ISS - Expedition 61 Mission patch.
December 11, 2019
The International Space Station is a hive of science activity today as the Expedition 61 crew and mission controllers initiate a variety of space research.
Inside the orbiting lab, mice are being scanned to study how their bones change in microgravity. Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch placed the rodents in a new bone densitometer and imaged their bones. The new Rodent Research-19 study is investigating two proteins that may prevent muscle and bone loss in space.
Image above: NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir conduct research operations inside the Japanese Kibo lab module’s Life Sciences Glovebox. Image Credit: NASA.
NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan and ESA Commander Luca Parmitano were in the Columbus lab module exploring how they grip and manipulate objects in space. Insights may help future astronauts adjust to long-term missions farther into space and possibly planetary exploration.
Mission controllers on the ground today commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach into the back of the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship and extract the new HISUI experiment device. HISUI, or Hyperspectral Imagery Suite, is a unique Earth imaging system that can benefit agriculture, forestry and other environmental areas. HISUI will be installed on the outside of the Kibo lab module to scan the Earth’s surface using high spectral resolution.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA
In the Russian segment of the station, the cosmonauts focused on docking port inspections and life science. Oleg Skripochka photographed internal and external docking gear and continued unpacking cargo from the Progress 74 resupply ship. Alexander Skvortsov finalized a 24-hour monitoring of his heart activity then contributed to a study observing how space crews interact with mission controllers.
Related links:
Expedition 61: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition61/index.html
Bone densitometer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?
Rodent Research-19: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8075
Columbus lab module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/europe-columbus-laboratory
Grip and manipulate objects: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1188
Canadarm2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-servicing-system.html
SpaceX Dragon resupply ship: https://go.nasa.gov/2Po0qjn
HISUI: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7476
Kibo lab module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory
Progress 74 resupply ship: https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/12/russian-space-freighter-docks.html
Heart activity: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/12.html
How space crews interact with mission controllers: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/20.html
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
