May 10, 2024

Top Space Station Research: Humans, Tomatoes, and Tiny Satellites

It was the second day of operations for the GRIP research study as NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada checked out how dexterous control is affected by living and working in weightlessness. Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) invested the day installing a set of CubeSats into the Kibo laboratory modules airlock. NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann partnered with Rubio during the afternoon continuing to load the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship with cargo ahead of its return to Earth next week.

Expedition 68 Flight Engineers (from left) Josh Cassada of NASA, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Frank Rubio of NASA, posture for a photograph while sharing a meal on Christmas Eve inside the International Space Stations Unity module. Credit: NASA
Science likewise happens outside the orbiting laboratory with experiments connected to external platforms or little research satellites deployed from the station into Earth orbit. Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) invested the day setting up a set of CubeSats into the Kibo lab modules airlock. The nanosatellites will be staged outside in area then released into orbit on Friday to show a range of technologies such as communications, propulsion systems, and Earth observations.
NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann partnered with Rubio during the afternoon continuing to fill the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship with freight ahead of its return to Earth next week. The duo, along with Cassada and Wakata, will accelerate its freight activities going into the weekend lastly packing delicate research study samples for analysis on Earth into Dragon prior to it undocks on Monday at 5:05 p.m. EST
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Working in the Zvezda service module, cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin had a look at the audio systems radio frequency and extremely high frequency receivers. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Anna Kikina cleaned the Nauka multipurpose laboratory modules ventilation system in the early morning then studied futuristic planetary and robotic piloting strategies during the afternoon.

Expedition 68 Flight Engineer and NASA spacewalker Josh Cassada prepares a roll-out solar selection for its release on the International Space Stations Port-4 truss sector as the orbiting lab flew 262 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Namibia on December 22, 2022. Credit: NASA
Human research study, area botany, and tiny satellites filled the research schedule aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, January 4, 2022. The seven Expedition 68 crew members also split their day on keeping laboratory systems and loading a U.S. freight craft for departure.
It was the 2nd day of operations for the GRIP research study as NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada checked out how dexterous control is impacted by living and working in weightlessness. Once again inside the Columbus lab module performing electronic scientific jobs with a controller device, he was seated. Scientists will utilize the information to assist style smart spacecraft user interfaces enabling human objectives to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio watered and photographed tomatoes growing for the Veg-05 space agriculture experiment. The primary function of the botany examination is to create a continuous fresh food production system to sustain astronauts taking a trip far beyond low-Earth orbit and reduce reliance on going to freight missions.