Vein, Eye Scans as Russian Cargo Mission Orbits Toward Station

 

ISS - Expedition 66 Mission patch.

Feb 15, 2022

Vein scans and hardware maintenance kept the Expedition 66 crew busy on Tuesday aboard the International Space Station. Meanwhile, Russia’s 80th space station cargo mission is orbiting Earth and on schedule to arrive at the orbiting lab early Thursday.

Three astronauts were scheduled on Tuesday afternoon for a series of vein and eye scans with doctors on the ground monitoring in real time. The station trio from NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) gathered inside the Columbus laboratory module and used the Ultrasound 2 device to image each other’s neck, shoulder, and leg veins. NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Thomas Marshburn kicked off the biomedical work Tuesday afternoon. German astronaut Matthias Maurer joined them afterward wrapping up the vein and eye examinations. Doctors uses the data to understand how living in microgravity affects the human body.

Image above: From left, NASA’s Expedition 66 Flight Engineers Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Mark Vande Hei pose for a portrait inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. Image Credit: NASA.

Marshburn and Maurer had joined each other earlier in the day for maintenance on the COLBERT treadmill in the Tranquility module. Maurer began the work before lunchtime repairing cooling components on the exercise device. Marshburn followed up in the afternoon temporarily stowing the workout gear ahead of more work planned for the 11-year-old treadmill.

NASA Flight Engineers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari split their day working on satellite hardware and life support gear. Barron spent Tuesday morning in the Kibo laboratory module uninstalling the small satellite orbital deployer. Its most recent deployment was a series of scientific and educational CubeSats delivered on the last SpaceX Cargo Dragon mission. Chari spent part of his day removing air and flushing the station’s water recovery system.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies aboard the ISS Progress 80 cargo craft successfully reached orbit late Monday after its liftoff from Kazakhstan on Monday at 11:25 p.m. EST. Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov will be on duty monitoring the Russian resupply ship when it automatically docks to the Poisk module on Thursday at 2:06 a.m. EST.

Shkaplerov cleaned Poisk on Tuesday morning making space to begin cargo transfers after the Progress 80’s arrival. The station commander from Roscosmos later joined Dubrov for an ongoing study that explores ways to pilot future spacecraft and robots on planetary missions.

Related article:

Russian Cargo Craft Blasts off to Resupply Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/02/russian-cargo-craft-blasts-off-to.html

Related links:

Expedition 66: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition66/index.html

Columbus laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/europe-columbus-laboratory

Ultrasound 2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=736

COLBERT treadmill: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7587

Tranquility module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/tranquility/

Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory

Poisk module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/poisk-mini-research-module-2

Pilot future spacecraft and robots: 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

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

How light is a neutrino? The answer is closer than ever

 

Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) logo.

Feb 15, 2022

Latest effort to weigh the elusive particle produces a more precise estimate of its upper limit.

Image above: The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment has produced the most precise measurement of the neutrino’s mass yet. Image Credit: Markus Breig.

Physicists have taken a step towards nailing down the mass of the neutrino, perhaps the most mysterious of all elementary particles.

The team at the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment in Germany reports that neutrinos have a maximum mass of 0.8 electron volts. Researchers have long had indirect evidence that the particles should be lighter than 1 eV, but this is the first time that this has been shown in a direct measurement. The results were reported on 14 February in Nature Physics (1).

The previous upper limit of 1.1 eV was reported by KATRIN in 2019 (2). The experiment has so far been able to put only an upper bound on the mass. But researchers say that it might be able to make a definite measurement once it finishes collecting data in 2024, and is the only experiment in the world capable of doing this.

“If the KATRIN experiment was to pinpoint a neutrino mass before reaching their sensitivity goal of 0.2 eV, it would be extremely exciting,” says Julia Harz, a theoretical particle physicist at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. In particular, it could give guidance on how to improve cosmological theories, she adds.

Energetic electrons

KATRIN weighs neutrinos produced by the nuclear decay of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. When a tritium nucleus transmutes into a helium one, it ejects an electron and a neutrino (or, more accurately, a particle with an equal mass called an antineutrino). The neutrino is lost, but the electron is channelled into a 23-metre-long, steel vacuum chamber shaped like a Zeppelin airship, where its energy is measured precisely.

Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN)

The electron carries almost all of the energy released during the tritium’s decay, but some is lost with the neutrino. The value of this shortfall can be used to calculate the particle’s mass.

KATRIN’s 2019 results were based on an initial run of the experiment in April and May that year, when the tritium beam was operating at one-quarter of its full strength. The latest result is based on data from the first full-strength run, which took place later in 2019. These data imply an upper bound of 0.9 eV, which goes down to 0.8 eV when combined with the earlier results.

Although the estimate has tightened, it is still not possible to report a lower bound for the neutrino’s mass. The data still do not rule out the possibility that the mass is zero, says KATRIN member Magnus Schlösser, a particle physicist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. But other lines of evidence, in particular from cosmological observations, show that the neutrino cannot be massless.

It is still possible that even after 2024, KATRIN will be unable to measure the neutrino’s minimum mass: if the mass is less than 0.2 eV, it could lie outside the experiment’s sensitivity.

Schlösser compares the quest to the Spanish conquistadors’ search for a mythical city of gold. “It’s like looking for El Dorado,” he says. “You shrink the possibility for where you can find it.”

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00430-x

References:

1. The KATRIN Collaboration. Nature Phys. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01463-1 (2022).

2. Aker, M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 221802 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.123.221802

Related link:

Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN): https://www.katrin.kit.edu/

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: Nature/Davide Castelvecchi.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

New laser station lights the way to debris reduction

 

ESA - European Space Agency emblem.

Feb 15, 2022

In brief

ESA's Izaña-1 laser ranging station in Tenerife, Spain, has recently undergone months of testing and commissioning, passing its final tests with flying colours. As it reached ‘station acceptance’, it was handed over to ESA from the German company contracted to build it, DiGOS. The station is a technology testbed and a vital first step in making debris mitigation widely accessible to all space actors with a say in the future of our space environment.

In-depth

From satellite tracking to debris

ESA's laser ranging station in Tenerife aims its green laser to the sky

Imagine lasers pointing from Earth into the skies, seeking out satellites and bits of space trash and measuring their positions and trajectories to prevent catastrophic collisions. You don’t have to try too hard – this is very nearly the day-to-day reality at ESA’s new Izaña 1 (IZN-1) laser ranging station in Tenerife, Spain.

IZN-1, developed and now operated by ESA, is a testbed for future technologies and was installed in mid-2021 at the Teide Observatory. The station, telescope and laser have undergone months of testing and commissioning and since July last year have aimed the green beam of concentrated light to the sky to actively detect, track and observe active satellites.

The IZN-1 laser ranging station in Tenerife is the first of its kind

At present, the laser operates at 150mW but it will soon be upgraded so it can also track debris objects with a much more powerful infrared laser with an average power of 50 Watts.

“Currently, only satellites fitted with retroreflectors can be tracked from ESA’s Izaña station, making up just a proportion of the total population,” explains Clemens Heese, Head of Optical Technologies.

ESA's laser focus on space debris

“The station will be upgraded in the next couple of years, enabling it to perform the same vital ranging services with uncooperative targets – vitally, debris objects and older satellites without retroreflecting patches.”

The first of many in Europe

While dozens of laser tracking stations are dotted around Europe, the Izaña station’s dual functionality makes it a first. Built by German company DiGOS, the remotely controlled Izaña station can also be used for optical communications and is intended to become a state-of-the-art, fully autonomous robotic system. It is hoped to be the first of many across the globe.

The technology, relatively new in the history of ground-based observations of space debris, will mean the station can track previously invisible defunct objects lurking above the blue daytime skies.

Collision avoidance: what's the cost?

As ESA’s newest addition to the Space Safety family, Izana-1 provides support for vital collision avoidance and provides a testbed for new sustainable technologies like laser momentum transfer or coordination of space traffic.

Such satellite and debris tracking capability in Europe could contribute to building and accessing a European catalogue of space objects.

Lasers in space. Is that … safe?

But hold on, there are birds, planes, astronauts above us! Doesn’t aiming lasers into the sky come with an unacceptable risk? Fortunately, lasers used for satellite and debris tracking would be a disappointment to any self-respecting Bond villain.

Ultimately, the IZN-1 station will use a power of under 100 Watts, giving the Izaña laser about 1/20th of the energy of an electric kettle.

ESA's laser ranging station in Tenerife shines a light on debris problem

These pinpoint light sources shine short pulses of light at their target, determining the distance, velocity and orbit of each one with millimetre precision, calculated from the time it takes to complete the return journey.

Although such lasers don’t come anywhere close to cutting through, or even nudging (yet) the objects they target, they can damage sensitive optical instruments on satellites and the paths of aircraft must be considered.

IZN-1: ESA's laser focus on the sky

“If lasers strike planes they can be very dangerous, as pilots can become distracted and in worst-case scenarios, lose control,” explains Andrea di Mira, ESA Optoelectronics Engineer.

“We are very, very careful that this does not happen, with a set of sensors scanning the sky for aircraft to ensure our lasers do not get remotely close to them”.

These lasers also have the potential to disrupt telescopes studying the night’s sky. To prevent this, the Laser Traffic Control System (LTCS) was introduced by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) – much like IZN-1 helps to prevent collisions between objects in orbit, the LTCS software prevents ‘collisions’ between laser light and areas of observation. Additionally, switching to an infrared laser frequency can minimize conflicts with astronomers.

A vital step towards space traffic control

As the era of New Space is now fully underway, large constellations are being launched to the skies consisting of thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of satellites.

Current, costly methods of collision avoidance will be futile as numbers increase and as such the international space community will need to establish a method of space traffic control.

Image above: As part of ESA’s ‘Protect Accelerator’, the Agency is prioritising the protection of space assets from the increasing problem of debris, as well as the effects of extreme solar events; space weather.

For this, precise and rapid determination of the location, velocity and orbit of space objects will be vital, and ESA’s IZN-1 station will provide a much-needed testbed for this technology, far more accurate than current radar methods, to be developed.

Laser focus on the future

In the near future, ESA’s IZN-1 station will be a fully autonomous, highly productive satellite and debris tracking station. It will also be used to test the concept of ‘networked space debris laser ranging’ to build a satellite catalogue.

Operators at ESA's IZN-1 laser ranging station

When it comes to optical communication, it will also be upgraded to receive signals with a very high data rate of 10 gigabits and beyond (adhering to international standards) from satellites in low-Earth orbit 400 km away.

Izaña will then become part of a planned European Optical Nucleus Network, the first operational optical communication ground station service of its kind that will be made available to the wider commercial space community.

The scales of the space debris problem

On top of all this, the station provides an opportunity to test and develop technologies underpinning ‘laser momentum transfer’, in which lasers would not merely shine a light on debris objects but very gently nudge them into new orbits, out of the way of potential collisions and out of the busiest orbital highways.

As IZN-1 is welcomed into to ESA’s Space Safety family, so is a bright future of sustainable technologies, vital for a responsible future in orbit and beyond.

Related links:

Space Debris: https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Space_Debris

Safety & Security: https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security

Teide Observatory: https://www.iac.es/en/observatorios-de-canarias/teide-observatory

DiGOS: https://digos.eu/

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC): https://www.iac.es/

European Optical Nucleus Network: https://artes.esa.int/projects/european-optical-nucleus-network-eonn

Images, Video, Text, Credits: ESA/UNOOSA.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Deep down temperature shifts give rise to eruptions

 

ESA - GOCE Mission logo.

Feb 15, 2022

The astonishing force of the Tonga volcanic eruption shocked the world, but the fact that this underwater volcano actually erupted came as less of a surprise to geoscientists using satellite data to study changes in the temperature deep below Earth’s surface.

The cataclysmic explosion of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano in January is reported to have been the biggest eruption recorded anywhere on the planet in 30 years. It sent a plume of ash soaring into the sky, left the island nation of Tonga smothered in ash, sonic booms were heard as far away as Alaska and tsunami waves raced across the Pacific Ocean.

While the Tonga eruption was powerful but short, last year’s eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma was less explosive but lasted for almost three months.

Although different, both of these recent eruptions remind us all of how devastating nature can be. A better understanding of the natural processes that are occurring deep below our feet might bring the possibility of predicting eruptions a little closer.

Hot and cold beneath Tonga volcano

This is one of the aims of ESA’s Science for Society 3D Earth project where an international group of geoscientists joined forces to develop a state-of-the art global model of the lithosphere, which is a term to describe Earth’s brittle crust, the top part of the upper mantle and the sub-lithospheric upper mantle down to 400 km depth. The model combines different satellite data, such as gravity data from ESA’s GOCE, with in-situ observations, primarily seismic tomography.

In their model that shows differences in temperature, or the thermal structure, of Earth’s upper mantle, the researchers could see that these volcanoes would erupt at some point. Predicting exactly when this would happen is, however, more difficult.

Javier Fullea, from Complutense University of Madrid, said, “Our WINTERC-G model, which uses in-situ tomographic and GOCE satellite gravity data, shows a branch of the Azores plume. It is visible from the surface down to a depth of 400 km, at the base of the upper mantle. The plume flows southeast towards Madeira and the Canary Islands surrounding the cold mantle beneath the north Atlantic’s African margin.

“Across the globe, we see that the Hunga Tonga volcano is located in a back arc basin, created by the subduction of the Tonga slab. Back arc volcanoes are associated with the cold slab being melted by the mantle as the slab slides down into the mantle.”

Rising heat below La Palma volcano

Sergei Lebedev, from the University of Cambridge in the UK, adds, “From such models and seismic tomography, we see structures rising from great depth beneath the Canary Islands. These anomalies reflect hot material rising to the surface of Earth and are referred to as hotspots or plumes and are a constant source for the volcanos at the surface.

“The origin of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano is different. It is a part of the Tonga–Kermadec arc, where the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate dives beneath the Australian Plate. Here, our imaging shows the layer of hydrated, partially molten rock above the plunging Pacific Plate, which feeds the volcanoes of the arc.”

But where do these thermal anomalies come from?

The answer lies even deeper, at a depth of around 2800 km, and is associated with structures at the core–mantle boundary: the Large-Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs). These prominent continent-sized structures appear to have a big impact on how the surface behaves.

Clint Conrad, from Norway’s Centre for Earth Evolution Dynamics, said, “There is a link between the flow in the mantle, where convection cells drive plate tectonics, and major plume locations. The flow along the core–mantle boundary pushes plume material against the LLSVPs, forming the plumes. In models, this flow is driven by downwelling slabs that surround the two LLSVPs. The Canary Islands, for example, site above the edge of the African LLSVP.”

However, the exact origin and build-up of the LLSVPs remains elusive. At the recent 4D Earth Science meeting alternative concepts and ideas were discussed using satellite data and seismological models, which will hopefully lead to more detailed studies of Earth interior in the near future.

Bart Root from TU Delft, one of the organisers, summarises, “Clearly a multidisciplinary approach is needed, where different types of satellite data are combined with seismological data in a common way to address the exact structure of Earth’s deep interior.”

GOCE

ESA’s Diego Fernandez noted, “I’m happy to see that this ESA Science for Society project is yielding results that will further improve our understanding of the deep-lying sources of the events such as we’ve just seen in La Palma and Tonga.

“It is worth noting that data from the GOCE satellite has been key to this research. GOCE, which mapped variations in Earth’s gravity field with extreme detail and precision, completed its mission in orbit back in 2013 – and scientists still rely on the data. This is another example of the benefits our satellite missions bring well beyond their life in orbit. ”

Related links:

GOCE: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/GOCE

FutureEO: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO

ESA’s Science for Society 3D Earth project: https://eo4society.esa.int/projects/stse-3d-earth/

Observing the Earth: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/Planetary Visions/AOES-Medialab.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Innovation by the dozen: ESA funds 12 new OPS-SAT experiments

 

ESA - OPS-SAT patch & ESA logo.

Feb 15, 2022

ESA's OPS-SAT is a Swiss army knife in orbit. The 30-cm CubeSat packs a powerful onboard computer and an array of instruments that make it the ideal laboratory for testing innovative new technologies in space.

Thanks to the ESA Discovery programme, 12 new experiments will be doing just that, as they develop software, concepts and protocols that push the robust CubeSat to its limits and that could one day be essential parts of future spacecraft missions.

OPS-SAT – the flying laboratory

The OPS-SAT Space Lab is ESA's only spacecraft open to innovation for anyone in Europe and enables new and exciting ideas to be tested live in space without the risk of damaging a multi-million-Euro satellite. Last summer, ESA's Discovery programme issued a call for ideas for European industry and academia to apply to win funding and fly their experiments on a flight computer more powerful than any ESA has launched before.

"We were overwhelmed by the quality of the proposals we received," says OPS-SAT spacecraft manager David Evans. "Our first task was to assess them on their innovativeness, with many more than we expected passing with flying colours. That made it really tricky to narrow them down."

OPS-SAT replica

55 proposals in total were submitted through ESA's Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP). 12 have now been awarded funding. The experiment ideas covered a wide range of ESA's activities: telecommunications, spacecraft operations, Earth observation, technology development and more, to the excitement of many across ESA.

"I am really impressed by the diversity of ideas people came up with for experiments that could be flown on OPS-SAT," adds David. "Particularly those using artificial intelligence. AI is a broad term for an effectively infinite toolbox, and it was great to see concrete applications using a variety of tools from across the field. It's clear to me that when we give academia and industry access to such a powerful processor on a satellite, there is no end to the creative things they’ll think to do with it."

More than the sum of their parts

With its call for ideas for OPS-SAT experiments, ESA was looking for innovative proposals that would benefit from the opportunity to demonstrate their concept in orbit on an active spacecraft. Proven experience in space and the investment of ESA funding are important steps for a concept's development and can help further legitimise it in the view of other potential stakeholders.

"The return on investment for all parties is improved when ESA shows its willingness to invest in these ideas," says David. "It's impressive what European industry produced with some initial seed funding. It has helped unlock further resources for industrial innovation by instilling confidence in the ideas."

OPS-SAT captures our home in space

For many experimenters seeking to build confidence in the potential commercial applications of their work, OPS-SAT is a unique opportunity. As there are multiple different teams carrying out many different experiments on board the CubeSat at once, some experimenters can offer their experiments as services to others to the benefit of all.

OPS-SAT experimenters designing flexible artificial intelligence algorithms for handling image data or designing generic ways to compress telemetry data, for example, can offer their own experiments as services to other teams that need to analyse images or send lots of data down to Earth. In doing so, the users don't have to reinvent existing applications and can focus on their experiments, while the service providers gain initial experience with feedback from end users representative of their potential future customers.

Innovation today, essential tomorrow

One of the areas ESA was particularly interested in receiving ideas was on the potential uses of OPS-SAT's Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).

Not long ago, updating the software on a spacecraft after launch was a nail-biting affair. What if something went wrong while the spacecraft was rebooting? What if something didn't reboot correctly? While a spacecraft operator might still let out an audible sigh of relief after a software update today, they are a powerful and necessary tool for getting the most out of a satellite throughout its lifetime and for recovering a spacecraft experiencing issues.

Now, reconfiguring hardware in flight is the new frontier. Spacecraft hardware is directly controlled by a layer of simple software known as firmware – more similar to the software in the integrated chip in your refrigerator than that running your web browser right now.

Altering this firmware after launch is still risky business. But technologies like OPS-SAT's FPGAs open up new possibilities for reconfiguring satellite hardware in flight in a safe and controlled manner. This is one of the next big areas of opportunity for innovation in spacecraft operations and OPS-SAT offers a unique test-bed for the experimental approaches today that may become important routine tools tomorrow.

The Open Space Innovation Platform

OSIP provides a flexible platform that helps ESA discover novel ideas and invest in unconventional activities to support the advancement of the European space industry. The platform brings together exciting ideas from companies and institutions in Europe with ESA experts like David Evans to take them to the next level.

The Open Space Innovation Platform

"I was really impressed with how OSIP helped us reach new audiences and increase the awareness of OPS-SAT in academic and industrial communities in Europe," says David. "As a result, we have a good number of new faces who are running their first experiments on OPS-SAT under this campaign. We are very excited to see how they'll approach it."

Related article:

Interplanetary internet & cameras in space: ESA’s OPS-SAT first results
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/12/interplanetary-internet-cameras-in.html

Related links:

OPS-SAT: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/OPS-SAT

Discovery and Preparation: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Discovery_and_Preparation

ESA's Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP): https://ideas.esa.int/

Animation, Images, Text, Credits: ESA/Stijn Laagland.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Russian Cargo Craft Blasts off to Resupply Station

 

ROSCOSMOS - Russian Vehicles patch.

Feb 15, 2022

The uncrewed Russian Progress 80 is safely in orbit headed for the International Space Station following launch at 11:25 p.m. EST (9:25 a.m. on Feb. 15 Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Image above: Russia’s Progress 80 resupply ship blasted off on Feb. 14 at 11:25 p.m. EST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Image Credit: NASA TV.

The resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned on its way to meet up with the orbiting laboratory and its Expedition 66 crew members.

After making 34 orbits of Earth on its journey, Progress will dock to the station’s Poisk module on the space-facing side of the Russian segment at 2:06 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 17. Live coverage on NASA TV of rendezvous and docking will begin at 1:30 a.m.

Progress MS-19 launch (on-board camera view)

Progress will deliver almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station. The Russian space agency Roscosmos will determine a departure date for Progress 80.

Related link:

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/NASA TV/ROSCOSMOS/SciNews.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Crew Gets Ready for Pair of Cargo Missions Launching this Week

 

ISS - Expedition 66 Mission patch.

Feb 14, 2022

A Russian cargo craft is at its launch pad counting down to a lift off tonight to resupply the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the seven-member Expedition 66 crew stayed focused on a variety of research activities while getting ready for another cargo mission due to arrive early next week.

Russia’s ISS Progress 80 resupply ship stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies. The 80th cargo mission from Roscosmos is due to launch tonight at 11:25 p.m. EST and automatically dock to the Poisk module on Thursday at 2:06 a.m. live on NASA TV and the agency’s website and the NASA app.

Image above: The Nauka multipurpose laboratory module and the Prichal docking module are pictured as the space station orbited above Australia. Image Credit: NASA.

A U.S. cargo mission is also on tap to launch on Saturday at 12:40 p.m. from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Northrop Grumman Cygnus space freighter will arrive at a point about 10 meters from the space station when the Canadarm2 robotic arm, commanded by NASA Flight Engineer Raja Chari, will capture the vehicle at 4:35 a.m. next Monday. Robotics controllers on the ground will take over shortly afterward and remotely install Cygnus to the Unity module a couple of hours later. Chari and his back up NASA Flight Engineer Kayla Barron are training today on a computer for the upcoming robotics activities.

While two rockets are getting ready to blast off to the orbiting lab this week, the space lab residents stayed busy today with space science and station maintenance activities.

Progress MS-19 ready for launch

NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei continued setting up the Combustion Integrated Rack for the upcoming SoFIE, or Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction, series of fire safety studies. Astronaut Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) participated in a vision test then wore a specialized body suit that stimulates muscles for the EasyMotion exercise study. NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn started the day on computer maintenance before spending the afternoon in the Tranquility module working on the U.S. treadmill.

Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos activated the EarthKAM experiment in the Harmony module for a weeklong session of Earth photography remotely-controlled by students on the ground. Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov continued setting up the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module for operations.

Related links:

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

Expedition 66: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition66/index.html

Poisk module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/poisk-mini-research-module-2

Canadarm2 robotic arm: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-servicing-system.html

Unity module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/unity

Combustion Integrated Rack: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=317

Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction: https://go.nasa.gov/3oxUJ54

EasyMotion: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8526

Tranquility module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/tranquility/

Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony

Nauka multipurpose laboratory module:  https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/nauka/

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), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Roscosmos/SciWews.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch