ISS - Expedition 61 Mission patch.
November 7, 2019
The Expedition 61 crew serviced a variety of science and life support hardware today aboard the International Space Station. U.S. spacesuits are also being readied for a series upcoming cosmic repair spacewalks.
NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) will enter the vacuum of space on Nov. 15 to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). Christina Koch of NASA is preparing the U.S. spacesuits and cleaning the components ahead of at least four planned AMS repair spacewalks. The spacewalking duo will perform the complex repairs necessary to upgrade the dark matter and antimatter detector’s thermal control system.
Image above: Astronaut Christina Koch works on orbital plumbing tasks as she replaces components inside the International Space Station’s bathroom. Image Credit: NASA.
In the meantime, Morgan focused on science hardware and set up experiment gear containing materials for exposure in the harsh environment of space. He installed three experiment carriers inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock before depressurizing it. Japan’s robotic arm will grapple the carriers and deploy them outside Kibo. The research is testing how cosmic radiation, extreme temperatures and other space phenomena affect a variety of samples.
Science freezers that preserve critical research samples for analysis had their systems checked today by NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Meir. She also replaced components on a 3-D bioprinter, also called the BioFabrication Facility. The device is testing the manufacturing of complex human organ tissue shapes in space.
ISS EarthCam external views. Animation Credit: NASA
Cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov is packing trash and obsolete gear inside the Progress 73 (73P) resupply ship. The 73P will undock from the Pirs docking compartment on Nov. 29 for a fiery but safe disposal over the southern Pacific.
Related links:
Expedition 61: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition61/index.html
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=729
Materials for exposure: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7515
Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory
BioFabrication Facility: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7599
Pirs docking compartment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs-docking-compartment
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), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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