Expedition 71 – Space Station

Relaxation, Science, and Maintenance as Crew Departure Preps Continue

The aurora australis blends with Earth's atmospheric glow blanketing the nighttime horizon in this photograph from the space station as it orbited above the Pacific Ocean. — The aurora australis blends with Earth’s atmospheric glow blanketing the nighttime horizon in this photograph from the space station as it orbited above the Pacific Ocean.

The seven NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station relaxed and took a break on Tuesday before the SpaceX Crew-8 mission leaves. Meanwhile, the four Roscosmos cosmonauts stayed busy focusing on their complement of research and lab maintenance.

Expedition 72 Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps of NASA and Alexander Grebenkin from Roscosmos are now targeting departure from the orbital outpost aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft for no earlier than 3:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday, pending weather. The quartet is scheduled to call down to Mission Control Center in Houston for farewell remarks at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday. Watch live coverage of both events on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA’s three Crew-8 astronauts Dominick, Barratt, and Epps cleared their schedules on Tuesday and relaxed following several days of cargo packing, departure training, and spacecraft configurations inside Dragon Endeavour. Crew-8 cosmonaut Grebenkin stayed busy spending the first half of his day obtaining Earth imagery in the visible and near-infrared spectrum. Afterward, he serviced the ventilation system inside the Nauka science module.

The other four NASA astronauts residing aboard the space station including Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineers Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit also had the day off on Tuesday. Pettit, however, did spend a couple of hours testing a free-flying, robotic camera in the cupola then photographing the deployment of the CySat-1 and DORA (Deployable Optical Receiver Array) CubeSats outside the Kibo laboratory module. The quartet has been assisting the homebound Crew-8 members with their return activities and will soon adjust their sleep schedules to accommodate Endeavour’s undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port.

The four cosmonauts aboard the station, including Grebenkin, stayed busy on Tuesday continuing their advanced microgravity science and orbital upkeep tasks for Roscosmos. Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin installed Earth imaging hardware in Harmony that can be remotely controlled by students on the ground to photograph Earth landmarks. Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner spent his day replacing gas and water filters in Nauka and cleaning smoke detectors in the Rassvet module. Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov measured carbon dioxide levels aboard the station then worked on standard orbital plumbing duties.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Dragon Operations and Space Science Fill Station’s Midweek Schedule

The city lights of central Asia and an aurora crowning Earth's horizon are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited above western Kazakhstan. — The city lights of central Asia and an aurora crowning Earth’s horizon are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited above western Kazakhstan.

Dragon spacecraft operations are underway aboard the International Space Station as a new crew gets up to speed with life in microgravity and another crew turns its attention toward returning to Earth. Amid the crew swap activities, advanced space biology research continued apace on Wednesday exploring unique phenomena impossible to achieve in Earth’s gravity environment.

New Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Nick Hague spent his day with fellow flight engineers Matthew Dominick and Mike Barratt readying the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft for its upcoming return to Earth. The three NASA astronauts reconfigured seats inside Dragon setting it up for a four-person crew and transferred standard emergency gear back into the spacecraft.

Dominick and Barratt, SpaceX Crew-8’s commander and pilot respectively, are getting ready to fly back to Earth with Mission Specialists Jeanette Epps of NASA and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos. Officials from NASA and SpaceX will soon announce the date and time of Endeavour’s undocking from the Harmony module’s forward port and its splashdown off the coast of Florida. Before Crew-8 departs, the foursome will provide farewell remarks at 9:55 a.m. EDT on Sunday live on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Veteran NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, who arrived at the station on Sept. 11, worked in Harmony exploring the genetic risks space travelers face by analyzing and amplifying RNA samples. Observations may help doctors identify mechanisms that lead to a variety of diseases and improve the diagnosis of illnesses both on Earth and in space. Commander Suni Williams cleaned the inside of the Life Science Glovebox following earlier stem cell research promoting therapies for certain blood diseases and cancers. NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore refilled the Columbus laboratory module’s Human Research Facility with medicine, blood kits, and needles.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who docked to the orbital outpost with Hague aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom on Sept. 29, partnered with Grebenkin who trained him to use the European robotic arm. Gorbunov also continued familiarizing himself with station operations then installed Earth observation hardware in the Nauka science module to image the atmosphere in ultraviolet wavelengths. Grebenkin installed more Earth monitoring gear to obtain visible and near infrared imagery of landmarks in the Amazon, Portugal, and Germany.

New station flight engineers, Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, who began their mission with Pettit aboard the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, split their day on Roscosmos research and lab maintenance. Ovchinin joined Grebenkin setting up the Earth monitoring gear and also serviced carbon dioxide removal hardware. Vagner worked on routine upkeep of the Zvezda service module’s ventilation systems.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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NASA Hosts Crew-9 Space Station 101 Social Panel

A graphic for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission is displayed on the historic countdown clock at the NASA News Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Cory S Huston

NASA will host an International Space Station 101 panel livestream at 1:15 p.m. Friday, Sept 27. Agency experts will provide an overview about the space station, operations, science, living and working in space, and take questions from reporters and social media.

Participants in the livestream panel include:

NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
Robyn Gatens, director, NASA’s International Space Station Program, and acting director, NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Division
Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
John Posey, Dragon engineer, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

NASA will stream the briefing beginning at 1:15 p.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Following the panel discussion, leaders from NASA and SpaceX will host a prelaunch news conference at 5 p.m. to discuss final steps leading up to the 1:17 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 launch from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, make up the two-man team who will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the company’s Falcon 9 rocket to the orbiting laboratory.

Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 55% of favorable weather conditions for the launch. Cumulus cloud rule, flight through precipitation, surface electric fields rule are the primary weather concerns.

More details about the launch will be posted on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook.

Soyuz Lands Returning Dyson, Two Crewmates Back to Earth

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft lands in Kazakhstan at 7:59 a.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 23. Credit: NASA

At 7:59 a.m. EDT (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time), the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Spanning 184 days in space, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched March 23, and arrived at the station March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, returned after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.

Dyson spent her third spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and returned with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record 1,111 days in orbit, and Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.

The three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Dyson will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Kononenko and Chub will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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NASA Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Crewmates Returning to Earth Live on NASA+

Individual pre-flight crew portraits of NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub wearing their Soyuz launch and landing suits.

NASA’s live return coverage is underway on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft, with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, will make a parachute-assisted landing at 7:59 a.m. (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan. The spacecraft will execute its deorbit burn at 7:05 a.m.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Soyuz Spacecraft Undocks, Three Crew Members Headed Back to Earth

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft undocks from the International Space Station's Prichal module. Credit: NASA — The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft undocks from the International Space Station’s Prichal module. Credit: NASA

At 4:36 a.m. EDT, the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft undocked from the orbiting laboratory’s Prichal module with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko.

NASA’s live coverage of deorbit burn, entry, and landing will begin at 6:45 a.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The spacecraft will make a parachute-assisted landing at 7:59 a.m. (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Trio Departing Space Station Soon Live on NASA+

Expedition 71 crew members (from left) Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, and NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson pose for a portrait inside the International Space Station's Rassvet module. — Expedition 71 crew members (from left) Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, and NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson pose for a portrait inside the International Space Station’s Rassvet module.

NASA’s live coverage of undocking is now underway on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

At 1:02 a.m. EDT, hatches between the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft and the International Space Station closed in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko.

The spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Prichal module at 4:36 a.m., heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 7:59 a.m. (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

NASA will provide coverage of deorbit burn, entry, and landing at 6:45 a.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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Soyuz Hatch Closed, Trio Prepares to Undock From Station

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is pictured inside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft ahead of hatch closure on Sept. 23. Credit: NASA

At 1:02 a.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth.

NASA will provide live undocking coverage at 4 a.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Prichal module at 4:37 a.m., heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 8 a.m. (5 p.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Live NASA Coverage Underway of Soyuz Crew Farewell and Hatch Closure

An aurora radiates brightly above the Indian Ocean in this photograph from the International Space Station as it soared 270 miles above the Earth's surface and about 1,280 miles southwest of Perth, Australia. In the foreground, is the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship docked to the Prichal docking module which is itself attached to the Nauka science module. — The Soyuz MS-25 crew ship is pictured docked to the Prichal docking module as an aurora radiates brightly above the Indian Ocean.

NASA’s live departure coverage is underway on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko will close the hatch between the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft and the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 23.

The spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Prichal module at 4:37 a.m. to begin the journey back to Earth, heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 8 a.m. (5 p.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

NASA will provide live undocking coverage at 4 a.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website.

Spanning 184 days in space, Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched March 23, and arrived at the station March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Kononenko and Chub, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, will return after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.

Dyson spent her fourth spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and departs with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record 1,111 days in orbit, and Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Crew Wraps Week with Landing Preps and Advanced Tech Studies

The Soyuz MS-26 (foreground) and MS-25 (background) crew ships are pictured docked to the International Space Station as it orbited above Africa.

Three Expedition 71 crewmates are in their final weekend aboard the International Space Station getting ready for a return to Earth. Meanwhile, the rest of the orbital residents were busy on Friday exploring how the human body adapts to weightlessness, manufacturing tools on demand, and running an educational robotics competition.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is completing a six-month mission, while Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are wrapping up just over a year in low-Earth orbit. The Earth-bound trio is scheduled to depart the orbital lab inside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft at 4:47 a.m. EDT on Monday. At that time, Expedition 71 will end and Expedition 72 will officially be under way. The crew inside the Soyuz will parachute to a landing just over three hours later in Kazakhstan. NASA’s live undocking and landing coverage will stream on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Microgravity research was full speed ahead at the end of the week despite the landing preparations as the rest of the crew conducted space biology and advanced technology investigations. Scientists can remotely monitor the experiments on the station or analyze the samples after they are returned to Earth to advance human health, space industries, manufacturing, household products, and more.

NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt spent his day exploring how living in space affects his cognition and vision as part of the CIPHER suite of 14 human research experiments. Barratt first took a test while practicing robotic maneuvers to measure any space-caused changes in his brain structure and function. Afterward, NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps peered into Barratt’s eyes using medical imaging hardware looking for alterations in his eye structure and vision.

Epps also activated the Astrobee robotic free-flyers in the Kibo laboratory module and monitored as the toaster-sized robot assistants performed pre-programmed maneuvers designed by Asian college students. Algorithms were written to solve specific problems such as guiding the Astrobee to find a lost item in this robotics competition sponsored by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) to inspire the next generation of engineers, scientists, and leaders.

NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick spent his day on exercise research to learn how working out in microgravity affects the bones and muscles. Dominick performed squats, deadlifts, and heel raises on the advanced resistive exercise device as specialized cameras with motion detection systems monitored his workout. Doctors already know astronauts need to increase the intensity of exercise in space to reduce the rate of body mass loss. Now they are learning ways to maximize the effectiveness of a space workout to keep crews healthier on long-term missions.

The station’s newest trio, with NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, was busy on Friday maintaining orbital lab systems and studying state-of-the-art technologies. Pettit inspected safety hardware documenting the condition, locations, and ID numbers. Ovchinin and Vagner investigated futuristic planetary piloting techniques then tested printing tools on a 3D printer. Fellow cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin also participated in the futuristic pilot study. Both experiments are preparing crews for longer missions farther away from Earth.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams started the day reviewing updated emergency procedures as they settle into a mission set to end in February 2025. Next, Wilmore assisted Pettit with the safety gear checks while Williams organized cargo inside the Cygnus space freighter.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe