Crew Wraps Week with Biotech Study, Spacesuits, and Orbital Plumbing
More biotechnology operations were underway aboard the International Space Station on Friday potentially benefitting the health care and food industries. The Expedition 71 crew members also worked on spacesuits as a U.S. cargo craft fired its engines raising the orbital outpost's altitude.
Research on the space station takes advantage of weightlessness to discover new phenomena impossible to observe in Earth's gravity. NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson continued exploring how microgravity affects surface tension to improve the delivery of therapies in human airways to treat respiratory conditions. She observed and filmed the microgravity behavior of fluid samples for the Gaucho Lung biotechnology study. Results may also reveal solutions to prevent contamination of tubes with intermittent flows of liquids.
Dyson then joined fellow NASA astronauts Mike Barratt and Matthew Dominick in the Quest airlock as they serviced a pair of spacesuits. The trio also outfitted the suits with lights and cameras ahead of a series of spacewalks planned in June for hardware maintenance and science work.
Earlier, Barratt partnered with NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps reconfiguring the Tranquility module and its systems to normal status after a couple of days of advanced plumbing work. Epps ended her day inside the Kibo laboratory module uploading software to the Astrobee robotic free flyers. The software work is for the Clingers demonstration studying docking and close approach maneuvers possibly impacting future satellite and spacecraft repairs, space manufacturing, and on-orbit refueling.
Northrop Grumman's Cygnus resupply ship is on track to fire its engines twice today while attached to the Unity module's Earth-facing port. The orbital maneuvers are programmed to boost the space station's altitude and ready the orbital lab for upcoming crew and cargo missions.
Roscosmos cosmonaut and space station Commander Oleg Kononenko activated a 3D printer testing its ability to manufacture tools and more on demand in space. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub packed the Progress 86 space freighter with trash and obsolete gear for disposal then updated the station's inventory system. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin wiped down and treated surfaces inside the Nauka science module for microbes and fungi.
Mission managers from NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) work toward 12:25 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 1, for the launch of the agency's Crew Flight Test to the space station. For more information visit https://go.nasa.gov/4ayy9y.
Thank you for reading the article! Follow us at Google News.
