The active glacier-covered stratovolcano was seen from the International Space Station as it orbited 265 miles above. Credit: NASA
After lunch, Mogensensen and Moghbeli were joined by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa to conduct ultrasound eye tests. Furukawa spent most of his morning gathering surface samples for microbial analysis ahead of the examination.
Earths environment shines as the International Space Station skyrocketed roughly 260 miles above Egypt. Credit: NASA
10 orbital residents had a full schedule on Wednesday, September 20, participating in to a mix of tasks including eye tests, station maintenance, and training. While brand-new members of the Expedition 69 team familiarize themselves with hardware and devices, others are completing more prep work ahead of their departure from the International Space Station next week.
Sleep Studies and Spacewalk Preparations
After using the Sleep in Orbit hardware overnight, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen started his day completing a survey that assists researchers acquire insight into astronauts sleep in space and compare that data to sleep on Earth. Midmorning, he was joined by NASA astronauts and novice station locals, Loral OHara and Jasmin Moghbeli, to make changes to their spacesuits that will be used on future spacewalks.
Mount Baker reaches over 10,700 feet of elevation in the state of Washington. The active glacier-covered stratovolcano was seen from the International Space Station as it orbited 265 miles above. Credit: NASA
Medical Examinations and Microbial Research
After lunch, Mogensensen and Moghbeli were signed up with by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa to perform ultrasound eye examinations. Furukawa invested the majority of his morning gathering surface area samples for microbial analysis ahead of the examination. Later, he moved on to collecting air samples to continue the microbial research study.
Preparations for Departure
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio spent Wednesday preparing for his trek home to Earth next week following a record-breaking mission. He invested part of his day operating in the Japanese Experiment Module performing upkeep before proceeding to departure prep, including team handover activities and prepping items that will return home with the crew on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft.
The Soyuz MS-23 crew ship is envisioned docked to the Prichal docking module as the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above Queensland, Australia, near the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria on May 11, 2023. Credit: NASA
Rubio, in addition to Roscosmos Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, introduced to the space station on September 21, 2022, and will undock on September 27 after spending over one year in space. The two cosmonauts joined Rubio in crew handover and departure preparation activities today as they prepared for a change in command and continued to train the freshly shown up crew.
Orientation and Nighttime Atmospheric Study
Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who came to the orbital station last Friday in addition to OHara, finished team orientation early on in the day. At night, the two were joined by Mogensen, OHara, and Prokopyev to familiarize themselves with hardware and devices throughout different station modules.
Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos spent the majority of the day performing an experiment that studies the glow of Earths environment in the evening in near ultraviolet.
