ISS - International Space Station patch.
Dec. 30, 2013
The six-member Expedition 38 crew is getting ready for another eventful year of scientific research, finishing up 2013 with medical research activities. Both NASA and Russian spacewalkers also are cleaning up after three fast-paced spacewalks.
With one exception, all station systems are powered up and running normally following two spacewalks by NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins to replace a degraded cooling system pump module. The new pump module is working well, which allows electrical systems cooled by that loop to be put back into full service. The last string of power to the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory is scheduled to be brought back on line Tuesday.
Image above: NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins enjoys time in the Cupola, which affords the most broad views of Earth.
Read about the first U.S. spacewalk to replace the pump module: http://www.orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2013/12/spacewalkers-remove-degraded-ammonia.html
Read about the final U.S. spacewalk to install the pump module: http://www.orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2013/12/spacewalkers-complete-installation-of.html
Hopkins started his day working in the Human Research Facility (HRF) and collecting biological samples for stowage inside a science freezer. In the afternoon he used the HRF’s space linear acceleration mass measurement device (SLAMMD) to calculate his body mass. SLAMMD subjects a crew member to a known force and the resulting acceleration provides a body mass measurement that is accurate to within a half-pound.
Read how astronauts measure their body mass: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/640.html
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata also joined Hopkins for SLAMMD measurements in the afternoon. Earlier in the day, Wakata set up gear for the SPRINT study that evaluates the use of high-intensity, low-volume exercise to minimize muscle and bone loss and heart shrinkage during long-duration space missions. He also checked instrumentation inside the Combustion Integrated Rack used for experiments involving flames and flame suppression.
Read more about SPRINT: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/972.html
Image above: The Caribbean country of Cuba is pictured in this high oblique image with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in the foreground.
Mastracchio partnered with Hopkins in the morning for spinal scans using the Ultrasound 2 probe and software. The scans were conducted with assistance from ground doctors who were viewing the session in real-time. Throughout the day, Mastracchio worked various maintenance tasks such as sampling the station’s water for analysis, changing out a flash disc on a camera and removing a jumper cable in the Unity node.
Read about the Spinal Ultrasound experiment: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/944.html
Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy are cleaning up after a Friday spacewalk that lasted 8 hours and 7 minutes. They started Monday stowing their spacewalk tools and checking them into the inventory management system. Afterward, they returned the Zvezda service module and the Pirs docking compartment to their normal post-spacewalk configuration.
Read more about the Russian spacewalk: http://www.orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2013/12/station-cosmonauts-complete-spacewalk.html
Flight Engineer and veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin installed a dosimeter to detect radiation. He also connected cables on water tanks and checked fans inside Zvezda.
For more information about the Space Station (ISS), visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images, Text, Credit: NASA.
Greetings, Orbiter.ch
