Station Crew ready for STS-132, Performs Maintenance and Science

(NASA) – With the launch of space shuttle Atlantis set for Friday, the Expedition 23 crew members aboard the International Space Station performed routine maintenance activities and conducted science experiments Thursday during a light-duty workday.

Atlantis is embarking on its final planned mission. During the 12-day flight, Atlantis and six astronauts will fly to the station, delivering a Russian Mini-Research Module, a set of batteries for the station’s truss and dish antenna, along with other replacement parts.

Expedition 23 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer services the Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit-Cambium (APEX-Cambium) experiment in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Flight Engineers Mikhail Kornienko and Alexander Skvortsov worked in the Russian segment of the station collecting air and water samples for analysis and conducting routine maintenance activities.

Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi participated in the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency experiment known as BIORHYTHM. The biomedical experiment involves wearing an electrocardiograph while it takes readings to measure shifts in the human biological clock.

Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson, assisted by Noguchi, took part in a periodic fitness evaluation.

On Wednesday, Noguchi, Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer undocked the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft from the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module and relocated it to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module.

The Soyuz relocation opens up the Earth-facing port of Zarya for the installation of the new Rassvet Mini-Research Module-1, which is being delivered by Atlantis during the STS-132 mission. Rassvet, which means “dawn” in Russian, will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian spacecraft.