Expedition 68 Thread

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1611129021932371969

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1611160580232216576

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1611272201843494913

DEPLOY of Indonesia's SuryaSat-1 from ISS at 0802 UTC

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/spasmunkey/status/1611408096362131457

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1611404685558288384

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1611380804730638336

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/scientific-samples-hardware-return-from-iss-for-more-study

[ddspaceman]

ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/05/2023


Bill Keeter Posted on January 5, 2023

Payloads:

BioNutrients-2: BioNutrients-2 Production Bags were hydrated and inspected. BioNutrients demonstrates a technology that enables on-demand production of human nutrients during long-duration space missions. The process uses engineered microbes, like yeast, to generate carotenoids from an edible media to supplement potential vitamin losses from food that is stored for very long periods. Specially designed storage/growth packets are intermittently activated by astronauts over a five-year period, then frozen and returned to Earth for examination.

GRIP: GRIP hardware was stowed. The GRIP experiment studies long-duration spaceflight effects on the abilities of human subjects to regulate grip force and upper limbs trajectories when manipulating objects during different kind of movements such as oscillatory movements, rapid discrete movements and tapping gestures.

Microbial Aerosol Tethering on Innovative Surfaces in the ISS (MATISS): The Matiss-3 Sample Holder was uninstalled from the Columbus module. Bacteria are a big problem in space as they tend to build up in the constantly-recycled atmosphere of the ISS. The main objective of the MATISS experiment is to find better materials with which to build a space station or spacecraft, which is especially important for longer missions farther from Earth. Researchers will also monitor how bacteria form biofilms that protect them from cleaning agents and help them adhere to surfaces.

Mass Measurement Device (MMD): The MMD hardware was setup in the JEM Module and calibrated. The MMD provides a system to quantify the mass of objects, including live animal specimens, in the microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station by providing the capability to measure mass in the range of 1 to 100 grams with accuracies that exceed 0.1 grams.

Veg-05: Plants were checked, watered if necessary, and any detached tomatoes were collected and weighed. The Pick-and-Eat Salad-Crop Productivity, Nutritional Value, and Acceptability to Supplement the ISS Food System (Veg-05) investigation is the next step in efforts to address the need for a continuous fresh-food production system in space.

Systems:

USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #84 Preparations: Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) 3004 and 3009 were resized in preparation for the 1A ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) Prep EVA scheduled for January 20th. In addition, the crew charged and installed Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly (REBA) Li-Ion batteries into each EMU. The main goal of this EVA is to route cables on two Mod kits and install the 1A Mod kit on the 1A Solar Array Wing (SAW) Mast Canister to prepare these SAWs for future IROSA installations.

Transfer Crew Dragon Cargo Operations: Today, the crew continued transferring science experiments, crew provisions, and hardware from the SpX-26 cargo vehicle to the ISS. SpX-26 is scheduled to remain at the ISS until January 9th before it undocks to return cargo and payloads to the ground.

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT2) Exam: The crew completed routine OCT eye exams. OCT is an imaging technique analogous to ultrasound imaging that uses light instead of sound to capture micrometer-resolution, two- and three-dimensional images of tissue; in this case, the objects of interest are the crewmembers’ eyes. Eye exams are performed regularly on-board to monitor crewmember’s eye health. Eyesight is one of the many aspects of the human body that may be affected by long-duration stays in a microgravity environment.

Completed Task List Activities:

    N/A

Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

    ESA Col-CC Monitoring and Control Subsystem Instance Checkout
    RPCM Powerdown
    Laptop Preparation for OCT2 Exam
    PRO FIR Activation Commanding
    MSS RPCM S11A-A Removal to Swap with S12B-C [Active]

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1611423470985924609

[ddspaceman]

Crew Packs Dragon, Conducts Life Sustaining Research at End of Week


Mark Garcia Posted on January 6, 2023

The Expedition 68 crew will go into the weekend packing a U.S. resupply ship before it departs the International Space Station on Monday. In the meantime, the seven orbital residents concluded the work week researching a variety of space phenomena, maintaining advanced science hardware, and wrapping up three days of eye exams.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft will complete a 43-day mission at the orbital lab when it undocks from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 5:05 p.m. EST on Monday. NASA astronauts Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann, and Frank Rubio will join astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and spend Saturday and Sunday loading Dragon with critical research samples from completed station experiments for analysis on Earth after it splashes down off the coast of Florida. NASA TV will begin live coverage of Dragon’s undocking and departure at 4:45 p.m. on NASA’s website and the agency’s app.

However, the station’s four astronauts spent Friday servicing advanced research gear and conducting microgravity experiments. Three NASA astronauts also concluded several days of vision tests as Mann scanned the retinas of Cassada and Rubio using standard medical imaging hardware found in an optometrist’s office.

Wakata began his day taking photos of a set of nanosatellites as they were deployed outside the Kibo laboratory module into Earth orbit. The CubeSats will demonstrate a variety of technologies such as communications, propulsion systems, and Earth observations. He also assisted Rubio connecting communications gear and patching cables inside the Columbus laboratory module.

Mann researched ways to generate nutrients on demand by manipulating genetically engineered microbes. Cassada tended to tomatoes growing for a space botany study. Both experiments are informing ways NASA and its international partners can sustain crews on missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev from Roscosmos worked on several science projects at the end of the week as he tested a 3-D printer, explored futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques, and studied ways international crews and mission controllers can communicate better. Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Anna Kikina took turns attaching sensors to themselves measuring their heart activity then downloading the data to researchers on Earth for a long-running cardiac study.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/01/06/crew-packs-dragon-conducts-life-sustaining-research-at-end-of-week/

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1611430687239962625

[ddspaceman]

GT: I'm Miyazawa, an exploration hub in charge of space demonstration of all-solid-state batteries (Space AS-LiB). Space AS-LiB will be the first in the world to demonstrate charging and discharging of all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries in the space environment. All of us were impressed by the beautiful earth and ISS photographed by the camera powered by solid-state batteries during the initial operation check ✨
#Inc68JAXA
https://jaxa.jp/press/2022/08/20220805-1_j.html

GT: Wakata: I am very happy to participate in the orbital work of the space demonstration of the all-solid-state battery "Kibo"!

https://twitter.com/Astro_Wakata/status/1611442207533457408

[ddspaceman]

GT: Observations continue outside the Kibo #CALET , but high-precision observations of boron, which is only produced secondarily in outer space, are successful ✨

CALET's high-precision observations over a wide energy range provided valuable data necessary for validating the origin of boron and the intragalactic propagation model of cosmic rays.

A more detailed article on this #CALET result is published in Waseda University. Please take a look.

https://twitter.com/JAXA_Kiboriyo/status/1611250599936561157

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1611460155182583809

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1611468322297741313

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/Astro_Wakata/status/1612218102380388357

[ddspaceman]

Science-Filled Dragon Leaving Station Today After Crew Med Checks


Mark Garcia Posted on January 9, 2023

A U.S. cargo craft is being loaded with hardware and sensitive research samples for analysis on Earth before it departs the International Space Station today. The Expedition 68 crew members also had time on Monday for biomedical activities and lab maintenance ensuring the crew and the station continue operating in tip-top shape.

The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship is poised to complete a 43-day stay attached to the station when it undocks from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 5:05 p.m. EDT today. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, and Frank Rubio along with Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are finalizing the loading of about 4,400 pounds supplies and science experiments inside the Dragon. NASA TV’s live coverage of Dragon’s undocking and departure begins at 4:45 p.m. on NASA’s website and the agency’s app.

The crew will close Dragon’s hatch about an hour-and-a-half before its departure today. Dragon will then orbit Earth until Wednesday when it reenters Earth’s atmosphere and parachutes to a landing off the coast of Florida for retrieval by SpaceX and NASA support personnel. NASA TV will not air Dragon’s return to Earth.

The quartet also split its day collecting and stowing a variety of samples as part of ongoing human research studies. The astronauts began the morning gathering their saliva samples and placing them in science freezer for later analysis. The foursome, with assistance from specialists on the ground, wrapped up the day drawing blood samples that will be examined back on Earth to understand how living long-term in space affects the human body.

The space station’s three cosmonauts focused mainly on orbital maintenance throughout Monday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin serviced an assortment of life support and electronics components. Flight Engineer Anna Kikina charged video camera batteries and photographed electronics hardware inside the Zarya module.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/01/09/science-filled-dragon-leaving-station-today-after-crew-med-checks/

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1612477607886340097

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1612484242088366080

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/NASA_Marshall/status/1611754533683695617

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/space-station-science-highlights-02jan23

[ddspaceman]

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1612571926823829505