April 2023 – Space Station

Astronauts Wrap Up Spacewalk for Station Power Upgrades

The Earth begins illuminating during an orbital sunrise as spacewalkers (lower right) Sultan Alneyadi and Stephen Bowen work outside the space station. Credit: NASA TV

NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi concluded their spacewalk at 4:12 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 1 minute.

Bowen and Alneyadi laid cables and installed insulation on mounting brackets on the starboard truss of the station for the installation of the next pair of International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). The astronauts were unable to free up an electronics box located on the truss associated with a degraded S-band communications antenna. The antenna removal was deferred to a future spacewalk ahead of its planned return to Earth.

The installation is part of a series of spacewalks to augment the International Space Station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four iROSAs have been installed so far, and two more will be mounted to the platforms installed during this spacewalk in the future.

It was the 261st spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance, the eighth spacewalk for Bowen, and the first for any UAE astronaut.

Bowen and Alneyadi are in the midst of a planned six-month 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 Upgrade Station Power

Astronauts (from left) Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi try on and test out the their spacesuits ahead of a spacewalk planned for Friday, April 28.

NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi began a spacewalk at 9:11 a.m. EDT to prepare for future installation of upgraded solar arrays on the starboard side of the station’s truss. The astronauts will then retrieve S-band antenna equipment and bring it inside the space station for refurbishment.

The spacewalk is part of a series to augment the station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four of the new arrays have been installed so far, and two additional arrays will be mounted to the installed platforms during future spacewalks following their arrival this year on SpaceX’s 28th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

Bowen serves as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and is wearing a suit with red stripes. Alneyadi serves as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and is wearing an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 86 is the eighth spacewalk for Bowen and the first for any UAE astronaut.

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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Crew Preps for Power Upgrades Spacewalk on NASA TV

Expedition 69 Flight Engineers (from left) Stephen Bowen and Sultan Alneyadi prepare their spacesuits for an upcoming spacewalk to continue station power upgrades.

NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi now is underway and also is available on the NASA app, the space station blog and the agency’s website.

The two Expedition 69 crew members are preparing to exit the International Space Station‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin at about 9:15 a.m. EDT and last approximately six-and-a-half-hours.

Bowen and Alneyadi will prepare for future installation of upgraded solar arrays on the starboard side of the station’s truss. The astronauts will then retrieve S-band antenna equipment and bring it inside the space station for refurbishment.

Bowen will serve as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1) and will wear a suit with red stripes. Alneyadi will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2) and will wear an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 86 will be the eighth spacewalk for Bowen and the first for any UAE astronaut.

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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Partners Extend International Space Station for Benefit of Humanity

The International Space Station partners have committed to extending the operations of this unique platform in low Earth orbit where, for more than 22 years, humans have lived and worked for the benefit of humanity, conducting cutting-edge science and research in microgravity. The United States, Japan, Canada, and the participating countries of ESA (European Space Agency) have confirmed they will support continued space station operations through 2030 and Russia has confirmed it will support continued station operations through 2028. NASA will continue to work with its partner agencies to ensure an uninterrupted presence in low Earth orbit, as well as a safe and orderly transition from the space station to commercial platforms in the future.

“The International Space Station is an incredible partnership with a common goal to advance science and exploration,” said Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Extending our time aboard this amazing platform allows us to reap the benefits of more than two decades of experiments and technology demonstrations, as well as continue to materialize even greater discovery to come.”

Since its launch in 1998, the International Space Station has been visited by 266 individuals from 20 countries. The space station is a unique scientific platform where crew members conduct experiments across multiple disciplines of research, including Earth and space science, biology, human physiology, physical sciences and technology demonstrations that could not be done on Earth. The crew living aboard the station are the hands of thousands of researchers on the ground conducting more than 3,300 experiments in microgravity. Now, in its third decade of operations, the station is in the decade of results when the platform can maximize its scientific return. Results are compounding, new benefits are materializing, and innovative research and technology demonstrations are building on previous work.

The space station is one of the most complex international collaborations ever attempted. It was designed to be interdependent, relies on contributions from across the partnership to function, and no partner currently has the capability to operate the space station without the other.

With a continued foothold in low Earth orbit, NASA’s Artemis missions are underway, setting up a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration.

Read more about the International Space Station benefits for humanity: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/benefits-2022-book

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 GO for Friday U.S. Spacewalk, Preps for Next Roscosmos Spacewalk

Astronaut Stephen Bowen poses for a picture during a spacewalk on March 2, 2011, when he was conducting hardware maintenance on the outside of the space station.

The Expedition 69 crew is ready for a spacewalk set to begin on Friday to upgrade the International Space Station’s power generation system. In the meantime, fitness evaluations and robotic tests rounded out the schedule aboard the orbital outpost on Thursday.

Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) are finalizing their tool collections and Quest airlock configurations the day before their six-and-a-half hour spacewalk begins. They staged their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, inside Quest and finished studying the procedures they will use to route power cables and retrieve an antenna on the station’s starboard truss structure. The external hardware work will ready the space station for its next set of roll-out solar arrays due to be installed after their delivery on the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.

Bowen and Alneyadi will set their EMUs to battery power at around 9:15 am. EDT on Friday signifying the beginning of their spacewalk. This will be Bowen’s eighth career spacewalk, Alneyadi’s first, and the fourth of 2023. NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, will begin its live spacewalk coverage 7:45 a.m.

NASA Flight Engineers Frank Rubio and Woody Hoburg participated in today’s final spacewalk preparations joining the spacewalkers for a procedures review, tool checks, and a conference with engineers on the ground. Rubio and Hoburg, on Friday, will assist the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits, maneuver the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and monitor the activities.

Two cosmonauts took turns pedaling on an exercise cycle for a fitness evaluation on Thursday morning. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin attached sensors to themselves measuring their heart activity and blood pressure then exercised for about an hour. The fitness study ensures the pair is in good shape ahead of a spacewalk planned to start at 4:05 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 3. Prokopyev and Petelin will exit the station in their Orlan spacesuits and spend about six hours moving an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent his day inside the Nauka module testing operations with the European robotic arm (ERA). He practiced grappling the experiment airlock and maneuvering techniques with the ERA, the same maneuvers he will use to assist the Roscosmos spacewalkers during next week’s logistics spacewalk.

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 Works Ongoing Spacewalk Preps and Advanced Space Research

As spacewalk preparations are under way aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 69 crew is continuing its advanced microgravity research while maintaining orbital lab systems.

Two astronauts are readying their tools today for a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk planned to start at 9:15 a.m. EDT on Friday. NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen will be going on his eighth career spacewalk with first-time spacewalker and astronaut Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates). The duo will work in the vacuum of space on the starboard side of the station’s truss structure routing power cables and retrieving a communications antenna. The cable work is being done in advance of the installation of the station’s fourth roll-out solar array. The iROSA, or International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, is due to be delivered on the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.

After the morning tool work, Bowen and Alneyadi had a standard pre-spacewalk health checkup measuring each other’s heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. The pair then split up for science work in the afternoon, as Bowen first swapped samples inside a fluorescence microscope then reconfigured a biology research incubator that generates artificial gravity. Alneyadi collected air samples from the Destiny and Columbus laboratory modules for analysis before cleaning the Veggie space botany facility.

NASA Flight Engineers Frank Rubio and Woody Hoburg also had their hands full on Wednesday conducting science operations and ensuring the upkeep of the orbital outpost. Rubio started his day servicing protein crystal samples for a biochemistry study then tested his proficiency as an operator of the Canadarm2 robotic arm on a computer. Hoburg serviced orbital plumbing and oxygen generator components throughout the day and finally installed a new radiation-sensing telescope in the Tranquility module.

In the Roscosmos side of the space station, the crew’s three cosmonauts were back to work following an off-duty day on Tuesday. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin began Wednesday training for an unlikely emergency scenario of evacuating the station inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship. Prokopyev then studied futuristic planetary piloting techniques while Petelin worked on the Nauka science module’s ventilation system. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent his day repairing plumbing gear and replacing dust filters.

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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Spacewalk Preps and Science Cleaning Aboard Station on Tuesday

Four Expedition 69 astronauts aboard the International Space Station worked throughout Tuesday preparing for a spacewalk and cleaning space biology hardware. Meanwhile, the orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts had an off-duty day following several days of their own spacewalk preparations.

Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) spent Tuesday configuring their Extravehicular Mobility Units, or spacesuits, to get ready for a spacewalk set for 9:15 a.m. EDT on Friday. The duo also organized their spacewalking tools and inspected the tethers that will keep the spacewalkers safely attached to the station. The pair were joined in the afternoon by NASA Flight Engineers Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio reviewing spacewalk procedures with mission controllers on the ground. The two spacewalkers will spend about six-and-a-half hours in the vacuum of space continuing the process of upgrading the station’s power generation system.

Hoburg and Rubio began their day deactivating and cleaning space biology hardware inside the Kibo laboratory module. The pair disconnected power cables and wiped down the Cell Biology Experiment Facility, a research incubator that housed samples that have since returned to Earth for analysis aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft.

Three cosmonauts are relaxing today after a busy period getting ready for a spacewalk that was originally planned for Tuesday. Roscosmos mission controllers opted to postpone the spacewalk for a few more days and continue studying the procedures necessary to move an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk airlock in their Orlan spacesuits to perform the logistics spacewalk. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev will assist the spacewalkers from inside the station and operate the European robotic arm with the experiment airlock in its grip.

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 Gearing Up for Friday Spacewalk

Astronaut Stephen Bowen is pictured waving during the seventh spacewalk of his career on March 2, 2011.

Two astronauts on the Expedition 69 crew are gearing up for a spacewalk at the end of the week. Meanwhile, two cosmonauts are standing down after their spacewalk planned for Tuesday was postponed.

Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) are preparing for a spacewalk scheduled for 9:15 a.m. EDT on Friday. The duo in their Extravehicular Mobility Units, or spacesuits, will spend about six-and-a-half hours in the vacuum of space continuing to upgrade the orbital outpost’s power generation system. International Space Station managers will appear on NASA TV, on the agency’s app and website, at 2 p.m. today to discuss Friday’s spacewalk.

The two astronauts spent the day checking their spacesuits for leaks and proper fit verification with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg. Hoburg, along with NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio, will assist the astronauts in and out of their spacesuits and monitor their spacewalk. Alneyadi also wore a set of virtual reality goggles and trained for a variety of unlikely spacewalking rescue scenarios.

Meanwhile, another spacewalk that was planned for Tuesday has been postponed until early May. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin , with assistance from European robotic arm operator and Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev, were due to move an experiment airlock from the Rassvet module to the Nauka science module. That work has been pushed back several days while ground controllers study the procedures planned for the spacewalk.

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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Robotic Arm Releases Cygnus Space Freighter from Station

The Cygnus space freighter is pictured moments after being released from the grip of the Canadarm2 robotic completing its stay at the space station. Credit: NASA TV

At 7:22 a.m. EDT, Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm which earlier detached Cygnus from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the station was flying southwest of Ireland.

The Cygnus spacecraft successfully departed the space station more than five months after arriving at the microgravity laboratory to deliver about 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo for NASA.

Following a deorbit engine firing later Friday evening, Cygnus will begin a planned destructive re-entry, in which the spacecraft – filled with trash packed by the station crew – will safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Cygnus arrived at the space station Nov. 10, following a launch on Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. It was the company’s 18th commercial resupply services mission to the space station for NASA. Northrop Grumman named the spacecraft “S.S. Sally Ride” after late NASA astronaut, physicist, and first American woman to fly in space, Sally Ride, launched on an Antares rocket from the Virginia Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A at Wallops.

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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Robotic Arm Releasing Cygnus Cargo Craft Live on NASA TV

The Cygnus space freighter, loaded with 8,200 pounds of cargo, is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm before its installation to the Unity module on Nov. 9, 2022.

Live coverage of the departure of Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station is underway on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app, with its release from the robotic arm scheduled for 7:20 a.m. EDT. Coverage will conclude following departure from station.

Flight controllers on the ground sent commands earlier Friday morning for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port, and then maneuver the spacecraft into position for its release. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi will monitor Cygnus’ systems during its departure from the space station.

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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