ISS - Expedition 53 Mission patch.
November 27, 2017
International Space Station (ISS). Image Credit: NASA
The Cygnus resupply ship is in its final week at the International Space Station and two astronauts are training for its departure on Monday. Meanwhile, a leg muscle study and CubeSat deployment operations are wrapping up today.
Cygnus is now being filled with trash after delivering close to 7,400 pounds of research and supplies to the Expedition 53 crew on Nov. 14. NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba are training to release Cygnus from the Canadarm2 next week following a 20-day stay at the Unity module.
The duo will be inside the cupola commanding the Canadarm2 to release Cygnus back into Earth orbit on Dec. 4. Following its departure from the station, Cygnus will stay in orbit until Dec. 18 before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere for a fiery demise over the Pacific Ocean.
Image above: New York City and part of the state of New Jersey are pictured in this photograph taken during a night pass on Nov. 23, 2017. Image Credit: NASA.
Commander Randy Bresnik and cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy are completing a final run of the Sarcolab-3 experiment today. That research is observing how leg muscles adapt to microgravity using magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound devices.
Finally, a satellite deployer that ejected a set of CubeSats last week, has been brought back inside the Kibo lab module. One of the CubeSats deployed, the EcAMSat that was delivered aboard Cygnus, is now orbiting Earth researching how the E. coli pathogen reacts to antibiotics in space.
Related article:
NASA to Test Advanced Space Wireless Network and Device for Returning Small Spacecraft to Earth
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2017/11/nasa-to-test-advanced-space-wireless.html
Related links:
Expedition 53: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition53/index.html
CubeSat: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cubesats/index.html
EcAMSat: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/engineering/projects/ecamsat
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.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
