May 11, 2024

Space Station Shakeup: Change of Command Underway

As three crew members are nearing the end of their objective, the other 7 orbital residents remained hectic with an array of microgravity jobs. Now Expedition 70 Commander, Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) dealt with the food processor he set up last week. Mogensen made another batch of chocolate mousse in the early morning, later on taste-testing it in the evening.
Two first-time station Flight Engineers Loral OHara and Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA operated in tandem to change the science and eliminate module and heat exchanger from the Cold Atom Lab that Moghbeli prepped for repair work the other day. Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) carried out maintenance in the Japanese Experiment Module.
Flight Engineers Konstantin Borisov and Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos also operated in tandem on Tuesday to take documentary-style pictures and videos of life aboard the station, while Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, also of Roscosmos, continued team orientation tasks following his arrival to the station on September 15.

The Canadarm2 robotic arm is imagined extending away from the International Space Station after jettisoning flight support devices toward the Earths environment. The flight hardware protected a set of roll-out solar selections inside the SpaceX Dragon freight ships trunk throughout its climb to orbit and rendezvous with the space station in November 2022. The jettisoned support devices drifted safely away from the station and will eventually harmlessly burn up in the environment with no chance for recontacting the area station.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio peers through among the seven windows in the cupola, the International Space Stations “window to the world.” Credit: NASA
A change of command is underway aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as 3 team members are preparing to leave the orbiting lab in the early hours of September 27 after spending 371 days in space.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is set to return home on Wednesday, September 27 following a record-breaking objective on orbit. Following hatch closure, the spacecraft will undock from the Prichal module at 3:55 a.m., starting the trios brief trip back to Earth and beginning Expedition 70 for those still aboard the station.
The Canadarm2 robotic arm is visualized extending away from the International Space Station after rejecting flight assistance equipment toward the Earths environment. The jettisoned assistance devices wandered securely away from the station and will eventually harmlessly burn up in the environment with no chance for recontacting the space station.
Rubio, now the record-holder for the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut, launched to the station on September 21, 2022. His year-long mission was consisted of dozens of scientific examinations and innovation demonstrations including testing new area gardening techniques, handling a space-based diet plan loaded with nutrients, 3D printing knee cartilage tissue, and more.