ISS - Expedition 50 Mission patch.
November 30, 2016
Image above: Astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough pause for a portrait inside the space station. Image Credit: NASA.
The Expedition 50 crew is getting ready to receive a shipment of space supplies Saturday after Russia launches the Progress 65 cargo craft Thursday morning. The final space delivery of the year will be Dec. 13 when the Kounotori HTV-6 resupply ship arrives four days after its launch from Tanegashima, Japan.
Inside the International Space Station, Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson installed aerosol samplers to collect airborne particles for analysis on Earth. Scientists will study the samples using specialized techniques with powerful microscopes.
Image above: As of Nov. 21, 2016, there are three spacecraft are docked at the station including the Soyuz MS-02 and MS-03 crew vehicles and the Progress 64 resupply ship. Two more spaceships will arrive in December. Image Credit: NASA.
Commander Shane Kimbrough is setting up science gear inside Japan’s Kibo lab module to study the fundamental physics of surface tension where liquid and gas meet. The experiment known as Marangoni Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler-2 may improve industrial processes and products on Earth and in space.
New astronaut Thomas Pesquet, from the European Space Agency, strapped himself into the Muscle Atrophy Research and Exercise System chair for a study of his calf muscle and Achilles tendon. On Earth, that area carries loads from the entire human body. He conducted a series of ankle exercises while attached to sensors to monitor any changes in that area caused by living in space.
Related links:
Progress 65 cargo craft: http://www.energia.ru/en/iss/iss50/progress_ms-04/photo_11-29.html
Kounotori HTV-6: http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-6/
Aerosol samplers: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2300.html
Marangoni Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler-2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/144.html
Study of his calf muscle and Achilles tendon: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/738.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
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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