Space Stations

NASA Space Station Status Report 22 August, 2022 – Wound Healing and Cardiology Research

By SpaceRef Editor

Status Report

SpaceRef

August 23, 2022

Filed under Expedition 67, ISS, ISS On-orbit status, NASA

NASA Space Station Status Report 22 August, 2022 – Wound Healing and Cardiology Research — The seven-member Expedition 67 crew poses for a portrait. (Aug. 18, 2022)

NASA

International Space Station studies about wound healing and cardiology kicked off the week for the Expedition 67 crew following last week’s departure of a U.S. resupply ship. A variety of other space research, spacesuit cleaning, and maintenance rounded out the day for the seven orbital residents.

Four astronauts spent the majority of the day on Monday exploring surgical techniques to heal wounds in microgravity. The quartet, including Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, all from NASA, with Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency), worked throughout the day inside the Kibo laboratory module conducting research operations in the Life Science Glovebox. The medical study may provide advanced skin healing therapies both in space and on Earth.

Lindgren then installed an AstroPi science computer in the Harmony module where Cristoforetti would adjust its camera lens allowing European students to take night time photography of the Earth below. Watkins recorded video of the AstroPi activities and downlinked it for viewing by the participating students on Earth. Hines checked fluids and plants growing for the XROOTS botany study that uses hydroponics and aeroponics techniques to promote space agriculture.

The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship completed its cargo mission after 34 days attached to the space station on Friday. It undocked from the Harmony module’s forward port at 11:05 a.m. EDT and parachuted to a splashdown off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday at 2:53 p.m. Shortly afterward, support personnel retrieved the commercial cargo craft, packed with scientific cargo and station gear, floating in the Atlantic.

Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev continued stowing spacewalking gear today after last week’s spacewalk to outfit the European robotic arm for payload operations on the station’s Russian segment. The duo also researched cardiology onboard the station today exploring how weightlessness affects blood circulation. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov also participated in the heart research before he and Artemyev studied how to pilot spacecraft and maneuver robots on future planetary missions.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

AstroPi: After reviewing the big picture words, the AstroPi Vis unit was moved to the Node 2 window and set up for night-time photography. Max360 imagery was also captured of both AstroPi units to help student teams develop frames of reference for use with the sensors on the AstroPi units. Two augmented Raspberry Pi computers (called AstroPis) were flown to the ISS and are both equipped with the mighty Sense Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) that measures the environment inside the ISS, detects how the station moves through space, and picks up the Earth’s magnetic field. Each AstroPi is also equipped with different types of cameras: one has an infrared (IR) camera, and the other has a standard visible spectrum camera.

ElectroMagnetic Levitator (EML): The crew switched the EML camera system to standard mode. EML is a multi-user facility that provides containerless melting and solidification of electrically conductive, spherical samples under ultra-high vacuum and/or high purity gas environments. Heating and positioning of the sample is achieved by electromagnetic fields generated by a coil system. The EML supports research in the field of meta-stable states and phases and in the field of measurement of highly accurate thermophysical properties of liquid metallic alloys in the stable and undercooled state.

Nutrition Monitoring for the International Space Station (NutrISS): The crew set up the NutrISS bio-impedance device and performed a measurement session. They also filled out a questionnaire related to the session. Long-duration spaceflight induces relevant changes in body composition and a loss of body mass. In the NutrISS investigation, a periodic assessment of body composition (body weight, fat mass, and fat-free mass) during spaceflight aboard the ISS is carried out using a dedicated bio-impedance analysis device to allow for the measurement of long-term energy balance modification over time. It is hypothesized that an adjusted diet maintaining a near-neutral energy balance and/or increasing protein intake can limit microgravity-induced bone and muscle loss.

eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System (XROOTS): A routine inspection of the seed cartridges and growing plants was performed for the XROOTS experiment, which is currently in its third planting. Some minor microbial growth was seen in four of the seed cartridges and cleaned up. The XROOTS investigation uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media. Video and still images enable evaluation of multiple independent growth chambers for the entire plant life cycle from seed germination through maturity. Results could identify suitable methods to produce crops on a larger scale for future space missions.

Systems:

Crew Medical Restraint System (CMRS) Checkout: Today, the crew performed the annual checkout of the CMRS. The crew inspected patient harnesses with shoulder straps, patient restraints, Crew Medical Officer (CMO) restraints, areas beneath Kapton tape, and the head restraint. The CMRS is a resin platform designed for patient restraint and transport, spinal stabilization, and electrical isolation for defibrillation in the event of a medical emergency onboard the ISS.

Environmental Health System (EHS) Air Quality Monitor (AQM) Vent Vacuum: As part of regular preventive maintenance, the AQM vents were cleaned to remove dust buildup. The AQM is part of the EHS as an Intravehicular Activity (IVA) atmospheric monitor used to detect and measure Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) onboard the ISS.

Completed Task List Activities:

None

Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Survey of IDA2 Striker
Mobile Transporter (MT) Translate from Worksite #6 to Worksite #3
Command and Control Software (CCS) MT Diagnostic Buffer Collection List (DBCL) Dump

Look Ahead Plan

Tuesday, August 23 (GMT 235)
Payloads: