Yuri, Tim and Tim before launch in December 2015. Credits: ESA
The last two weeks on the International Space Station could have been lonely for Tim Peake, Tim Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko as they ran the scientific outpost in space after having said goodbye to three colleagues, but their schedule was busy as always to keep them occupied. Here is a brief overview of Tim Peake’s activities, excluding his daily exercise routine to keep fit without gravity, and the daily planning sessions with ground control.
Monday morning 7 March the Tims worked on laying cables to upgrade spacecraft docking. After lunch Tim had the charming task of storing some fecal matter for the Japanese Multi-Omics experiment that is looking at how space could influence astronaut’s immune system in the gut. The next day Tim spent the morning preparing for an experiment that will arrive on the SpaceX-8 spacecraft that needs to be unloaded and conducted quickly after docking. Tim organised the Japanese Kibo laboratory where the experiment will take place. Before lunch he did some maintenance on the Station’s warm water system. In the afternoon he documented his food intake and held a Ham radio session with a school before doing his exercise routine.
Cable work. Credits: ESA/NASA
Wednesday 9 March kicked off with a session on NASA’s Fine Motor experiment before all three astronauts did an emergency training drill followed by Tim continuing work on the C2V2 communications upgrade. After lunch Tim worked on ESA’s Magvector experiment that is looking into magnetic fields and how they influence electronics in space. He documented his food intake again and downloaded files from the educational Astro Pi computers.
Thursday started with another sample-taking for Multi-Omics, but this time Tim collected saliva for the researchers on Earth. The remainder of the morning was spent working on C2V2 with Tim Kopra coming by to help for an hour. After lunch Tim Peake helped Tim Kopra put sensors on his thighs for the Sprint study before working on the Habitability Human factors experiment that is helping spacecraft designers improve living in space. Tim Peake also replaced a power unit in the NASA’s Destiny laboratory.
Flames in microgravity taken by Tim Peake. Credits: ESA/NASA
On Friday Tim worked in the Russian segment of the Space Station, completed his Space Headaches questionnaire, installed a guide in the Combustion facility used to burn liquids in space and ran a simulation together with Tim Kopra of the berthing of the Cygnus cargo vehicle in preparation for next week’s arrival of Cygnus-6. Lastly Tim Peake moved some food to make space for the fresh supplies arriving next week.
Saturday was cleaning and exercise day as usual with the Sunday programmed as rest. On Monday 14 March Tim did another session of the Fine Motor experiment and took more samples for Multi-Omics before tackling a four-hour job of replacing urine hydraulic components, including the valve block, urine lines and urine sensors – somebody has to do it! After lunch Tim worked on the warm water supply and had a Ham radio session with a school in Florida, USA, and did the final Magvector session for this Expedition.
Tuesday morning was spent on the eyes – a session for the Ocular Health experiment and work on the Health Maintenance System. Tim also stored some equipment in Kibo in preparation for the arrival of Cygnus. A scheduled 6-month maintenance of the Station’s T2 treadmill was a job for Tim, checking belts, replacing bolts and cleaning the equipment.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti running on the treadmill in space. Credits: ESA/NASA
More eye exams on Wednesday and another training system in preparation for Cygnus berthing followed by more eye exams for a different experiment took up most of the day. On Thursday Tim was set to drive his first rover from space for Meteron, unfortunately the rover itself was uncooperative and Tim could only operate its camera. Tim did more eye exams and a cardio-echo for the same Ocular Health experiment. In the afternoon Tim inspected hatch seals and cleaned where necessary in five of the Space Station’s modules.
New arrivals. Credits: ESA/NASA
Friday saw the return to a full Space Station complement of six astronauts with Tim Peake, Tim Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko working in preparation of the arrival of Soyuz TMA-20M with NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin. Tim had a midday nap to wake up fresh and ready for the new arrivals.
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