Astronauts aboard the International Space Station continued research into space-based agriculture, plant diseases, virtual reality and advanced technologies following the installation of a new roll-out solar array.
The Expedition 75 crew completed a week of scientific activities following the first of two planned spacewalks to upgrade the International Space Station’s power generation system. Alongside the station’s power upgrades, astronauts conducted experiments involving space crops, plant diseases, virtual reality and super intelligence tools.
The new roll-out solar array began generating power after NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed it during a spacewalk on Thursday. The two astronauts spent seven hours and 11 minutes outside the station, attaching the array to the port-side truss structure and releasing its tension bolts. This allowed the array to unfurl over a ten-minute process.
Final Solar Array Installation Scheduled for November 5
Menon and Kutryk are scheduled to install one more roll-out solar array on Thursday, November 5, completing a process that began in June 2021 to increase the station’s power generation capacity.
The eighth and final array will be installed on the starboard side of the truss structure. Once deployed, the eight arrays will increase the station’s power generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.
Research Explores Plant Growth and Disease Prevention in Space
Following the spacewalk, Menon worked on a space botany investigation in the Kibo laboratory module. The research examines how microgravity affects cell division in green algae and cultured tobacco cells. The findings may support the production of food crops on the Moon and Mars.
NASA flight engineer Luke Delaney also conducted research on space-based crops, focusing on preventing plant diseases in microgravity. He inoculated thale cress plant samples after exposing them to a fungal pathogen and placed the samples inside an artificial gravity-generating incubator. The results may help improve crop disease resistance both on Earth and in space.
Meanwhile, Kutryk used the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D), a compact exercise cycle in the Columbus laboratory module. The device is being tested to assess its ability to keep crew members physically fit during long-term spaceflight.
Astronauts Continue Experiments in Virtual Reality and Advanced Technologies
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins spent her shift servicing research equipment aboard the station. She removed and photographed components inside a device that powers experiments launched aboard spacecraft. She also replaced moisture absorbers in portable science freezers used to transport frozen research samples between the station and Earth for analysis.
Station commander Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos worked on a physics experiment involving the replacement of hardware inside a temperature-controlled chamber. The research explores the manufacturing of high-purity semiconductor crystals in microgravity.
Flight engineer Sergey Teteryatnikov used a virtual reality headset to respond to computer-generated visual stimuli. The experiment examines how his sense of balance and orientation adapts to microgravity.
Another crew member, flight engineer Anna Kikina, studied how super intelligence tools could improve operational and communication efficiency aboard a spacecraft.
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