Space Stations

NASA Space Station Status Report 22 September, 2022 – Awaiting Three New Crew Members

By SpaceRef Editor

Status Report

SpaceRef

September 20, 2022

Filed under Expedition 67, ISS, ISS On-orbit status, NASA

NASA Space Station Status Report 22 September, 2022 – Awaiting Three New Crew Members — The Soyuz MS-22 crew poses in front of the spacecraft. (Sept. 7, 2022)

NASA

The International Space Station is gearing up for the arrival of three new crew members due to begin their mission on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Expedition 67 astronauts continue researching a wide array of microgravity phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth.

The Soyuz MS-22 rocket that will launch NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin to the space station stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio will liftoff inside the Soyuz crew ship at 9:54 a.m. EDT on Wednesday and dock to the Rassvet module less than three-and-a-half hours later beginning a six-month research mission in Earth orbit. NASA will broadcast the launch live on NASA TV, the app, and its website, beginning at 9 a.m.

Just over a week later, three cosmonauts who have been living in space since March 18 will board their Soyuz MS-21 crew ship and return to Earth. The Soyuz vehicle, with station Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineers Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov inside, will undock from the Prichal module, descend through Earth’s atmosphere, and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan, ending the threesome’s six-month-long orbital journey. The trio spent Tuesday packing up cargo and personal gear for stowage inside the returning Soyuz and conditioning their bodies for the return to Earth’s gravity.

ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will take over as station commander from Artemyev before he departs during the traditional Change of Command ceremony next week. The leadership change will be seen live on NASA TV, the agency’s app, and its website at 9:35 a.m. on Sept. 28.

Research operations aboard the station are always ongoing whether the astronauts run the experiments themselves or scientists remotely conduct the studies from control centers on the ground. Tuesday’s space science schedule saw the astronauts busy all day exploring biology, botany, physics, and robotics.

Humans and plants are significant topics of study in space as researchers learn to sustain crews in space for longer missions and farther away from Earth. NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins scanned her arteries with an ultrasound device and measured her blood pressure on Tuesday to understand the risks of space radiation on the cardiovascular system. NASA astronaut Bob Hines planted vegetables for the soilless XROOTS botany study that explores using hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow crops in space.

Technology is also key to the success of crewed missions so astronauts can focus more on science activities and become less reliant on ground controllers. NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren looked at how weightlessness affects the microstructures of foam through the KERMIT microscope to advance research and commercial opportunities on Earth and in space. Finally, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) tested using a smartphone device to guide and control Astrobee robotic free-flyers while assisting crews with scientific operations.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Astrobee/Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor (SVGS): Following the installation of the SVGS LED targets, the science 3 session was performed. SVGS demonstrates the use of a photogrammetric vision-based technology for guidance, navigation, and control of a small spacecraft. Developed by NASA, the vision-based sensor computes the position and orientation vector of a target relative to a coordinate system attached to a camera in the host platform, in this case the ISS free-flying robot Astrobee. This demonstration consists of five maneuvers involving motion control and data capture for one, two, and three Astrobee robots.

Behavioral Core Measures (BCM): A BCM research session consisting of a set of 12 runs/tests was performed. The BCM experiment initially examined a suite of measurements to reliably assess the risk of adverse cognitive or behavioral conditions and psychiatric disorders during long-duration spaceflight, and evaluated the feasibility of those tests within the operational and time constraints of spaceflight for two crewmembers. Subsequent subjects perform a subset of the original activities to measure the performance capabilities of deconditioned crew members to complete either individual or crew telerobotic operations within the first 24 hours after landing. This information could help characterize what tasks a crewmember who has spent months in weightlessness can reasonably be expected to perform after landing on the surface of Mars.

eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System (XROOTS): The insertion of the seed cartridges and root modules to formally begin the fourth plant growth session was performed. Over the next 30+ days, the crew will observe and assist with the seed germination and growout of the plants. The fourth planting includes Mizuna, Cherry Belle, Hakurei, and Tokyo Bekana. The XROOTS investigation uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media. Video and still images enable evaluation of multiple independent growth chambers for the entire plant life cycle from seed germination through maturity. Results could identify suitable methods to produce crops on a larger scale for future space missions.

Foams and Emulsions: The Experiment 2 science sessions were continued with the generation, injection, and observation of foam. Today’s sessions created a foam and injected it into an area with wire frames to observe the foam’s interaction and development over time. Foams (dispersions of bubbles in a liquid) and emulsions (dispersions of droplets in a liquid) appear in many food, consumer, and personal care products and are used in a variety of industries. Structure and Stability of Foams and Emulsions examines the properties and performance of foams and emulsions, including using particles of various shapes and surface roughness to stabilize these materials. Microgravity enables examination of the microstructures of foams and emulsions due to the elimination of the influence of gravity-related factors such as buoyancy of particles.

Nutrition Monitoring for the International Space Station (NutrISS): The crew set up the NutrISS bioimpedance device and performed a measurement session. They also filled out a questionnaire related to the session and took photos while performing the investigation. Long-duration spaceflight induces relevant changes in body composition and a loss of body mass. In the NutrISS investigation, a periodic assessment of body composition (body weight, fat mass, and fat-free mass) during spaceflight aboard the ISS is carried out using a dedicated bio-impedance analysis device to allow for the measurement of long-term energy balance modification over time. It is hypothesized that an adjusted diet maintaining a near-neutral energy balance, and/or increasing protein intake can limit microgravity-induced bone and muscle loss.

Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools (EarthKAM): The EarthKAM hardware components were set up in the Node 2 nadir window for a week-long imaging session. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the Internet, the students control a special digital camera mounted on-board the ISS. This enables them to photograph the Earth’s coastlines, mountain ranges and other geographic items of interest from the unique vantage point of space. The EarthKAM team then posts these photographs on the Internet for viewing by the public and participating classrooms around the world.

Vascular Aging: The crew performed ultrasound scans of the neck, thigh, portal vein and heart using multiple ultrasound probes. They also performed a blood pressure monitoring session. Emerging data points towards linkages among cardiovascular health risk, carotid artery aging, bone metabolism and blood biomarkers, insulin resistance, and radiation. Data indicate that aging-like changes are accelerated in many ISS crew members, particularly with respect to their arteries. As part of the Space Environment Causes Acceleration of Vascular Aging: Roles of Hypogravity, Nutrition, and Radiation (Vascular Aging) investigation, ultrasounds of the arteries, blood samples, oral glucose tolerance, and wearable sensors from ISS crewmembers are analyzed.

Systems:

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Pre-Treat Tank Remove & Replace (R&R): Today, the Pre-Treat Tank was R&R’d as part of nominal WHC preventative maintenance. Each tank contains five liters of pre-treat solution, a mix of acid, chromium oxide, and water, used for toilet flushing and required for nominal WHC operation.

Vestibule Outfitting Kit (VOK) Audit: The crew completed a Stow Track audit of the Node1 Nadir VOK, Node 2 Nadir VOK, NRAL VOK, and Miscellaneous VOK Cargo Transfer Bags (CTBs). The Stow Track is a tool that is designed to assist the Inventory and Stowage Officer (ISO) team with managing inventory on the Space Station.

Completed Task List Activities: