July 2019 – Page 4 – Space Station

Life Support Work Aboard Lab as Next Crew Preps for Mission

Earth's atmospheric glow, highlighted by the Moon and a starry orbital nighttime — Earth’s atmospheric glow, highlighted by the Moon and a starry orbital nighttime background, are pictured as the International Space Station orbited 256 miles above the Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Hawaiian island chain.

The three Expedition 60 crewmembers aboard the International Space Station focused primarily on keeping the orbiting lab in tip-top shape today. At the end of the workday, the trio split up for some space gardening and Earth photography.

NASA Flight Engineers Christina Koch and Nick Hague teamed up on Tuesday replacing components in the station’s Water Recovery System (WRS). The time-consuming maintenance work requires the rotation of racks and a treadmill to access the WRS in the Tranquility module. The life support device processes water vapor and urine and converts it into drinkable water.

Hague wrapped up his workday servicing a science freezer before watering plants growing for a space botany study. Koch worked out on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device then called down to Mission Control for a conference with flight surgeons.

On the Russian side of the station, Commander Alexey Ovchinin explored advanced photography techniques before an afternoon of lab cleaning work. In the evening, the veteran cosmonaut photographed Earth targets documenting the effects of human and natural catastrophes.

The orbiting trio will take a day off on July 4 and relax aboard the station. Back on Earth, a new set of Expedition 60 crewmates will fly from Russia on the U.S. Independence Day to their launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Astronauts Andrew Morgan and Luca Parmitano are in final preparations with cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov for a July 20 liftoff to their new home in space. Their launch comes 50 years to the day NASA landed humans on the Moon for the first time.

New Crew in Final Preps Before Historic July 20 Launch

Expedition 60 crewmembers aboard a Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center aircraft — Expedition 60 crewmembers (from left) Drew Morgan, Alexander Skvortsov and Luca Parmitano affix a crew insignia sticker to the hull of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center aircraft as they flew to their training base in Kazakhstan July 4.

The next crew to liftoff to the International Space Station arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site on the U.S. Independence Day awaiting a historic July 20 liftoff.

New Expedition 60 crewmates Andrew Morgan, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov are in final mission preparations in Kazakhstan. The trio arrived July 4 counting down to a July 20 launch to the orbiting lab 50 years to the date NASA landed humans on the Moon for the first time.

Morgan is going to space for the first time and will meet his fellow Class of 2013 NASA astronaut members, Christina Koch and Nick Hague, who have been at the station since March. Parmitano is on his second mission. Skvortsov, who is leading the mission aboard the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft, is making his third visit to the space station.

Back aboard the station, the three orbiting Expedition 60 crewmembers continued science and maintenance duties. Koch sampled the station’s life support system for microbes while Hague serviced a specialized science furnace. Ovchinin checked on Russian station systems and monitored a radiation exposure study.

Station Trio Works CubeSats, Space Plumbing Ahead of Historic July 20 Launch

Upcoming Expedition 60 crewmembers (from left) Drew Morgan, Alexander Skvortsov and Luca Parmitano pose for pictures at the Kremlin Wall at Red Square in Moscow on June 28.

The Expedition 60 crew is configuring more CubeSats for deployment and working on space plumbing aboard the International Space Station today. Back on Earth, three crewmembers from the U.S., Italy and Russia are in training for their launch to the station on July 20.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague installed hardware that will deploy seven CubeSats outside of the Kibo laboratory module this week. Engineers and students from around the world designed the series of seven microsatellites for a variety of experiments and technology demonstrations.

NASA Flight Engineer Christina Koch relocated a science freezer before some space gardening during Monday morning. She and Hague then took turns during the afternoon swapping filters and components in the station’s Water Recycling System.

Commander Alexey Ovchinin worked throughout the day in the orbiting lab’s Russian segment. The two-time station visitor tested laptop computer batteries, transferred urine to a Russian cargo craft and maintained life support systems.

In Russia, three upcoming station residents from NASA, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos are in final preparations ahead of their historic July 20 launch. Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov are launching 50 years to the day humans first landed on the Moon. The trio will liftoff aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft to their new home in space.