NASA: Week Ends With Vein Scans, Cartilage Engineering Before New Crew Launches

Vein scans and cartilage engineering wrapped up a busy week aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 74 crew members also configured the orbital outpost for a new crew, tested new cooking gear, and conducted muscle measurements, NASA announced.

Scientific operations for the CIPHER suite of 14 human research studies started the day for NASA flight engineers Jessica Meir and Chris Williams. The duo gathered inside the Columbus laboratory module where Meir scanned Williams’s chest with the Ultrasound 3 biomedical device to help doctors understand how an astronaut’s cardiovascular system adapts to weightlessness. The ultrasound biomarkers are compared with the astronaut’s health data collected before and after a mission, as well as with other crew members’ diagnostic results for a broader view of a spaceflight’s risk factors on the human body.

Williams moved on and installed an upgraded temporary sleep station in Columbus to prepare for the arrival of three new crew members due to arrive at the orbital outpost next week. NASA astronaut Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina will launch aboard a Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, July 14. The trio will orbit Earth for about three-and-a-half hours before docking to the Prichal module and beginning an eight-and-a-half-month space research mission.

Meir continued her cartilage engineering research first powering on the KERMIT fluorescent microscope inside the Destiny laboratory module. Next, she nourished growing cartilage tissue samples inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox then placed them inside the microscope for observation. After the imaging session, Meir removed and preserved the samples for later analysis then powered down the microscope. Results from the biotechnology study may help create cartilage that forms more naturally in space, improving treatments and preventing joint injuries on and off the Earth.

NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway wrapped up his week on maintenance beginning in the Tranquility module and replacing components on a cooling system. Hathaway followed that up installing batteries and testing the performance of a sensor that checks the station’s atmosphere for harmful gases. He completed his shift in the Quest airlock and swapped out spacesuit battery cables.

An experimental food processor is in operation aboard the orbital outpost and flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) tested the new device’s cooking functions. Adenot prepared a Mediterranean dish for dinner using an inflight recipe then recorded the taste results on a computer form. She also joined Meir for a muscle measurement session to study how space affects muscle tone, stiffness, and elasticity.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev kicked off their shift with blood and saliva collections for later analysis. Kud-Sverchkov then continued packing cargo for stowage inside the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft that he, Mikaev, and Williams will ride back to Earth at the end of the month. Mikaev spent his shift swabbing station surfaces and collecting microbe samples for stowage and analysis. Flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev worked throughout Friday inspecting electronics and ventilation systems.