Crew Continues Biology Research, Station Upkeep on Friday
The Expedition 70 crew is back to work following yesterday?s off-duty day to observe the Thanksgiving holiday. After enjoying holiday treats like chocolate, duck, quail, seafood, pumpkin spice cappuccino and more, the seven International Space Station residents focused on space biology research and station upkeep on Friday. In the morning, Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA serviced components on the BioFabrication Facility (BFF), a 3D printer used to print organ-like tissues in microgravity. She then moved on to other space biology tasks, deploying the work volume in the Life Sciences Glovebox to culture cells for the Bacterial Adhesion and Corrosion investigation, a study that examines bacterial genes in microgravity and whether they can corrode various surfaces in the orbiting laboratory. Studies of the sort help researchers better understand the effectiveness of disinfection in extreme environments. Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) took over Moghbeli?s work on BFF, continuing to service components throughout the afternoon. Ahead of this task, he captured images of cells for the Cerebral Aging investigation, which may provide insights to scientists on Earth on accelerated aging symptoms. Cargo transfers continued throughout Friday as Flight Engineer Loral O?Hara of NASA spent the morning unstowing items from the Dragon spacecraft that arrived to the station last week. In the afternoon, she completed some orbital plumbing, testing the tank capacity of the Brine Processor. Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) was also tasked with orbital plumbing in the morning, setting up the drain in the wastewater processing system. Throughout the rest of the day, he continued with station upkeep, cleaning and inspecting hatches. The Roscosmos trio living and working in microgravity?Flight Engineers Nikolai Chub, Oleg Kononenko, and Konstantin Borisov? spent Friday prepping the Progress 84 spacecraft ahead of its undocking from the Poisk module at 2:55 a.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 29. Kononenko also powered up a 3D printer to demonstrate printing tools and parts in space.
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