NASA Invite the audience You can watch live as astronauts gather to search for microbes on the International Space Station. On June 13 at 8 a.m. ET, Tracy C. Dyson and Matt Dominik will launch through the ISS Quest airlock to collect microbial samples that will then be analyzed to learn more about how the tiniest known organisms survive in the harsh vacuum of space.
Depending on the position of the International Space Station relative to the Sun, solar radiation can cause external Between 248°F and -148°FAdd to this the vacuum of space and it would be a death sentence for almost all known life, but “almost” is the key word here.
NASA will begin live streaming “US Spacewalk 90” through its official television channel, NASA+, ahead of the event, scheduled for June 13 at 6:30 a.m. ET. NASA App, Youtubeand the Agent websiteViewers can also check it out via the YouTube stream embedded below.
Scientists have known for years that certain organisms, called extremophiles, can survive the dramatically changing conditions of space for extended periods of time. Tardigrades, also known as “water bears,” have been documented to have survived for 10 days outside Earth’s atmosphere. Bacteria and Microorganisms Understanding how microbes manage these feats of self-preservation can help researchers better understand how life first emerged on Earth, and even how it traveled between planets amid meteorites and comets.
Because the reflective visors on both astronauts’ helmets make it difficult to tell them apart, Dyson will wear a red-striped suit and serve as Crewmember 1, while Dyson will wear a plain suit. Thursday’s spacewalk will be Dyson’s fourth and Dominic’s first while aboard the ISS. During the approximately six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, the astronauts will also complete the removal of a faulty electronics module, called a radio frequency group, from a communications antenna mounted on the station’s starboard truss.
[Related: Let this astronaut show you around the International Space Station.]
Dyson and Dominic have been living on the ISS since April with the five-member Expedition 71 crew, and are scheduled to return to Earth in September of this year. But the ISS residents are currently hosting two guests: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who piloted the first crewed (and much-delayed) launch of the Boeing Starliner, arriving on June 6. Wilmore and Williams are currently scheduled to return on June 18.