Space Station Science Highlights: Week of November 12, 2018

ISS – Expedition 57 Mission patch.

Nov. 18, 2018

Last week, the Expedition 57 crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations and prepared for the arrival of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus vehicle, which launched early Saturday morning. The resupply vehicle delivered 7,400 pounds of food, fuel and supplies to the station two days later.

Learn about some of the science launching aboard the Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply-10 mission here: 3D Printing, Virtual Reality, Simulated Stardust and More Headed to Orbiting Lab: https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/11/3d-printing-virtual-reality-simulated.html

Here’s a look at some of the science conducted last week aboard the orbiting lab:

Final operations conducted in crystallography investigation

A crew member performed the final microscopy operations by placing samples under the microscope for observation, and providing photographic documentation for BioServe Protein Crystallography (BPC-1) last week.

Animation above: ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst conducts an (Optical Coherence Tomography) OCT examination. Animation Credit: NASA.

BPC-1 seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of conducting protein crystal growth in real time aboard the space station. Crew members can observe crystal formation and adjust for follow-on experiments. This approach optimizes a scientist’s ability to grow crystals in microgravity without having to wait for samples to return to Earth and re-launch.

Free-flying AI soars through Columbus

Astronauts on future lengthy missions deep into space face hard work and long hours, and long communication delays back to Earth that could slow down their work pace. Soon, though, they may be able to call for assistance from artificial intelligence (AI). Pilot Study with the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion (CIMON) observes the effects of AI for crew support in terms of helping the crew and the crew’s acceptance of using AI during long-term flight.

A spherical device a bit larger than a basketball, CIMON can see, hear, speak, understand and move autonomously. It is intended to assist with routine crew activities such as moving hardware, and for complex science tasks such as recording measurements and other data. Ultimately, it can serve as a mobile camera to provide crew members with video-assisted instructions and document procedures for either live or retrospective analysis.

Image above: ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst with CIMON, an artificial intelligence helper aboard the station. Image Credit: NASA.

Last week, crew members prepared CIMON for demonstrations. They adjusted his microphone, checked the camera view and charged the batteries. By Thursday, Cimon was able to demonstrate free flying and navigation in the station’s Columbus Module.

New investigation set to begin in LMM

Proteins are important biological molecules that can be crystallized to provide better views of their structure, which helps scientists understand how they work. The Effect of Macromolecular Transport on Microgravity Protein Crystallization (LMM Biophysics 4) studies why microgravity-grown crystals are often higher in quality than those grown on Earth by examining the movement of single protein molecules in microgravity.

Space to Ground: Honoring a Legend: 11/16/2018

Last week, a crew member removed an LMM Biophysics-4 sample from the Minus Eighty-degree Laboratory Freezer (MELFI) and installed it into the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) for the start of the Growth Rate Dispersion as a Predictive Indicator for Biological Crystal Samples Where Quality Can be Improved with Microgravity Growth (LMM Biophysics-6) investigation.

Other work was done on these investigations:

– The Plasma Kristall-4 investigation (PK-4) conducts research in the field of “Complex Plasmas”: low temperature gaseous mixtures composed of ionized gas, neutral gas, and micron-sized particles: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1192

– Food Acceptability examines changes in how food appeals to crew members during their time aboard the station. Acceptability of food – whether crew members like and actually eat something – may directly affect crew caloric intake and associated nutritional benefits: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

– Meteor is a visible spectroscopy instrument used to observe meteors in Earth orbit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1174

– The Veg-03 investigation expands on previous validation tests of the new Veggie hardware, which crew members used to grow cabbage, lettuce and other fresh vegetables in space: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1159

– The Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG) is a sealed work area that accommodates life science and technology investigations in a workbench-type environment. Due to its larger size, two crew members can work in the LSG simultaneously: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7676

Image above: Sunrise over Peru Coast, just over Ecuador line (longitude 0), seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27’597 Km/h, altitude: 407,95 Km, image captured by Roland Berga (on Earth in Switzerland) from International Space Station (ISS) using ISS-HD Live application with EarthCam’s from ISS on November 18, 2018 at 12:23 UTC. Image Credits: Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Related links:

Expedition 57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition57/index.html

BioServe Protein Crystallography (BPC-1): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7729

Crew Interactive Mobile Companion (CIMON): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7639

LMM Biophysics 4: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7741

Light Microscopy Module (LMM): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=531

LMM Biophysics-6: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7743

Veggie: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=374

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Animation (mentioned), Images (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Vic Cooley, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 57/58/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

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