ISS - Expedition 41 Mission patch.
September 14, 2014
The Expedition 40/41 trio comprised of Commander Max Suraev and Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst from the European Space Agency (ESA) was back at work Friday. The crew sent off their Expedition 39/40 crewmates on Wednesday and relaxed Thursday after staying up late monitoring the undocking of the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft.
Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst will stay in space until November and have been in space since May. They will soon welcome three new crew members who are at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final training before their launch at the end of the month. Meanwhile, advanced microgravity science continues as well as the maintenance and upkeep of the orbital laboratory.
Wiseman and Gerst took turns with the ENERGY experiment which seeks to define nutritional requirements necessary to maintain an astronaut’s energy balance for productive long term missions in space. The duo collected urine samples for stowage in a science freezer and later analysis. Scientists want to build an equation to determine the energy requirements of a crew member to offset the deleterious effects of microgravity.
Image above: Astronaut Alexander Gerst installs a microscope for the Cell Mechanosensing-2 experiment in the Kibo laboratory. Image Credit:
NASA TV.
Read more about ENERGY: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/397.html
Wiseman also worked throughout the day on routine upkeep inside the International Space Station. He first replaced a cable on the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED) then performed light plumbing working on the Water Recycling System. After that he cleaned filters inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox before lunch time.
The NASA astronaut joined Gerst at the beginning of the afternoon as they trained for the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft. The duo will be in the cupola at the controls of the robotics workstation as the Dragon approaches then will capture it and berth it to the Harmony node with the Canadarm2.
Read about the upcoming SpaceX 4 mission: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html
He wrapped up his day stowing a hard drive that is part of the SPHERES-Slosh experiment. That study uses bowling ball-sized satellites that mimic spacecraft with an external tank attached to observe how fluids behave in microgravity.
Gerst activated a SpaceX UHF communications unit ahead of Dragon’s arrival. The device allows the crew to send basic commands to the private space freighter as it approaches the space station.
The German astronaut assisted Wiseman at the beginning of the day with the ARED cable replacement work. He then switched to light computer work before filling out a weekly questionnaire documenting headaches in space. In the afternoon, Gerst photographed CubeSat hardware before moving on to Crew Medical Officer computer-based training.
Suraev of Roscosmos spent his day primarily inside the station’s Russian segment working on his complement of science and maintenance.
Expedition 41/42 Crew Departs for Kazakh Launch Site
Video above: Expedition 41/42 crew members depart Star City, Russia, for final training before their Sept. 25 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Video Credit: NASA TV.
He started the morning inside the Rassvet mini-research module configuring communications gear. Suraev then copied science data to laptop computer. The data was collected for the Identification experiment which observes the dynamic loads on the station caused by spacecraft dockings, engine firings, crew exercise vibrations and spacewalks. He then worked in the Zvezda service module for preventive maintenance on the ventilation system.
Read more about Identification: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/477.html
The commander is also getting ready to welcome a pair of his fellow cosmonauts as he unloaded bags containing some of their personal belongings ahead of their arrival in two weeks. Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev and Flight Engineer Elena Serova, both representing Roscosmos, along with NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore are counting down to their Sept. 25 launch aboard a Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft. They will take a six-hour ride, or just four orbits, to the space station’s Poisk docking compartment.
For more information about the International Space Station (ISS), visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA.
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