Editor's note: While a couple of her fellow space station inhabitants are preparing for a space walk, Sandra Magnus continues to lead experiments with fire in space. She has been focused on the Smoke Point in Co-flow Experiment, or SPICE, which determines the point at which gas-jet flames begin to emit soot in microgravity. Studying a soot-emitting flame will help scientists understand how fires spread in space and aid in the control of soot for future combustion systems. Read the full story here.

Pictured above is Sandy (center) with Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke (right) and cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov posing for a crew photo between a Russian Orlan spacesuit and an Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA