Mallika Dureja
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The Expedition 68 crew continues preparations for spacewalks aboard the International Space Station while ensuring the functionality of scientific items in microgravity.
Flight Engineers Nicole Mann of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are slated to do their first spacewalk together by the end of the week. Tuesday morning, the astronauts spent a couple of hours reviewing the techniques they would use to instal power upgrade hardware that will prepare the orbiting laboratory for the deployment of its next solar array during a future spacewalk.
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At 8:15 a.m. EDT on Friday, the two astronauts will switch their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) or spacesuits to battery power, signalling the commencement of their spacewalk. Mann and Wakata are expected to work on the starboard side of the space station’s truss structure for around six and a half hours in the vacuum of space.
Mann concluded her day by withdrawing a small satellite deployer from the airlock of the Kibo laboratory module. Before calibrating components within the Combustion Integrated Rack, Wakata began the day by showing elementary space physics experiments to youngsters on Earth.
Tuesday morning, NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio tended to research samples and serviced a range of scientific equipment. Rubio began the day at the Destiny laboratory module by nourishing samples and cleaning equipment for a study on the treatment of bone diseases off-world. Rubio then spent the afternoon connecting communications and networking devices within the Columbus laboratory module.
Experience the awe-inspiring beauty of space through the eyes of a NASA astronaut on a spacewalk 👇 Would you do it? pic.twitter.com/Bk94Gk5qF8
— Cosmos Nation (@Cosmos_Nation) January 14, 2023
Josh Cassada, a NASA astronaut, irrigated tomato plants during the Veg-05 space botany study. Cassada concluded his day by gathering hardware and preparing Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox for impending bone condition study operations.
Prokopyev and Petelin spent Tuesday working on cargo transfers and air and water tank repairs inside a pair of Progress resupply ships. Anna Kikina, a flight engineer for Roscosmos, worked in the Zarya module to replace electronic components.
