ICYMI VIDEO: Watch Dragon Rendezvous, Dock With ISS
By NASA.gov // September 26, 2014
SpaceX CRS-4 launched from KSC
ICYMI LIVE STREAM: Watch the arrival and grapple of Dragon by the International Space Station crew last Tuesday.
International Space Station Astronauts Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst were in the Cupola at the robotics workstation monitoring Dragon’s approach and rendezvous Tuesday morning before capturing the spacecraft and berthing it to Harmony.
Gerst and Wiseman carefully guide the Canadarm2 to reach out and grapple Dragon at 7:04 a.m. The duo then maneuvered Dragon to its berthing spot on the Harmony node where it will stay for a month of cargo transfers.
Wiseman started his day setting up exercise and ultrasound gear for the SPRINT experiment inside the Harmony node. Gerst then assisted Wiseman with ultrasound scans of the thigh and calf on his right leg. SPRINT is a long-running study that is exploring the use of high intensity, low volume exercise training to minimize loss of muscle, bone, and cardiovascular function during long-duration space missions.
Station crew members combine their exercise with diet to not only counteract the effects of living in space but also reduce the stress of atmospheric re-entry and speed up the adaptation to Earth’s gravity.
Mission scientists analyze an astronaut’s condition before, during and after a mission and have reported returning crew members are experiencing less than 1% muscle and bone loss.
Gerst, a German astronaut from the European Space Agency, worked throughout Monday inside Japan’s Kibo laboratory activating gear for the Zebrafish Muscle experiment. He set up a camcorder and reconfigured equipment inside the Multipurpose Small Payload Rack that houses the Aquatic Habitat.
Researchers are using Zebrafish in space to observe the molecular changes that cause muscles to atrophy in microgravity. Results may benefit not only astronauts on long term missions but also citizens here on Earth with limited mobility.
Expedition 41 Commander Max Suraev focused on maintenance on the Russian side of the International Space Station.
He began his day inside the Poisk docking compartment cleaning fan grilles and air ducts. Suraev then floated over to the Zarya cargo module for more ventilation work cleaning grilles and replacing dust filters.
After lunch, the commander worked maintenance on the SOZh life support system inside the Zvezda service module. He then moved on to the Rassvet mini-research module for more ventilation cleaning work. Dragon isn’t the only vehicle on its way to park at the orbital laboratory.
The Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft is counting down to a Thursday afternoon launch for a six-hour, four-orbit ride to the station’s Poisk module. It will bring Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev and Flight Engineers Barry Wilmore and Elena Serova to join Expedition 41 and expand the crew to six returning the station to full operations.
BELOW VIDEO: At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft was encapsulated into the third stage of its Soyuz booster rocket Sept. 19 as preparations continued for the Sept. 26 launch of Expedition 41/42 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Elena Serova of Roscosmos to the International Space Station. The trio also conducted their final “fit check” dress rehearsal in their Soyuz craft Sept. 21 for a mission in which they will spend five and a half months on the orbital laboratory.
