ISS - Expedition 68 Mission patch.
Dec 30, 2022
Research and maintenance activities aboard the International Space Station continue into the new year while engineers and managers discuss Soyuz capabilities and potential next steps in response to the Soyuz MS-22’s external cooling loop leak.
The Expedition 68 crew remains in good condition, performing a variety of maintenance and research activities and looks forward to some time off on New Year’s Day. NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Josh Cassada, and Nicole Mann continued work to service the spacesuits used by Rubio and Cassada to install a new International Space Station Roll-out Solar Array.
Image above: Expedition 68 Flight Engineers (from left) Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann, and Frank Rubio, all from NASA, and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), pose for a festive portrait on Christmas Day inside the cupola as the International Space Station orbited 270 miles above the southern Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 25, 2022. Image Credit: NASA.
On Dec. 29, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata monitored the deployment of eight Cubesats from JAXA’s Kibo module. Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin and Anna Kikina worked on a variety of maintenance and research tasks.
With integrated crews on each other’s spacecraft, NASA and Roscosmos work jointly on any decisions related to crew safety including crew transportation. NASA and Roscosmos are continuing to conduct a variety of engineering reviews and are consulting with other international partners about methods for safely bringing the Soyuz crew home for both normal and contingency scenarios. A final decision on the path forward is expected in January.
Aurora seen from ISS. Animation Credits: NASA/JSC/Hirai Mamoru
As a part of the analysis, NASA also reached out to SpaceX about its capability to return additional crew members aboard Dragon if needed in an emergency, although the primary focus is on understanding the post-leak capabilities of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft.
Station teams also are preparing for the undocking and departure of the SpaceX CRS-26 cargo spacecraft on Monday, Jan. 9. The cargo Dragon is scheduled to return valuable scientific research samples through a splashdown off the Florida coast. Undocking is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. EST, with splashdown planned for Wednesday, Jan. 11. Live coverage of the undocking and departure will begin at 4:45 p.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website: http://www.nasa.gov/live
Related articles:
SPORT and petitSat CubeSats to Shed Light on Space Weather Disturbances
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/12/sport-and-petitsat-cubesats-to-shed.html
Russia plans to send a Soyuz rescue ship to ISS
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/12/russia-plans-to-send-soyuz-rescue-ship.html
NASA Spacewalkers Install Station’s Fourth Roll-Out Solar Array
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/12/nasa-spacewalkers-install-stations.html
Related links:
Expedition 68: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition68/index.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
Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Heidi Lavelle.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
