ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.
June 15, 2020
The Expedition 63 crew is starting the week getting ready for a pair of upcoming spacewalks and a satellite deployment. The International Space Station residents are also setting up research gear that will analyze hazardous particles and plasma crystals.
The three NASA astronauts onboard the station teamed up today setting up hardware and reviewing plans for two spacewalks planned to start at the end of the month. Commander Chris Cassidy and Flight Engineer Bob Behnken checked out rechargeable batteries that will power up U.S. spacesuit components. Flight Engineer Doug Hurley looked at procedures to put on the spacesuits as well as steps a spacewalker would take during an emergency.
Image above: Russia’s Progress 74 resupply ship is pictured docked to the space station as the orbiting lab flew above northern Iraq. Image Credit: NASA.
The spacewalks will continue power upgrades begun last year on the outside of the space station. Cassidy and Behnken will replace old nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion batteries on the Starboard-6 truss segment. The batteries store and distribute power collected from the solar arrays throughout the station.
Cassidy started Monday in Japan’s Kibo laboratory module readying a 110-kilogram Red-Eye satellite for deployment in the next couple of weeks. He installed the satellite inside Kibo’s airlock where it will be placed into the vacuum of space and ejected into orbit from the NanoRacks Kaber Microsat deployer. Red-Eye, the second of three microsatellites, will test satellite communications, flight computers and thermal management technologies.
Image above: NASA astronaut Jessica Meir is pictured during a spacewalk she conducted with NASA astronaut Christina Koch Jessica Meir (out of frame) to install new lithium-ion batteries that store and distribute power collected from solar arrays on the station’s Port-6 truss structure. Image Credit: NASA.
Behnken helped out with the Red-Eye work before installing the new Mochii microscope in the Kibo lab where it will analyze particles that could threaten crew health and spacecraft safety. Hurley worked in the European Columbus laboratory module making room for the new European Drawer Rack-2 that will support a variety of new space experiments.
The two cosmonauts in the Russian segment of the station kept up their schedule of microgravity research and life support operations. Veteran Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin serviced hardware that observes plasma crystals which could lead to improved research methods and new spacecraft designs. First time space-flyer Ivan Vagner checked space radiation readings and set up Earth observation hardware.
Related article:
NASA TV Coverage Set for Final Space Station Spacewalk Power Upgrades
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-tv-coverage-set-for-final-space-station-spacewalk-power-upgrades
Related links:
Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html
Truss segment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/truss-structure
Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory
Red-Eye satellite: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1788
NanoRacks Kaber Microsat deployer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1788
Mochii microscope: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7657
Columbus laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/europe-columbus-laboratory
European Drawer Rack-2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7978
Plasma crystals: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1192
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/Norah Moran.
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