ISS - Expedition 61 Mission patch.
December 17, 2019
The International Space Station is gearing up for the arrival of Boeing’s new CST-100 Starliner crew ship this weekend. Meanwhile, the Expedition 61 crew checked out a new baking oven, researched life science and replaced a treadmill belt.
Boeing’s first Orbital Flight Test of its first commercial crew vehicle is moving ahead toward launch Friday at 6:39 a.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed Starliner will approach the station for an automated docking on Saturday at 8:27 a.m. to the forward port of the Harmony module.
Image above: NASA astronauts Christina Koch (left) and Jessica Meir work on science hardware aboard the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.
NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Meir and Christina Koch are getting ready for Starliner’s arrival and its undocking planned for Dec. 28 at 12:44 a.m. The duo reviewed leak check, hatch opening and vehicle ingress procedures for the vehicle after its docking. Both astronauts also familiarized themselves with hatch closing, depressurization and leak check activities necessary before Starliner departs the station.
Commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) tested the ability of the new NanoRacks Zero-G Oven to bake food in space today. He then joined Meir for eye exams in the afternoon.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA
A host of life science activities kept NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan busy all day Tuesday. Morgan first installed a new artificial gravity generator inside a Japanese incubator. Next, he removed a science freezer from the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship and installed it into the Columbus lab module.
Finally, veteran cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Skripochka spent the day replacing a treadmill belt in the Zvezda service module. One of two treadmills aboard the orbiting lab, the other is the COLBERT treadmill located in the U.S. Tranquility module.
Related links:
Expedition 61: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition61/index.html
CST-100 Starliner: https://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/
Kennedy Space Center: https://www.nasa.gov/kennedy
NanoRacks Zero-G Oven: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7993
Japanese incubator: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=333
SpaceX Dragon resupply ship: https://go.nasa.gov/2Po0qjn
Columbus lab module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/europe-columbus-laboratory
Zvezda service module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/zvezda-service-module.html
COLBERT: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=752
Tranquility module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/tranquility/
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), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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