Orbiter.ch Space News: Space Station Science Highlights: Week of January 25, 2021

lundi 1 février 2021

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of January 25, 2021

ISS - Expedition 64 Mission patch.

Feb 1, 2021

Aboard the International Space Station the week of Jan. 25, crew members performed scientific experiments that included testing technology for producing nutrients on demand and tracking cargo, and a study on improving the food menu in space. NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins conducted a spacewalk on Jan. 27, on which they began set up for Bartolomeo, an ESA (European Space Agency) platform for hosting science payloads on the exterior of the space station.

Image above: NASA astronaut Victor Glover during his Jan. 27 spacewalk with NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins. Their spacewalk included work on upgrades to the Bartolomeo science platform, an ESA facility for hosting science payloads on the exterior of the space station. Image Credit: NASA.

Seven crew members currently inhabit the station, including four from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, providing increased crew time for science on the orbiting lab. The space station has been continuously inhabited by humans for 20 years and has supported many scientific breakthroughs during that time. The station provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space, experience that supports Artemis, NASA’s program to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars.

Here are details on some of the microgravity investigations currently taking place:

Engineering nutrients for long missions

Image above: NASA astronaut Shannon Walker services samples for the BioNutrients investigation, which demonstrates a technology to produce nutrients from engineered microbes to supplement food provisions on long-duration space missions. Image Credit: NASA.

The crew performed hydration, incubation, and agitation of Production Packs for BioNutrients during the week and placed samples in cold stowage after the run. This investigation demonstrates a technology to produce nutrients for humans on-demand during long-duration space missions. The process uses engineered microbes, like yeast, to generate carotenoids to supplement potential vitamin losses from food that is stored for very long periods. Carotenoids are plant pigments that act as antioxidants. Over a five-year period, astronauts intermittently activate specially designed storage/growth packets that are then frozen and returned to Earth for examination.

Improving the spaceflight menu

Food Acceptability examines how the appeal of food changes during long-duration missions. Whether crew members like and actually eat certain foods can directly affect crew caloric intake and nutrition. Menu fatigue from repeatedly consuming the limited foods available in a closed system could lead to decreased acceptability and increased aversion to some foods. That, in turn, could contribute to the loss of body mass often experienced by crew members, creating health consequences as mission length increases. Crew members completed surveys for the investigation during the week.

Robotic radio-frequency readers

RFID Recon tests a technology for identifying individual cargo items quickly and efficiently, using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and a reader attached to one of the space station’s free-flying Astrobee robots. RFID tags are similar to barcodes, except they are electronic and so do not require line-of-sight and can communicate wirelessly. The Astrobee reader can identify cargo and determine its location. While losing things in low-Earth orbit is undesirable, it is possible to launch replacements from Earth. Replacement is impractical if not impossible for deep space missions, however. The project also supports more efficient packing, which reduces launch mass and stowage volume. In addition, this technology could enable preparation of mission destinations in advance of human arrival. The crew installed and checked out the configuration for this investigation during the week.

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

Animation above: NASA astronaut Kate Rubins sets up the Combustion Integration Rack for BRE, one of six ACME investigations into combustion and fire safety in space. Animation Credit: NASA.

- BRE, part of the set of Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME), simulates the flammability of solid and liquid materials by burning gaseous fuels under conditions corresponding to those materials.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7629

- Time Perception, an ESA experiment, quantifies the subjective changes in time perception that humans experience during and after long-duration spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7504

- The Veg-03 investigation cultivates various plants using pillows – low-mass modules that require little energy and maintenance – as part of efforts to understand how plants respond to microgravity so crews can eventually grow them for food on long-duration missions.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1159

- Bacterial Adhesion and Corrosion tests an antimicrobial coating on materials used to represent typical surfaces on the space station, which could provide insight into better ways to control and remove resistant biofilms for long-duration spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7956

- 3D Microbial Monitoring uses DNA sequencing and other analyses to construct a three dimensional map of bacteria and bacterial products throughout the station to help identify risks to human health and environmental systems.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8345

- Standard Measures ensures consistent collection of specific data from crew members throughout the space station program in order to characterize the adaptive responses to and risks of living in space.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7711

- Food Physiology characterizes how an enhanced spaceflight diet affects immune function, the gut microbiome, and nutritional status. Results could help define targeted, efficient dietary interventions to maintain crew health and performance.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870

- APM measures and quantifies the concentration of both small and large particles in cabin air as part of efforts to maintain air quality in the occupied environment on station, vital for the crew’s health.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7936

- For Story Time from Space, crew members read children's books in orbit and complete simple science experiments, helping to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1152

- AstroPi , a project of the ESA (European Space Agency), uses two Raspberry Pi computers augmented with various detectors and cameras to provide students the opportunity to create space-related software exploring topics such as survival in space, measurement and calibration, and image processing.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7534

- AstroRad Vest tests a wearable vest designed to protect astronauts from radiation caused by unpredictable solar particle events. Astronauts provide input on how easy the garment is to put on, how it fits and feels, and the range of motion it allows.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7803

Space to Ground: Spacewalks & Story Time: 01/29/2021

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