Fluid Shifts: The crew performed activities related to the Chibis (lower body negative pressure) portion of the investigation. Fluid Shifts is a NASA investigation, divided into Dilution Measurements, Baseline Imaging, and Imaging with Chibis. The Chibis hardware is used to perform the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) part of the experiment. The Fluid Shifts experiment investigates the causes for severe and lasting physical changes to astronaut’s eyes. Because the headward fluid shift is a hypothesized contributor to these changes, reversing this fluid shift with a LBNP device is being evaluated as a possible intervention. Results from this study may help to develop preventative measures against lasting changes in vision and prevention of eye damage.

JWRS check 2: The crew performed the part 2 of the connection checks for the JEM Water Recovery System (JWRS). The Demonstration of JEM Water Recovery System (JWRS) generates potable water from urine. In the past on manned spacecraft, urine and waste water were collected and stored, or vented overboard. For long-term space missions, however, water supply could become a limiting factor. Demonstrating the function of this water recovery system on orbit contributes to updating the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) to support astronauts on the space station and future exploration missions.

Nanoracks particle flow: The crew connected the two Nanoracks Particle Flow units to the IMV Bypass Duct to observe the pellet motion and final resting places of the pellets. Although there was some difficulty getting all the particles to migrate in the first run, this was mostly resolved. The goal is to improve the understanding of the effects of airflow and pellet-pellet interaction. BOOST Orbital Operations on Spheroid Tesellation (Nanoracks particle flow, aka Adidas BOOST™) examines the particle foam mold filling process using different types of pellets. On Earth, Adidas makes performance midsoles from thousands of individual foam pellets blown into a mold and fused together. Microgravity enables a closer look at the factors behind pellet motion and location, which could enhance manufacturing processes as well as product performance and comfort.

OsteoOmics fixation: The crew performed the fixation operations on the remaining three OsteoOmics-2 BioCells contained in habitat 4. Of the 3 remaining BioCells expected to be clear of contamination, only 1 was actually clear and was preserved via fixation. The 2 contaminated BioCells were bagged. The term ‘fixation’ refers to preservation of a sample for later analysis. There are several different fixation methods available, depending on the sample targets of interest. The ground team is assessing the possible source of the contamination, which has affected the majority of the 24 total BioCells in the 4 habitats. Millions of Americans experience bone loss, which results from disease or the reduced effects of gravity that can occur in bed-ridden patients. OsteoOmics tests whether magnetic levitation accurately simulates the free-fall conditions of microgravity by comparing genetic expression osteoblastic cells, a type of bone cell, levitated in a high-field superconducting magnet with cells flown in low-Earth orbit. This information helps scientists determine the molecular and metabolic changes that take place in magnetic levitation and real microgravity.



Systems

SpaceX 20 (SpX-20) Dragon Cargo Operations: The crew continued to perform Dragon cargo operations today. Ground teams estimate ~ 53 hours of cargo operations remain prior to Dragon departure planned for April 6, 2020.

Completed Task List Activities:

None

Today’s Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.



HRF Rack 2 Rack Power Up

THC Intermodule Ventilation IMV Measure

SPDM MISSE Sample Carrier Transfer

OsteoOmics Fixation Ops

Fluid Shifts Experiment Service Module Data Collection

Lookahead Plan

Thursday, 3/19 (GMT 079)

Payloads:



Engineered Heart Tissue

ISS Experience

ISS HAM pass

MELFI icebrick insertions

MUSES server vent clean

MVP2 Cell-03

TangoLab2

Systems:

Reboot NOD1 16-Port Ethernet Switch

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System WSTA Fill

74P Transfer Operations

Friday, 3/20 (GMT 080)

Payloads:



Acoustic Diagnostics

CGBA4 maintenance

Food Acceptability

Food Physiology

ISS Experience

MELFI icebrick insertions

PL NAS vent clean

Radi-N2 deploy

Systems:

EMU Hard Upper Torso ORU R&R

Node 3 MCA R&R

Saturday, 3/21 (GMT 081)

Payloads:



No utilization activities

Systems:

Crew Off-duty

Today’s Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

