Astrobee: The crew reviewed the Astrobee OBT (On-board Training) in preparation for tomorrow’s hardware checkout and calibration session. Astrobee is a series of three free-flying, cube-shaped robots. The robots are designed to help scientists and engineers develop and test technologies for use in microgravity to assist astronauts with routine chores, and give ground controllers additional eyes and ears on the ISS. The autonomous robots, powered by fans and vision-based navigation, perform crew-monitoring, sampling, logistics management, and accommodate up to three investigations.

BFF (BioFabrication Facility): The crew performed a series of activities for the BFF, including a glovebox removal and installation, and a corrective procedure to disconnect a faulty sensor from the BFF printed circuit board. This will help prepare the facility to support future science activities. The Techshot. Inc. BioFabrication Facility (BFF) is dedicated to manufacturing human organs and tissues in space, primarily for use by patients on Earth. Besides printing tissue, the BFF also can help maintain the health of deep space exploration crews by producing food and personalized pharmaceuticals on demand.

ISS HAM: The crew participated in an ISS HAM event with Farmwell Station Middle School Space Dreamers, which is located in the suburbs of Ashburn, Virginia. Questions included the possibility of growing plants in space, if faster-than-light travel is something crew believes can be created, and the effects of space radiation on the ISS astronauts. ISS Ham Radio provides opportunities to engage and educate students, teachers, parents and other members of the community in science, technology, engineering and math by providing a means to communicate between astronauts and the ground HAM radio units.

SLAMMD (Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device): The crew performed a post-rack transfer checkout of the SLAMMD unit. They also set up the Calibration Arm, attached the Calibration Mass, and then performed a control run and mass measurement. SLAMMD is able to calculate a crewmember or object’s mass without the presence of gravity, and is intended to be used for future support of Cargo Transfer Bag (CTB) mass determination. It follows Newton’s Second Law of Motion (force equals mass times acceleration), which means that when two springs generate a known force on an object, the resulting acceleration can be used to calculate the crewmember’s mass. The device is accurate to 0.5 pounds (0.225 kg) over a range of 90 to 240 pounds (41 to 109 kg).

Veg-04B: The crew performed a routine plant check. This includes the assessment of individual plant pillows, the addition of water as necessary, photography of the Mizuna plants, and mass measurement of any broken leaves. The research of Veg-04B focuses on the impact of light quality and fertilizer on leafy crop growth for a 56-day grow-out, microbial food safety, nutritional value, taste acceptability by the crew, and the overall behavioral health benefits of having plants and fresh food in space. A healthy, nutritious diet is essential for long-duration exploration missions, which means that the typical pre-packaged astronaut diet needs to be supplemented by fresh foods during flight; the Veggie Vegetable Production System (Veggie) has begun testing aboard the space station to help meet this need, and validation tests have demonstrated that leafy greens can be grown in spaceflight.

Systems:

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Mobility Unit (EMU): In preparation for the upcoming series of Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) EVAs, the crew completed an EMU resizing activity that will set-up the EMU suits 3004 and 3008 for Luca Parmitano and Drew Morgan. Jessica Meir and Christina Koch completed the previous Battery Charging Discharging Unit (BCDU) Remove and Replace EVA.

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Distillation Assembly (DA): Engineers on the ground have observed that the Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Distillation Assembly (DA) compressor and hoses are showing trends of increased degradation. As part of preventative maintenance, today the ISS crew replaced the UPA DA and hoses with new ones, which will help improve the overall UPA processing operations.

Cygnus Launch Preparations: With the NG-12 launch rapidly approaching on November 2, the ISS crew spent some time today preparing for the arrival of the Cygnus vehicle including continuing with the Cygnus rendezvous robotic training.

Completed Task List Activities:

WHC KTO Replace

Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.



Payload Support Operations

Look Ahead:

Wednesday, 10/30 (GMT 303)

Payloads:



Astrobee ops

BEST sample transfer

GLACIER desiccant swap

POLAR3 desiccant swap

SAMS fan replacement

Time Perception

Veg-04B harvest and taste test

Systems:

HTV Cargo Ops

Cygnus OBT

Thursday, 10/31 (GMT 304)

Payloads:



AMS EVA procedure review

HRF/Veggie questionnaire

ISS Experience

Standard Measures

Systems:

PCS Relocate

HTV SD Scavenge

HTV Egress

HTV Vest Demate

Node 2 CPA install

Friday, 11/1 (GMT 305)

Payloads:



AMS EVA procedure review

Astrobee ops

Food acceptability

Food Physiology

ISS Experience stow

RR transfer crew conference

Standard Measures

Veg-04B plant check

Systems:

PMD Depress

HTV Depart and Prep

HTV Release Monitor

Cygnus Cargo Conference

Cygnus Vehicle Ops CBT

Cygnus Capture Review

Cygnus Robotics OBT

IMS Conference

Today’s Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.