Blogs

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – Cohesive Sediment (BCAT-CS): On Sunday, the crew checked the camera alignment and focus by viewing the latest BCAT images on a laptop.  TheBCAT-CS investigation studies the forces between particles that cluster together by using sediments of quartz and clay particles.  Conducting the research in the microgravity environment of the ISS …

A rocket carrying Japan’s seventh H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-7) is poised to launch next Monday on a cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station. The Expedition 56 crew members trained for the HTV-7’s arrival, conducted eye checks and prepared for a pair of spacewalks. On Sept. 10, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is …

Out-of-Spec ISS Cabin Pressure Decrease: Following the initial leak repair yesterday, the ISS was repressurized to nominal pressure using Progress assets.  Today, the Russian crew performed additional activities for the leak repair.  There was still a small leak path which the crew sealed as they continued with the repair. An additional level of repair will …

The Expedition 56 crew resumed a regular schedule of work Friday on the International Space Station after spending the day Thursday locating and repairing a leak in the upper section of one of the two Russian Soyuz vehicles attached to the complex. With the station’s cabin pressure holding steady, most of the crew pressed ahead …

Out-of-Spec ISS Cabin Pressure Decrease: Last night, the ISS cabin pressure started dropping at the rate of one mmHg/hr. This morning the crew performed leak isolation steps via a series of hatch closures and determined the leak was in the Soyuz 55S habitation module [БО]; a pressure check of the 55S descent module was nominal. Further …

The International Space Station’s cabin pressure is holding steady after the Expedition 56 crew conducted repair work on one of two Russian Soyuz spacecraft attached to the complex. The repair was made to address a leak that had caused a minor reduction of station pressure. After a morning of investigations, the crew reported that the …

International Space Station Status 11:20 a.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 30. 2018 The crew aboard the International Space Station is conducting troubleshooting and repair work today after the discovery of a tiny leak last night traced to the Russian segment of the orbital complex. The leak, which was detected Wednesday night by flight controllers as the …

International Space Station Status 6 a.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 30. 2018 About 7 p.m. EDT Wednesday, International Space Station flight controllers in Houston and Moscow began seeing signs of a minute pressure leak in the complex. As flight controllers monitored their data, the decision was made to allow the Expedition 56 crew to sleep since …

Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST): The crew prepared BEST RNA samples and began 48 hour sequencing on the Biomolecule Sequencer. The BEST investigation studies the use of sequencing for identification of unknown microbial organisms living on the ISS, and how humans, plants and microbes adapt to living on the ISS. SpaceTex-2 and Metabolic Space: …

NASA and Northrop Grumman are now targeting Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, for the launch of the agency’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON. The spacecraft will launch aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window is 90 minutes starting at 4:00 a.m. EDT and ICON will be launching off the coast …