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 The slide table was retracted from the JPM side and the inner hatch was closed.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 …
Who can provide NASA with actual sea-truth on the sea surface salinity?
In the nine-plus hours it takes to fly from Argentina to Antarctica, collect data over the continent and fly back again, people on board are bound to get hungry. There is a microwave on board, as well as some snacks and hot drinks. But there are no flight attendants, and there are no meal carts. NASA’s […]
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 …
The Expedition 53 astronauts are continuing to unload several thousand pounds of space cargo from the new Cygnus resupply ship that arrived Tuesday morning. Some of the new science cargo contains a bacteria that curiously loses its harmful properties in microgravity and CubeSats that will be deployed in Earth orbit. The Cygnus is now installed …
“I don’t understand it. I haven’t been this perplexed about the weather in the Weddell Sea area for years,” said John Sonntag, mission scientist for NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission. Sonntag is a self-described weather geek. He is also world-renowned for his insight into the weather in West Antarctica. Instrument operators, flight crew, and various IceBridge […]
