ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.
May 24, 2021
The Expedition 65 crew started the workweek on space biology and orbital plumbing aboard the International Space Station. Meanwhile, two cosmonauts are also gearing up for their first career spacewalks set to begin next week.
The immune system, protein crystals and cell biology dominated the science schedule aboard the orbital lab today. The space life science studies help scientists understand how microgravity affects a multitude of organisms while offering insights into treatments for humans on and off the Earth.
Image above: Cosmonauts (from left) Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy prepare Russian Orlan spacesuits inside the Poisk mini-research module for an upcoming spacewalk. Image Credit: NASA.
NASA Flight Engineer Megan McArthur once again treated donor samples inside the Life Science Glovebox for the Celestial Immunity study. Afterward, she inserted those samples into a science freezer for later analysis on the station and back on Earth. Observations may help doctors improve vaccines and treatments for diseases on Earth.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA
Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) serviced protein crystal samples then placed them into an incubator for the Real-Time Protein Crystal Growth experiment. Results have implications for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and may advance the commercialization of space.
Station Commander Akihiko Hoshide opened up the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) this morning and temporarily removed a centrifuge to check the research device’s connections. Located in the Kibo laboratory module, the CBEF is an incubator with an artificial gravity generator.
Image above: The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience is pictured shortly before undocking from the International Space Station's Harmony module's space-facing international docking adapter. Resilience splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, at 2:56 a.m. EDT May 2, 2021, returning SpaceX Crew-1 – NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi – to Earth after 168 days in space. Image Credit: NASA.
NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Mark Vande Hei partnered together on Monday to assemble and install a brand new space toilet in the Tranquility module. The station’s newest bathroom was delivered in February aboard the Cygnus space freighter from Northrop Grumman.
The next spacewalk for maintenance at the orbital lab is scheduled for June 2. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov will open the hatch to the Poisk module at 1:20 a.m. EDT and exit into the vacuum of space wearing their Orlan spacesuits. The duo will then spend about six-and-a-half hours working on Russian hardware and installing science experiments.
Related links:
Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html
Celestial Immunity: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7818
Science freezer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=56
Incubator: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1148
Real-Time Protein Crystal Growth: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8073
Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=333
Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory
Tranquility module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/tranquility/
Poisk module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/poisk-mini-research-module-2
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), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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