Station - Life Science Work and Dragon Preps Continue

The three member Expedition 33 crew is busy conducting routine maintenance and ongoing science aboard the International Space Station. They await a new trio of flight engineers who are in Russia preparing for an Oct. 23 launch to join their orbiting crewmates.

Back in the orbital laboratory, Commander Suni Williams cleaned and lubricated a beverage adapter to maintain its functionality. She also replaced a filter in the oxygen generation system that creates oxygen from water.

Williams also worked on two life science experiments that observe how a crew member’s body adapts to microgravity. She attached sensors to Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide that monitored his body while he exercised for the Integrated Cardiovascular (ICV) experiment. At the end of her work day she restarted the ALTEA experiment that observes cosmic radiation and its effect on a crew member’s nervous system.

Hoshide wore gear that measured his cardiopulmonary system while he was exercising for the ICV study. He continued prepacking gear that will be returned to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule in late October. Finally, he set up gear to transfer water to a waste water tank and sampled the Kibo lab’s air for microbes.

Dragon’s launch on the SpaceX-1 mission is scheduled for Oct. 7 at 8:35 p.m. EDT. Grapple and berth of the spacecraft using the Canadarm2 will start at 7:32 a.m. Oct. 10.

Williams talked to CNN’s Sanjay Gupta about how a crew member stays healthy in space. She also spoke with The New York Times’ Kenneth Chang about spacewalks and fixing the station’s toilet.