The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, loaded with scientific research and equipment, will remain at the International Space Station (ISS) for an additional week as mission managers monitor weather conditions at potential splashdown sites.
Meanwhile, the Expedition 72 crew has been busy preparing for a spacewalk scheduled for later in December, while also maintaining scientific hardware and exercise equipment aboard the station.
SpaceX Dragon’s Delayed Departure
The planned return of the Dragon resupply spacecraft on Friday, December 6, was postponed due to unfavorable weather forecasts near the splashdown zone off Florida’s coast. NASA and SpaceX now aim for a new departure date of Thursday, December 12, after a week of high sun exposure at the station. Live coverage of the spacecraft’s undocking and departure will begin at 10:50 a.m. EST on NASA+. The Dragon is expected to autonomously detach from the Harmony module’s forward port around 11:05 a.m.
NASA astronauts completed installing science freezers packed with research samples and powered lockers with completed experiments inside Dragon. The crewmates also loaded a host of station hardware inside the spacecraft and secured it for the return to Earth. NASA and SpaceX support personnel will retrieve Dragon after its return to Earth and send the preserved scientific specimens and orbital gear to labs for analysis and maintenance.
Ongoing Research and Experimentation
Meanwhile, research continued on the space station as NASA astronauts and flight engineers Don Pettit and Butch Wilmore split their day working on a pair of space physics experiments. Wilmore first opened up the Microgravity Science Glovebox and removed research components for a study that explored ways to separate viruses from biological fluids and improve disease detection methods. Pettit followed and then installed new hardware in the glovebox that will support an investigation that may enable bulk crystal growth and large-scale semiconductor manufacturing in space.
Spacewalk Preparations and Spacesuit Maintenance
NASA astronaut and station commander Suni Williams spent a second day in the Quest airlock for more spacesuit work ahead of a series of spacewalk planned for early next year. Williams, a three-time space station resident, first swapped a data recorder box from one suit to another. Afterward, she inspected and serviced the spacesuit’s life support gear following the previous day’s suit resizing and configuration work.
NASA astronaut and flight engineer Nick Hague began his shift in the Tranquility module performing a six-month inspection on the COLBERT treadmill’s hardware and components. Hague then wrapped up his day inspecting tethers and gathering tools for a pair of cosmonauts who preparing for a spacewalk planned before Christmas.
Roscosmos cosmonauts and flight engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner spent most of Thursday studying for the year’s last spacewalk planned for Thursday, December 19. The duo collected tools from Hague and reviewed procedures that would see the spacewalkers spend about six-and-a-half hours in space removing external science experiments and relocating European robotic arm hardware on the station’s Roscosmos segment.
Earth Observations and Module Inspections
Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov completed an Earth observation session imaging in different wavelengths the effects of natural and human-caused impacts on the landscape below. The first-time space flyer moved on and inspected power supply units in the Zarya module and filled an oxygen generator in the Zvezda service module.
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
Follow us on Google and Google News.