Science and Spacesuit Work Before Crew Changes Commanders
The International Space Station will change commanders on Saturday before three Expedition 74 crew members return to Earth on Sunday. As the homebound trio prepares for departure, the rest of the orbital crewmates is keeping up microgravity research and checking out spacewalking gear.
TheInternational Space Stationwill change commanders on Saturday before threeExpedition 74crew members return to Earth on Sunday. As the homebound trio prepares for departure, the rest of the orbital crewmates are keeping up microgravity research and checking out spacewalking gear. NASA astronautChris Williamsand Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev are getting ready to return to Earth this weekend inside theSoyuz MS-28 spacecraft. They will undock from theRassvet moduleat 3:03 a. m. EDT on Sunday, July 26, and land in Kazakhstan at 6:25 a. m. (3:25 p. m. local time). They spent Thursday packing the Soyuz with cargo and practicing their landing procedures on a computer. Kud-Sverchkov, the station’s commander, will hand over leadership of the orbital outpost to NASA flight engineerJessica Meirduring the change of command ceremony scheduled for 9:40 a. m. on Saturday. Meir will take charge of the seven-member crew until the end of summer. Expedition 75 will officially begin when the Soyuz carrying the Expedition 74 trio home undocks from Rassvet. Meir spent Thursday setting up advanced scientific hardware to expand biology research in space. Meir first installed aspecialized microscopein theDestiny laboratory moduleto observe microgravity’s effects on disease, tissue development, and drug responses. Next, she mixed living cartilage cell samples with bioink and placed them in abioprinterto test printing viable tissues on demand to treat a range of health conditions on and off the Earth. NASA flight engineerJack Hathawayassisted Meir with the bioprinting duties. Hathaway also joined flight engineersAnil Menonof NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) and checked out the functionality of spacesuit components including batteries, lights, and cameras. Menon also processed his blood samples for theImmunity Assayinvestigation that monitors health and cellular immune function in space. Adenot continued testing workout techniques on the newEuropean Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device. Roscosmos flight engineers Andrey Fedyaev and Pyotr Dubrov partnered together collecting air and surface samples then processing and stowing the samples for microbial analysis on Earth. Flight engineer Anna Kikina continued her human research measuring the blood pressure in her tiny vessels, or microcirculatory system, and wearing an acoustic monitor that recorded her rapid exhalation rate for a respiratory study. Learn more about station activities by following thespace station blog,@space_stationon X, as well as theISS FacebookandISS Instagramaccounts. Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here.