May 5, 2024

Space Station Life: Post-Spacewalk Recovery and Innovative Research as SpaceX Updates Mission Timeline

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers Loral OHara (center) and Jasmin Moghbeli (lower right), both from NASA, are visualized connected to the International Space Stations port truss structure throughout a spacewalk to change one of the 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the port solar alpha rotary joint, which enables the selections to track the Sun and generate electrical power to power the station. Credit: NASA
The Expedition 70 team got involved in basic post-spacewalk activities on Thursday, November 11, consisting of health checks, spacesuit work, and a team conference. Science stayed on Thursdays schedule as the International Space Station (ISS) citizens studied future piloting strategies and space manufacturing.
NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral OHara had their first post-spacewalk medical tests on Thursday. The duo spent a few minutes determining each others essential signs including temperature, high blood pressure, and pulse. Later, the pair started cleaning up the Quest airlock and deactivating their spacesuits.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral OHara is envisioned (center) connected to the International Space Stations port truss structure during a spacewalk to replace one of the 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the port solar alpha rotary joint, which permits the ranges to track the Sun and produce electrical energy to power the station. Credit: NASA
Spacewalk Review and Research Activities
Moghbeli also downlinked images captured using spacewalk electronic cameras on Wednesday. She then photographed the spacesuit gloves for inspection and analysis by mission controllers on the ground. OHara logged into a computer and participated in a cognitive assessment.

After lunch break, the 2 astronauts signed up with Commander Andreas Mogensen and Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa for a conference with ground professionals and discussed the previous days spacewalk activities. Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) also spent an hour-and-a-half servicing the spacesuits the spacewalkers wore the day in the past. Satoshi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) joined the trio at the end of the day for eye scans using the Ultrasound 2 gadget.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli is pictured connected to the International Space Station throughout a spacewalk to replace among the 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the port solar alpha rotary joint, which allows the ranges to track the Sun and create electricity to power the station. Credit: NASA
Russian Segment Activities and CRS-29 Mission Update
The orbiting laboratorys 3 cosmonauts spent Thursday focused on area research and lab upkeep in the orbital outposts Roscosmos segment. He then invested the afternoon testing a 3D printer that could assist crews end up being less dependent on supply objectives released from Earth.
NASA and SpaceX are now targeting 8:28 p.m. EST, November 9, for launch of the companys 29th business resupply services (CRS-29) mission to the International Space Station. The extra time permits for the completion of the last prelaunch closeout ahead of the liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Before every Dragon objective, SpaceX performs comprehensive prelaunch checkouts at every phase of refurbishment and final integration to make sure the spacecraft is prepared to safely fly its next mission. Throughout the preliminary propellant load in preparation for the CRS-29 objective, groups determined a leak of NTO (nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer) in a Draco thruster valve, which per standard treatment needed a pause to the operation to repair. The group examined the valve and particular data, and chose to change the thruster.
SpaceX continues to keep NASA notified throughout the process and the joint group jointly decided to shift launch to represent the preliminary part replacement and subsequent system checkouts and data evaluations.
With a November 9 launch, the spacecraft will reach the area station about 5:20 a.m. Saturday, November 11.

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral OHara had their first post-spacewalk medical examinations on Thursday. After lunchtime, the two astronauts joined Commander Andreas Mogensen and Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa for a conference with ground experts and talked about the previous days spacewalk activities. Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) likewise invested an hour-and-a-half servicing the spacesuits the spacewalkers wore the day before. The orbiting laboratorys 3 cosmonauts spent Thursday focused on space research and lab upkeep in the orbital stations Roscosmos section. Before every Dragon objective, SpaceX conducts comprehensive prelaunch checkouts at every stage of repair and last combination to guarantee the spacecraft is all set to securely fly its next objective.