ISS - Expedition 64 Mission patch.
Dec. 30, 2020
The Expedition 64 crew is packing a pair of U.S. resupply ships for departure next month. The International Space Station is also humming with microgravity research to benefit humans on and off the Earth.
Space agriculture is key to the long-term success of human exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit. Astronauts and botanists are learning how to manage food production aboard the station and have been harvesting a variety of edible plants for several years.
Image above: Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Kate Rubins is pictured inside the U.S. Quest airlock carrying a pair of pistol grip tools used for maintenance work during spacewalks. Image Credit: NASA.
NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins spent Wednesday harvesting radish plants and readying them for consumption for the Plant Habitat-02 experiment. Their short cultivation time is ideal for research and evaluating nutrition and taste in microgravity.
Rodents are being studied to understand the impacts to vision and bone tissue while living in space. Today, JAXA Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi fed the mice and cleaned their specialized research habitats. Those mice will be returned to Earth for analysis next month aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA
NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Shannon Walker packed trash inside the Cygnus space freighter today ahead of its Jan. 6 departure. Following its separation, Cygnus will orbit Earth on its own for an extended period of flight tests and science experiments. Walker also readied research and development hardware and sample modules for return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon less than a week after Cygnus departs.
Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos spent the day configuring communications gear and cleaning ventilation systems inside the orbiting lab’s Russian segment. His fellow cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov wiped down module surfaces to rid the station of microbes and vacuumed the Zarya module.
Related article:
NASA Television to Air Departure of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus from Space Station
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-television-to-air-departure-of-northrop-grumman-s-cygnus-from-space-station
Related links:
Expedition 64: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition64/index.html
Plant Habitat-02 experiment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7793
Vision: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8147
Bone tissue: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7734
Specialized research habitats: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1096
SpaceX Crew Dragon: https://go.nasa.gov/3gnu0mr
Research and development hardware: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7519
Sample modules: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8273
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.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
