NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 20 June 2017 – Loading the Dragon Spacecraft

The Expedition 52 crew is loading the SpaceX Dragon with cargo for return back to Earth in less than two weeks. BEAM, the experimental habitat, also received a new radiation shield today that was 3D printed aboard the International Space Station.
Dragon is due to leave the International Space Station July 2 after cargo transfers with the resupply ship are complete. The crew offloaded new science experiments, spacewalking gear and station hardware shortly after it arrived on June 5. Dragon will now be packed with used station gear and research samples for analysis by NASA engineers and scientists after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.

Flight Engineer Jack Fischer opened up BEAM today and entered the expandable activity module for a regular checkup. He replaced an older radiation shield with a thicker shield that covers a radiation sensor inside BEAM. Fischer also sampled BEAM’s air and surfaces for microbes.

Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson of NASA spent Tuesday sampling the air and surfaces for microbes in the station’s U.S. segment. Whitson also spent some time stowing synthetic DNA samples exposed to radiation in a science freezer and began readying rodent research gear for return next month aboard Dragon.

On-orbit Status Report

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM): The crew ingressed BEAM and replaced a 3.3 mm thick Radiation Environment Monitor (REM) shield that was installed onto a REM sensor on May 31, 2017 with a 10.0 mm thick shield that was also printed on the 3D printer onboard the ISS. BEAM is an experimental expandable module attached to the ISS. Expandable modules weigh less and take up less room on a rocket than a traditional module, while allowing additional space for living and working. They provide protection from solar and cosmic radiation, space debris, and other contaminants. Crews traveling to the moon, Mars, asteroids, or other destinations may be able to use them as habitable structures.

NanoRacks Module-48: The crew took photos for the NanoRacks Module-48 investigation for downlink to the ground. NanoRacks Module-48 connects students on Earth to the space program by sending their photographs and messages to the ISS along with plant seeds that are germinated after being returned to Earth. The investigation increases awareness of humans’ ability to access space, spurring interest in the space program and encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Sprint Ultrasound 2: For their Flight Day 60 Sprint Ultrasound 2 session, a crewmember, with support from an operator, configured Ultrasound 2, place reference marks on the calf and thigh of their right leg, don the thigh and calf guides, and perform thigh and calf scans with remote guidance from the Sprint ground team. Ultrasound scans are used to evaluate spaceflight-induced changes in the muscle volume. The Sprint investigation evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise training to minimize loss of muscle, bone, and cardiovascular function in ISS crewmembers during long-duration missions.

NanoRacks Module-70: The crew removed the NanoRacks Module-70 sample inserted yesterday into the Nanoracks Platform-2 in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and placed it into a General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator (GLACIER). Module-70 is an educational research project designed to study the effects of radiation damage to synthetic DNA for gene regions that code for a human antibody. The experiment will make copies of the synthetic DNA samples at certain time-points during the mission using a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The DNA will be returned for study of strand break analysis. The experiment is from the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) School of Life Science in Beijing, China.

Fine Motor Skills (FMS): The crew completed a series of interactive tasks during a FMS session today. The FMS investigation studies how the fine motor skills are effected by long-term microgravity exposure, different phases of microgravity adaptation, and sensorimotor recovery after returning to Earth gravity. The goal of the investigation is to determine how fine motor performance in microgravity varies over the duration of six-month and year-long space missions; how fine motor performance on orbit compares with that of a closely matched participant on Earth; and how performance varies before and after gravitational transitions, including periods of early flight adaptation and very early/near immediate post-flight periods.

Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Collection/Incubation: The crew completed this regularly scheduled maintenance to complete bacterial and fungal sampling. This activity is performed in all USOS modules, including BEAM.

SpaceX (SpX)-11 Cargo Operations: The crew has completed approximately 36 hours of cargo operations with approximately 17.5 hours of packing remaining. SpX-11 is scheduled to unberth on July 2nd, 2017.

Today’s Planned Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media
URAGAN. Observation and Photography
ECON-M. Observation and Photography
Reminder 2 Fine Motor Skills
Reminder Sprint Ultrasound
Electronic Nose. Experiment Session
Fine Motor Skills Experiment Test – Subject
Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Collection/Incubation
BEAM Node 3 Aft Unstow
ARED Platform Partial Fold
BEAM Ingress
BEAM REM Shield 3 Install
Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Collection/Incubation
Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) Kit Sample Collection
BEAM Cleanup and Egress
ARED Platform Unfold Back to Nominal Position
BEAM Node 3 Aft Stow
Combustion Integrated Rack Upper Rack Doors Open
Combustion Integrated Rack Manifold Bottle Replacement
Combustion Integrated Rack Upper Rack Doors Close
Recycle Tank Drain Part 1, 2, and 3
NanoRacks Platform-2 Module-70 Removal
NanoRacks Module-70 Glacier Insert
RGN WSTA Fill
Ultrasound 2 HRF Rack 1 Power On
Ultrasound 2 Configuration System Settings Backup
Sprint Ultrasound Operations – Subject
Sprint Guide Donning Operator
MAS Kit Sample Collection
Unpacking of First Priority USOS Cargo Items from Progress 436 (SM Aft). IMS Update
IMS Delta File Prep
RGN WSTA Fill
Replacement of Onboard ODF with ODF delivered by Progress 436
Ultrasound 2 Guided Data Export
Ultrasound 2 Hard Disk Clean
WSTA Fill [Aborted]
Cleaning of the Screen of the Fan Unit with Heater (???) in Soyuz 735
Systems Operations Data File (SODF) Deploy

Completed Task List Items
None

Ground Activities
All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.
Command and Data Handling(CDH) Bus Channel B Checkout
MSS ROSA Science Operations

Three-Day Look Ahead:
Wednesday, 06/21: CBEF cleaning/Rodent Research ops, NanoRacks Module 52 status check, Microbial air sampling
Thursday, 06/22: METEOR hard drive swap, Rodent Research ops, Tangolab Card 1 removal
Friday, 06/23: Microbial Tracking 2 ops, StemCell media change, SPHERES Halo run

QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:
Component – Status
Elektron – On
Vozdukh – Manual
[???] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) – Off
[???] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) – On
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab – Standby
Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 – Operate
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab – Idle
Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 – Operate
Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) – Process
Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) – Process
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab – Full up
Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 – Off