Plant Gravity Perception (PGP): The final Plant Gravity Perception experiment completed today with three of the Experiment Containers (ECs) maintaining power in the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS). The crew removed seed cassettes from the ECs and placed them in a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). For this investigation, normal and …
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is making strides toward its upcoming liftoff. The planet-hunting spacecraft is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday, April 16, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Inside Kennedy Space Center’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the TESS spacecraft was sealed within …
Today’s research aboard the International Space Station is primarily focusing on how plants react and how medicine works in space. The Expedition 55 crew and robotics controllers are also continuing cargo operations inside and outside the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft. Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold participated today in the Plant Gravity Perception experiment, one of several …
Can satellites help end hunger? Experts from the University of Maryland, NASA, and 40 partner organizations are leading the charge to find out.
Metabolic Tracking (MT): The crew set up MT hardware and materials for thawing and inoculation. They then injected the thawed inoculum into multiwell BioCells, which were inserted into the NanoRacks Plate Reader-2. NanoRacks Plate Reader-2 is a laboratory instrument designed to detect biological, chemical or physical events of samples in microtiter plates. The Metabolic Tracking …
The Expedition 55 crew explored a wide variety of life science today studying how different biological systems are affected by long-term exposure to microgravity. The multi-faceted space residents observed human genetic and tissue samples, rodents and fruit flies aboard the orbital laboratory today. Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold started his morning gearing up the student-designed Genes …
Human Research Program (HRP) Collections (Biochemical Profile and Repository): A 54S crewmember collected urine samples for his FD15 sessions of the Biochem Profile and Repository investigations. The Biochemical Profile experiment tests blood and urine samples obtained from astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight. Specific proteins and chemicals in the samples are used as biomarkers, or …
The fully-staffed Expedition 55 crew worked throughout the International Space Station today exploring how microgravity affects a variety of phenomena including biology and physics. The six long-term space residents also practiced a simulated emergency today to maintain their safety skills and awareness. Flight Engineer Drew Feustel started Tuesday collecting a urine sample and stowing it …
Plant Gravity Perception (PGP): The crew began the final Plant Gravity Perception experiment run on Saturday with three of the Experiment Containers maintaining power. For this investigation, normal and mutated forms of thale cress, a model research plant, are germinated to support the study of the plants’ gravity and light perception. Results provide insight into …
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has arrived in Florida to begin final preparations for its launch to the Sun, scheduled for July 31, 2018.
