ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.
July 2, 2020
Spacesuit checks were on the schedule today for the Expedition 63 crew following a spacewalk to replace aging batteries on the International Space Station. The orbital residents also juggled a variety of science activities.
NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken are back to work today after Wednesday’s spacewalk to swap batteries and route cables on the station’s Starboard-6 truss structure. The duo recharged batteries and refilled water tanks inside their U.S. spacesuits. Flight Engineer Doug Hurley also joined the pair in the afternoon for eye scans with an ultrasound device.
Image above: Astronaut Bob Behnken works during a spacewalk to swap an aging nickel-hydrogen battery for a new lithium-ion battery. Image Credit: NASA.
All three astronauts called down to Mission Control today and briefed specialists with the results of the mission’s second spacewalk. Station managers will assess the orbital lab’s upgraded power status before scheduling more battery swap spacewalks later this month.
Cassidy also configured cables on a specialized furnace before uploading new software to the high-temperature research device. Hurley worked with experiment hardware that seeks to better control the separation of blood cells and plasma to improve medical diagnostic devices.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA
Cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner partnered up Thursday morning for cardiac research. The duo is studying how the heart reacts to a unique suit that reverses the flow of blood towards the head caused by weightlessness. The pair then split up for life support maintenance and radiation checks.
Related article:
Cassidy and Behnken Wrap Up Battery Spacewalk
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/cassidy-and-behnken-wrap-up-battery.html
Related links:
Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html
Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
Starboard-6 truss structure: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/truss-structure
Specialized furnace: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1536
Separation of blood cells and plasma: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7377
Cardiac research: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/10.html
Unique suit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/ISS_Science_Blog/2015/06/02/rubber-vacuum-pants-that-suck/
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
Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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