NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 10 June 2019 – Three Expedition 59 Crewmembers Preparing to Return

Three Expedition 59 crewmembers are getting ready to end their stay at the International Space Station after six and a half months in space. Meanwhile, mission scientists continue exploring how microgravity impacts the human body.
Flight Engineers Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques will flank Commander Oleg Kononenko inside the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft when they return to Earth on June 24. McClain videotaped herself in virtual reality talking about her first space mission today using a 360-degree camera in Japan’s Kibo laboratory module. The trio have been in space since Dec. 3.

Saint-Jacques and Kononenko began gathering items to take back home inside their Soyuz crew ship. The duo collected personal items such as shoes and clothes as well as tools and trash that will be soon be stowed aboard the Soyuz for the ride to Earth.

Saint-Jacques also researched ways to supplement crew nutrition during future long-term space missions, such as missions to the Moon and Mars. Food stowed for long periods can lose nutritional value. The BioNutrients-1 study is exploring manufacturing nutritional compounds in space to maintain healthy crews for successful missions.

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague started Monday morning by drawing blood samples and spinning them in a centrifuge before stowing them in science freezer. Doctors on the ground will analyze the samples to detect critical changes to a crewmember’s physiology while living in space. The pair also participated in visual acuity tests using an eye chart in the afternoon.

On-Orbit Status Report

BioNutrients: The crew performed a hydration and agitation for the BioNutrients experiment and started the 48 hour incubation at 30 deg C. BioNutrients demonstrates a technology that enables on-demand production of human nutrients during long-duration space missions. The process uses engineered microbes, like yeast, to generate carotenoids from an edible media to supplement potential vitamin losses from food that is stored for very long periods. Specially designed storage/growth packets are intermittently activated by astronauts over a 5-year period, then frozen and returned to Earth for examination.

Capillary Structures: The crew performed a water refill and camera/flash battery exchange for the ongoing Capillary Structures Evaporation Science run. Current life-support systems on the ISS require special equipment to separate liquids and gases, including rotating or moving devices that could cause contamination if they break or fail. The Capillary Structures investigation studies a new method using structures of specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures. The investigation studies water recycling and carbon dioxide removal systems, benefiting future efforts to design lightweight, more reliable life support systems for future space missions.

Standard Measures: The crew performed blood and saliva collections in support of the Standard Measures investigation. The aim of the investigation is to ensure consistent capture of an optimized, minimal set of measures from crewmembers until the end of the ISS Program in order to characterize the adaptive responses to and risks of living in space. Among other things, the ground teams perform analyses for metabolic and chemistry panels, immune function, microbiome, etc. These measures populate a data repository to enable high-level monitoring of countermeasure effectiveness and meaningful interpretation of health and performance outcomes, and support future research on planetary missions.

ISS Experience: The crew continued the experiment with the performance of two Astronaut logs. During the log, the crew discussed their time in space, the most significant personal thing learned, Veggie/Veg-04A and the importance of growing food in space. The ISS Experience creates a virtual reality film documenting daily life aboard the ISS. The 8 to 10 minute videos created from footage taken during the six-month investigation cover different aspects of crew life, execution of science aboard the station, and the international partnerships involved. The ISS Experience uses a Z-CAM V1 Pro Cinematic Virtual Reality (VR) 360-degree camera with nine 190° fisheye lenses.

Life Support Rack (LSR): An air outlet visual inspection and power cable EMI ring removal were performed as a continuation of the LSR troubleshooting. LSR is a Technology Demonstrator for Closed Loop Air Revitalization. It captures carbon dioxide from cabin air and recovers 50% of its oxygen for use by the astronauts. LSR is intended to operate for a minimum of one year on the ISS to demonstrate the robustness of the technology for future Exploration Missions.

Story Time from Space: Over the weekend the crew performed a “singing” from the book Hey Ho, to Mars We Go. Today the crew performed a reading from the book Ada Lace, Take Me to Your Leader (chapters 4-8). Story Time From Space combines science literacy outreach with simple demonstrations recorded aboard the ISS. Crewmembers read five science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related children’s books in orbit, and complete simple science concept experiments. Crewmembers videotape themselves reading the books and completing demonstrations. Video and data collected during the demonstrations are downlinked to the ground and posted in a video library with accompanying educational materials.

Water Storage System (WSS): The crew completed final hardware installation for the WSS. The system will add new capabilities to the existing Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Water Recovery and Management System (WRM) by providing an additional 75 liters of iodinated water storage as well as new methods of transporting water in the potable water bus.

USOS Hatch Seal Inspection: The crew performed this regularly scheduled preventive maintenance to clean and inspect USOS hatch seals, hatch plate sealing surface and hatch handle mechanisms for foreign object debris or damage. The crew inspected Node 2, Node 3, PMM, Columbus and JEM hatches.

Completed Task List Activities:
Friday
EPO Paxi record
Saturday
Cygnus AEM SD card remove
Single stowage locker trash fill
Vacuum cleaner bag replace
Story Time
SLT swap with ZBook

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
SSRMS LEE B high def survey
Payloads ops support

Look Ahead:
Tuesday, 6/11 (GMT 162)

Payloads:
Airway Monitoring
Capillary Structures
ELF configuration
ER2 Zbook setup and software load
Food Acceptability
ISS Experience
Probiotics
Radi-N2 retrieve
Standard Measures

Systems:
57S pre-pack
Microbiology surface/air sampling

Wednesday, 6/12 (GMT 163)

Payloads:
FIR/LMM/Ace module change-out
Airway Monitoring
Behavioral Core Measures
Bio Analyzer
Bionutrients
Capillary Structures
ELF
HRF
ISS Experience stow
Probiotics
SABL2 CO2 controller remove
Standard Measures

Systems:
MPEP install on JEMAL Slide Table
JPM light install

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

Crew Departure Preparations
In-Flight Maintenance Glass Cloth Tape Trilogy (Third Activity)
IMS Delta File Prep
Photo/TV Consumables Bag Audit
Photo/TV Little Used Items Bag Audit
Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos web site and social media
SCENARIY. Observations and Photography of Forest Fires in Israel
ECON-M. Observations and photo
Unpack DC1 Progress 441. Update IMS
Preparation of Items for Return and Disposal with Soyuz 741
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion Operations
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Retrieval And Insertion Operations
HRF Generic Saliva Collection Stow
Reminder HRF Generic Frozen Blood Collection
МО-8. Body Mass Measurement
Body Mass Measurement – BMMD
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection 25 Minutes Subject
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Operator
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Configuration
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Spin Conclude
МО-8. Closeout Ops
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis
Remove the EMI Ring from the Life Support Rack electrical connectors P1A and P2A
Photography of Hatch Suspensions in MRM1
ISS Crew departure preparation
Power and 120V Aux Power umbilical connectors inspection and mating
BioNutrients-1 OBT Review
ISS Experience JEM Setup
BioNutrients-1 Preparation snd Incubation
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Conclude And Stow
Orthostatic Stability Evaluation with LBNP
Evaluation of Orthostatic Stability with LBNP (Operator)
ISS Experience Astronaut Log Recording
Installation of Battery into Laptop RS3
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Active Rack Isolation System (ARIS) Bracket R&R
Photography of ВЛ2 Window in MRM2 and ВЛ2 Window in DC1 (Post-EVA)
ISS Experience Record Conclude
Setup USLab Camcorder for ground inspection video of the Life Support Rack air outlet
Hatch Seal Inspection
PAO Preparation
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config COL Setup
PAO Preparation
Food Acceptability Questionnaire
TV-session with the KnowHow Language Center Students and Teachers (Ku+S-band)
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Test
Flushing Purification Column Unit (БКО) for Elektron-VM and Condensate Water Processor
PAO Preparation
Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK) Deployment Operations
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Questionnaire
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Test
TV-Session with ISS Online Project Participants (Ku+S-band)
Environmental Health System (EHS) Grab Sample Container (GSC) Sampling Operations
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Questionnaire
Lighting Effects Visual Performance Tests Light Setting
ISS Experience Recording Preparation
Auxiliary Laptop Computer System Virus Definition File Update
БКО Purification Column Unit R&R for Elektron-VM
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup
PAO Preparation
Pre-pack cargo items for return or disposal on ТК 741
CWC-I Gather
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
ISS Experience Hardware Relocate
Transfer Operations – Prepack of US items to be loaded into Soyuz
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Experiment Session (Individual Strategy Test) instead of Exercise
Visual Inspection by the crew, to verify no water was blow out of the Life Support Rack air outlet during the CWSA dry out activity
Video setup for Water Storage System operations
Water Storage System (WSS) Assembly Part 3
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Assistance during Preparation for Experiment
ARED Cable Arm Rope Tension Check
In Flight Maintenance Oxygen Generation System Hardware Audit
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Closeout Ops (assistance)
GEMATOKRIT. Hardware Setup
Evening Preparation Work
Water Resource Management Hose Gather
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Closeout Ops
BioNutrients-1 Incubation Agitation
Lab Condensate Hose connection to WSS.
Capillary Structures Camera Battery Exchange
Photo/TV RED Dragon Camera Black Video
Story Time Book Ada Leader Book Read
Capillary Structures Evaporation Science 2 Article Water Refill
Story Time Historical Photo Documentation
PROFILAKTIKA-2. Hygiene procedure
Probiotics Item Gathering
ISS Experience Hardware Stow
Compressor – N on
Exercise Data Downlink via OCA
Food Acceptability Questionnaire