Science Dominates Wednesday Schedule on ISS

Expedition 7’s schedule Wednesday had a focus on science aboard the International Space Station. NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu stowed equipment for the Pore Formation and Mobility Investigation (PFMI) before setting up for upcoming operations with the Protein Crystal Growth Monitoring by Digital Holographic Microscope-2 (PromISS-2) experiment. PFMI studied how air bubbles can weaken metals, crystals and other materials as they form in space. PromISS-2 will study protein crystallization and will be conducted in the Microgravity Science Glovebox.

Lu had a training session for the Earth Science Toward Exploration Research (ESTER) experiment. The objective of this experiment is to take images from orbit of selected sites on Earth. The images will record changes on Earth and significant events like hurricanes and volcano eruptions.

Commander Yuri Malenchenko participated in a Russian biomedical experiment. This cardiological assessment is performed once a month. Also, both crewmembers trained for future work with the In Space Soldering Investigation, which is studying how to improve solder connections made in space.

In other activies, Malenchenko conducted a monthly check of circuit breakers and installed refrigerator equipment in the Pirs Docking Compartment.