While immunity studies continue aboard ISS the SpaceX Dragon launch on the Falcon 9 rocket was delayed due to a drone ship power issue. The launch occurred in the last 15 hours.
IMMUNITY STUDIES CONTINUE AFTER SPACEX LAUNCH
Immunity studies continue while the ISS crew prepare for the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon supply ship with a minor delay with the launch.
NASA reported the launch of the Dragon supply ship to the International Space Station after a 15 hour delay. Science and immunity studies continue. The crew is practicing to receive the supply ship upon its arrival.
SpaceX launched just 15 hours ago. More than 5,500 pounds of cargo is on its way to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The company’s 17th commercial cargo mission to resupply the space station began at 2:48 a.m. EDT on May 4, 2019, with liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral.
MISSION LAUNCH DELAY
While immunity studies continue aboard ISS the SpaceX Dragon launch on the Falcon 9 rocket was delayed due to a drone ship power issue. The launch occurred in the last 15 hours.
This morning’s SpaceX Dragon launch was scrubbed due to a drone ship power issue. Launch coverage for the next attempt begins at 2:30 a.m. EDT Saturday, May 4, for a 2:48 a.m. launch. Viewers can watch it unfold on NASA Television and the agency’s website. This cargo delivery will replenish the International Space Station with nearly 5,500 pounds of science, supplies and hardware.
Today, onboard the space station, in addition to routine maintenance and housekeeping, mice are keeping the astronauts aboard busy with the Rodent Research-12 investigation. While David Saint-Jacques was occupied cleaning habitats and cameras and restocking food, Nick Hague, in addition to Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Christina Koch, spent time calibrating Mass Measurement Devices and establishing baseline readings.
TRAINING ABOARD SPACE STATION
Saint-Jacques and Hague spent some time to reviewing training and procedures for when they command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture the Dragon cargo craft at the International Space Station, which is now scheduled for Monday, May 6, at 7 a.m. following a May 4 launch.
Mice could be key to studying immunity responses in humans. Spaceflight is known to affect immunity, but there’s little research that has been conducted to see how, in fact, humans would respond to a challenge to the body’s immunity in space. Since a mouse’s immune system parallels that of humans, these animal models enable us to learn and understand how astronaut health can be sustained in microgravity.
Written By: Catherine Williams NASA
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Astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough are seen during a pre-breathe exercise before starting a spacewalk with NASA coverage on Jan. 13, 2017.
With over two weeks of preparation, two astronauts with NASA TV coverage conduct an extensive spacewalk outside the International Space Station. The following article comprises a series of articles over the last two days written by NASA’s Mark Garcia.
Astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough are seen during a pre-breathe exercise before starting a spacewalk with NASA coverage on Jan. 13, 2017.
Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will venture outside the International Space Station for a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk Friday, March 24. The spacewalk coverage will begin at 8 a.m. EDT, with complete coverage on NASA TV and the agency’s website starting at 6:30 a.m.
The two astronauts will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) for installation of the second International Docking Adapter, which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings.
Kimbrough and Pesquet will disconnect cables and electrical connections on PMA-3 to prepare for its robotic move Sunday, March 26. The PMA-3 provides the pressurized interface between the station modules and the docking adapter. PMA-3 will be moved from the port side of the Tranquility module to the space-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will become home for the docking adapter, which will be delivered on a future flight of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. The spacewalkers also will install on the starboard zero truss a new computer relay box equipped with advanced software for the adapter.
The two astronauts will lubricate the latching end effector on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator “extension” for the Canadarm2 robotic arm, inspect a radiator valve suspected of a small ammonia leak and replace cameras on the Japanese segment of the outpost. Radiators are used to shed excess heat that builds up through normal space station operation.
This will be the 198th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Kimbrough, who will embark on the fifth spacewalk of his career, will be wearing helmet camera #18. This will be the second spacewalk of Pesquet’s career, and he will be wearing helmet camera #20.
Earlier today:
Spacewalker Thomas Pesquet took a selfie during a spacewalk with NASA coverage on Jan. 13, 2017.
Two astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 7:24 a.m., EDT aboard the International Space Station to begin a spacewalk planned to last about six-and-a-half hours. Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will further prepare the space station for commercial spacecraft dockings, as well as perform maintenance and inspection.
Kimbrough is designated extravehicular crewmember 1 (EV 1), wearing the suit bearing red stripes. Pesquet is designated extravehicular crewmember 2 (EV 2), wearing the suit with no stripes.
And yesterday, preparations continued:
Astronaut Thomas Pesquet works on spacewalk gear where NASA can film coverage of the event, inside the U.S. Quest airlock.
Two astronauts are getting the Quest airlock and their equipment ready for a Friday morning spacewalk. The cosmonauts continued their human research program today exploring the various affects living in space.
Spacewalkers Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet will exit the Quest airlock Friday at 8 a.m. EDT to begin setting up the International Space Station for future commercial crew missions. The duo will work outside for about 6.5 hours on the first of three spacewalks scheduled to take place over the next two weeks.
Friday’s major tasks include disconnecting cables from the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 ahead of its relocation from the Tranquility module to the Harmony module on Sunday. The latching end of the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator will also be lubricated and computer relay boxes with commercial crew software upgrades will be replaced. NASA TV will cover the spacewalk activities live beginning Friday at 6:30 a.m.
Cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Oleg Novitskiy collected their blood, saliva and urine samples today for a metabolism study and an immunity experiment. Researchers will analyze these samples to learn how microgravity affects humans and provide countermeasures to keep crew members healthy.
Earlier, this past Wednesday, on board preparations were underway for the upcoming spacewalk:
With NASA TV coverage, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet is photographed during a spacewalk in January 2017.
Three astronauts are preparing for a Friday morning spacewalk to upgrade and maintain the International Space Station’s external systems. The three cosmonauts stayed focused today on their set of Russian space experiments and life support work.
Astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency are reviewing procedures for the spacewalk set to begin Friday at 8 a.m. EDT with live NASA TV coverage at 6:30 a.m. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson joined the pair for the review and will assist the spacewalkers from inside the station.
Friday’s spacewalk will see Kimbrough and Pesquet begin setting up the station for future commercial crew missions. They will prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 for removal from the Tranquility module to the Harmony module. The astronauts will also replace computer relay boxes with software upgrades for future dockings of commercial crew vehicles.
In the midst of the spacewalk work today, Pesquet received a call from the French President Francois Hollande who toured an observatory with school children outside Lyon, France. Kimbrough and Whitson answered questions submitted by social media fans on Facebook Live Tuesday morning
Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Andrey Borisenko documented what they ate for breakfast and lunch today for a pair of nutrition studies. The experiments are researching how diet affects a crew member’s metabolism and bone structure while living in space. Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov spent the day checking Russian life support gear and sampling drinking water.
Preparations continued for the upcoming spacewalk for March 24th with an incredible view of ISS attached spaceships orbiting earth:
This long-exposure photograph shows the docked Soyuz and Progress vehicles as the International Space Station orbits above the Earth.
The astronauts took a break from spacewalk preparations today and checked out an expandable module and worked on science freezers. The crew also continued its human research program exploring space nutrition and the effects of microgravity on metabolism and the immune system.
Thomas Pesquet opened the hatches to the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) today for a status check. The European Space Agency astronaut sampled BEAM’s air and surfaces for microbes and installed impact sensors. He also used a digital camera with a fish-eye lens to capture 360-degree imagery of the inside of BEAM.
Veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson serviced three science freezers ensuring biological samples can be preserved for return on an upcoming SpaceX Dragon mission. She also brushed up on robotics skills necessary for Friday’s spacewalk.
Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy logged his meals again today before collecting saliva samples for an immunity study. Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko researched how living in space long term affects metabolism and a crew member’s psychophysiological state.
Follow @space_station on Twitter for updates. For more information about the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov/station.
Written By: Mark Garcia NASA
UNIVERSAL DIGEST is pleased to be a conduit for some of NASA’s projects and work. This article and some others were written by NASA and are mostly unedited. We do not claim credit, we simply want to make them more available to the general public.
Please note: When multiple articles are published regarding singular/similar events during a specific time period, Universal Digest will combine detail into one article. This is still mostly unedited material written by the same author.
