NASA Space Station Status Report 10 June, 2022 – Sensor Check in BEAM

The Expedition 67 crew opened up BEAM, the International Space Station’s expandable module, today and conducted sensor checks and organized hardware.
The orbital residents also continued their space botany and automated robotics research as well as ongoing cargo operations.

NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines partnered together inside the BEAM module today for systems checks after six years attached to the station’s Tranquility module. Watkins opened up BEAM on Friday morning then replaced batteries inside sensors that can detect impacts on the module. Hines retrieved cargo and cleaned vents inside BEAM.

Watkins started her day servicing laptop computers and replacing ethernet cables throughout the station’s U.S. and Russian modules. Hines worked in the Columbus laboratory module recirculating fluids and nourishing radishes and mizuna greens growing for the XROOTS botany study. The advanced space gardening experiment explores hydroponics and aeroponics growing techniques in microgravity.

NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren swapped experiment samples inside the Mochii electron microscope that is used to rapidly identify potentially harmful particles that could impact vehicles on space station as part of a study related to spacecraft engineering and safety. Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) activated the Astrobee robotic free-flyers for a test of their ability to conduct automated science maneuvers using the smartphone video guidance sensor.

Cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov partnered together at the end of the week offloading new cargo delivered inside the Progress 81 resupply ship docked to the rear port of the Zvezda service module. Matveev earlier installed a camera that monitors the effects of natural and man-made Earth disasters while Korsakov replaced station fire extinguishers. Commander Oleg Artemyev inspected Russian Orlan spacesuit helmets then wrapped up his day working on computer and life support systems.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Astrobee/Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor (SVGS): Following the installation of the SVGS LED targets, an SVGS science 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.

eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System (XROOTS): The crew prepared a nutrient solution for later use in the ongoing experiment. They also performed manual water recovery to remove excess water from the system, and inspected/cleaned the plant growth areas. Plant growth has been reported in several areas in the XROOTS plant growth system, which contains radish, cabbage, romaine lettuce, tomato, and mizuna seeds. 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.

Human Research Facility-1 (HRF-1): The payload drawer was removed and inspected for the possible source of a noise reported by the crew some time ago. HRF-1 provides an on-orbit laboratory that enables scientists conducting human life science research to evaluate the physiological, behavioral, and chemical changes induced by space flight. Research performed using HRF-1 provides data to help scientists understand how the human body adapts to long-duration spaceflight.

Mochii: One of the samples from the Touching Surfaces experiment was removed and prepared for imaging by coating it with metal. This is done to improve an electron microscope’s ability to see the details of a sample that is non-metallic. Mochii is a miniature scanning electron microscope (SEM) with spectroscopy to conduct real-time, on-site imaging and compositional measurements of particles on the ISS. Touching Surfaces aims to investigate novel, laser-structured antimicrobial surfaces onboard the ISS. These surfaces were repeatedly touched by the crew to expose them to microbes.

Systems:

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Ingress: Today, the crew ingressed the BEAM module and removed and backfilled items planned for disposal or return. Additionally, the crew replaced the Extended Life Battery Pack (ELBA) for the BEAM sensor system. In order to ingress into BEAM, ARED was folded up, and the BEAM Hatch was uninstalled to allow crew access. After the ingress, restow, and activities inside BEAM were completed, the BEAM Hatch was reinstalled and ARED was unfolded back into its nominal position.

Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Rope Reseat: Yesterday, the crew noticed that the exercise rope on ARED slipped of the pulley system. Today, the crew reseated the loose ARED exercise rope onto the exit pulley. The crew then confirmed that ARED is back in a nominal configuration.

Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurements: As part of Station’s standard system health monitoring, the crew used a Velocicalc tool to measure the amount of airflow through ventilation inlets and outlets in the Lab, NanoRacks Airlock (NRAL), and Node 2. The IMV system circulates air between modules to air revitalization equipment so that ideal atmospheric condition is maintained throughout ISS.

Food Consolidate: The crew refilled and consolidated the Node 1XX food pantry to ensure the crew had easy access to food while also helping to reduce the overall stowage footprint in the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM). Crew time is often allocated towards stowage management to maintain safety, organization, and habitability.

Completed Task List Activities:

None
Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

User Bus PVA-24-2 Channel A Checkout
Xoi Service Pack Deploy on SSC22
Nanoracks Mainframe Commanding
Look Ahead Plan

Saturday, June 11 (GMT 162)
Payloads:

AstroRad Vest
Systems:

Crew Off Duty
Sunday, June 12 (GMT 163)
Payloads:

XROOTS manual Fluid Recovery
Systems:

Crew Off Duty
Monday, June 13 (GMT 164)
Payloads:

CAL MTL Jumper Check
XROOTS Plant Thin and Check
Systems:

Crew Off Duty for Holiday
Today’s Planned Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

ARED Platform Partial Fold
ARED Platform Unfold Back to Nominal Position
ARED Rope Reseat
Astrobee Prep
Astrobee Stowage Clear/Replace
BEAM Battery Replacement
BEAM Battery Replacement Preparation
BEAM Cleanup and Egress Part 1
BEAM Hardware Unstow/Restow
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Ingress
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Node 3 Aft Unstow/Stow
Brine Transfer from EDV to BPA with UTS Initiation and Termination
Cold Atom Lab MTL Jumper Leak Check
Egress BEAM, Re-install BEAM Hatch, and Close Node 3 Aft Hatch
EVA Battery Operations Terminal Autocycle Terminate
Food Consolidate
Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS EveryWear (EVW) Nutrition Tracking
HRF Maintenance Work Area Preparation
HRF1 Drawer Inspection
Hypervisor Relocate Assessment
Mochii Metal Coating and Sample Exchange
Mochii On-Board Training
Mochii Sample and Metal Coating Prep
Nutrient Solution Mixing
Nutrient Solution Fill [deferred]
Photo T/V (P/TV) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise
Photo/TV D5 Camera Sensor Cleaning
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in Columbus
Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor Test Operations
Station Support Computer (SSC) Audit and Ethernet Cable Fix
Swap SSC (Station Support Computer) 20 and 22 Swap
Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement Survey
Touch Array S/N 01 Disassembly and Removal of Middle Sample from Middle Column
Urine Transfer System Offload EDV Swap
USOS Barcode Reader/RFID Scanner Deploy
XROOTS Seed Cartridge Inspection and Wick Open
XROOTS Water Refill