Orbital Plumbing, Foam Physics Wrap Week as Crew-8 Nears Launch
More lab maintenance was on deck for the Expedition 70 crew as they worked on orbital plumbing and cleaned crew quarters throughout Friday. The seven orbital residents aboard the International Space Station also serviced a variety of science and electronics hardware while continuing to focus on the upcoming Commercial Crew swap.
NASA Flight Engineer Loral O?Hara spent most of her day inside the Tranquility module swapping out advanced hydraulic components inside the orbital outpost?s restroom, also known as the Waste and Hygiene Compartment. She was assisted by astronauts Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Satoshi Furukawa helping uninstall then reinstall the station?s toilet returning it to operational status.
Moghbeli from NASA wrapped up her day cleaning her crew quarters inside the Harmony module. Earlier, Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) cleaned his crew quarters on the opposite side of Harmony from Moghbeli?s. The duo each spent about two-and-a-half hours cleaning the quarters? vents, fans, air ducts, and sensors.
Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) began his shift in the Columbus laboratory module processing samples for a foam physics study potentially revealing phenomena not possible in Earth?s gravity. The experiment takes place inside Columbus? Fluid Science Laboratory and explores the coarsening and coalescing of foams that may improve fire safety, water cleaning, and other space and Earthbound applications.
Mogensen, Moghbeli, and Furukawa, along with cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, also continued packing personal items and station hardware throughout the day ahead of their upcoming departure aboard the SpaceX Dragon "Endurance" spacecraft. The quartet is planned to undock from the Harmony module?s space-facing port about a week after the SpaceX Crew-8 mission arrives aboard the SpaceX Dragon "Endeavour" spacecraft.
Crew-8 is targeting its liftoff for 11:16 p.m. EST on Saturday from NASA?s Kennedy Space Center. The Commercial Crew quartet, with Commander Matthew Dominick, Pilot Mike Barratt, and Mission Specialists Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin, is due to arrive at the station at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday for an automated docking to Harmony?s forward port. The foursome will become station flight engineers living and working in space for a six-month research mission.
In the station?s Roscosmos segment, Borisov and fellow cosmonaut Nikolai Chub tried on a unique suit being tested for its ability to draw fluids pooled in a crew member?s upper body toward the legs and feet. Space-caused fluid shifts toward the upper body are known to create eye and head pressure, as well as the more familiar space condition known as "puffy-face." Balancing body fluids in space may also help a crew member?s heart rate and blood pressure adjust more quickly to the return to Earth?s gravity.
Chub later joined veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko testing video cameras being downlinked to mission controllers on Earth. The duo also familiarized themselves with hardware that measures the aerodynamic forces the station experiences while orbiting Earth and when spaceships dock and undock.
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