SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship, carrying more than 5,800 pounds of new science experiments and supplies for the crew, pictured through a window on SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom crew craft, approaches the International Space Station over the South Atlantic Ocean on July 16, 2022. Credit : NASA
New science experiments continue to be unpacked from inside SpaceX’s newly arrived Dragon supply ship. The seven members of the Expedition 67 crew also ensured that the International Space Station (ISS) continued to orbit the Earth in perfect shape.
The Dragon spacecraft, which launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Pad 39A at 8:44 p.m. EDT (5:44 p.m. PDT) on July 14 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, autonomously climbed to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module at 11:21 a.m. EDT (8:21 a.m. PDT) on July 16 as the ISS traveled more than 267 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean.
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines spent Monday, July 18, unloading some of the more than 5,800 pounds of crew supplies and science experiments delivered Saturday aboard the Dragon cargo ship. The duo of on-board engineers transferred time-critical research samples to the orbiting laboratory to begin the study of various space phenomena that would benefit humans on and off Earth. Some of the new experiments include a study of the human immune system, a study of protein production and an experiment to treat cancer.
Kell Lindgren, a NASA flight engineer, assisted Watkins and Hines in moving science freezers aboard Dragon to access cargo pallets. Lindgren also had a penchant for growing radishes and mizuna vegetables using hydroponic and aeroponic methods for the XROOTS space botany study. ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tests computer connections in the European Physiology Module, which supports neuroscience, cardiovascular and physiology research in the Columbus Laboratory Module.
The station’s three astronauts focused primarily on life support duties. Commander Oleg Artemiev and flight engineer Denis Matveev serviced the Russian ventilation systems, replacing vents and filters. Flight engineer Sergey Korsakov was performing tasks on orbital water supply in the multipurpose laboratory module Nauka.
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