The three Expedition 50 crew members today are working on an oxygen generator and setting up gear to photograph the Earth and meteors. In Kazakhstan, the Soyuz spacecraft that will launch the next trio to the International Space Station is being processed at its launch facility.
Commander Shane Kimbrough was back at work this morning on the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) in the U.S. side of the International Space Station. The OGS is down for maintenance as he and ground specialists troubleshoot the device due to a low voltage signature. In the meantime, Russia’s Elektron system is providing oxygen for the crew aboard space station.
Cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov changed camera lenses and rings on the Sally Ride EarthKAM. The student-operated Earth observation experiment enables middle school kids using the internet to program targets for the camera and download the imagery they have taken. The EarthKAM gear is installed in a window located in the Harmony module.
A hard drive was swapped out in the Meteor payload that looks outside a unique window known as the Window Observational Research Facility on the Destiny laboratory module. The visual spectroscopy study uses imagery to explore the physical and chemical properties of meteoroid dust to learn more about comets and asteroids.
Three new station crew members are in Kazakhstan preparing for a Nov. 17 launch to the station. The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft that will carry the new Expedition 50-51 trio to its new home in space was installed inside the third stage shroud of its rocket. Veteran station residents Peggy Whitson of NASA and Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, along with first-time space flyer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will take a two-day, 34-orbit trip to the station after their liftoff and stay in space till May.
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