ISS Crew Unpacks SpaceX Dragon After Debris Evasion

The Soyuz MS-24 crew spacecraft is attached to the Rassvet module in this photo from the International Space Station as it orbits 267 miles above the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. At left, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus space cargo ship and one of its prominent cylindrical Ultraflex solar arrays. Credit: NASA

The Expedition 70 crew opens it SpaceX The Dragon cargo shuttle followed its arrival early Saturday morning. Meanwhile, the orbital occupants continue their research and maintenance activities International Space StationManeuver to avoid last week’s litter.

Downloading and installing time-sensitive tests

Hatches will remain open between Dragon and the orbital outpost following Saturday’s arrival. NASA Flight engineers Jasmin Mokbeli and Laurel O’Hara monitored Dragon’s arrival and entered the cargo shuttle within two hours of docking. The duo, along with Commander Andreas Mogensen and Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa, spent a busy weekend unloading time-sensitive tests for installation and activation at the orbital outpost.

As the International Space Station entered orbit at night 260 miles above the southernmost point of Alaska, shadows from the sun could be seen reaching a wall of coral-colored clouds. Credit: NASA

Continuous transfers and research on Monday

The four worked throughout Monday, transferring science freezers containing research samples from Dragon to the station and starting some new investigations. Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) configured the space biology hardware and began loading some of the 6,500 pounds of new personnel and hardware.

assistance and maintenance by O’Hara and Mogbeli

O’Hara and Mokbeli assisted the two international astronauts with both work on the science freezer and cargo transfers during the morning. O’Hara then spent the afternoon working on parts at the Biofabrication Facility (BFF), a bioprinter that tested printing organ-like tissues in microgravity. Mogbeli set up new life science hardware, assisted with BFF work, and maintained standard life support and electronic hardware.

Routine emergency procedure review

At the end of the day, while the new Dragon cargo shuttle was docked forward of the Harmony module, the four astronauts reviewed updated emergency procedures with three astronauts from the space station. Dragon will remain attached to Harmony until early December, when it will be loaded with station hardware and return to Earth to complete research for recovery and analysis.

Activities of Russian cosmonauts

Senior cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko started his day inside the Boysk airlock test pressurization gear, then inspected the windows in the Zvesta service module, and finally jogged on Zvesta’s treadmill for a fitness assessment. Aeronautical engineer Nikolai Chubb spends most of his day testing a 3D printer to make tools and materials without relying on cargo flights from Earth. Crashed by flight engineer Konstantin Borisov Camera controlled remotely by students On Earth, studied Roscosmos Laptop computers and cleaned ventilation systems.

Maneuver to avoid ISS debris

On November 10, the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module engines fired for five minutes and 16 seconds beginning at 10:07 a.m. to move the complex off the predicted path of the orbital debris. The maneuver did not affect the rendezvous and docking of NASA’s SpaceX 29th commercial resupply mission, which arrived at the space station at 5:07 a.m. on Nov. 11 after launching two days earlier.