Crew Installing New Exercise Device

The Expedition 18 crew Tuesday focused on collecting science data and the installing new exercise hardware aboard the International Space Station.

Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Sandy Magnus worked together on the installation of the new Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, delivered to the orbital complex during the STS-126 space shuttle mission in November. Fincke noted a stuck launch restraint bolt on the device and tagged up with ground controllers in Houston to discuss options for its removal. Engineers will examine photographs Fincke took of the stuck bolt and advise the crew.

Magnus later collected air samples from the station’s atmosphere to perform microbial analysis.

Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov worked with the OBSTANOVKA experiment hardware, taking measurements of the plasma electric potential around the station.

Near the end of the crew’s day, Lonchakov performed a repress of the station’s air from supplies aboard the docked ISS Progress 31 cargo craft.

Image below: Astronaut Sandra Magnus, Expedition 18 flight engineer, floats between two Russian Orlan spacesuits with Santa hats in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

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