Botany Research and Medical Training for Crew Today

The Expedition 49 trio is looking at plant growth today after the successful deployment of eight nanosatellites Thursday. The crew also inspected a treadmill and trained to care for a sick or injured crew member.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins swapped seeds in a cultivator for the Plant RNA Regulation experiment. Some seeds were stowed in a science freezer, the other seeds will be grown in the cultivator for a week to research how microgravity changes a plant’s gene expression. Observations may provide new insights on how to grow plants for food and oxygen on long-term spaceflights.

Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi thoroughly inspected a treadmill inside the Tranquility module photographing its parts for analysis on the ground. Onishi also took a refresher course to stay up to date on medical procedures and gear in case of a crew illness or injury.

Commander Anatoly Ivanishin collected data from a radiation detection experiment and worked maintenance on a variety of Russian systems throughout Friday.

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