ISS - Expedition 62 Mission patch.
April 14, 2020
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA
The six crewmembers aboard the International Space Station continued advanced space research today promoting health for humans on and off Earth. The crew will split up at the end of the week when the Expedition 62 trio undocks and returns to Earth.
Scientists are looking at how human muscles adapt to microgravity for the Myotones space biology study. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy began the first of his four sessions for the human research experiment today. He marked muscle points on his skin then used a specialized device to measure his muscles’ biochemical properties. The research could prepare astronauts for longer space missions and help people on Earth with muscle conditions.
Image above: NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir participate in Earth photography activities inside the Destiny laboratory module. Image Credit: NASA.
His two crewmates, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, are getting used to life on the orbiting lab while maintaining Russian station hardware. The cosmonauts are deactivating communication systems in the new Soyuz MS-16 crew ship and getting up to speed on their complement of space research.
NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan contributed to different experiments today as they complete their final week in space. Meir collected her saliva samples for microbial analysis then documented her thoughts about the station’s food menu. Morgan cleaned and closed out life science hardware that housed live mice that returned to Earth on the last SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.
Image above: Flying over Atlantic Ocean, seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27'587 Km/h, altitude: 421,53 Km, image captured by Roland Berga (on Earth in Switzerland) from International Space Station (ISS) using ISS-HD Now Live application with EarthCam's from ISS on April 14, 2020 at 12:50 UTC. Image Credits: ISS Live Now/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
The two astronauts are also getting ready to end their mission with Commander Oleg Skripochka and return to Earth on Friday. The trio is packing the Soyuz MS-15 crew ship with cargo and personal items. They will undock Thursday at 9:53 p.m. EDT and parachute to landing in Kazakhstan less than three-and-half hours later.
Related links:
Expedition 62: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition62/index.html
Myotones: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7573
Soyuz MS-16 crew ship: http://go.nasa.gov/2wvpuQe
Microbial analysis: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2047
Food menu: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562
Life science hardware: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=333
Live mice: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8150
SpaceX Dragon cargo mission: http://go.nasa.gov/34nIqg7
Soyuz MS-15 crew ship: https://go.nasa.gov/2l8vit7
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), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
