NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 13 April, 2020 – Crew Members Leaving Later This Week

The six crewmembers aboard the International Space Station continued advanced space research today promoting health for humans on and off Earth.
The crew will split up at the end of the week when the Expedition 62 trio undocks and returns to Earth.

Scientists are looking at how human muscles adapt to microgravity for the Myotones space biology study. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy began the first of his four sessions for the human research experiment today. He marked muscle points on his skin then used a specialized device to measure his muscles’ biochemical properties. The research could prepare astronauts for longer space missions and help people on Earth with muscle conditions.

His two crewmates, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, are getting used to life on the orbiting lab while maintaining Russian station hardware. The cosmonauts are deactivating communication systems in the new Soyuz MS-16 crew ship and getting up to speed on their complement of space research.

NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan contributed to different experiments today as they complete their final week in space. Meir collected her saliva samples for microbial analysis then documented her thoughts about the station’s food menu. Morgan cleaned and closed out life science hardware that housed live mice that returned to Earth on the last SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.

The two astronauts are also getting ready to end their mission with Commander Oleg Skripochka and return to Earth on Friday. The trio is packing the Soyuz MS-15 crew ship with cargo and personal items. They will undock Thursday at 9:53 p.m. EDT and parachute to landing in Kazakhstan less than three-and-half hours later.

On-Orbit Status Report

Standard Measures (SM): The crew performed their saliva collection and insertion into MELFI. The aim of the SM investigation is to ensure consistent capture of an optimized, minimal set of measures from crewmembers until the end of the ISS Program in order to characterize the adaptive responses to and risks of living in space. Among other things, the ground teams perform analyses for metabolic and chemistry panels, immune function, microbiome, etc.

Vection: The crew setup the appropriate hardware, performed the Vection science session, stowed the hardware and transferred to the session data to the ground. The principal investigator confirmed the data is on the ground and looks good. Vection is made up of 3 tasks that test how orientation perception, motion processing, and depth perception are affected by long duration 0g and return to 1g. The objective of the study is to determine to what extent an astronaut’s ability to visually interpret motion, orientation, and distance may be disrupted in a microgravity environment, and how it may adapt, and how it may be changed upon return to Earth. Multiple experimental time points inflight and upon return to Earth allows for the adaptation and recovery process to be investigated.

Veggie PONDS (Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System): The crew reviewed the On-Board Training (OBT), inspected/took imagery of the Veggie PONDS plant growth units, and watered them as needed. It has previously been noted that germination has been delayed or has not occurred at all in the various PONDS units in the on-going experiment session. Organisms grow differently in space, from single-celled bacteria to plants and humans. Future long-duration space missions will require crew members to grow their own food. Therefore, understanding how plants respond to microgravity and demonstrating the reliable vegetable production on orbit are important steps toward that goal. Veggie PONDS uses a newly developed passive nutrient delivery system and the Veggie plant growth facility aboard the ISS to cultivate lettuce and Mizuna greens which are to be harvested on-orbit, and consumed, with samples returned to Earth for analysis.

Systems

Food Consolidate: Crew performed a food consolidation to reorganize Node 1 to make room for the transfer of food items from the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) to Node 1 for the newly arrived USOS crewmember. These crew provisions were delivered on various vehicles including NG-13 and SpX-20. Unused items and United States Crewed Vehicle (USCV) food provisions removed from the food pantry were stowed in the PMM.

Soyuz Descent Drill: In preparation for their departure from the ISS on Thursday evening, the 61S Crew completed a nominal descent and landing drill today. During this training, the crew was inside their Soyuz spacecraft reviewing and practicing undock and landing procedures.

ISS Crew Handover: 61S crew continued handover to 62S crew including on-orbit practices and lessons learned related to ISS systems and payloads. They also reviewed topics that are not limited to a particular module or scheduled activity as well as those that are usually scheduled as separate activities. This will allow the crew to be on the same page regarding various onboard techniques.

Waste & Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Routine Maintenance: Today, the crew replaced the receptacle and filter in the WHC. Upon replacing the components, the crew performed a successful functionality test of the unit. Routine maintenance allows for continuous hardware operation and minimizes the possibility of a functional failure. Periodic checks during this maintenance verifies the equipment is operating within specification.

Completed Task List Activities:
Nominal Ops AC Dry Vacuum Cleaner debris bag/filter R&R

Today’s Ground Activities:
All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
???? undock test ground support
INT MDM Swap

Look Ahead Plan
Tuesday, 4/14 (GMT 105)
Payloads:
CBEF cleanup
Food Acceptability
Food Physiology
GLACIER desiccant swap
Myotones
Probiotics
Standard Measures
Veggie monitoring BPW review

Systems:
Portable Emergency Provisions (PEPS) Inspection
ARED Quarterly Inspection
HMS Personal Medication Stow
Crew Handover

Wednesday, 4/15 (GMT 106)
Payloads:
Food Acceptability
Food Physiology
Functional Immune
Repository
Standard Measures

Systems:
Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) Kit Sample Collection
Surface Sample Kit (SSK) Collection/Incubation
Crew Departure Prep
JEM Ethernet Hub Unit Power Cable Reconfiguration

Thursday, 4/16 (GMT 107)
Payloads:
AWP
Food Physiology
Functional Immune
ISS Experience
Repository
Standard Measures

Systems:
61S Departure Ops
Relocating Emergency Hardware from SM Aft
JEM ORU Transfer I/F Removal

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

HRF Generic Saliva Collection 10 Minutes
HRF Generic MELFI Sample Retrieval And Insertion Operations
HRF Generic Saliva Collection 10 Minutes
Control of the closed state of a window ?6,8,9,12,13,14 cover
OMIKi-SPK. Experiment setup
HRF Generic MELFI Sample Retrieval And Insertion Operations
OMIKi-SPK. Capillary Blood Collection
Crew Departure Preparations for Return to Earth
BIOPLENKA. Retrieval of Bioplenka kit from the thermostat, squeezing. Insertion of kit for incubation in ???-? at +37 deg ?.
Auxiliary Laptop Computer System Anti-Virus Software Update
ISS Crew departure preparation
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis
Vection Hardware Deployment
Vection Crew Member Training
OMIKi-SPK. Closeout Ops
IDENTIFIKATSIYA. Copy ???-? Micro-Accelerometer Data to HDD for return
ISS Crew Orientation
Soyuz 744 ??? Activation
???? configuration for MRM1
Magnetic 3D-bioprinter. Session 1 Closeout.
Soyuz 744 ???? No.2 test prior to undocking.
Vection Experiment Session
VECTION Hardware Teardown
COLUMBUS Bay 1, 2, 3 clean-up
MATRYOSHKA-R. Removal of Passive Detector Assemblies (PDA) and prepack for return on Soyuz 744
VEGGIE Display On-Board Training
Soyuz 744 Stowage Ops for Return
Magnetic 3D-bioprinter. Preparing Cuvettes No.2 kit for the activity
LOR. Experiment Session
ISS Crew Adaptation
Magnetic 3D-bioprinter. Configuring magnetic bioprinter for operation
Magnetic 3D-bioprinter. Session 2 ops. Shaking cuvettes No.2-1, No.2-6 S/N 09 and setup in magnetic bioprinter
Comm reconfig for nominal ops
Atmosphere Control and Supply (ACS) Nitrogen Transfer (N2 XFER) Terminate
Waste and Hygine Compartment Urine Hose Inspection
In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste & Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Urine Receptacle (UR) & Insert Filter (IF) Remove and Replace with Pre-Treated Urine Inspect
Vection Flash Drive Stow
LBNP Training (PRELIMINARY)
LBNP – Exercise (PRELIMINARY) assistance
Magnetic 3D-bioprinter. Video recording of constructs in magnetic bioprinter with installed cuvettes Nos.2-1 – Nos.2-6 S/N 09
Replace urine receptacle (??) and filter-insert (?-?) in [???]. [???] Activation after replacement
Probiotics Item Gathering
Soyuz 744 Descent OBT
BIOPLENKA. Retrieval of Bioplenka kit from the thermostat, squeezing. Insertion of kit for incubation in ???-? at +37 deg ?.
Removal of TV cameras 1,2 and Light Units ???-302 in Soyuz 745 (MS-16) [CA]
Arrival Private Medical Conference (PMC)
Food Consolidation
Air sampling for CO in SM
Air sample collection using Draeger tube air sampler (???) in SM for ammonia
Air sample collection SM and FGB using ??-1? sampler
Air sample collection using ??-1? absorber in SM for Freon
Soyuz 745 Transfers and IMS Ops
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record
Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup
Recharging Soyuz 744 Samsung tablet, initiate recharge
Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Waste Water Bag (WWB) Changeout
PAO Preparation
Veggie Ponds Plant Photography
Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – JEM
Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)
Descent Private Medical Conference (PMC) – [Aborted]
Handover of Increment 62 Crew
Food Acceptability Survey
POIC Overview OBT
Private Special Conference (PSC)
BIOPLENKA. Retrieval of Bioplenka kit thermostat, squeezing. Insertion of kit for incubation in ???-? at +37 deg ?.
Preparing for SW Antivirus Scan on Auxiliary Computer System Laptops