ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.
April 28, 2021
A trash-packed Russian cargo craft departed the International Space Station on Tuesday night. Four astronauts are also nearing the end of their mission amidst a variety of human research taking place on the orbiting lab today.
After being docked to the station for just over a year, Russia’s ISS Progress 75 (75P) resupply ship undocked from the Zvezda service module’s aft port filled with trash and discarded gear. The 75P backed away from Zvezda during the automated maneuver that began at 7:11 p.m. EDT. It will orbit Earth on its own until Wednesday night before burning up safely above the southern Pacific Ocean.
Image above: The 11-member crew aboard the station is actually a combination of three different crews: the Soyuz MS-18 crew in the back row, SpaceX Crew-2 in the middle row, and the four SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts in the far left and right corners. Image Credit: NASA TV.
Four SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts are targeting Saturday for their return to Earth and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. NASA and SpaceX managers continue to monitor the weather at the splashdown site.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour is planned to undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing international docking adapter on Friday at 5:55 p.m. EDT. Astronaut Michael Hopkins will command the ride home alongside Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. They are due to splashdown the next day at 11:36 a.m. NASA TV will begin its continuous live coverage at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
Image above: Constant Gardening on the Space Station. Astronauts on the International Space Station recently enjoyed a fresh supply of leafy greens, thanks in large part to the efforts of Expedition 64 crew member Michael Hopkins. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission commander took the lead on conducting four Vegetable Production System (Veggie) experiments, with the last two wrapping up after an April 13 harvest. VEG-03K and VEG-03L tested a new space crop, ‘Amara’ mustard, and a previously grown crop, ‘Extra Dwarf’ pak choi. They were grown for 64 days, the longest leafy greens have grown on station. Image Credit: NASA.
Staying behind on the station is Commander Akihiko Hoshide and his Crew-2 crewmates Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency. They will live and work in space until October with NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov who rode to the station on April 9 aboard the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA
During the crew handover activities, the orbital residents still had time for space science today. The crew collected blood and urine samples for the Phospho-Aging study that is researching space-caused muscle and bone atrophy. They are also taking note of how improving a space diet can impact mission success. Finally, they explored how weightlessness affects grip and movement as well as future spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques.
Related article:
Progress MS-14 will spend a day in autonomous flight
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/progress-ms-14-will-spend-day-in.html
Related links:
NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html
SpaceX Crew-1: https://go.nasa.gov/38QJ2PI
Zvezda service module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/zvezda-service-module.html
Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony
Phospho-Aging study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8278
Space diet: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870
Vegetable Production System (Veggie) experiments: https://www.nasa.gov/content/growing-plants-in-space
Grip and movement: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1188
Piloting techniques: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/24.html
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
Animation (mentioned), Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Yvette Smith.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
