Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy is at work inside the Kibo lab module from JAXA. Credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The Expedition 63 team continues getting ready for Sunday’s set up area shipment of almost 8,000 pounds of materials and equipment aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus area truck. As normal, innovative area science completed the day’s activities inside the International Space Station. The team likewise continues work to attempt and separate the exact place of an air leakage that was just recently separated to the Zvezda Service Module.
An Antares rocket stands at its launch pad in Virginia prepared to bring the Cygnus resupply ship to area when it introduces on Thursday at 9: 38 p.m. EDT. About 9 minutes later on, Cygnus will reach Earth orbit heading towards the spaceport station for a Sunday arrival and robotic capture at 6: 10 a.m.
Commander Chris Cassidy and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner continued practicing their robotics abilities Wednesday afternoon on a computer system. The duo will be on deck inside the cupola Sunday early morning prepared to command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to connect and grapple Cygnus. Ground controllers will take control of the Canadarm2 later and from another location set up Cygnus to the Unity module about 2 hours later on.
Cassidy began the day working inside Japan’s Kibo lab module establishing experiment hardware that allows science to happen outside the orbiting laboratory. The veteran astronaut likewise invested a couple of minutes on light pipes task as he serviced the urine processing assembly situated in the Tranquility module.
The 2 Russian cosmonauts, consisting of three-time station citizen Anatoly Ivanishin, concentrated on their enhance of area research study and laboratory upkeep throughout the day. The duo signed up with each other very first for an area interactions research study using a range of photography and audio hardware. Next, Ivanishin relocated to narrow the source of an air leakage using an ultrasonic leakage detector. Vagner examined radiation measurements then switched electronic camera lenses and triggered hardware for a set of Earth observation research studies.
UPDATE: Roscosmos has actually launched brand-new info, more separating the leakage place to the transfer chamber in the Zvezda Service Module. Additional leakage detection operations will continue utilizing the ultrasonic leakage detector.
In regards to style, the Zvezda Service Module includes 4 areas: 3 pressurized (Transfer Compartment, Working Compartment and Transfer Chamber) in addition to the unpressurized Assembly Compartment real estate the incorporated propulsion system.
The leakage, which has actually been examined for numerous weeks, postures no instant risk to the team at the existing leakage rate and just a minor discrepancy to the team’s schedule.
