June 2023 – Page 2 – Space Station

Cosmonauts Go for Spacewalk as Crew Works Cargo, Maintenance

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on May 3, 2023.

Preparations continue for Thursday’s spacewalk to replace hardware on the International Space Station. The Expedition 69 crew also stayed focused on ongoing cargo transfers while conducting a variety of lab maintenance on Wednesday.

Two cosmonauts are completing their task reviews and spacesuit configurations ahead of a spacewalk set to begin about 10:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space replacing science and communications hardware on the Zvezda and Poisk modules. NASA TV will begin its live spacewalk coverage at 9:45 a.m. on the agency’s app and website.

The duo started Wednesday morning reviewing the spacewalk timeline and the steps necessary to complete the hardware replacement work and the photographic inspections afterward. Following the timeline review, Prokopyev and Petelin installed lights, cameras, and batteries on their spacesuits with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen. This will be the cosmonauts’ fifth spacewalk together and the ninth spacewalk of 2023.

Bowen started his day with a hearing assessment before working on stowage activities in the Zenith-1 truss segment attached to the Unity module. He then spent his afternoon with NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg transferring cargo in and out of the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle. Earlier, Hoburg swapped out components inside the Tranquility module’s waste and hygiene compartment, or the station’s bathroom.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev joined his cosmonaut crewmates Wednesday morning for the spacewalk timeline review. Next, he gathered radiation sensors the spacewalkers will wear on their spacesuits on Thursday. In the afternoon, Fedyaev treated surfaces in the Zarya module with an anti-fungal agent then wrapped up his day with a hearing assessment.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio began his day inside the Columbus laboratory module swapping portable computer hard drives. He then spent the rest of the day inside the Quest airlock checking a battery charger and inspecting power cables. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi strapped sensors to himself to monitor his breathing volume and blood pressure while he pedaled on an exercise bike for the Cardiobreath human research study.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Crew Packing Dragon, Prepping for Next Spacewalk

Astronaut Woody Hoburg rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm and carrying a roll-out solar array to its installation point on the space station's starboard truss structure during a spacewalk on June 15, 2023. — Astronaut Woody Hoburg rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm and carrying a roll-out solar array to its installation point on the space station’s starboard truss structure during a spacewalk on June 15, 2023.

Cargo operations are under way aboard the International Space Station amidst a variety of physics and microbiology research activities. The Expedition 69 crew members are also preparing for another spacewalk later this week as they cleanup following last week’s spacewalk.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle is due to undock from the orbital outpost and return to Earth at the end of June. In the meantime, three NASA flight engineers took turns on Tuesday transferring cargo in and out of the vehicle. Astronaut Stephen Bowen resupplied the station with medical supply kits from inside Dragon then loaded the cargo vehicle with expired supplies for disposal. Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio each spent about two-and-a-half hours throughout the day moving supplies and hardware in and out of Dragon.

The trio also continued cleaning up following last week’s spacewalk when Hoburg and Bowen installed a roll-out solar array on space station’s Starboard-6 truss segment. Rubio scrubbed water cooling loops inside the spacesuits worn by the two spacewalkers. Hoburg and Bowen wrapped up their day stowing their spacewalking tools and spacesuits inside the Quest airlock.

Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) completed an experiment run for a study exploring how fuels behave in microgravity possibly improving spacecraft and satellite performance. Later, he joined Hoburg swabbing station surfaces and collecting air samples for microbial incubation and analysis.

Two cosmonauts are getting ready for the ninth spacewalk of the year scheduled to begin about 10:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk airlock and spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space replacing science and communications hardware on the Zvezda and Poisk modules. The duo from Roscosmos spent Tuesday organizing their spacewalking tools and installing components on their Orlan spacesuits.

Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent the first part of his day servicing Earth observation hardware then working on orbital plumbing tasks. In the afternoon, he moved to futuristic research wearing a sensor-filled cap that monitored his reactions as he practiced planetary spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques on a computer.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Crew Ends Week Completing Spacewalk, Preparing for Another

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg points the camera toward himself and takes an out-of-this-world "space-selfie" during a five-hour and 35-minute spacewalk to install a roll-out solar array on the International Space Station's truss structure. — NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg points the camera toward himself and takes an out-of-this-world “space-selfie” during a five-hour and 35-minute spacewalk to install a roll-out solar array on the International Space Station’s truss structure.

The International Space Station residents are going into the weekend following a busy week of spacewalk activities. The Expedition 69 crew members finished one spacewalk this week and are gearing up for another one next week.

NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Stephen Bowen completed installing the orbital outpost’s sixth roll-out solar array during a spacewalk on Thursday. The pair spent five hours and 35 minutes in the vacuum of space completing the installation job. On June 9, Hoburg and Bowen installed the other roll-out solar array that was delivered inside the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle on June 6. The very first roll-out solar array was installed exactly two years ago on June 16, 2021, by Expedition 65 spacewalkers Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency). With the six roll-out solar arrays installed and activated the station’s power generating capacity has been increased by about 30%.

Hoburg and Bowen were joined midday Friday by Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for a conference with mission controllers to discuss the previous day’s spacewalk. The standard post-spacewalk debriefing saw the quartet discuss experiences and issues they may have encountered to inform future spacewalks.

The four astronauts also had time for other tasks at the end of the week. Bowen, Hoburg, and Alneyadi took turns transferring cargo in and out of the Dragon cargo vehicle. Alneyadi also recharged water tanks inside spacesuits. Rubio had his eyes scanned with the Ultrasound 2 device with remote guidance from doctors on the ground.

The next spacewalk at the orbital outpost is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 22, when Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk airlock. The duo has been spending the week reviewing procedures and readying spacesuits for next week’s planned seven hour spacewalk. The two cosmonauts will go on their fifth spacewalk together to replace Roscosmos science and communications hardware then photograph the condition of the Zvezda service module.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev started Friday collecting data from radiation sensors that Hoburg and Bowen wore during their spacewalk. Afterward, he spent the rest of the day servicing a carbon dioxide removal device inside the Zvezda service module and cleaning vent screens in the Zarya module.

The space station is orbiting slightly higher after the 83P fired its engines for 13 minutes on Friday. The orbital reboost raises the station to the correct altitude for the upcoming docking of the ISS Progress 84 resupply mission.

NASA Spacewalkers Finish Installing Roll-Out Solar Array

A view of the new roll-out solar array unfolding after NASA astronauts Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg successfully installed it to the 1B power channel on June 15, 2023. Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 69 Flight Engineers Woody Hoburg and Steve Bowen of NASA concluded their spacewalk at 2:17 p.m. EDT after 5 hours and 35 minutes.

Hoburg and Bowen completed their major objective to install an IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) to augment power generation for the 1B power channel on the station’s starboard truss structure.

The new array is 60 feet long by 20 feet wide (18.2 meters by 6 meters) and is shading a little more than half of the original array, which is 112 feet long by 39 feet wide. Each new IROSA produces more than 20 kilowatts of electricity and together enable a 30% increase in power production over the station’s current arrays.

NASA and Boeing have a plan in place for a fourth set of roll-out arrays to further augment the International Space Station’s power supply. These arrays, which would be the seventh and eighth installed on space station, are targeted for delivery to the orbital outpost in 2025.

It was the 265th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance. The spacewalk marked the second for Hoburg and tenth for Bowen, tying him for the most spacewalks by a U.S. astronaut along with Mike Lopez-Alegria, Bob Behnken, Peggy Whitson, and Chris Cassidy.

Hoburg and Bowen are in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Astronauts Begin Spacewalk to Install Roll-Out Solar Array

Astronaut Woody Hoburg points the camera toward himself and takes an out-of-this-world "space-selfie" during a spacewalk on June 9, 2023. — Astronaut Woody Hoburg points the camera toward himself and takes an out-of-this-world “space-selfie” during a spacewalk on June 9, 2023.

Expedition 69 Flight Engineers Woody Hoburg and Steve Bowen of NASA began a spacewalk at 8:42 a.m. EDT to install an IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) to augment power generation for the 1B power channel on the station’s starboard truss structure.

Hoburg, designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1), is wearing a suit with red stripes. Bowen, designated extravehicular crewmember 2 (EV 2), is in an unmarked suit. Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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NASA Astronauts Prepare for Spacewalk Live on NASA TV

NASA astronauts (from left) Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will install a set of new roll-out solar arrays on the space station during today's spacewalk. — NASA astronauts (from left) Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will install a set of new roll-out solar arrays on the space station during today’s spacewalk.

NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Steve Bowen is now underway and is also available on the NASA app, the space station blog and the agency’s website.

The crew members of Expedition 69 are preparing to exit the International Space Station‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin about 8:55 a.m. EDT and last about six hours.

Hoburg and Bowen will install an IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) to augment power generation for the 1B power channel on the station’s starboard truss structure.

The new array is 60 feet long by 20 feet wide (18.2 meters by 6 meters) and will shade a little more than half of the original array, which is 112 feet long by 39 feet wide. Each new IROSA will produce more than 20 kilowatts of electricity, and once this array is installed, will enable a 30% increase in power production over the station’s current arrays.

Hoburg will serve as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Bowen will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and will wear the unmarked suit. The spacewalk will be the tenth for Bowen and the second for Hoburg.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Astronauts Ready for Thursday’s Spacewalk

Wednesday was a busy day for the Expedition 69 crew’s astronauts and cosmonauts as they continued preparing for two different spacewalks at the International Space Station. The first spacewalk will see two astronauts install another roll-out solar array on Thursday. The second spacewalk will take place a week later when two cosmonauts replace hardware and conduct photographic inspections.

Mission managers gave the “go” for Thursday’s spacewalk with NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Stephen Bowen. The duo will set their spacesuits to battery power at 8:55 a.m. signifying the official start of their second spacewalk together. The duo will spend about six hours installing a roll-out solar array on the opposite side of the starboard truss segment where they installed the previous roll-out solar array on Friday, June 9. NASA TV begins its live broadcast of the spacewalk at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday on the agency’s app and website.

Hoburg and Bowen started Wednesday readying their spacesuits inside the Quest airlock where they will exit the station into the vacuum of space on Thursday. After lunchtime, the duo organized their spacewalking tools and tethers inside Quest with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio. Finally, the three NASA astronauts joined Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for a final review of the spacewalk procedures and robotics activities necessary to support the solar array installation job.

Two cosmonauts are also getting ready for their own spacewalk scheduled for June 22 for maintenance on the outside of the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin spent Wednesday gathering spacewalking hardware, testing support equipment, and configuring their spacesuit components. The duo will exit the Poisk airlock next Thursday and spend about seven hours replacing communications and science hardware and photographing the condition of the Zvezda service module.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev started his morning working on life support maintenance tasks. Next, he activated and handed over radiation sensors to Hoburg and Bowen who will wear them on their spacesuits during Thursday’s spacewalk. Fedyaev later exercised on a treadmill as ground specialists monitored real-time video of his workout and hardware operations.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Expedition 69 Crew Members Gearing Up for More Spacewalks

Astronaut Frank Rubio (right) assists astronaut Woody Hoburg during a fit check of his spacesuit inside the space station's Quest airlock. — Astronaut Frank Rubio (right) assists astronaut Woody Hoburg during a fit check of his spacesuit inside the space station’s Quest airlock.

Four Expedition 69 astronauts practiced simulated robotic maneuvers on a computer today to support a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday. Three cosmonauts are gearing up for another spacewalk planned to take place next week from the Roscosmos segment of the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg are preparing for their second spacewalk together set to start at 8:55 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The spacewalkers will install the orbital outpost’s sixth roll-out solar array on the opposite side of the starboard truss segment where they installed the fifth roll-out solar array on Friday, June 9. NASA TV will begin its live broadcast of the spacewalk at 7:30 a.m. on the agency’s app and website.

Bowen and Hoburg joined Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for robotics training on a computer during Tuesday afternoon. The quartet practiced simulated Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers necessary to support Bowen and Hoburg when they remove the roll-out solar array from its flight support equipment and install it on the starboard truss. The two spacewalkers also prepared their tools inside the Quest airlock, printed checklists they will attach to their spacesuit cuffs, and reviewed more spacewalk procedures on a computer.

The four astronauts joined each other at the end of the day for eye checks as Bowen and Hoburg scanned the eyes of Rubio and Alneyadi using standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist’s office. Rubio and Alneyadi spent the first part of their day servicing a variety of exercise equipment and orbital plumbing hardware.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin spent all day Tuesday preparing for a spacewalk planned for Thursday, June 22. The duo studied procedures and located tools they will use when they exit the orbital outpost’s Poisk airlock next week. The two cosmonauts will remove and replace communications and science hardware and photograph the condition of the Zvezda service module during next week’s spacewalk.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev worked throughout Tuesday maintaining Zvezda’s Elektron oxygen generator and replacing smoke detectors in the Nauka science module. At the end of the day, Fedyaev worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device while ground specialists monitored his workout form and hardware operations.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Astronauts Prep for Roll-Out Solar Array Installation Job

NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm while maneuvering a roll-out solar array during a spacewalk on June 9, 2023, 257 miles above the Pacific Ocean.

The International Space Station’s sixth roll-out solar array will be installed this week after last week’s installation of its fifth roll-out solar array. The Expedition 69 crew spent Monday preparing for the installation spacewalk while also continuing research, cargo, and maintenance activities.

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will once again exit the space station’s Quest airlock at 9:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday for their second roll-out solar array installation spacewalk together. The spacewalkers will install another roll-out solar array on the opposite side of the starboard truss structure where they installed the orbital outpost’s fifth roll-out solar array. Thursday’s spacewalk will represent the completion of the power upgrade work ultimately increasing the station’s power-generating capacity by 30%.

Bowen and Hoburg spent several hours on Monday reviewing their solar array installation procedures, configuring spacewalking tools, and conferring with ground engineers. The pair were also joined around midday by Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) for the procedure reviews. Rubio and Alneyadi then completed their work shift after training on a computer for the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers they will use to support Thursday’s spacewalkers.

The four astronauts still had time on Monday for a variety of other activities promoting health, studying physics, and resupplying the orbital outpost. Rubio had a vision test that had him reading characters on a standard eye chart. Bowen swapped samples inside the Fluids Science Laboratory for a foam physics study potentially benefitting Earth and space industries. Hoburg and Alneyadi took turns unpacking the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle and stowing the new science experiments, hardware, and crew supplies aboard the station.

The space station’s three cosmonauts with Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev cleared their schedule on Monday and relaxed. The trio will soon begin preparing for the next spacewalk out of the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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NASA Spacewalkers Complete Solar Array Installation

NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg watches as a new solar array deploys after he and fellow NASA spacewalker Stephen Bowen (out of frame) successfully installed it on the space station. Credit: NASA TV — Astronaut Woody Hoburg watches as a new roll-out solar array deploys after he and fellow NASA spacewalker Stephen Bowen (out of frame) successfully installed it on the space station. Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 69 Flight Engineers Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg of NASA concluded their spacewalk at 3:28 p.m. EDT after 6 hours and 3 minutes.

Bowen and Hoburg completed all of their objectives to install an IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) to augment power generation for the 1A power channel on the station’s starboard truss structure. The crew members also completed several get ahead tasks setting the stage for the duo to go back outside Thursday, June 15, to install the sixth in the series of IROSAs on the starboard 6 truss of the station for the 1B power channel.

The new arrays are 60 feet long by 20 feet wide (18.2 meters by 6 meters) and will shade a little more than half of the original arrays, which are 112 feet long by 39 feet wide. Each new IROSA will produce more than 20 kilowatts of electricity, and once all are installed, will enable a 30% increase in power production over the station’s current arrays.

It was the 264th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance, the ninth spacewalk for Bowen, and the first for Hoburg.

Bowen and Hoburg are in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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