ISS - Expedition 58 Mission patch.
Feb. 12, 2019
This week saw Expedition 58 crew members working on scientific investigations aboard the International Space Station and finishing preparations for Friday’s undocking of the NG-10 Cygnus resupply vehicle from the station.
Here are details about some of the science conducted in space this week:
Cygnus does double duty deploying satellites
Animation above: The NG-10 Cygnus supply craft seen from inside the space station. Crew packed Cygnus with the SlingShot investigation’s small satellites prior to undocking it from the station. Animation Credit: NASA.
Prior to undocking Cygnus from the space station, crew members installed the SlingShot small satellite deployment system, which fits inside the NG-10 Cygnus spacecraft’s Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (PCBM). SlingShot can accommodate up to 18 satellites for deployment after the craft undocks and before it descends toward Earth to safely burn up in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Research on bone marrow in microgravity continues
Image above: NASA astronaut Anne McClain with samples collected for the Canadian Space Agency’s MARROW investigation. Image Credit: NASA.
Crew members performed breath and ambient air sample collection and took documentary photos for MARROW. This long-term study looks at the effect of microgravity on bone marrow. Scientists suspect that microgravity has a negative effect on the bone marrow and blood cells that it produces, similar to the effect of long-duration bed rest on Earth.
Connecting live between the space station and schools
The crew spoke to students at Colégio Campo de Flores in Almada, Portugal during an International Space Station Ham Radio (ISS HAM) pass. This program engages with and educates students, teachers, parents and other members of the community about science, technology, engineering, and math by providing a means for direct communication between astronauts and ground HAM radio units.
Animation above: Spheres like this one are used to represent a spacecraft’s fuel tank for the Fluidics investigation. Animation Credit: NASA.
Improving lighting for better crew conditions
Crew made log entries and conducted cognition tests for Lighting Effects. This investigation studies the effects of replacing fluorescent light bulbs with solid-state light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The adjustable intensity and color of LEDs may improve crew circadian rhythms, sleep, and cognitive performance.
Measuring fluid slosh and turbulence
The FLUIDICS experiment covers two aspects of fluid mechanics: the liquid sloshing phenomenon in spacecraft fuel tanks and wave turbulence at the surface of liquids. Understanding liquid sloshing can improve satellite guidance and precision and optimize spacecraft fuel management. Microgravity makes it possible to focus observations of surface wave turbulence only on the liquid’s surface tension and can provide insights into measuring the volume inside a sphere. This week, crew members installed the Fluidics hardware, initiated the session 5 autonomous science run and attempted to run science sessions 2 and 3. A hardware anomaly occurred during run 2 and ESA ground teams are investigating.
Other work was performed on these investigations and facilities:
- CIR includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion experiments in microgravity: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=317
- SAGE measures Earth’s sunscreen, or ozone, along with other gases and aerosols, or tiny particles in the atmosphere: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=976
- MUSES is an Earth imaging platform that hosts up to four instruments such as high-resolution digital cameras and hyperspectral imagers, and provides precision pointing and other accommodations: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1147
- MELFI, a cold storage unit, maintains experiment samples at ultra-cold temperatures throughout their time on the space station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=56
- BCM journal and cognition tests are part of examining an integrated, standardized suite of measurements to rapidly and reliably assess the risk of adverse cognitive or behavioral conditions and psychiatric disorders during long-duration spaceflight: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7537
- Polar Express is a cold stowage facility for storage of science samples at cryogenic temperatures (-80ºC) and transport to and from the space station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1092
Space to Ground: Femtosatellites: 02/08/2019
Related links:
Expedition 58: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition58/index.html
SlingShot: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7847
MARROW: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1673
ISS HAM: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=337
Lighting Effects: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2013
FLUIDICS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2043
Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
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
Image (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Vic Cooley, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 57/58.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
