Expedition 71 crew members on the International Space Station tested groundbreaking technologies including an artificial intelligence assistant named CIMON and a 12K ultra-high-resolution camera.
These innovations aim to streamline space tasks and improve image quality for spacecraft and planetary analysis. Crew members also engaged in routine maintenance and health checks, prepared for the return trip to Earth, and tested suits designed to alleviate the effects of microgravity.
AI and CIMON: Enhancing Space Missions
Artificial intelligence is being explored for its potential to help crews perform a variety of space tasks as missions and the technology supporting them become more complex. NASA Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps tested the free-flying CIMON AI assistant Thursday morning monitoring its scientific capabilities while using voice prompts. CIMON is being investigated for its potential to relieve a crew’s workload providing more time for relaxation on long-term space missions.
High-Resolution Space Imaging
Also on Thursday’s research schedule was an advanced digital motion picture camera designed for usage in the harsh environment of microgravity. NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Butch Wilmore set up the Sphere Camera-2 and filmed crew activities in the Tranquility module. Footage is collected in 12K, or ultra-high resolution, that can provide highly detailed spacecraft inspection imagery or lunar and planetary surface imagery for analysis during missions.
Station Maintenance and Health Checks
Dyson also joined NASA astronauts Don Pettit and Suni Williams and replaced filters on the station’s bathroom, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment located in Tranquility. Afterward, Pettit filmed commercial activities taking place inside the Kibo laboratory module for Japanese audiences. Pettit also joined NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick for neck, shoulder, and leg vein scans using the Ultrasound 2 device with remote guidance from doctors on the ground.
Preparations for Earth Return
Dominick began his shift training for the upcoming departure of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft that he Barrat, Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin will ride back to Earth in early October. Then he joined Wilmore and Williams for a conference with flight directors in Mission Control Center in Houston. Wilmore also swapped fuel bottles inside the Combustion Integrated Rack then joined Williams to organize cargo inside the Columbus laboratory module.
Suiting Up for Gravity
Grebenkin tried on the Roscosmos-designed lower body negative pressure suit today with assistance from cosmonaut Ivan Vagner. That suit may alleviate space-caused head and eye pressure symptoms and help crews adjust quicker to the return to Earth’s gravity. Vagner then spent the rest of the day familiarizing himself with orbital lab systems and life support maintenance.
Ready for Re-Entry
Dyson is nearing the end of her stay in space as she and Commander Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub prepare for their return to Earth on September 23. Kononenko packed a variety of scientific hardware and station cargo inside the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship today that he will ride home in with his two crewmates. Chub began handing over his responsibilities to fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin.