Space Stations

NASA Space Station Status Report 18 January, 2023 – Seat Liner Move Completed

By SpaceRef Editor

Status Report

SpaceRef

January 19, 2023

Filed under Expedition 68, International Space Station, ISS On-orbit status, NASA

NASA Space Station Status Report 18 January, 2023 – Seat Liner Move Completed — Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev practices futuristic piloting techniques.

NASA

On Jan. 17, NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada, with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann, worked inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship collecting tools and readying the spacecraft for a seat liner move.

The seat liner move, completed today, Jan. 18, ensures NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio will be able to return to Earth in the unlikely event of an emergency evacuation from the International Space Station. Rubio originally launched to the station with cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin aboard the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship on Sept. 21, 2022. The change allows for increased crew protection by reducing the heat load inside the MS-22 spacecraft for Prokopyev and Petelin in case of an emergency return to Earth.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Device for the study of Critical Liquids and Crystallization (DECLIC): The crew removed the Directional Solidification Insert (DSI) from the DECLIC facility and installed the Analyse des Liquides Critiques dans l’Espace (ALICE)-Like Insert (ALI). ALI studies sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) near its critical point. The DECLIC facility experienced thermal control issues late last year which will need to be worked through before science activities can begin. DECLIC is a multi-user facility developed by the agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (French Space Agency, CNES) flown in collaboration with NASA. It is designed to support experiments in the fields of fluid physics and materials science.

Veg-05: The plants growing in the two Veggie facilities were inspected, watered as necessary, and photographed. The experiment is growing Red Robin dwarf tomatoes for a little over 3 months and will perform multiple harvests of the fruits produced. The Pick-and-Eat Salad-Crop Productivity, Nutritional Value, and Acceptability to Supplement the ISS Food System (Veg-05) investigation is the next step in efforts to address the need for a continuous fresh-food production system in space.

Systems:

Crew Dragon Seat Liner Installation: Today, the crew completed the transfer of a seat liner from 68S Soyuz to Crew-5 Dragon to provide additional occupant protection in Dragon following the 68S thermal loop leak anomaly. The crew then performed a fit check of the newly installed seat liner and reviewed updated roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency. After a replacement Soyuz is launched (69S) and this temporary configuration is no longer required, the seat liner will be transferred back to the Russian Segment and installed in 69S. Each Soyuz crewmember has a custom molded seat liner that protects the crew during launch, reentry, and landing.

On-orbit Hearing Assessment (OOHA) with KUDUwave Software Setup and Test: The crew performed a hearing test using an OOHA Headset and KUDUwave software. The assessment measures hearing function while crewmembers are exposed to noise and microgravity during long-duration spaceflight.

USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparation Activities: In preparation for the upcoming 1A ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) Prep EVA scheduled for January 20th, the crew configured the EVA Manovacuometer. This was configured inside the Crewlock to monitor pressure readings during depressurizations related to the EVA. The main goal of this EVA is to route cables on two mod kits and install the 1A Mod Kit on the 1A Solar Array Wing (SAW) Mast Canister to prepare these SAWs for future IROSA installations.

Completed Task List Activities:

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