ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.
Aug. 7, 2020
The week of August 3, crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific research on water recovery systems, complex plasmas, and the physics of wet foams.
Image above: Hurricane Hanna is seen approaching the southern coast of Texas in this image taken from the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.
Now in its 20th year of continuous human presence, the space station provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, once again launching astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil, increases the crew time available for science on the orbiting lab.
Here are details on some of the microgravity investigations currently taking place:
Toward better water recovery systems
Image above: NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy works on the Droplet Formation Study. The investigation observes how microgravity shapes water droplets and could improve water conservation and water pressure techniques on Earth. Image Credit: NASA.
Crew members replaced a pump for the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Water Recovery System (JWRS), a demonstration from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) of a way to generate drinkable water from urine as part of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). On future long-term missions, adequate water supply could be a limiting factor. Currently, crews collect and store urine and waste water or vent them overboard. Future water recovery systems on spacecraft or habitations on the Moon or Mars will need to be smaller, recover more water, and use less power than conventional systems.
Investigating complex plasmas
During the week, crew members configured video monitors for Plasma Kristall-4 (PK-4), a scientific collaboration between the ESA (European Space Agency) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). PK-4 studies complex plasmas, which are low-temperature gaseous mixtures of ionized gas, neutral gas, and micron-sized particles. The particles become highly charged and interact strongly, potentially leading to self-organized structures called plasma crystals. The investigation examines transport properties, thermodynamics, kinetics and statistical physics, dynamical processes, and instabilities in these complex plasmas. Understanding how plasma crystals form in microgravity could shed light on plasma phenomena in space and lead to new research methods and improved spacecraft designs.
Finding properties of foams
Image above: This image shows a run from the FOAM investigation, which studies bubble size, rearrangement dynamics, and other properties of wet foams.
Image Credit: NASA.
Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL) Soft Matter Dynamics - Hydrodynamics of Wet Foams (FOAM), an investigation from the ESA, studies bubble size, rearrangement dynamics, and other properties of wet foams. Solid and liquid foams are used across a variety of industries, from cleaning products to food and medicines, cleaning oil from water, and more. Foams break down quickly in gravity, though, making them difficult to study on Earth. Gaining a better fundamental understanding of foams could help improve their control and process design in industry. During the week, the crew installed sample cell units in preparation for experiment runs.
Other investigations on which the crew performed work:
- Droplet Formation Study evaluates the size and speed of water droplets from Delta Faucet’s H2Okinetic shower head. Gravity’s full effects on formation of water droplet size are unknown, and this research could help improve the technology to conserve water and energy.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7541
- Plant Habitat-02 examines conditions such as intensity and spectral composition of light and the effects of the culture medium or soil in cultivation of radishes. This model plant is nutritious, has a short cultivation time and is genetically similar to Arabidopsis, a plant frequently studied in microgravity.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7793
- Radi-N2, a Canadian Space Agency investigation, uses bubble detectors to better characterize the neutron environment on the space station, which could help define the risk this radiation source poses to crew members and provide data necessary to develop advanced protective measures for future spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=874
- Astrobee tests three self-contained, free-flying robots designed to assist astronauts with routine chores, give ground controllers additional eyes and ears, and perform crew monitoring, sampling, and logistics management.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1891
- The Integrated Impact of Diet on Human Immune Response, the Gut Microbiota, and Nutritional Status During Adaptation to Spaceflight (Food Physiology) investigation documents the effects of dietary improvements on immune function and the gut microbiome and the ability of those improvements to support adaptation to spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870
Space to Ground: Gulf Coast Splashdown: 08/07/2020
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
JWRS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2049
Plasma Kristall-4 (PK-4): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1192
FOAM: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7934
ISS National Lab: https://www.issnationallab.org/
Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
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), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/John Love, ISS Research Planning Integration Scientist Expedition 63.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
