2022 was very eventful for the International Space Station (ISS). Being in orbit about 400 km above the Earth, the ISS over the past 12 months has welcomed newly arrived astronauts and said goodbye to others, hospitably hosted a group of the first wealthy NASA tourists. During this time, 12 spacewalks were made, ISS avoided dangerous debris, experienced a serious accident due to a coolant leak from the docked Soyuz spacecraft.
Also, in the period between vacations, during which the crew of the orbital outpost can observe the most fascinating views from the best observation point of the Earth, they spend most of their time working on scientific experiments in microgravity. NASA has released a video showing photos of some of the scientific research that has been conducted on the ISS over the past 12 months.
The images show NASA astronaut Kayla Barron, who arrived at the station in November 2021, and then returned home in May. She can be seen testing plants growing at the Veggie Research Center on the station as an experiment aimed at improving the delivery of water and nutrients to plants cultivated in space. Looking to the future, such work will benefit long-term crew missions to Mars and beyond, allowing astronauts to satisfy some of their own food needs by growing it on their spacecraft.
There are also impressive photos of the Earth’s surface from space. For example, a region in New Mexico that contains evidence of an eruption that lasted decades. Many images of the Earth were made from Cupola, a seven–window module that offers stunning views of our planet.
“Last year, spacecraft transported crew from all over the world to the space station and back, where they participated in hundreds of scientific research and technological demonstrations: from deploying CubeSats to studying fluid dynamics in space, the orbiting laboratory expanded its scientific heritage and discovery,” NASA said in the comments to the video.
Earlier we reported on how NASA published grandiose plans for 2023.
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