December 23, 2024

Unpacking Science and Preparing for Lift: Expedition 69’s Spacewalk Cleanup and Cygnus Boost

Northrop Grummans Cygnus cargo craft is envisioned from the International Space Station as it approaches while orbiting 261 miles above the coast of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia on August 4, 2023. Credit: NASA
Science and Health Monitoring
Rubio also opened up the Combustion Integrated Rack to repair the computer electronic devices inside. Bowen monitored his blood pressure throughout the day and swapped samples in the Microgravity Science Glovebox for an area manufacturing study.
NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg spent his day on inflight upkeep as he changed charcoal filters in the Harmony module and crammed new software application on a tablet computer system. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi arranged food bags, assisted Rubio unload the Cygnus cargo craft, then lastly changed window scratch panes in the cupola.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg presents for a picture inside the vestibule that separates the Unity module from the Northrop Grumman Cygnus area trucks hatch. Credit: NASA
Post-Spacewalk Activities
Leader Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin are cleaning their Orlan spacesuits and stowing spacewalking equipment following Wednesdays spacewalk. The duo spent six hours and 35 minutes in the vacuum of area setting up orbital particles guards and relocating a portable workstation on the Roscosmos section of the spaceport station.
Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev is returning the European robotic arm (ERA) to its stowage setup on the Nauka science module. Fedyaev commanded the ERA during Wednesdays spacewalk moving the workstation from the Rassvet module to Nauka and evaluating its ability to navigate a spacewalker with Prokopyev connected for the first time.
Roscosmos Crew Activities
The Roscosmos trio got a late start on Thursday after oversleeping following a good nights rest. During their clean-up activities, Prokopyev and Petelin also called down to objective controllers to go over the previous days spacewalk activities.

Earths atmosphere glows as the International Space Station skyrocketed approximately 260 miles above Egypt. Credit: NASA
The Expedition 69 crew is busy unpacking the Cygnus freighter and preparing to reboost the ISS. In addition to continuous science and maintenance activities, the group is tidying up after a spacewalk and preparing for upcoming missions, consisting of a Roscosmos cargo arrival and a Soyuz team swap.
The Expedition 69 team is continuing to unpack a U.S. cargo craft and prepare for the reboosting of the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, August 11. The orbital residents are likewise taken part in science and upkeep activities, and cleaning up after a spacewalk.
NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Stephen Bowen continued unpacking a few of the numerous lots of science and products still packed inside the Cygnus area freighter on Thursday. Cygnus will also fire its engines on Friday, reboosting the orbital station. This will raise the station to the proper elevation for the upcoming arrival of a Roscosmos freight craft in two weeks, and it will ensure the station remains in the proper phasing for a Soyuz crew swap mission planned in mid- to late September.