Crew Ready for Spacewalk and Conducts Biology, Physics Research - NASA Blogs

Astronaut Koichi Wakata wears virtual world goggles aboard the abstraction presumption portion grooming for a spacewalk.

The archetypal spacewalk of 2023 volition statesman connected Friday to proceed upgrading the International Space Station’s powerfulness procreation system. The Expedition 68 unit members finalized preparations contiguous for the excursion portion continuing precocious abstraction probe and orbital laboratory maintenance.

Astronauts Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Nicole Mann of NASA are owed to walk astir six-and-a-half hours moving extracurricular the presumption during a spacewalk connected Friday. The 2 formation engineers volition crook the batteries connected wrong their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), oregon spacesuits, astatine 8:15 a.m. EST signifying the commencement of a six-and-a-half hr spacewalk. The duo volition enactment connected the acold extremity of the station’s starboard truss structure successful their EMUs and instal a modification kit enabling the aboriginal installation of a roll-out star array. NASA TV, connected the agency’s app and website, volition statesman its unrecorded spacewalk sum astatine 7 a.m.

Wakata and Mann were joined connected Thursday by NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio for last spacewalk preparations. The 2 spacewalkers on with Rubio staged tools and hardware wrong the Quest airlock during the morning. The trio past spent the day reviewing spacewalk steps and procedures earlier readying the 2 spacesuits for operations.

NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada focused connected subject activities passim Thursday conducting biology and physics research. Cassada began his time successful the Kibo laboratory module mounting up the Life Science Glovebox to observe biologic samples and research caller ways to heal bony conditions connected and disconnected the Earth. In the afternoon, helium moved implicit to the Destiny laboratory module exchanging samples wrong the Materials Science Research Rack for a survey exploring semiconductor crystal growth successful space.

The orbiting lab’s 3 cosmonauts kept up their docket of ongoing microgravity probe and laboratory upkeep connected Thursday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev packed the ISS Progress 81 resupply vessel with trash and discarded cogwheel earlier much conducting much tests connected a 3-D printer monitoring the instrumentality for excessive noise. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin spent each time Thursday servicing beingness enactment hardware and electronics gear. Flight Engineer Anna Kikina began her time with a proceeding appraisal past checked radiation detectors earlier yet studying aboriginal spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques connected a computer.

Learn much astir presumption activities by pursuing the space presumption blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, arsenic good arsenic the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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