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<\/p>\nFirmly entrenched in its utilization phase, the International Space Station is in excellent science shape, providing a stable and beneficial platform for microgravity research in Low Earth Orbit. The Station\u2019s overall status continues to greatly outpace expectations as NASA looks to continue utilizing ISS as a science testbed for its Orion and deep space exploration objectives while continuing to foster the commercial space industry with the CRS2 cargo resupply contracts, wherein all three providers continue to make excellent strides toward the commencement of that contract next year.<\/p>\n
Station status:<\/b><\/p>\n
To say that science activities aboard the International Space Station are thriving would actually be an understatement. In the first three months of 2018, two major milestones were reached: number of nations participating in experiments aboard the Low Earth Orbit laboratory as well as a record amount of hours for scientific experimentation performed within a single week.<\/p>\n
As briefed to the NASA Advisory Council by Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Bill Gerstenmaier, as of March 2018, 101 countries out of the 202 recognized countries by the United Nations have now participated in research and education aboard the ISS. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been 101 countries and areas of participation of ISS research and education,\u201d said Mr. Gerstenmaier. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty amazing. Fifty percent of [the world\u2019s countries] have had some activity on the Space Station. So it is truly an international Space Station. And I\u2019m not sure that folks realize it in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A truly international outpost for science and education. (Credit: NASA)<\/p>\n
The two countries that pushed the number of participating nations to the 50% mark were Mongolia and Singapore. \u201cThe takeaway is that Station has really reached out to non-partners and non-traditional participants and a much broader community around the world\u201d then the main partner agency\u2019s that built the Station, said Mr. Gerstenmaier.<\/p>\n
Following up on this, Robyn Gatens, Deputy Director in the ISS Division and System Capability Leader for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, related the other major milestone ISS science achieved earlier this year. \u201cThere was one week in February where [the crew] did a record amount of research on the Space Station for the first time and executed over a hundred hours!\u201d<\/p>\n
On average, crews have \u2013 to date \u2013 spent roughly 54 hours per week conducting science experimentation on the orbital lab, and the record of over 100 hours more than doubles that \u2013 an increase accomplished without the arrival of any U.S. commercial resupply visiting vehicles that always results in an increase in utilization hours per week.<\/p>\n
Space tourism guides (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n That record was enabled in large part due to the continued work and success of CASIS, Center for the Advancement of Science In Space, which handles all of the research scheduling and experiment needs aboard the Station. In Fiscal Year 2017, CASIS awarded contracts for 45 new projects on Station and delivered 76 experiments to the international lab.<\/p>\n Most recent statistics from CASIS regarding its support for the science aboard the International Space Station. (Credit: CASIS)<\/p>\n Of those 76 delivered experiments, over half of the life sciences projects therein were from the National Institutes of Health in the United States, with the National Science Foundation co-sponsoring most of the physical science experiments. More impressively, 70% of all FY 2017 CASIS projects were from new customers, and the fiscal year saw 32 new users aboard the Station.<\/p>\n Looking ahead to the current Expedition 55 increment and the crew\u2019s planned work, an average of 68 hours of scientific experimentation per week is expected, with increases in that weekly number during the planned Orbital ATK OA-9E Cygnus flight next month and the ongoing SpaceX CRS-14 flight of Dragon.<\/p>\n That average will fluctuate as final and last minute experiments are added to Cygnus OA-9E. As related by Ms. Gatens, \u201cThe good thing about the way the Station has evolved is its processes for manifesting. We\u2019re able to get things and projects up more quickly and sort of fill up more last-minute availabilities in our capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s great, but the thing is that we don\u2019t necessarily know the entire crew increment plan at the beginning of an increment. So right now, we\u2019ve got 184 investigations that we know about this increment. This will change and go up as the increment continues and things are added to the cargo flights.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-20-at-14.11.30.png\")
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