ISS On-Orbit Status Report

Ku Control Unit (KCU) Software Transition: Following yesterday’s swap to KCU2, running the new R4 software, the KCU2 modem card stopped processing Ku forward commands. An eventual power cycle of the entire KCU2 unit recovered KCU2 forward link. Later the KCU2 modem card once again stopped processing Ku forward commands. Ku was transitioned back to …

Metabolic Tracking (MT): The crew set up the hardware and materials to support two separate sessions of thawing and inoculation today for the MT investigation. They injected the thawed inoculum into multiwell BioCells, and inserted them into a NanoRacks Plate Reader.  Samples were placed into a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI).  …

Metabolic Tracking (MT): Earlier today the crew set up the MT hardware and materials for thawing and inoculation. They then injected the thawed inoculum into multiwell BioCells, and inserted them into a NanoRacks Plate Reader.  The crew also took samples from the BioCell B group and placed them into a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory …

Metabolic Tracking (MT): Today the crew injected thawed inoculum into multiwell BioCells, which were then inserted into a NanoRacks Plate Reader.  The crew also took samples from the BioCell A group and collected surface and air samples while photographing each location.  The samples were placed into a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) SpX-14 Operations: Overnight, the Robotics ground controllers released the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) from the SpaceX-14 Dragon Flight Releasable Grapple Fixture (FRGF).  They performed a survey of the Dragon trunk and then unstowed the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) from Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixture 2 …

SpX-14 Mission: After yesterday’s successful capture and berthing of Dragon, the crew ingressed the vehicle early this morning and began cargo transfer operations. Once the crew finishes unloading the center stack, they will transfer SpX-14 cold stowage into ISS assets and begin installation and activation of several payloads delivered by the vehicle. Mobile Servicing System …