Work on board the ISS includes not only science, but also everyday tasks – from cleaning sleeping areas to maintaining the operation of the orbital complex. One of the challenges that NASA astronaut Johnny Kim described is the seemingly mundane measurement of body weight.

“In space we are weightless, but not massless. So how do we measure our mass?” — Kim asked his subscribers on social networks.

It turned out that without gravity, this morning ritual of millions of people on Earth turns into a complex procedure. For this purpose, special equipment is used – for example, a Russian device for measuring body weight, working on the principle of Newton’s second law. You need to apply a force, measure the acceleration, and then you can calculate the mass, writes Space.com.

Science in zero gravity

In addition to weight control, the crew actively conducted scientific experiments. NASA flight engineer Mike Finke continued to study how microparticles attach to liquid droplets and rearrange themselves in zero gravity, and then transmitted the data to scientists on Earth.

His colleague, Zena Cardman, was testing a new portable scanning device. It allows you to conduct ultrasound examination of the heart, veins, as well as obtain images of bones and internal organs directly in orbit.

Mike Finke announced the start of a new research campaign. In the Microgravity Science Glovebox, the team is studying how weightlessness affects the transformation of stem cells into heart and brain cells. These experiments will help in the development of regenerative medicine both on Earth and for future long-duration space missions.

Preparing for the arrival of a new crew

Working at the station is also a routine. The crew spent time preparing for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.

The Russian cargo ship Progress MS-32 successfully carried out the maneuver – its engines operated for than 14 minutes. This made it possible to raise the altitude of the ISS orbit to provide optimal conditions for docking the new Soyuz with three crew members.

Johnny Kim set up a temporary sleeping station for one of the arriving astronauts in the Columbus laboratory module. With their arrival, the number of station crew will temporarily increase to 10 people.

Zena Cardman was engaged in inventory and preparation for the return to Earth of components of the Russian Orlan spacesuits, which will go home on the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft.

There was a real traffic jam of spaceships in orbit. In addition to the crew ships (SpaceX Dragon Endeavor and Soyuz MS-27), four cargo vehicles docked at the station – two Russian Progress, an American Cygnus and a Japanese HTV-X1.

At the moment, the ISS has been continuously inhabited for 25 years and 20 days, remaining a unique laboratory and a symbol of international cooperation in space.