Bone and mind analysis wrapped up the week aboard the Worldwide Area Station on Friday serving to docs hold astronauts wholesome when dwelling in weightlessness. The Expedition 73 crew additionally checked out spacesuit gear, carried out ultrasound eye scans, and photographed Earth landmarks.
Bone well being is essential in area with astronaut’s experiencing accelerated aging-like signs just like older sufferers on Earth. Retaining astronauts slot in microgravity requires further consideration to guard crew well being and put together their our bodies for the return to Earth. NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim processed bone stem cell samples contained in the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox to discover the molecular mechanisms of space-induced bone loss. The brand new investigation just lately delivered aboard a Area X Dragon cargo craft seeks to safeguard a crew member’s skeletal system and probably deal with ageing situations and bone ailments on Earth.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov studied mind adjustment in microgravity and wore digital actuality goggles and responded to computerized stimuli. Researchers will overview the outcomes from the continuing examine to learn the way a crew’s sense of steadiness and spatial orientation adapts to weightlessness informing future spaceflight coaching.
NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman labored within the Quest airlock and carried out stress and leak checks on spacesuit jetpack parts. The jetpacks are hooked up to the rear of spacesuits and are a security mechanism a spacewalker would use to maneuver again to the area station within the unlikely occasion they turned untethered from their worksite. Cardman additionally inspected and cleaned metallic oxide canisters that take away carbon dioxide from the spacesuits.
Cardman additionally joined Flight Engineers Mike Fincke of NASA and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Company) for frequently scheduled eye scans with the Ultrasound 2 system. Docs on the bottom noticed the downlinked scans in actual time to learn the way microgravity impacts the cornea, lens, and optic nerve.
Statin Commander Sergey Ryzhikov kicked off his shift servicing the Zvezda service module’s air flow system earlier than ending his day downloading imagery of Australian and South American landmarks. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky uninstalled navigation {hardware} from the Progress 92 cargo craft that docked to the orbital lab on July 5. Zubritsky later joined Platonov and filmed an academic video demonstrating how objects transfer in area.
Waiting for the following cargo resupply mission, NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are focusing on no sooner than 5:49 p.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 15, for the launch of the following business resupply companies mission to the Worldwide Area Station. The Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Area Launch Complicated 40 at Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station in Florida, delivering science and provides to the orbital advanced.
Study extra about station actions by following the area station weblog, @space_station on X, in addition to the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Get the newest from NASA delivered each week. Subscribe here.
