As their analysis actions continued, the Expedition 73 crew had a busy week on the Worldwide Area Station with the departure of a cargo automobile and preparations for the arrival of two extra.
Orbital remark
Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, an Expedition 73 flight engineer, hammed it up with kids from his home country this week aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
“I was able to talk with the children of Takacho in Hyogo Prefecture via HAM! This is the first time talking with Japanese children during a mission!” said Yui in a social media post on Thursday (Sept. 11).
Novice radio has been utilized in Earth orbit because the early Eighties aboard the U.S. area shuttle. Crew members can use it to attach with individuals all all over the world with out interfering with different communications between Earth and the area station.
“I gained power from interacting with the kids, and it helped me get by way of the next work easily! Thanks very a lot!” mentioned Yui.
Science standing
Among the many analysis that was carried out by the Expedition 73 crew aboard the space station this week was:
CIPHER — NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman and Jonny Kim focused on studies relating to eyesight and balance, using VR goggles, electrodes and other specialized optical equipment to gauge how spaceflight affects their sense of balance and the shape of the retina, among other changes to the ability to see and steady themselves.
Cardman also used a ultrasound to monitor signs of arterial stiffness and changes in her cardiac function, while Kim processed bone stem cell samples for their later return to Earth as part of a study into bone density loss during long-duration space missions.
Plant Cell Division and Cell Biology Experiment Facility — Yui prepared and placed under study tobacco plant and algae cell samples to add to the experience and knowledge base of growing crops on future missions to the moon and Mars.
BioNutrients-3 — Fincke used a research incubator to test ways to use yeast, yogurt and samples of the fermented milk drink kefir to produce additional vitamins and nutrients to benefit future crews’ health. The astronaut showed off a tray of purple kefir used in the experiment; you can see a photo of it above.
Station keeping
The Expedition 73 crewmates also took part in activities to maintain the space station’s systems and prepare for future research.
Progress MS-30 (91P) — Having completed repacking the Russian cargo craft with refuse last week, the crew saw the departure of Progress MS-30 on Tuesday (Sept. 9).
Progress M-32 (93P) — Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky trained for the arrival and docking of Progress M-32, which is scheduled to dock to the aft port of the station’s Zvezda service module on Saturday (Sept. 13).
NG-23 “S.S. Willie McCool” — The crew also began preparations for the arrival of Northrop Grumman’s first “XL” Cygnus cargo craft, which is scheduled to be captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm and berthed to the Earth-facing port on the Unity node on Wednesday (Sept. 17).
Astronaut activity
Expedition 73 flight engineer Mike Fincke, a NASA astronaut, mentioned life on orbit with MIT’s Know-how Evaluation Journal throughout an interview on Tuesday (Sept. 9).
“I I believe me and my crewmates on board Expedition 73 listed here are very centered and devoted to science,” mentioned Fincke. “We’re supporting the scientists on the bottom, so we go above and past to provide them greatest outcomes that we will. I take nice pleasure in that.”
You possibly can watch the complete interview above.
By the numbers
As of Friday (Sep. 12), there are 7 individuals aboard the Worldwide Area Station: Expedition 73 commander Sergey Ryzhikov of the Russian area company Roscosmos; fellow cosmonauts Alexey Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov; Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke of NASA; and Kimiya Yui of JAXA, all flight engineers.
There are two docked crew spacecraft: SpaceX’s Dragon “Endeavour” attached to the zenith port of the Harmony module and Roscosmos’ Soyuz MS-27 attached to the Earth-facing port of the Prichal node.
There are two docked cargo spacecraft: Roscosmos’ Progress MS-31 (92P) docked to the space-facing port of the Poisk module and SpaceX’s CRS-33 Dragon spacecraft is docked to the forward port of Harmony Node 2.
As of Friday, the space station has been continuously crewed for 24 years, 10 months and 10 days.
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