NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 24 March 2020 – Ultrasound Scans and Eye Checks

Ultrasound scans and eye checks aboard the International Space Station today are helping doctors understand how the Expedition 62 crew is adapting to microgravity.
Back on Earth, a new crew is in final preparations for its launch next month.

NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Meir spent Tuesday morning on biomedical duty and scanned her leg arteries with an ultrasound device. She also attached electrodes to her neck, thigh and heart for the Vascular Echo study. Flight surgeons on the ground monitor the scans real-time to glimpse a crewmember’s heart and blood vessel health in space.

In the afternoon, Meir joined fellow Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan for eye exams. The duo took turns imaging each other’s eyes using optical coherence tomography gear commonly found in an eye doctor’s office. Eye health in space is important, as some astronauts have reported experiencing vision problems after returning to Earth.

Morgan started the morning swapping out batteries in a device that analyzes the station’s atmosphere. Afterward, he tended to hardware for an experiment that seeks to improve the manufacturing process of metallic alloys on Earth.

All three crewmates, including Commander Oleg Skripochka, started the day readying their Soyuz MS-15 crew ship ready for departure on April 17. They performed a fit check of the Soyuz seats they will be sitting in for the three-and-a-half hour ride back to Earth.

Meanwhile, the crew that will replace them is nearing its launch scheduled for April 9 aboard the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final training. The Expedition 63 trio is due to live aboard the station for 195 days with Cassidy as commander.

On-Orbit Status Report

Transparent Alloys-SEBA: The crew successfully exchanged the Transparent Alloys Cartridge. The aim of the Transparent Alloys-SEBA (Solidification along an Eutectic Path in Binary Alloys) experiment is to study the morphological instabilities of directional solidified, transparent binary eutectic alloys under purely diffusive conditions. This experiment provides a real-time observation of the dynamics of eutectic front structures with a micron-scale resolution, over a large (centimetric) space scale, and over long (several 10 hours) periods of time. These observations are strongly sensitive to convective motions in liquid, which, in ordinary conditions on earth, entail a detrimental redistribution of the solute on a scale comparable to the container size. Such convective motions are suppressed in microgravity.

Vascular Echo: The crew performed an ultrasound using ECHO for a resting position session #2. Blood Pressure measurements were also taken. Cardiac and Vessel Structure and Function with Long-Duration Space Flight and Recovery (Vascular Echo) examines changes in blood vessels, and the heart, while the crew members are in space, and then follow their recovery on return to Earth. The results could provide insight into potential countermeasures to help maintain crewmember health, and quality of life for everyone.

Rhodium Space Microbiome: The crew inserted Chamber (s/n 0006) from the SABL incubator into cold stowage. Genomics Investigation of Human Gut Microbiome to Determine Effects of Microgravity Exposures (Rhodium Space Microbiome) examines the effects of spaceflight on the human gut microbiome, a complex community of numerous bacterial species. Developing a better understanding shifts in microbiome diversity and function and how they affect human health and performance may help protect people on future missions. Recent studies have shown a connection between alterations in the structure and function of the gut microbiome and multiple chronic and acute diseases.

Completed Task List Activities:
None

Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Atmosphere Revitalization System N3 MCA Vacuum Pressure Monitoring Mode Init
Mobile Servicing System (MSS) SpaceX-20 External Cargo Operations
Stow of the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM)
Vascular Echo Resting Ultrasound Scan 125 Minutes

Look Ahead Plan
Wednesday, 3/25 (GMT 085)
Payloads:
Vascular Echo Leg Doppler PDOP Ops (CSA)
AstroPi Micro SD card to SSC (11&19) for OS upgrade (ESA)
MISSE MSC removal and stow (NASA)
PONDS Modules (s/n 1 through 12) install and initiate (NASA)
BFF Procedure Review (NASA)
CGBA4 status chk and Maintenance (NASA)
Rhodium Space Microbiome sample (s/n 0007) into MELFI (NASA)
STaARS kit (s/n 1012) into MELFI (NASA)
Standard Measures Presleep Questionnaire (NASA)
NanoRacks Module-51 Status 3 (NASA)
SPHERES Hardware Consolidate (NASA)
Bartolomeo removal from Dragon trunk (ESA)

Systems:
Dragon Cargo Transfer
74P transfer operations

Thursday, 3/26 (GMT 086)
Payloads:
Radi-N2 Detectors (8) retrieved (COL) and H/O to Russian crew (CSA)
Engineering Heart Tissue (EHT) Media change and fixation (NASA)
Standard Measures Postsleep Questionnaire (NASA)
BFF test print without cells (1 and 2) , and Syringe swap (4) (NASA)
EML Gas Vlv to Close (ESA-Joint)

Systems:
Regen ECLSS operations
SSC Service Pack Queso Ops
SSC2 Reload from Load Image Server

Friday, 3/27 (GMT 087)
Payloads:
Blood Collection (CSA)
BFF hardware uninstall (NASA)
MVP2 Cell-03 Nutrient tube and waste tube replacement (NASA)
Food Acceptability (NASA)
JEM ORU Transfer Interface (JOTI) removal (NASA)

Systems:
SpX-20 EVA Pack
Regen ECLSS operations
SSC Service Pack Queso Ops

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

Reminder 2 Vascular Echo Resting Ultrasound Scan
Reminder 1 Vascular Echo Leg Doppler Measurement
Soyuz 744 Kazbek Fit Check
JEM Airlock Press
Vascular Echo Ultrasound Echo Unit Setup
TERMINATOR. RSS2 Laptop SW Update.
Preventive Maintenance of SM Ventilation Subsystem. Group ?2. Inspection of Air Conditioning System [???1, ???2]
JEM Airlock Leak Check
Rhodium Space Microbiome US LAB HD Camcorder Video Setup
Rhodium Space Microbiome SABL Sample Removal
Rhodium Space Microbiome MELFI Sample Insertion
Food Acceptability Survey
Vascular Echo CDL Holter Arterial BP Measurement
Vascular Echo Resting Ultrasound Scan 125 Minutes
Installation of jumpers on Broadband Communication System (???) Video Server
Cargo Transfer to Dragon
iPad iOS Update 1006
Environmental Health System (EHS) – Compound Specific Analyzer-Combustion (CSA-CP) Checkout
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis
Inspection and integrity check of Kurs-A cables in DC1
Vascular Echo Ultrasound Echo Unit Stow
PAO Preparation
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup
PAO Preparation
Equipment pre-pack for disposal via Cygnus (NG-13)
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
Transparent Alloys Cartridge Exchange
MISSE-FF MSC Retrieval and Pack Procedure Review
Health Maintenance System (HMS) OCT2 Setup
Health Maintenance System (HMS) OCT2 Prep
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record
Weekly check of video recording equipment performance on the ISS RS
Health Maintenance System (HMS) OCT2 Exams
CCE Preparation
High Definition (HD) Config JEM Camera Setup for Crew Choice Event
Crew Choice Event
Reminder 2 Vascular Echo Leg Doppler Measurement