Payloads Astrobee: The Astrobee system was powered on in support of additional free-flight and checkout operations. Astrobee will be used in the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge in the coming weeks. Astrobee is made up of three free-flying, cube-shaped robots which are designed to help scientists and engineers develop and test technologies for use in microgravity …
Crew Dragon Return: SpaceX Demo-2 undocked from the ISS on Saturday, August 1st. The Crew Dragon vehicle splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, August 2nd at 1:48pm CT. The Demo-2 crew spent 9 weeks aboard the ISS performing maintenance and payloads activities during this time. The crew completed approximately 100 hours …
Payloads BioMole: The crew performed BioMole part 3 of the science session, which consists of preparation of the previously amplified DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid), followed by sequencing using the MinION. The BioMole Facility non-culture based samples are capable of providing microbial identification on-orbit within days of sampling. The goal of this tech demonstration is to conduct …
Payloads Colloidal Clusters: The crew enabled the UV (ultraviolet) illumination system for the Colloidal Clusters sample bags. UV light is used to activate the UV-curable gelling agent and terminate the experiment. Following the appropriate UV exposure time, the crew performed steps needed to close out the experiment. JAXA’s Colloidal Clusters investigates the mechanism for formation …
Payloads Droplet Formation Study (DFS): The crew performed the setup and initiation of recording for additional runs of the DFS investigation, followed by data archival to Blue-ray disc. Droplet Formation Studies in Microgravity (Droplet Formation Study, or more simply DFS) evaluates water droplet formation and water flow of Delta Faucet’s H2Okinetic shower head technology. To …
Payloads Astrobee: Astrobee was activated in support of checkout-2 for the Kibo Robotic Programming Challenge. The goal of the checkout is to confirm good data and voice communication between the 3 space centers involved, ensure the data markers (tags and targets) are in their proper locations, and ensure the files generated during the checkout are …
Payloads Astrobee: In preparation for the upcoming Kibo Robot Programming challenge checkout, the crew reviewed the Astrobee On-Board Training. The Astrobee team has been working for the past several weeks to map the Japanese Experiment Module to allow Astrobee navigation. Astrobee is made up of three free-flying, cube-shaped robots which are designed to help scientists …
Payloads Spectrum: The crew performed a shutdown of the Spectrum hardware after the ground teams performed a checkout. The hardware will be used to process samples arriving on NG-14. Spectrum takes fluorescent images of biological specimens contained within a controlled environment. A high resolution, monochrome camera captures images of fluoresced proteins of plants within Petri …
76 Progress (76P) Launch and Docking: 76P launched today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 9:26 AM CT carrying food, fuel and supplies. Following a 2-orbit rendezvous, the vehicle successfully docked to the ISS Docking Compartment 1 (DC-1) Nadir Port at 12:45 PM CT. The crew then performed leak checks, opened hatches, and began cargo unloading. Payloads …
Payloads Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools (EarthKAM): The crew performed the shutdown and stow of the EarthKAM hardware completing a 10 day mission. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the Internet, the students control a special digital camera mounted on-board the ISS. …
