ISS - Expedition 41 Mission patch.
October 20, 2014
The six-person Expedition 41 crew of the International Space Station tackled a range of biomedical research and cargo transfers Friday, capping off a week that included the second of two U.S. spacewalks and preparations for a Russian spacewalk on Oct. 22.
For Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, most of the day’s science activity focused on a pair of protein crystal growth experiments, which utilize the station’s microgravity environment to grow protein crystals too fragile to form in Earth’s gravity.
Gerst used a reflective microscope to capture images of samples from the NanoRacks-Protein Crystal Growth-1 study, which uses commercial off-the shelf equipment to grow protein crystals on slides.
Image above: Commander Maxim Suraev and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst are pictured in the Tranquility node of the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.
Later, Gerst joined Wiseman to deactivate and pack up the completed Commercial Protein Crystal Growth-HM experiment. This investigation is expanding on an ongoing program into the complex realm of membrane proteins that help cells identify each other for immune responses and move molecules to and from a cell’s interior. Pure crystals that yield information about the protein’s structure will open the way for a coherent, structure-based design of a broader range of medicines for treating diseases and disorders.
The Commercial Protein Crystal Growth-HM experiment, along with about 3,800 pounds of other cargo, is slated to return to Earth on Tuesday aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft. After the robotics team at Houston’s Mission Control Center uses the Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Dragon from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node, Wiseman, with assistance from Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore, will oversee the release of Dragon for its parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of California.
Learn more about SpaceX Dragon: http://www.nasa.gov/spacex
Wiseman spent some time Friday reviewing the robotics procedures for the release of Dragon, and Wilmore transferred cargo Earth-bound cargo and science samples into the commercial cargo craft.
Wilmore also worked inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory where he harvested space-grown plants for the Plant Gravity Sensing experiment, which examines the cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable plants to sense gravity. The researchers behind this study hypothesize that the gravity sensitivity of plants here on Earth can be modified to make crops more resistant to the destructive forces of nature.
Wilmore and Wiseman also gathered up spacewalking tools and cameras that most recently saw action during their 6-hour, 34-minute spacewalk Wednesday and passed them over to Commander Max Suraev and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev for use during a Russian spacewalk next week.
Read more about the Oct. 15 spacewalk: http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2014/10/station-spacewalkers-replace-power.html
Suraev and Samokutyaev will don Orlan spacesuits and exit the station’s Pirs docking compartment airlock at 9:24 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The two cosmonauts will remove and jettison several pieces of hardware no longer needed on the Russian segment of the station and conduct a detailed photographic survey of the exterior surface of the Russian modules.
To get set for their excursion, Suraev and Samokutyaev, with assistance from Flight Engineer Elena Serova, transferred a pair of pressurized Orlan spacesuits to the airlock and reviewed emergency procedures. Samokutyaev and Suraev also installed the spacesuit helmet cameras and lights on loan from their NASA crewmates and finished up the day with a review of airlock procedures.
Image above: Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova, Expedition 41 flight engineer, works in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.
Serova meanwhile rounded out her day with routine maintenance on the life-support system in the Zvezda service module. She also manually mixed test samples in the Cascade cell-cultivation experiment’s bioreactor.
Over the weekend, the station’s astronauts will continue loading up Dragon for its upcoming departure. Wiseman and Wilmore also will conduct some on-board robotics training to brush up on the procedure for releasing Dragon from Canadarm2. Meanwhile, Suraev and Samokutyaev will install equipment on their spacesuits as they get set to don them Monday for a thorough checkout prior to heading out the hatch Wednesday.
Related links:
NanoRacks-Protein Crystal Growth-1 study: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1157.html
Commercial Protein Crystal Growth-HM experiment: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1035.html
For more information about the International Space Station (ISS), visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA.
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