Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




SPACE TRAVEL
More Plant Science as Expedition 39 Trio Trains for Departure
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) May 12, 2014


Expedition 39 crew members pose around a globe inside the Kibo laboratory as the International Space Station orbits around the Earth. For a larger version of this image please go here.

More botany experiments were being worked Thursday as scientists learn how to sustain future crews on long-term space missions. Meanwhile, three Expedition 39 crew members are preparing to complete their mission aboard the International Space Station.

Veggie operations officially kicked off Thursday as astronaut Steve Swanson installed and set up the plant experiment to deliver water to lettuce seeds. Veggie is a test bed to determine if lettuce grown in space is safe for consumption by future crews. The lettuce will be harvested aboard the station, stored in a science freezer and returned to Earth for analysis.

Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio worked in the evening completing a run of the Gravi-2 experiment as he disassembled and stowed the science hardware. The botany investigation observes how lentil roots grow in space using a centrifuge which helps scientists determine the reliability of plants as a source of oxygen, food and water for future missions.

Commander Koichi Wakata started his morning with some plumbing work partially filling a flush tank in the Waste and Hygiene Compartment. Afterward, Wakata familiarized himself with gear and prepared a sample for the CsPINs plant growth study taking place in the Kibo laboratory. That study examines how plants, specifically cucumber seedlings, sense gravity which may have impacts on future plant cultivation in space.

Mastracchio and veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin started their day testing the motion control system of their Soyuz spacecraft. In the afternoon, Wakata joined the duo for a few hours of Soyuz descent and entry training exercises. The trio will return to Earth May 13 inside the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft after undocking from the Rassvet module which marks the end of Expedition 39.

At that time, Expedition 40 will officially be under way with Swanson assuming command of the orbital laboratory and cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev continuing their stay. Waiting on Earth to join Expedition 40 are Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev and Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst. They are scheduled for launch May 28 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, for a six-hour ride to the space station aboard the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft.

Swanson joined Skvortsov and Artemyev at the end of their day to review their roles and responsibilities in the unlikely event of an emergency. They checked escape routes and safety gear, ensured Soyuz readiness and reviewed communication procedures in response to a rapid depressurization event, fire or chemical leak.

Back on the ground, flight controllers reported a power channel failure in the space station's 3A power channel connected to a solar array located on the S4 truss. Power was transferred seamlessly to the 3B channel with impacts being assessed including those to the backup heater power of the station's external robotics system. Inside the station, the crew is working normally, payload operations are continuing as planned and there is no direct impact on next week's Soyuz undocking.

.


Related Links
Research and Technology at ISS
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SPACE TRAVEL
Astronauts to grow lettuce on International Space Station
Cape Canaveral, Fla. (UPI) Apr 15, 2013
NASA's Vegetable Production System, called VEGGIE for short, is among the 500 pounds of supplies to be delivered to the International Space Station by SpaceX's Dragon capsule. The small greenhouse-like contraption - which features LED lighting and seedlings packed in small pillows of soil - will be used by astronauts to sprout lettuce as they orbit Earth. If successful, cultivation of ... read more


SPACE TRAVEL
Preliminary Injunction Lifted - ULA Purchase of RD-180 Engines Complies with Sanctions

Replacing Russian-made rocket engines is not easy

SHERPA launch service deal to deploy 1200 kilo smallsat payloads

Pre-launch processing begins for the O3b Networks satellites

SPACE TRAVEL
Reset and Recovery for Opportunity

NASA wants greenhouse on Mars by 2021

NASA's Curiosity Rover Drills Sandstone Slab on Mars

Mars mission scientist Colin Pillinger dies

SPACE TRAVEL
Russia to begin Moon colonization in 2030

LRO View of Earth

Astrobotic Partners With NASA To Develop Robotic Lunar Landing Capability

John C. Houbolt, Unsung Hero of the Apollo Program, Dies at Age 95

SPACE TRAVEL
Dwarf planet 'Biden' identified in an unlikely region of our solar system

Planet X myth debunked

WISE Finds Thousands Of New Stars But No Planet X

New Horizons Reaches the Final 4 AU

SPACE TRAVEL
Length of Exoplanet Day Measured for First Time

Spitzer and WISE Telescopes Find Close, Cold Neighbor of Sun

Alien planet's rotation speed clocked for first time

Seven Samples from the Solar System's Birth

SPACE TRAVEL
Competition of the multiple Gortler modes in hypersonic boundary layer flows

New Craft Will Be America's First Space Lifeboat in 40 Years

Space Launch System Structural Test Stands to be Built at Marshall Space Flight Center

ATK Validates MegaFlex Solar Array For NextGen Solar Electric Propulsion Missions

SPACE TRAVEL
The Phantom Tiangong

New satellite launch center to conduct joint drill

China issues first assessment on space activities

China launches experimental satellite

SPACE TRAVEL
NASA Astronauts Go Underwater to Test Tools for a Mission to an Asteroid

25-foot asteroid comes within 186,000 miles of Earth

Halley's Comet-linked meteor shower to peak Tuesday morning

Less than a year from its Ceres rendezvous




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.