ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.
June 30, 2021
A Russian resupply ship is racing toward the International Space Station as another U.S. cargo craft nears the end of its mission. Meanwhile, the Expedition 65 crew focused its research activities today on a variety of physics and biology studies.
Russia’s ISS Progress 78 resupply ship is orbiting Earth today following its Tuesday launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Progress will arrive on Thursday with over 3,600 pounds of food, fuel and supplies, for an automated approach and docking to the Poisk module at 9:03 p.m. NASA TV will broadcast its arrival beginning at 8:15 p.m. on the agency’s website and the NASA app.
Image above: Russia’s ISS Progress 78 resupply ship launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the space station. Image Credit: Roscosmos.
The next cargo craft to depart the station will leave on July 6 at 11:05 a.m. EDT. The SpaceX Cargo Dragon will undock from the Harmony module’s Earth-facing international docking adapter and parachute to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida two days later.
NASA Flight Engineers Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur and Mark Vande Hei worked throughout Wednesday readying the Cargo Dragon for next week’s departure. Commander Akihiko Hoshide and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet joined the NASA trio packing and organizing Dragon before final loading of critical research samples begins for analysis back on Earth.
Image above: The SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship is pictured approaching the International Space Station June 5, 2021, carrying over 7,300 pounds of new science, supplies and solar arrays to replenish the Expedition 65 crew. Image Credit: NASA.
Hoshide also kicked off the InSpace-4 physics study that will explore advanced materials and manufacturing techniques. Pesquet collected and stowed his blood samples before charging a headband device that monitors an astronaut’s sleep patterns for the Dreams study.
McArthur and Vande Hei collected samples of microbes from station surfaces and air for incubation and analysis. Some of those samples will be returned to Earth next week inside the Cargo Dragon.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA
Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov concentrated on maintenance and science in the orbiting lab’s Russian segment. Novitskiy checked Orlan spacesuit gloves and analyzed the air in the Zvezda service module. Dubrov serviced a variety of life support hardware.
Related articles:
Russian Resupply Ship Blasts Off on Two-Day Trip to Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/06/russian-resupply-ship-blasts-off-on-two.html
NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-air-departure-of-spacex-cargo-dragon-from-space-station
Related links:
Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html
NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
Poisk module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/poisk-mini-research-module-2
Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony
InSpace-4 physics study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7669
Dreams study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8344
Zvezda service module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/zvezda-service-module.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
Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
