ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.
June 4, 2020
The five-member Expedition 63 crew aboard the International Space Station continues exploring how microgravity phenomena may benefit humans on and off Earth.
Commander Chris Cassidy started off Thursday working on the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, a device that heats materials to very high temperatures and measures their thermophysical properties. The unique furnace may provide scientists insights into synthesizing and producing new materials. The veteran astronaut then spent the afternoon servicing U.S. spacesuit components ahead of a series of spacewalks planned for June.
Image above: The International Space Station’s two newest crew members, NASA astronauts (from left) Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, are pictured having just entered the orbiting lab shortly after arriving aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA.
New NASA Flight Engineers Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken spent Thursday servicing space botany hardware and exploring bubbles in fluids. Both astronauts temporarily disassembled a plant habitat to access and replace environment control system gear. The duo also studied how bubbles affect microfluids to help produce oxygen on a spacecraft and deliver drugs though skin patches.
Roscosmos Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, worked throughout the orbital lab on Thursday ensuring ongoing research and maintenance operations.
International Space Station (ISS). Image Credit: NASA
Ivanishin was inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory swapping fuel bottles inside the Combustion Integrated Rack to enable safe fuel and flame science. He also worked on cargo transfers inside the Progress 74 resupply ship. Vagner inspected surfaces inside the Russian portion of the space station. In the afternoon, the first-time space flyer set up a video camera to record crew activities for audiences back on Earth.
Related links:
Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html
Plant habitat: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=2036
Bubbles affect microfluids: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1939
U.S. Destiny laboratory: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/us-destiny-laboratory
Combustion Integrated Rack: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=317
Safe fuel and flame science: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1651
Commercial Crew Program: http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
