ISS – Expedition 68 Mission patch.
Jan 6, 2023
The Expedition 68 crew will go into the weekend packing a U.S. resupply ship earlier than it departs the Worldwide Area Station on Monday. Within the meantime, the seven orbital residents concluded the work week researching quite a lot of house phenomena, sustaining superior science {hardware}, and wrapping up three days of eye exams.
The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft will full a 43-day mission on the orbital lab when it undocks from the Concord module’s space-facing port at 5:05 p.m. EST on Monday. NASA astronauts Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann, and Frank Rubio will be a part of astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) and spend Saturday and Sunday loading Dragon with crucial analysis samples from accomplished station experiments for evaluation on Earth after it splashes down off the coast of Florida. NASA TV will start stay protection of Dragon’s undocking and departure at 4:45 p.m. on NASA’s web site and the company’s app.

Picture above: (Nov. 27, 2022) — The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, loaded with over 7,700 kilos of science, provides, and cargo, approaches the Worldwide Area Station whereas orbiting 259 miles above the African continent. Picture Credit score: NASA.
Nevertheless, the station’s 4 astronauts spent Friday servicing superior analysis gear and conducting microgravity experiments. Three NASA astronauts additionally concluded a number of days of imaginative and prescient checks as Mann scanned the retinas of Cassada and Rubio utilizing customary medical imaging {hardware} present in an optometrist’s workplace.
Wakata started his day taking pictures of a set of nanosatellites as they had been deployed outdoors the Kibo laboratory module into Earth orbit. The CubeSats will exhibit quite a lot of applied sciences comparable to communications, propulsion techniques, and Earth observations. He additionally assisted Rubio connecting communications gear and patching cables contained in the Columbus laboratory module.

Picture above: Astronaut Koichi Wakata is pictured contained in the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock the place exterior payloads are positioned into the outer house atmosphere. Picture Credit score: NASA.
Mann researched methods to generate vitamins on demand by manipulating genetically engineered microbes. Cassada tended to tomatoes rising for an area botany research. Each experiments are informing methods NASA and its worldwide companions can maintain crews on missions to the Moon, Mars, and past.
Commander Sergey Prokopyev from Roscosmos labored on a number of science initiatives on the finish of the week as he examined a 3-D printer, explored futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting methods, and studied methods worldwide crews and mission controllers can talk higher. Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Anna Kikina took turns attaching sensors to themselves measuring their coronary heart exercise then downloading the info to researchers on Earth for a long-running cardiac research.
Associated article & hyperlink:
NASA to Present Stay Protection of SpaceX Cargo Craft Station Departure
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-provide-live-coverage-of-spacex-cargo-craft-station-departure
NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
Associated hyperlinks:
Expedition 68: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition68/index.html
Concord module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/construction/parts/concord
Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/construction/parts/japan-kibo-laboratory
Communications: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/analysis/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8881
Propulsion techniques: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/analysis/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8858
Earth observations: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/analysis/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8865
Columbus laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/construction/parts/europe-columbus-laboratory
Generate vitamins on demand: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/analysis/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8521
Area botany research: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/analysis/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7443
Area Station Analysis and Know-how: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/analysis/overview.html
Worldwide Area Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/important/index.html
Photographs (talked about), Textual content, Credit: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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