humans in space

part two by carol higgins

Last month we reviewed the early space program and the important role the Space Shuttle missions played in America’s human spaceflight efforts. This month, we focus on the crowning achievement of those activities – the International Space Station (ISS). Did you know that humans have been living in that laboratory in space every minute of every day since the first crew arrived on November 2, 2000?

ISS is the world’s premier research facility. It zooms along at 17,500 mph and 250 miles above Earth, making one complete orbit of our planet in 90 minutes. During that time, crews experience 45 minutes of daylight and 45 minutes of darkness, seeing 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day. Temperatures outside reach 250 degrees Fahrenheit (water boils at 212 degrees F) when in sunlight and minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit during darkness.

The station is truly an international collaboration, comprised of 15 partner countries within five space agencies: NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and European Space Agency (ESA). Currently seven crew members are onboard: three NASA astronauts (Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Frank Rubio), three Russian cosmonauts (Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, Anna Kakina), and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata.

The size of a football field, ISS has

16 pressurized modules where crews live and work. Inside are high-tech experiment stations, life support systems, two kitchens, a gym, sleeping quarters, bathrooms, eight spacecraft docking ports, over 50 computers, over 350,000 sensors to monitor the station, and more. Astronauts usually stay for a 6-month mission, transported by either a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft under NASA contract or a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The vehicle stays docked until its passengers are scheduled to return home. Crew supplies, equipment and experiments are regularly delivered by four cargo vehicles: SpaceX Cargo Dragon, Russia’s Progress, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus, and Japan’s HTV spacecraft.

For researchers, the station offers unique opportunities to create innovative experiments. In space, people and objects float, and the microgravity environment creates profound differences in many sciences, such as physical and biological processes, fluids surface tension and flow, heat transfers, fire and combustion, and changes in organisms (viruses, bacteria and cells). Impacts on crews include muscle and bone loss, circulation issues, vision changes. Experiments and materials are provided by NASA facilities, research centers, pharmaceutical and commercial companies, and universities.

Crew members perform the experiments, and results are sent to the originators. Over the years, those efforts produced many breakthroughs. Examples include new Osteoporosis medications, advances in research for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Cancer, and Heart disease, robotic surgery devices, portable ultrasound equipment, and water purification systems.

In addition to research, astronauts are busy every day. They maintain all systems to keep the station running efficiently and safely, including occasional spacewalks, exercise two hours daily to mitigate bone and muscle loss, and participate in personal medical tests designed to keep future crews healthy.

On February 20, an unprecedented event will occur. An empty (no crew) Russian Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft will autonomously dock to ISS. Why? On December 14, 2022, a micrometeoroid travelling 15,600 mph punctured a coolant line on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft that docked September 21, 2022 carrying two Russians and a NASA astronaut. All coolant emptied into space. Russia deemed the spacecraft unsafe for crew and is sending the replacement MS-23 vehicle. Current plans call for an extended mission, returning the crew to Earth in September.

The arrival of the replacement vehicle and unusual shifts in crew schedules will be notable in the history of human spaceflight. Visit the www.nasa.gov website for updates and for viewing opportunities when ISS will be visible in your night sky.

Wishing you clear skies! •