launch opportunity is Saturday morning at 03:47 AM Central, with docking two days later on Monday morning. Multi-Omics Sample Collections: …

Launch of the Russian Progress 68 cargo craft has been scrubbed for today. The next launch attempt will be no earlier than Saturday Oct. 14 at 4:46 am EDT (2:46 p.m. local time in Baikonur). Following a 34-orbit, two-day trip, Progress 68 would arrive at the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station for …

NeuroMapping: Today two 52S crewmembers set up the NeuroMapping hardware and performed their Flight Day 30 tests in “strapped in” and “free floating” body configurations. During the test, the crewmembers executed three Behavioral Assessments: mental rotation, sensorimotor adaptation, and motor-cognitive dual tasking. The NeuroMapping investigation studies whether long-duration spaceflight causes changes to brain structure and …

Two astronauts checked in with ground engineers today after completing the second of three spacewalks yesterday that are planned for this month. Meanwhile, a Russian cargo ship stands at its launch pad ready to blast off Thursday morning on a short delivery trip to the International Space Station. Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark …

USOS Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) #45: Today Randy Bresnik (as EV1) and Mark Vande Hei (as EV2) successfully performed US EVA #45 with a Phased Elapsed Time (PET) of 6:26. The primary goal of today’s EVA was to Remove and Replace (R&R) the External Television Camera Group (ETVCG) located at Camera Port 9 (CP9) and …

Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA completed a 6 hour, 26 minute spacewalk at 2:22 p.m. EDT. The two astronauts lubricated components of the new latching end effector they installed in the previous spacewalk on the Canadarm2 robotic arm and replaced a faulty camera system. They also completed …

Two NASA astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 7:56 a.m., EDT aboard the International Space Station to begin a spacewalk planned to last about 6.5 hours. Live coverage is available on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA will …

Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA will head outside the International Space Station at approximately 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday to begin a 6.5-hour spacewalk. Live coverage will be available on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 6:30 a.m. During Tuesday’s spacewalk, Bresnik and Vande Hei will …

Multi-Omics Sample Collections: A 52S crewmember collected fecal samples for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Multi-Omics experiment. The samples were placed into the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). The Multi-omics analysis of human microbial-metabolic cross-talk in the space ecosystem (Multi-Omics) investigation evaluates the impacts of space environment and prebiotics on …

USOS Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) #44: Today Randy Bresnik (as EV1) and Mark Vande Hei (as EV2) exited the airlock and successfully performed US EVA #44 with a Phased Elapsed Time (PET) of 6:55. The primary goal of today’s EVA was to remove the degraded Latching End Effector (LEE) A from the Space Station Robotic …