A space exposure experiment, a micro-algae study, and eye exams topped the research schedule for the Expedition 72 crew members at the end of the week. The orbital residents also continue to gear up for a spacewalk planned for next week at the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut and station Commander Suni Williams spent most of her day inside the Tranquility module working on the Nanoracks Bishop airlock. She was joined at the beginning of her shift by NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore who helped her prepare the Euro Materials Aging (EMA) experiment for installation inside Bishop. Afterward, she inspected one portion of the EMA study that will observe organic molecules and how they adapt to the external space environment.
NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit looked at another segment of the EMA hardware that will expose a variety of materials to outer space to monitor how they age over time. Finally, NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague inspected the Bishop airlock with the EMA experiment inside, closed its hatch, and prepared the airlock for its upcoming depressurization.
On Monday, the Canadarm2 robotic arm will detach Bishop with the EMA inside from Tranquility and maneuver it toward the Columbus laboratory module. Next, the EMA will be robotically installed on the Bartolomeo research platform attached to the outside of Columbus. The external investigation will operate outside Columbus for about a year.
Hague at the beginning of his shift on Friday, swapped samples of micro-algae inside the BioLab incubator located in Columbus. Researchers are exploring the potential of micro-algae as a way to remove carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and grow food on spacecraft. At the end of the day, Williams partnered with Pettit and Wilmore for eye exams using standard medical imaging hardware found in a doctor’s office on Earth. The trio were joined by ground doctors monitoring in real-time who want to understand how living in weightlessness affects vision and the human eye.
Two cosmonauts continue their preparations for a spacewalk on Thursday, Dec. 19, to remove external science experiments and relocate European robotic arm hardware. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner began Friday installing components on their Orlan spacesuits. Next, the duo pedaled on an exercise bicycle for a pre-spacewalk fitness assessment. Finally, the cosmonauts wrapped up the day’s suit work installing lights, batteries, and video cameras they will wear on their spacesuits during the planned six-hour and 40-minute spacewalk next week.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov trained to use the European robotic arm reviewing the laptop computers that support the robotic arm attached to the Nauka science module. Following that work, the first-time space flyer swapped out life support hardware then installed Earth observation gear to view the effects of natural and human-caused catastrophes in different wavelengths.
Mission managers waved off the planned return of a Dragon resupply spacecraft on Saturday, Dec. 13, due to forecasted unfavorable weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida. NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Sunday, Dec. 15, for the next undocking opportunity of NASA’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services spacecraft.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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