Stem cell science and human research research ahead of cargo arrival – Space Station

A cargo ship carrying about three tons of food, fuel and supplies is currently in orbit heading to the International Space Station for a docking early Saturday morning. Stem cell science, heart rate data collection and vision testing activities topped the research schedule Thursday as the Expedition 70 crew awaited the arrival of Progress 87.

Progress 87 successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, February 14th at 10:25 pm ET. On Saturday, February 17, the cargo ship will automatically dock at the rear port of the Zvezda service module at 1:12 am. Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chubut were tasked with monitoring the arrival of the spacecraft.

At the station, four orbiting residents spent most of the day investigating mesenchymal stem cells in microgravity-induced bone loss (MABL-A). Her MABL-A, onboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th Commercial Resupply Mission, will evaluate the effects of microgravity on bone marrow stem cells. In the morning, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, assisted by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa, collected biocell samples in the habitat. In the afternoon, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghberg took over the BioCell sampling effort, with support from ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen.

Mogensen is also involved in another study, Plants and Microbes in Space, launched on Northrop Grumman’s 20th replenishment mission to examine whether beneficial microorganisms can mitigate some of the negative effects of the space environment. Part of the day was also spent photographing the interactions of (APEX-10) Petri plates. About plant growth and development.

In the afternoon, O’Hara conducted a series of activities for the CIPHER investigation, including collecting heart rate data and completing eye exams. CIPHER (Complementary Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research) is a comprehensive, systemic approach to investigating how humans adapt to spaceflight.

For the Roscosmos segment, Chubb worked with flight engineer Konstantin Borisov to film an educational video demonstrating the capabilities of Roscosmos’ scientific hardware aboard the station. Meanwhile, Kononenko carried out routine maintenance on the Zarya module. Near the end of the day, Borisov examined Earth’s night atmosphere in near-ultraviolet light for ongoing research in an orbital laboratory.

For more information on station activities, follow the Space Station blog. @Space Station and @ISS_Research In addition to X, it is also available on the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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