ISS - Expedition 64 Mission patch.
Dec. 1, 2020
Cargo operations are underway at the International Space Station as a U.S. resupply ship prepares for launch and another prepares for departure. Meanwhile, a host of microgravity research is keeping the Expedition 64 crew busy.
SpaceX is preparing its upgraded SpaceX Dragon cargo craft for a launch from Florida on Dec. 5 and a rendezvous with the orbiting lab about 24 hours later. This will be the first automated docking of the Cargo Dragon. Astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover will be monitoring Dragon’s arrival to the Harmony module’s space-facing port with more than 6,400 pounds of space freight, including the NanoRacks Bishop airlock.
However today, Rubins worked on science gear stowing external experiments brought in from outside the Kibo laboratory module then cleaned up the Advanced Plant Habitat after Monday’s radish harvest. Glover joined JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi for a physical fitness test on the station’s exercise bike to evaluate microgravity’s impact on their cardiopulmonary function.
Image above: Astronaut Kate Rubins checks out radish plants growing for the Plant Habitat-02 experiment that seeks to optimize plant growth in space. Image Credit: NASA.
The Earth-facing port of the Unity module hosts the outgoing Cygnus resupply ship from Northrop Grumman. Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins worked today packing the cargo craft with trash and old gear. Cygnus will depart the space station later this month, conduct an automated space combustion experiment then reenter the atmosphere for a fiery, but safe demise above the Pacific Ocean.
Hopkins later joined fellow NASA Flight Engineer Shannon Walker for health checks Wednesday morning consisting of temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory measurements. Walker then spent the afternoon reorganizing food items making space for additional cargo aboard the station.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA
Commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos worked on electronics and life support maintenance tasks throughout Wednesday. Cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov primarily worked on life support gear before servicing the power supply system in the Zarya module.
Related links:
Expedition 64: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition64/index.html
Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony
NanoRacks Bishop airlock: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/spinoff/New_Doorway_to_Space
External experiments: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7515
Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory
Advanced Plant Habitat: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=2036
Radish harvest: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7793
Station’s exercise bike: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=821
Unity module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/unity
Space combustion experiment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1924
Zarya module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/zarya-cargo-module
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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