Expedition 71 Prepares to Welcome Boeings Starliner Crew
It was a light duty day aboard the International Space Station for four Expedition 71 astronauts as they await the launch and arrival of Boeing's Crew Flight Test. The orbital outpost's three cosmonauts had their day full as they kept up lab maintenance and researched a variety of microgravity phenomena.
NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt kicked off Monday morning with a series of biomedical tests to help doctors understand how living in space affects the human body. Dyson first collected her saliva samples then stowed them in a science freezer for later analysis. Afterward, she drew her blood then processed those samples with assistance from Barratt before spinning them in a centrifuge then stowing them in a science freezer.
Next, Barratt joined NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick and set up in-ear sensors that will monitor an astronaut's sleep patterns in space. Researchers will record the data and compare it to a crew member's sleep patterns on Earth before and after a space mission. The Sleep in Orbit investigation will help doctors learn how sleep differs on and off the Earth and promote an astronaut's cognitive well-being.
All three astronauts then joined NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps, who had the entire day off, and relaxed the rest of their shift while also conducting in their daily exercise sessions.
The quartet will work half-a-day on Tuesday then go to bed early and get a good night's sleep before the arrival of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The Commercial Crew duo is scheduled to launch aboard Starliner atop United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket at 10:34 p.m. EDT today from Florida. Starliner is due to dock to the orbital lab's forward port on the Harmony module at 12:46 a.m. on Wednesday. Watch live on the NASA+ streaming service via the web or the NASA app. Mission coverage also will air live on NASA Television, YouTube, and on the agency's website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
Roscosmos' three cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin had a full day on Monday tending to ongoing research and ensuring the upkeep of the space station. Kononenko spent his shift servicing life support gear and science hardware. Chub cleaned airducts in the Nauka science module then photographed the condition of windows in the Zvezda service module. Grebenkin worked throughout the day on orbital plumbing duties and computer maintenance while also studying how international crews and controllers con improve communications.
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