Preparing for spacewalks, galactic gardening, and Earth’s nightglow on the space station
The Canadarm2 robotic arm extends from the International Space Station, where it orbits 261 miles above Türkiye. Shown below are the Sinai Peninsula, the Red Sea and the Nile Delta leading to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Credit: NASA
Spacewalk preparations dominated the schedule for Expedition 70 crew members on Monday, October 23, with two Roscosmos Astronauts prepare to leave the station on Wednesday, October 25 NASA Astronauts are looking forward to their first spacewalk next week.
Roscosmos astronauts walking in space
Aerospace engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will venture out into space International Space StationPoisk unit at 2:10 p.m. EDT On Wednesday, communications equipment will be installed, a nanosatellite will be deployed, and the external emergency radiator, which suffered a coolant leak, will be examined. The duo worked together today to prepare the tools they will use during their seven-hour flight, and to install lights and video cameras on the helmets of the Orlan suits they will wear.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 flight engineer Loral O’Hara was photographed trying on her spacesuit and testing its components aboard the Quest airlock on the International Space Station in preparation for her upcoming spacewalk. Credit: NASA
NASA astronauts prepare for a spacewalk
NASA astronauts Yasmine Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara worked side by side today as they prepare for their first spacewalk next week. The duo will leave the station at 8:05 a.m. on Monday to remove the radio frequency array (electronic box) and replace the bearings on the solar panel’s rotating joint. Their preparations today focused on procedural reviews and will continue to intensify throughout the week. Later in the evening he joined them JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) aerospace engineer Satoshi Furukawa and the European Space Agency (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen in a conference with the field teams.
Station maintenance and research activities
In research, last month saw the final harvest of Arabidopsis plants from Plant Habitat-03. This study seeks to understand how one generation of plants can transmit their adaptations to the next generation in the harsh conditions of microgravity. Today, Commander Mogensen arranged facilities and prepared seed bags for the upcoming return to Earth. Meanwhile, Furukawa undertook the process of replacing the filter assembly in the wastewater treatment system.
While most of the station’s residents were focused on preparing and reviewing procedures for the upcoming spacewalk, Roscosmos flight engineer Konstantin Borisov performed maintenance duties and conducted an experiment evaluating the glow of the Earth’s atmosphere at night in the near ultraviolet.