Researchers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) focused on three major areas of advanced research on Wednesday: disease detection, cellular immunity, and free-flying robotics.
Meanwhile, the Expedition 72 crew prepared for the year’s final spacewalk while awaiting the departure of a U.S. cargo spacecraft.
Genetic Research and Health Monitoring in Space
On Earth, scientists are leveraging the ISS’s microgravity environment to improve methods for detecting genetic mutations and viruses linked to diseases like cancer. This research could benefit both astronauts and people on Earth. NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit worked in the Harmony module’s maintenance area, processing RNA samples for visualization using a handheld fluorescence viewer. The goal is to rapidly identify genetic sequences that impact human health, aiding future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
NASA Flight Engineer Nick Hague began his day collecting his blood and saliva samples. He processed the specimens and stowed some of the samples in a science freezer and placed others inside the Kubik research incubator for later analysis. Doctors will study the samples to understand and prevent space-caused cellular stress and tissue damage. Hague also took off the Bio-Monitor headband and vest and downloaded the health data collected over two days from the biomedical wearables.
Robotic Operations and Material Science Experiments
Working in the Kibo laboratory module, NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore outfitted the toaster-sized Astrobee robotic free-flyer with a small docking mechanism for the Clingers technology demonstration. Engineers on the ground monitored the Astrobee as it tested autonomous navigation, docking, and undocking techniques using the Clingers device. Insights may boost space industry standardization of in-space refueling, repair, and manufacturing operations.
Spacecraft Management and Upcoming Events
Station Commander Suni Williams from NASA opened up the Materials Science Laboratory (MSL) inside the Columbus laboratory module troubleshooting its components. The MSL enables safe, high-temperature observations of materials such as metals, polymers, semiconductors, and more in weightlessness to discover new applications and create new materials.
Mission managers waved off the planned return of a Dragon resupply spacecraft on Thursday, December 12, due to forecasted unfavorable weather conditions at the splashdown site off the coast of Florida. NASA and SpaceX now are targeting Saturday, December 14, for the next undocking opportunity of NASA’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services spacecraft.
NASA’s live coverage of Dragon’s undocking and departure begins at 10:50 a.m. EST on NASA+ as the spacecraft autonomously undocks from the Harmony module’s forward port around 11:05 a.m. on Saturday.
Roscosmos Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner continued their spacewalk preparations on Wednesday. The duo checked their suits for leaks, tested communications and medical hardware, and installed spacewalking gear inside the Poisk module. The cosmonauts will exit Poisk into the vacuum of space at 10:10 a.m. EST on Thursday, December 19, and spend about six hours and 40 minutes removing science experiments and relocating robotic hardware.
Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov began his day working on video and computer hardware throughout the station’s Roscosmos segment. Afterward, he entered the Nauka science module activating the European robotic arm (ERA) and verifying mission data uploaded to the ERA.
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