4 non-public astronauts are readying for launch to the International Space Station this week whereas the Expedition 70 crew ramps up microgravity analysis and upkeep duties after yesterday’s off-duty day.
The third non-public astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), is scheduled to liftoff from Launch Complicated 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart in Florida at 5:11 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 17. Ax-3 crew members, Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey, and ESA (European Area Company) challenge astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden, will make the trek to the orbital lab aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, docking at 5:15 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19. The quartet will spend about two weeks conducting science and analysis in microgravity earlier than heading house.
Forward of Ax-3 arrival, NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara spent many of the day prepping station for brand new guests. O’Hara inspected the airflow in crew quarters, prepped sleep lodging for crew occupancy, and cleaned the liners and vents the place the 4 non-public astronauts will sleep whereas aboard the orbital outpost.
ESA (European Area Company) Commander Andreas Mogensen additionally prepped for Ax-3, finishing coaching for Dragon rendezvous and docking. Afterward, he arrange ECHO, which is supplied with motorized probs, for floor groups to carry out distant upkeep actions.
Whereas O’Hara and Mogensen prepped for Ax-3 crew arrival, different crew members took to area botany and biology duties. NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli spent the day working with Plant Habitat-06, thinning wild-type tomato seedlings. Afterward, she arrange and put in the Plant Water Management 5 {hardware} to the Upkeep Work Space.
JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Company) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa eliminated tradition items from the microscope used for the Space Organogenesis investigation, which demonstrates progress of organ buds from 3D printed human stem cells. Moreover, Furukawa collected water samples from the station’s potable water dispenser for in-flight evaluation.
The Roscosmos trio—Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Konstantin Borisov—carried out an array of upkeep actions on Tuesday. Kononenko changed {hardware} within the Zvezda service module, whereas Chub changed the thermal management system pump panel within the Zarya module. Afterward, Chub carried out an experiment learning liquid phases in microgravity, whereas Borisov distilled samples from the Roscosmos phase water administration system and carried out upkeep on the station’s vacuum cleaner.
Study extra about station actions by following the area station weblog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, in addition to the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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