Astronaut Mark Vande Hei assists spacewalkers Kayla Barron and Thomas Marshburn. (Nov. 18, 2021)
The Expedition 66 crew continued preparing today for the first of two spacewalks set to begin next week to continue upgrading the International Space Station's power system.
Vein scans were also on Thursday's schedule helping scientists understand how living in space affects the human body.
NASA Flight Engineers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari are set to switch their U.S. spacesuits to battery power at 8:05 a.m. EST on Tuesday and spend six-and-a-half hours installing a modification kit on the space station's Starboard-3 truss structure. The new hardware will enable the upcoming installation of a third roll-out solar array increasing the station's power output and augmenting the existing solar arrays.
The duo was joined by fellow station astronauts Tom Marshburn of NASA and Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) for a spacewalk procedures review and conference with specialists on the ground. Marshburn and Maurer will assist the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits, operate the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and monitor their external activities. Mission managers will talk about the spacewalk, as well as a second one planned for March 23, live on the NASA TV app and the website on Monday at 2 p.m. NASA TV begins its live spacewalk broadcast on Tuesday at 6:30 a.m.
The four astronauts also took turns scanning each other's neck, shoulder and leg veins using the Ultrasound 2 device. Chari and Maurer took turns as the crew medical officer on Thursday afternoon imaging Marshburn's and Barron's veins. Doctors on the ground monitored the biomedical activities and will examine downlinked imagery as part of periodic crew health assessments.
NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei worked throughout the day on maintenance activities servicing research gear and communications hardware. He started the day in the Kibo laboratory module placing combustion science components inside a payload rack then installed a wireless system in the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.
In the station's Russian segment, Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov evaluated an artificial gravity suit that counteracts the pooling of fluids in a crew member's upper body. The lower body negative pressure suit expands veins and tissues in the lower body possibly preventing vision changes and head pressure in microgravity.
Behavioral Core Measures (BCM): ROBoT-r Research sessions consisting of a set of 12 runs/tests were performed. The Standardized Behavioral Measures for Detecting Behavioral Health Risks during Exploration Missions (Behavioral Core Measures) experiment initially examined a suite of measurements to reliably assess the risk of adverse cognitive or behavioral conditions and psychiatric disorders during long-duration spaceflight and evaluated the feasibility of those tests within the operational and time constraints of spaceflight for two crewmembers. Subsequent subjects perform a subset of the original activities to measure the performance capabilities of deconditioned crew members to complete either individual or crew telerobotic operations within the first 24 hours after landing. This information could help characterize what tasks a crewmember who has spent months in weightlessness can reasonably be expected to perform after landing on the surface of Mars.
Collapsible Contingency Urinal (CCU): The crew participated in a debrief to discuss use of the CCU, followed by a clean-up and stow of the hardware. The CCU is exploration hardware flown to the ISS as a tech demo. The approach includes a fractal wetting design that incorporates smart capillary fluidics. This work could have a broad impact on capillary-based fluid management on spacecraft and on Earth.
Materials Science Research Rack/Materials Science Laboratory (MSRR/MSL): The crew gained access to the furnace area, removed the processed sample, and inserted the next Microstructure Formation in Casting of Technical Alloys under Diffusive and Magnetically Controlled Convective Conditions (MICAST) Sample Cartridge Assembly (SCA) to be processed. The MICAST experiment aims to deepen the understanding of the physical principles that govern solidification processes in metal alloys.
Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM): The SCEM facility hardware was installed into the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) work volume. SCEM will be used to host the FLARE investigation. Fundamental Research on International Standard of Fire Safety in Space - Base for Safety of Future Manned Missions (FLARE), which is a JAXA investigation, explores the flammability of materials in microgravity. Various solid fuels are burned under different conditions and observed inside a flow tunnel. Microgravity significantly affects combustion phenomena and results are expected to contribute to the improvement of fire safety in space.
Touching Surfaces: The crew performed a periodic touching of the Touch Arrays which are deployed in five different locations in the US segment of ISS. Previous space research conducted during short-term flight experiments and long-term environmental monitoring on board orbiting space stations (such as MIR or the ISS) suggests that the relationship between humans and microbes is altered in the crewed habitat in space. This interdisciplinary project Touching Surfaces aims to investigate novel, laser-structured antimicrobial surfaces onboard the ISS. The realistic testing of the tailor-made nanostructured antimicrobial surface in space allows for the determination of the most suitable design for antimicrobial surfaces for terrestrial applications such as public transportation and clinical settings, as well as future human space mission and habitation design.
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparation Activities: Several activities were completed in preparation for the upcoming 3A ISS Roll Out Solar Array (IROSA) Prep EVA. The EVA GoPro Batteries were charged and the card was verified to be installed, which prevents inconsistent charging issues. EVA procedures were reviewed, including several briefing packages, a detailed timeline, a tool config summary, get-aheads, and cautions and warnings. The crew terminated Autocycle Li-Ion Rechargeable EVA Batteries using the EMU Li-Ion Battery Charger and the 28V Power Supply Assembly (PSA) Utility Power Outlet (UPO). Two D5 cameras were also configured for EVA activities. The crew swapped EMUs 3015 and 3004 on the EMU Don/Doff Assemblies (EDDAs) and resized EMU 3015. Hardware not being utilized for the EVA was unstowed from the Airlock and the Airlock was prepped to support EVA operations. Lastly, the crew participated in an EVA Procedure Conference with EVA and Increment team leads and other program personnel.
Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement Survey: To support monitoring of the health of the ISS IMV system, a Velocicalc device was used to take measurements of air flow exiting outlets and entering inlets of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM). In addition to flow rate measurements, inspections of the outlets and inlets were performed.
None Today's Ground Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
LSR Check-Out Actvities in MCM Mode following Operative System Update Exposed Facility Unit 4 Preparation for Mate EFU 4 Activation and Safing Verify JEMRMS Maneuver for NREP Stow JEM Airlock Capture Mechanism Release NREP NREP berthing to EFU 4 Look Ahead Plan
APM Node 3 install BCM-ROBoT CAL MTL Leak Check CIMON T/S CIR/SOFIE Insert Config 2 EasyMotion/T2 Food Physiology HRF PC1 Software Update J-FROST-2 CCU2 Install LSG Cleanup/Config Payload Hardware Trash Retinal Diagnostics SAMS CU Laptop Replace SCEM Insert Space Biofilms-2 Plate Fixation SQuARE Systems:
SAFER Checkout REBA Powered Hardware Checkout JEM Stowage Consolidation EVA Cuff Checklist Print IFM Brick Orientation SSC 10 and 20 Swap EVA Tool Configuring IFM WHC Pre-Treat Tank R&R/Fill Photo TV GoPro Setup Saturday, March 12 (GMT 71) Payloads:
IDA Docking Ring MLI Floating Bracket Fit-check Sunday, March 13 (GMT 72) Payloads:
Crew Off-Duty Day Today's Planned Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.
Health Maintenance System (HMS) Periodic Health Status (PHS) Evaluation - Subject SQuARES Flexible Daily Imagery Health Maintenance System (HMS) Periodic Health Status (PHS) Evaluation - Crew Medical Officer (CMO) Intelligent Glass Optics Probe Exchange Health Maintenance System (HMS) Periodic Health Status (PHS) Stow Hardware Collapsible Contingency Urinal (CCU) Drain And Trash Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT) Photo TV EVA Go Pro Battery Charging Behavioral Core Measures ROBoT-r Test Touching Event for the Touching Surfaces experiment [aborted] Insert USB thumb drive into ELC5 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #1 Procedure Review for Extravehicular Crew LSG Work Volume Deploy/Stow [aborted] Remove USB thumb drive from ELC5 and Label Glovebox Freezer Deploy Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Lithium Rechargeable (EVA) Battery Assembly (LREBA) Operations (OPS) Terminate (TERM) ESA Weekly crew conference Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Cold Plate Check Solid Combustion (SCEM) install to Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Work Volume Photo/TV Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Camera Configuration Material Science Laboratory SCA Exchange Material Science Laboratory Laptop Check Cryo Chiller Sample Cartridge Removal and Decontamination Payloads Network Attached Storage (NAS) Vent Cleaning LSG Primary Crew Restraint Unfold/Fold Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification Rodent Research LSG Clean Up Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Swap Ultrasound 2 HRF Rack 2 Power On Health Maintenance System (HMS) Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Prep. IWIS RSU (Internal Wireless Instrumentation System Remote Sensor Unit) Pre-gather Re-install IWIS RSU (Internal Wireless Instrumentation System Remote Sensor Unit) in the PRK Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Resize Combustion Integrated Rack Hardware Return Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Airlock Unstow Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Procedure Conference Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in Columbus Health Maintenance System (HMS) Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Subject Prep. Health Maintenance System (HMS) Venous Thromboembolism Scan Health Maintenance System (HMS) Venous Thromboembolism Scan performed by a Crew Medical Officer (CMO) Collapsible Contingency Urinal (CCU) Crew conference Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Intermodule Ventilation (IMV) Flow Measurement Survey Glovebox Freezer - Life Science Glovebox - Teardown Health Maintenance System (HMS) Ultrasound 2 Post Exam Accept handover of SSC 26 from USOS Transfer Hardware to Russian Segment Flight Director/ISS CREW CONFERENCE
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