NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 12 December 2018 – A Little Extra Sleep Today

The Expedition 57 crew were allowed to catch a few extra hours of sleep today after a lengthy spacewalk Tuesday by the two cosmonauts on board.
They then went to work on a variety of microgravity science and lab maintenance aboard the International Space Station.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev performed routine maintenance on their Russian Orlan spacesuits after a seven-hour, 45-minute spacewalk to inspect the Soyuz MS-09 crew ship docked to the station. The duo took detailed photos and captured video of some of the sealant on the outer hull of the Habitation Module used in the repair of a hole discovered inside the vehicle in August.

The other four orbital residents also put in a good night’s sleep after supporting the eighth spacewalk at the station this year. The quartet moved headlong into human research and departure preps after waking up a few hours later than usual today.

Alexander Gerst and Serena Auñón-Chancellor drew their own blood samples today and processed them in the Human Research Facility’s centrifuge. The samples were then coagulated and stowed in a science freezer for later analysis. The Biochemical Profile is a long-running study on astronauts and is providing insight into the human body’s adaptation to living in space.

Gerst is also packing the Soyuz spacecraft that will take him, Auñón-Chancellor and Prokopyev back to Earth Dec. 19. This is the same spaceship that was inspected Tuesday by the two Russian spacewalkers.

The station’s newest astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques are still getting used to their new home in space. The pair also went about the day working on a variety of maintenance and research. McClain strapped on an armband monitoring how her body adapts to orbiting Earth 16 times a day after setting up research hardware for two separate experiments. Saint-Jacques deployed over a dozen radiation monitors throughout the station today before some light plumbing work with Gerst in the orbital restroom.

On-Orbit Status Report

STaARS BioScience-4 (Space Technology and Advanced Research Systems): Today a crewmember removed four Experiment containers from the STaARS facility and inserted them into Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI-3) unit. The STaARS BioScience-4 investigation examines how oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) react to microgravity, specifically the rate at which the cells proliferate and differentiate in the microgravity environment.

Circadian Rhythms: A crewmember configured and donned the Circadian Rhythms hardware and initiated data collection. The hardware is to be worn for 3 days. Circadian Rhythms investigates the role of synchronized circadian rhythms, or the “biological clock,” and how it changes during long-duration spaceflight. Researchers hypothesize that a non-24-hour cycle of light and dark affects crewmembers’ circadian clocks.

SODI-DSC (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument – Diffusion and Soret Coefficient): Today a crewmember performed the SODI-DSC hardware setup in the MSG Work Volume. The Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument – Diffusion and Soret Coefficient (SODI-DSC) experiment will study diffusion in six different liquids over time in the absence of convection induced by the gravity field.

MSFO-2 (Made In Space Fiber Optics 2): Today a crewmember installed the Made in Space Fiber Optics 2 hardware. The Optical Fiber Production in Microgravity (Made In Space Fiber Optics) investigation demonstrates the merits of manufacturing fiber optic filaments in microgravity. The fiber optic material chosen for this demonstration is ZBLAN.

Express Rack 9B Rack Power Switch Data Gathering: Today, the crew powered on Express Rack 9B in Columbus to gather data on an unusual data signature seen on previous activations. When the Express Rack 9B rack power switch is turned on, the data appears immediately on some ground displays, but data that follows an alternate path is delayed. Today’s activity will collect data dumps to understand where the delay is occurring in the alternate data path.

Completed Task List Activities:
None

Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Nominal ground commanding

Two Day Look Ahead:
Thursday, 12/13:

Payloads:
Marrow breath, air and blood collection (NASA)
Molecular Muscle check (NASA)
ICE CUBES sample swap (ESA)
Cerebral Autoregulation H/W gather (JAXA)
MT2 saliva Collect, MELFI insert and crew conf (NASA)
RR-08 Water chk (NASA)
NanoRacks Module 74 plate scans (NASA)
Micro-14 GAP activation and insert Ops session 1(NASA)
Biochem profile HRF Urine collections (NASA)
Bio-7 MELFI insert (NASA)

Systems:
Dragon cargo Operations
ISS Orientation

Friday, 12/14:

Payloads:
GEDI MSS handover from Dragon to JEMRMS and install on EUF6 (NASA)
Marrow breath, air and blood collection (NASA)
Circadian Rhythm Doff and stow and downlink (ESA)
Molecular Muscle De-install, MELFI insert, Downlink, Kubik backup stow (NASA)
Airway Monitor Kit Consolidate (ESA)
Cerebral Autoregulation Measurements (JAXA)
MT2 ISS Surface Collect, MELFI insert (NASA)
NanoRacks Module 74 plate scans (NASA)
Micro-14 GAP Term Session 1 and MELFI inserts (NASA)
Actiwatch Plus eval test (NASA)
Biochem profile HRF Urine collections (NASA)
Actiwatch Spectrum data d/l (NASA)
ISS HAM (NASA)

Systems:
Soyuz Descent Training
ISS Orientation

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

СОЖ maintenance
Marrow Breath And Ambient Air Sample Collection – Subject
Reminder to the crew about Circadian Rhythms experiment constraints
HRF Generic Urine Collection
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion Operations
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection 30 Minutes Subject
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Operator
Plate Reader2 Module-74 Microplate
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
MSPR ELT Reset
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Configuration
ISS Crew Orientation
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Spin Conclude
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion
ISS HAM Radio Power Up
SODI DSC Hardware Setup
Molecular Muscle KUBIK Run Check
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) in Columbus [Aborted]
Environmental Health System (EHS) – Radiation Area Monitors (RAM) Deployment/Retrieve
FOTOBIOREAKTOR. Visual monitoring and photography
Vozdukh Atmosphere Purification System [СОА] Activation
HRF Generic HRF Centrifuge Frozen Blood Collection Conclude And Stow
Post-EVA Glisser-M cameras Ops (Copying video data to hard drive and battery installation for charging)
Post-EVA Medical Kits Restow
Made In Space Fiber Optics Locker and Cable Setup
Teardown charger ЗУ-С configuration
Set up the first Orlan-MKS battery pack 825М3 for discharge and start discharging the first pack
Removal of US TV camera, Light, and REBA power unit from Orlan-MKS
CSA Generic Frozen Blood Collection Setup
HRF Generic Urine Collection Female
Marrow Breath And Ambient Air Sample Setup – Subject
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Retrieval And Insertion Operations
US Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Tool Transfer after RS EVA
CONTENT. Experiment Ops
Post-EVA Pille Dosimeter Reading
Circadian Rhythms Instrumentation w. Armband
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill
ASEPTIC. External inspection and photography of nutrient medium before the experiment
Space Technology and Advanced Research Systems BioScience-4 Experiment Container Removal and MELFI insert
Verification of ИП-1 Flow Sensor Position
Evening Preparation Work
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Personal Items Stow
Plate Reader2 Module-74 Microplate
Post-EVA Glisser-M cameras Ops (Closeout ops and stowage in ФГБ1ПГО_2_219_1, 0.5 CTB No.1375 Glisser (005999R)
HRF Generic Urine Collection Female
HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion Operations