Dragon Preps, Human Research, and Life Support Wrap Up Week
The Expedition 70 crew has turned its attention to an upcoming cargo mission and ongoing human research following a pair of spacewalks at the International Space Station. The orbital residents also continued their standard lab maintenance tasks while working in a pair of docked resupply ships. NASA astronauts Loral O?Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli partnered together at the end of the week training for the upcoming arrival of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. The duo first reviewed Dragon?s approach and rendezvous procedures. Next, they practiced on a computer the techniques they will use while monitoring Dragon?s automated arrival and docking. Dragon is targeted to launch at 8:28 p.m. EST on Nov. 9 carrying science experiments, food, crew supplies, and hardware to the orbiting lab. The commercial cargo craft is planned to dock to the Harmony module?s forward port at 5:20 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11. NASA TV, on the agency?s app and website, will broadcast both the launch and docking of SpaceX?s 29th commercial resupply mission. Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa began his day in the Kibo laboratory module servicing a science freezer and uploading software for an Astrobee docking demonstration. Afterward, he stowed biology research hardware and serviced life support gear. Furukawa, from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), joined O?Hara at the end of the day for an eye examination. He imaged her eyes and retinas using standard medical gear found in an optometrist?s office on Earth. Commander Andreas Mogensen spent his morning in the Destiny laboratory module collecting water samples and replacing components inside an oxygen generator. Moghbeli assisted Mogensen, from ESA (European Space Agency), installing a new hydrogen sensor on the oxygen generator while he was finishing the maintenance job. Mogensen also worked in the afternoon inside the Columbus laboratory module studying how microgravity affects cellular immune functions. In the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko continued studying 3D printing that may help crews become less dependent on cargo missions from Earth. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub packed the Progress 84 cargo craft with trash and obsolete gear in advance of its departure later this month. Finally, Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov worked on orbital plumbing tasks transferring fluids into the Progress 85 cargo craft.
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