Two spaceships in two days have departed the Worldwide Area Station and the Expedition 70 crew will spend Christmas and New Yr’s Day orbiting Earth.
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara monitored the Canadarm2 robotic arm launch of the Cygnus house freighter on Friday, Dec. 22. Earlier, floor engineers remotely maneuvered the Canadarm2 and indifferent Cygnus from the Unity module the place it had been put in since Aug. 4.
Packed inside Cygnus, together with disposable cargo, is the SAFFIRE-VI experiment that might be remotely activated aboard the spacecraft to discover hearth security. The house freighter from Northrop Grumman will orbit Earth by itself till early January for a secure, however fiery demise above the south Pacific Ocean.
The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft accomplished its cargo mission at 5:05 p.m. on Thursday when it mechanically undocked from the Harmony module’s ahead port. Dragon parachuted to splashdown off the coast of Florida on Dec. 22 returning station science and {hardware} for retrieval and evaluation in laboratories on Earth.
Following Cygnus’ departure, O’Hara turned her consideration to combustion analysis and changed elements for an experiment that’s observing how fuel temperatures affect material flammability.
Astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Andreas Mogensen spent the primary a part of Friday on lab upkeep. Moghbeli from NASA serviced a U.S. spacesuit within the Quest airlock then swapped fiber optic samples contained in the Microgravity Science Glovebox. Mogensen from ESA (European Area Company) spent many of the day establishing ARED, the (Superior Resistive Train machine, for the ARED Kinematics examine to enhance exercise packages for Earth and house. The duo met on the finish of the day for eye exams utilizing commonplace medical imaging gear present in an optometrist’s workplace on Earth.
Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Company) arrange interactive studio gear contained in the Kibo laboratory module in preparation for an occasion with Japanese audiences on Earth. Within the afternoon, the two-time station resident inspected and photographed home windows within the Kibo and Destiny lab modules for any contamination or harm.
Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko started his day with cardiac analysis attaching sensors to himself measuring his coronary heart exercise in weightlessness. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov assisted Kononenko with the cardiac examine then joined him within the afternoon for checkouts of audio and antenna gear within the Zvezda service module. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub changed smoke detectors within the Poisk module then activated a 3D printing experiment.
The seven astronauts and cosmonauts representing Expedition 70 will spend the ultimate week of 2023 persevering with ongoing analysis and lab repairs. The orbital septet can even calm down, open presents, share a meal, and name all the way down to their households on Christmas and New Yr’s Day. The astronauts sent their thoughts and well wishes whereas in orbit this vacation season. The following house station weblog publish is deliberate to publish on Jan. 2, 2024.
Study extra about station actions by following the house station weblog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, in addition to the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Get weekly video highlights at:
Get the most recent from NASA delivered each week. Subscribe right here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe
