Veg-03 Wick Opening: FE-3 opened the wicks on the plant pillows to allow for better growth capability. The overall goal of Veg-03 is to further demonstrate proof-of concept for the Veggie plant growth chamber and the planting pillows. Future long-duration missions into the solar system, finally culminating on Mars, will require a fresh food supply …
Cygnus Cargo Operations: The crew was originally scheduled to ingress the Cygnus vehicle this morning, however the crew got ahead of the timeline and ingressed on Sunday, October 23rd. Today the crew performed Cygnus cargo transfer operations off the tasklist during the time that was allocated for ingress. Airway Monitory Reconfiguration: Following Tuesday’s successful Airway …
Meteor Operations: FE-6 exchanged the hard drive then removed and replaced the grating in the Meteor Camera located in the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). The Meteor payload is a visible spectroscopy instrument with the primary purpose of observing meteors in Earth orbit. Meteor uses image analysis to provide information on the physical and chemical …
Veg-03 Initiation: FE-3 configured and installed the Vegetable Production System (Veggie) on the Maintenance Work Area (MWA) and then installed six Small Plant Pillows to hold the ‘Outredgeous’ red romaine lettuce plants. Ground teams plan to grow the lettuce plants for two months, with four harvests planned. The overall goal of Veg-03 is to further …
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Ingress and Sampling: FE-6 stowed the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) then opened Node3 Aft hatch to ingress the BEAM. Once inside, the crew collected Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) and Surface Sample Kit (SSK) microbial and surface samples and deployed the Radiation Area Monitors (RAMs) delivered on 48Soyuz (48S). The …
Cygnus Rendezvous and Capture: This morning the crew monitored the Cygnus approach from the Cupola Robotic Workstation and successfully captured Cygnus using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) at 6:28 am CDT. The Ground Robotics team maneuvered Cygnus into position to inspect the Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM), and berthed Cygnus onto the Node-1 …
48 Soyuz (48S) Dock: 48S launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday, October 19th, and docked to the ISS this morning bringing Ryzhikov, Borisenko, and Kimbrough to the ISS. Docking to the Mini Research Module-2 (MRM-2) module was completed at 4:53 am CDT with hatch opening at 7:20 am CDT. Today’s docking increases the ISS …
Group Combustion Troubleshooting: FE-5 resumed the troubleshooting on the Group Combustion Experiment Module (GCEM). The crew removed the GCEM Combustion Chamber Element (CCE) from the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) rack and installed it on the Work Bench to verify the air supply line Quick Disconnect (QD) connections. FE-5 then reinstalled the Combustion Chamber and …
Soyuz 48S Launch: 48S launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at GMT 293/08:05:14.378, carrying Expedition 49 crewmembers Shane Kimbrough, Andrei Borisenko, and Sergey Ryzhikov to the ISS. Vehicle experienced a nominal ascent and all solar arrays and antennas successfully deployed. The Soyuz will perform a 34-orbit rendezvous before docking with the ISS on Friday, October 21 …
Orbital ATK (OA)-5 Launch: The Cygnus spacecraft successfully launched from Wallops Island, Virginia atop an Antares rocket on Monday at 6:45pm CDT. The spacecraft will loiter until after 48S docking, scheduled for Friday, October 21st. Cygnus approach, capture, and berthing will occur on Sunday, 23-October. Cygnus will be delivering approximately 2,400 kg of pressurized cargo …
