ISS - Expedition 57 Mission patch.
November 9, 2018
The Expedition 57 crew members aboard the International Space Station said farewell to a Japanese resupply ship Wednesday, and are getting ready to welcome U.S. and Russian space freighters in less than two weeks. In addition to preparation for the arrival of cargo vehicles, the crew spent time maintaining space-grown plants, continuing research on DNA and RNA sequencing in microgravity and studying the formation of plasma crystals in a weightless environment.
Image above: The H-II Transfer Vehicle-7 (HTV-7) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) over the coast of Chile. Image Credit: NASA.
Learn about some of the science launching aboard the Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply-10 mission here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/ng-10_research_highlights
Here’s a look at some of the science conducted this week aboard the orbiting lab:
Direct RNA sequencing initialized
Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST) seeks to advance use of sequencing in space in three ways: identifying microbes aboard the space station that current methods cannot detect, assessing microbial mutations in the genome because of spaceflight and performing direct RNA sequencing.
This week, part three of the experiment was completed to demonstrate direct RNA sequencing with the MinION miniature DNA sequencer.
Learn more about the BEST investigation here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/BEST_DNA_RNA
Investigation monitors plant growth progression
Future long-duration missions into the solar system will require a fresh food supply to supplement crew diets, which means growing crops in space.
The Veg-03 investigation expands on previous validation tests of the new Veggie hardware, which crew members used to grow cabbage, lettuce and other fresh vegetables in space. The latest crop marks the first time that Red Russian Kale and Dragoon Lettuce are being grown on station.
Image above: Plant pillows containing Red Russian Kale and Dragoon Lettuce are currently growing within the Veggie plant growth facility. Image Credit: NASA.
This week, the crew placed markings on the watering syringes in preparation for future plant watering and checked Veg-03 plants for growth progression, watering them as necessary.
Investigation studies plasma formation in space
Plasmas are found throughout the universe, from the interstellar medium to the heat shields of spacecraft re-entering Earth's atmosphere. Understanding how plasma crystals form in microgravity could shed light on plasma phenomena in space. The Plasma Kristall-4 investigation (PK-4) is a scientific collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), performing research in the field of "Complex Plasmas": low temperature gaseous mixtures composed of ionized gas, neutral gas, and micron-sized particles.
This week, as a part of PK-4, the crew:
- Performed video setup and checkout, connected gas supply hoses (Argon and Neon) and verified valve functionality.
- Initiated the second of four experiment runs with the start of Particle Trapping via the European Physiology Module (EPM) laptop commanding using Neon Gas. This will allow clouds of particles to be captured inside the PK-4 chamber: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=328
- Performed particle trapping activities using the Argon Gas line. Experiment was initiated via the EPM laptop.
- Exchanged the hard drive containing data from experiment run two and inserted a new hard drive for the third run. The crew then reconfigured the gas chamber from Neon to Argon gas usage.
Other work was done on these investigations:
- Meteor is a visible spectroscopy instrument used to observe meteors in Earth orbit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1174
- JAXA LT PCG contributes to the development of new drugs by revealing disease-related protein structure, and to the production of new catalysts for the environmental and energy industries: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2031
- The Advanced Plant Habitat Facility (Plant Habitat) is a fully-automated facility used to conduct plant bioscience research and provides a large, enclosed, environmentally-controlled chamber aboard the space station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=2036
- BCAT-CS studies dynamic forces between sediment particles that cluster together: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7668
- Food Acceptability examines changes in how food appeals to crew members during their time aboard the station. Acceptability of food – whether crew members like and actually eat something – may directly affect crew caloric intake and associated nutritional benefits: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562
Space to Ground: Surviving the Plunge: 11/09/2018
Related links:
Expedition 57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition57/index.html
Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7687
Veg-03: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1159
Veggie: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=374
Plasma Kristall-4 investigation (PK-4): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1192
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), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Vic Cooley, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 57/58.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
