ISS Expedition 56 to begin journey on March 21; NASA astronauts, Russian cosmonaut on board, here are details

NASA astronauts along with a Russian cosmonaut, in their latest expedition, are set to go on a two-day visit to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, March 21.

NASA astronauts along with a Russian cosmonaut, in their latest expedition, are set to go on a two-day visit to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, March 21. The Soyuz capsule, carrying the astronauts and the cosmonaut is set to blast off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome. The astronauts on Expedition 56 would join three other crew members of Expedition 55 who are already in space, carrying out their research on the effects of living in space while also maintaining the orbital laboratory, reported Times Now. In its blog post, NASA said that its flight engineers, Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel along with Russian space agency Roscosmos’ Oleg Artemyev will join the Expedition 55 crew members. The spaceship carrying the trio is scheduled to reach the space station on Friday, March 23. Waiting for them are Expedition 55 Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Flight Engineers Scott Tingle and Norishige Kanai.

Meanwhile, the crew of Expedition 55 reformed the JEM Airlock to support an upcoming experiment: Materials on ISS Experiment – Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) payload operations. According to Times Now, all the three members, on their mission, have been exploring how plants adapt to gravity. They have even begun preparing for a suite of combustion experiments. The crew has also been looking after the maintenance of the station’s microgravity science operations as well as its life support systems.

The study conducted by the Expedition 55 crew exposes sample plates, containing various numbers of space materials, to the severe surroundings of space outside the station for varying durations, reported IANS. The data collected through the study would inform satellite designers of different materials and how they could degrade over time. The NASA said that this topic is of immense importance when it comes to designing and bringing together spacecraft and structures to withstand a journey through the cosmos.

SOURCE GOOGLE NEWS