WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Expedition 73 crew at the International Space Station has kicked off several days of human research activities starting with exploring how the human heart and nervous system adapt to weightlessness, NASA said.
NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Anne McClain joined each other in the Columbus laboratory module on Tuesday for heart scans using the Ultrasound 2 device to understand how living in space affects blood flow. McClain then partnered with NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers and studied how an astronaut's nervous system, or sense of balance, adjusts to microgravity. McClain wore virtual reality goggles and responded to visual stimuli as Ayers monitored and operated the hardware with assistance from doctors on the ground in real time. Both studies are part of the CIPHER suite of 14 human research experiments.
Kim later assisted Japanese station Commander Takuya Onishi as he worked in the Tranquility module for upcoming electrical and life support maintenance.
Russian cosmonauts Alexey Zubritskiy and Kirill Peskov continued unpacking cargo from inside the Progress 92 resupply ship that delivered about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the Expedition 73 crew on July 5.
The docked Progress 91 cargo craft will fire its engines on Wednesday for several minutes boosting the station's orbit to the correct altitude for the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission. Crew-11 is targeted to launch on July 31 aboard the Dragon spacecraft and is expected to dock on August 2, NASA said.
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