ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.
March 19, 2019
The Expedition 59 crew continued gearing up for Friday’s spacewalk amid a variety of human research activities today. Meanwhile, the three newest International Space Station crewmembers found time to get up to speed on lab systems and life in space.
Friday’s spacewalkers will be NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nick Hague. The duo started the day getting tools ready and using 3-D computer software to review spacewalk procedures and robotics maneuvers. Flight Engineers David Saint-Jacques and Christina Koch joined McClain and Hague at the end of the day for an hour-long conference with spacewalk experts in Mission Control.
Image above: NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Anne McClain and Christina Koch (right) work on U.S. spacesuit maintenance in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.
The spacewalkers will work for about six hours on the Port-4 truss structure swapping batteries and installing adapter plates. Friday’s spacewalk to upgrade the station’s power storage capacity begins at 8:05 a.m. EDT. NASA TV’s live spacewalk coverage begins at 6:30 a.m.
Life science continued full-speed ahead today despite the spacewalk preparations and a new crew getting used to microgravity. Hague, Koch and Saint-Jacques drew their blood samples throughout Tuesday and stowed them in science freezers for later analysis.
Image above: Sunrise over Gulf of Bengal, Suyuz MS-12 illuminated on the dark sky, seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27'612 Km/h, altitude: 406,68 Km, image captured by Roland Berga (on Earth in Switzerland) from International Space Station (ISS) using ISS-HD Live application with EarthCam's from ISS on March 19, 2019 at 23:08 UTC. Image Credits: Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
Koch also spent a couple of hours in the Columbus lab module on the Vection study exploring how microgravity affects her perception. Saint-Jacques prepared Marrow experiment gear for return on an upcoming SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.
Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin, Hague and Koch spent each about an hour familiarizing themselves with station facilities today. The new trio will orbit Earth for at least six-and-a-half months.
Related links:
Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html
Port-4 truss structure: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/truss-structure
Life science: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
Columbus lab module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/europe-columbus-laboratory
Vection: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7484
Marrow: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1673
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/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
