Station Crew Demonstrates AI Assistant and Ultra-High Res Camera

Star trails, streaks of city lights, and two Soyuz crew ships are pictured as the space station orbited above central China.
Star trails, streaks of city lights, and two Soyuz crew ships are pictured as the space station orbited above central China.

The Expedition 71 crew demonstrated advanced technologies including artificial intelligence and ultra-high-resolution photography aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The orbital residents also performed vein scans, packed a spacecraft for departure, and maintained life support systems.

Artificial intelligence is being explored for its potential to help crews perform a variety of space tasks as missions and the technology supporting them become more complex. NASA Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps tested the free-flying CIMON AI assistant Thursday morning monitoring its scientific capabilities while using voice prompts. CIMON is being investigated for its potential to relieve a crew’s workload providing more time for relaxation on long-term space missions.

Also on Thursday’s research schedule was an advanced digital motion picture camera designed for usage in the harsh environment of microgravity. NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Butch Wilmore set up the Sphere Camera-2 and filmed crew activities in the Tranquility module. Footage is collected in 12K, or ultra-high resolution, that can provide highly detailed spacecraft inspection imagery or lunar and planetary surface imagery for analysis during missions.

Dyson also joined NASA astronauts Don Pettit and Suni Williams and replaced filters on the station’s bathroom, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment located in Tranquility. Afterward, Pettit filmed commercial activities taking place inside the Kibo laboratory module for Japanese audiences. Pettit also joined NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick for neck, shoulder, and leg vein scans using the Ultrasound 2 device with remote guidance from doctors on the ground.

Dominick began his shift training for the upcoming departure of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft that he Barrat, Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin will ride back to Earth in early October. Then he joined Wilmore and Williams for a conference with flight directors in Mission Control Center in Houston. Wilmore also swapped fuel bottles inside the Combustion Integrated Rack then joined Williams to organize cargo inside the Columbus laboratory module.

Grebenkin tried on the Roscosmos-designed lower body negative pressure suit today with assistance from cosmonaut Ivan Vagner. That suit may alleviate space-caused head and eye pressure symptoms and help crews adjust quicker to the return to Earth’s gravity. Vagner then spent the rest of the day familiarizing himself with orbital lab systems and life support maintenance.

Dyson is nearing the end of her stay in space as she and Commander Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub prepare for their return to Earth on Sept. 23. Kononenko packed a variety of scientific hardware and station cargo inside the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship today that he will ride home in with his two crewmates. Chub began handing over his responsibilities to fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin.

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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Departure Preps Underway as New Crew Steps up Science, Maintenance

Expedition 71 Flight Engineers (from left) Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit, both from NASA, check out a digital camera aboard the space station's Unity module.
Expedition 71 Flight Engineers (from left) Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit, both from NASA, check out a digital camera aboard the space station’s Unity module.

Two crews are nearing the end of their stay aboard the International Space Station while the orbital residents continue ongoing microgravity research and lab maintenance.

Next week will see the departure of NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. The trio will undock the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft from the Prichal docking module at 4:37 a.m. EDT on Sept. 23, soar into Earth’s atmosphere, and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 8 a.m. Dyson will be wrapping up a six-month mission while Kononenko and Chub will be completing just over a year of continuously orbiting Earth.

The homebound crewmates entered the Soyuz MS-25 today and practiced undocking and descent procedures. Dyson also continued packing personal items and other cargo for return to Earth. Kononenko and Chub tried on a lower body negative pressure suit suit that may help crews adjust quicker to Earth’s gravity then tested controls and systems inside the Soyuz spacecraft.

A couple of weeks after the Soyuz crew’s return to Earth, the four SpaceX Crew-8 members Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin will depart. Dominick’s three crewmates Barratt, Epps, and Grebenkin, entered the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft docked to the Harmony module’s forward port and reviewed operations and procedures. Dominick spent his day in the Destiny laboratory module completing work begun the day before and replaced components on an oxygen generator.

The orbital outpost’s newest crew with NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner arrived at the station aboard the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship on Sept. 11. The trio has mostly completed its station familiarization activities and is stepping up daily science and maintenance tasks. Pettit worked Wednesday inside the Kibo laboratory module and loaded a CubeSat-packed deployer into Kibo’s airlock. The CubeSats will be deployed into Earth orbit for a series of technology demonstrations. Ovchinin and Vagner continued exploring how their circulatory system is adapting to the weightless environment.

NASA Flight Engineers Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been aboard the station since June 6, took turns Wednesday reviewing SpaceX Dragon spacecraft systems. Wilmore also tested the Sphere Camera-2 for its ability to take high-resolution imagery in space. Williams cleaned and inspected smoke detectors, reconfigured a radiation detector, then helped Dominick clean up after his oxygen generator work.

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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Space Science Advancing Health as Two Crews Near Station Departure

In this photograph from 2009, the sun sets below Earth's horizon illuminating the atmosphere as the space station orbited above the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa.
In this photograph from 2009, the sun sets below Earth’s horizon illuminating the atmosphere as the space station orbited above the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa.

The 12-member Expedition 71 crew aboard the International Space Station spent Tuesday observing how their bodies are adapting to weightlessness, configuring life support systems, and training to use safety hardware.

NASA and its international partners have collected and analyzed decades of health data from hundreds of space crew members. Whether its just a few days or a year or more of living and working in space, researchers take these valuable insights and apply the new knowledge to keep space crews healthier and promote advanced treatments for ailments on Earth.

Four crewmates due to return to Earth in October tried on a unique suit today that may help them adjust more rapidly to the 1G gravity environment after a six-and-a-half-month space mission. The suit, called an orthostatic intolerance garment, may alleviate blood pressure issues and other symptoms some astronauts have experienced in the first few hours and days after landing back on Earth. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 quartet with NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin began their station mission on March 5 when they docked to the orbital outpost aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft.

However, before the SpaceX crew leaves another trio will depart the space station next week. NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson will ride the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship back to Earth with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. The threesome stepped up their departure preparations this week packing cargo and personal items inside the Soyuz and reviewing spacecraft descent and landing procedures. Dyson will complete her third mission after six months in space while Kononenko, a veteran of five station missions, and Chub, a first-time space flyer, will have continuously orbited Earth for just over one year.

The station’s two newest cosmonauts, Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, have also been helping doctors understand how space crews adapt to microgravity since they arrived at the space station on Sept. 11 with NASA astronaut Don Pettit. The cosmonauts on Tuesday attached sensors to their foreheads and wore goggles that tracked their eye movements providing details about how a crew member’s sense of balance adapts to the lack of gravity. The mission-experienced pair later studied how space affects the circulatory system and how blood flows to the extremities.

Pettit, who is on his fourth space station visit, started his day exploring ways to maximize the effectiveness of exercising in weightlessness. Later, at the end of his shift, he joined Ovchinin and Vagner and familiarized themselves with safety hardware and equipment locations throughout the orbital lab.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been living on the station since June 6, spent the day primarily on lab maintenance tasks. Wilmore worked in the Permanent Multipurpose Module organizing and stowing food packs then he studied Dragon spacecraft operations. Williams partnered with Dominick throughout the day servicing an oxygen generator and preparing it for upcoming parts replacement.

15 years ago today, the Canadarm2 robotic arm reached out to grapple a visiting cargo craft and install it on the space station for the first time. That spacecraft, Japan’s HII-Transfer Vehicle 1, was also JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) first resupply ship to launch and replenish the space station’s crew at the time, Expedition 20. NASA’s International Space Station Program Manager Dana Weigel remarked about that achievement today on X.

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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Trio Nears Departure During Biology Research, Spacesuit, and Cargo Work

The last rays of an orbital sunset illuminate Earth's atmosphere as the space station 267 miles above off the coast of Australia.
The last rays of an orbital sunset illuminate Earth’s atmosphere as the space station 267 miles above off the coast of Australia.

Three crewmates are preparing to end their stay aboard the International Space Station and return to Earth next week. Meanwhile, the rest of the Expedition 71 crew spent Monday exploring how space affects their bodies, working on a spacesuit, and transferring cargo.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is nearing her mission’s completion along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. Dyson packed personal items that will be going back to Earth with her on the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship and on future SpaceX Dragon missions. Dyson started her mission when she launched to the orbital outpost on March 23 aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft. Kononenko and Chub practiced piloting the Soyuz MS-25 on a simulator for a descent to Earth. The Roscosmos duo also tested the lower body negative pressure suit that may alleviate the symptoms of living in space and help crews adjust quicker to the return Earth’s gravity. Kononenko and Chub have been orbiting Earth since Sept. 15, 2023, when they lifted off toward the space station on the Soyuz MS-24 crew ship.

At the end of her crew shift, Dyson set up medical imaging hardware and viewed NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt’s eyes with ground doctors observing his optic nerve, retina, cornea to understand and counteract potential space-caused vision issues. Barratt also attached sensors to his chest before ground doctors remotely guided the Vascular Echo device and scanned his abdomen in the Columbus laboratory module. He also worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device while wearing electrodes that recorded his heart rate.

Cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner attached sensors to their foreheads and fingers on Monday to monitor how blood flows throughout their bodies in weightlessness. The duo also continued unpacking cargo delivered aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft that transported them and NASA astronaut Don Pettit to the space station on Sept. 11. Pettit continued familiarizing himself with station operations and orbital medical procedures and equipment during Monday.

NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick tested the performance of lithium-ion battery chargers in the Quest airlock before installing a battery on a spacesuit. NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Butch Wilmore took turns throughout Monday unpacking cargo from inside the Cygnus space freighter that was captured and installed to the Unity module on Aug. 6, 2024.

Expedition 71 Flight Engineers Suni Williams of NASA and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos focused most of their day on orbital maintenance. Williams worked mostly on cleaning and inspecting hatch seals while also joining Wilmore for a short SpaceX Dragon spacecraft systems review. Grebenkin checked out ventilation systems in the Nauka science module before assisting Ovchinin and Vagner during their blood flow study.

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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Expanded Crew Wraps Week with Biomedicine and Emergency Training

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick pointed a camera out a window as the station orbited above Kazakhstan capturing a wispy Milky Way pictured amongst a starry night sky.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick pointed a camera out a window as the station orbited above Kazakhstan capturing a wispy Milky Way pictured amongst a starry night sky.

While three new crewmates get up to speed with living and working aboard the International Space Station another trio is preparing for its return to Earth. In the meantime, biomedicine and science maintenance topped the research schedule at the end of the week as the orbital residents also brushed up on their emergency response skills.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit is beginning his fourth mission in space with his previous mission occurring over 12 years ago when he was an Expedition 31 Flight Engineer. He spent Friday continuing to get familiar with orbital operations and lab systems as he settles in for a six-and-a-half-month mission planned to end in spring 2025.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, who launched to the orbital outpost with Pettit on Sept. 11, started Friday unpacking cargo from the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. Afterward, the experienced cosmonaut duo attached sensors to themselves monitoring how blood flows throughout their body in weightlessness.

At the same time, station Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Nikolai Chub are preparing to depart the orbiting lab in less than two weeks. The homebound trio first joined each other early Friday checking the pressure suits they will wear as they descend to a parachuted landing on Earth inside the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship. Kononenko and Chub also tested the lower body negative pressure suit that may help crews counteract the effects of living in space and adjust quicker to the return to Earth’s gravity setting.

Dyson joined fellow NASA astronaut Mike Barratt studying how blood and cerebrospinal fluids travel toward the head creating eye pressure in microgravity. Dyson later participated in standard medical checks measuring her own temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate. Barratt also partnered with NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick taking turns exercising on an exercise cycle while wearing sensors and breathing gear measuring their cardiorespiratory rate and capacity.

Dyson also took charge as crew medical officer and scanned the eyes of NASA Flight Engineers Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams with the Ultrasound 2 device. Ground surgeons monitored the ultrasound imaging in real time to understand how microgravity affects a crew member’s cornea, lens, and optic nerve. Wilmore and Williams also called down to mission managers to familiarize themselves with the upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps worked throughout the day swapping gas bottles that supply argon, helium, and carbon dioxide to variety of experiment racks in the Kibo laboratory module. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin photographed cell samples during his shift for a space biology investigation.

All 12 space station residents joined each other after their lunchtime and reviewed their roles and responsibilities in the event of unlikely emergency scenarios such as a fire, or a chemical or pressure leak. The dozen crewmates also reviewed procedures to regain control of the orbital outpost during an emergency situation.

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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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Enters Quarantine Ahead of Launch

Photo shows NASA, SpaceX Crew-9 members from right to left, Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov
From right to left, NASA SpaceX Crew-9 members Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, pose for an official crew portrait at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Photo Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarel

Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission will spend the next two weeks in routine preflight quarantine at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston ahead of their mission to the International Space Station.

NASA and SpaceX have shifted the Crew-9 launch to no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 25, to complete prelaunch preparations and ensure separation between operations. Liftoff is targeted for 2:28 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. This is the first time a human spaceflight mission will launch from the pad. Additional launch opportunities are available on Thursday, Sept. 26, Friday, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Sept. 28.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, will remain in isolation to prevent exposure to any illnesses before they join the Expedition 72 crew at the space station. As part of the Crew-9 crew, Hague and Gorbunov will join NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who arrived to the space station in June.

Hague and Gorbunov are set to arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Sept. 20, where the pair will remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building until launch.

Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew will spend approximately five months at the orbiting laboratory conducting spacewalks, research demonstrations, and experiments before returning in February 2025.

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

Station Crew Expands to 12 as New Arrivals Work Half-Day

Six Expedition 71 crew members pose for a portrait inside the Rassvet module moments before three Soyuz MS-26 crew members enter the space station.
Six Expedition 71 crew members pose for a portrait inside the Rassvet module moments before three Soyuz MS-26 crew members enter the space station.

Three new crewmates joined the International Space Station crew on Wednesday after a three-hour ride that began at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a launch aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. The new trio including NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner will live and work aboard the orbital outpost until spring 2025.

Following their arrival, the three new space residents entered the Rassvet module’s Earth-facing port and were greeted by the nine Expedition 71 crewmates expanding the orbiting lab’s crew to 12. Next, family members and teams on the ground called up to the space station and congratulated Pettit, Ovchinin, and Wagner as their mission got underway. Finally, the new trio was given a standard station safety orientation before deactivating their Soyuz crew ship, unloading cargo, and going to bed.

On Thursday, their first full day in low-Earth orbit, Pettit, Ovchinin, and Wagner woke up late and worked a half-day. Pettit began his afternoon shift getting familiar with space station systems with assistance from NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick. Pettit was last aboard the space station in 2012 as an Expedition 31 Flight Engineer when the new SpaceX Dragon cargo craft visited the orbital outpost for the first time on a test mission in May of that year. Ovchinin and Wagner continued unpacking cargo packed inside the Soyuz before attaching sensors to themselves monitoring how their circulatory system is adapting to weightlessness.

The six NASA astronauts who have been aboard the space station for a few months had a full day on Thursday studying how plants grow in microgravity, conducting eye exams, and maintaining orbital plumbing systems.

NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps and Mike Barratt harvested plants growing inside the Columbus laboratory module’s Veggie space botany facility throughout the day. The space-grown samples of two types of grasses were then placed inside a science freezer for future analysis back on Earth. Researchers are seeking to understand how space affects photosynthesis and plant metabolism possibly supporting the development of bioregenerative life support systems.

Barratt also peered into the eyes of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams using standard medical imaging gear as ground personnel monitored in real-time. Some astronauts have reported vision issues so doctors continuously monitor the crew’s optic nerve, retina, cornea, and more to maintain crew health and ensure successful long-term space missions.

Earlier, Williams swapped out combustion research hardware in the Kibo laboratory module and worked on cargo transfers inside the Cygnus space freighter that has been attached to the station since Aug. 6. Wilmore checked out power supply components in Columbus then visually analyzed incubation bags containing microbe samples collected for analysis.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson joined Dominick during Thursday servicing the space station’s restroom in Tranquility module, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment. The duo removed advanced plumbing components to access and troubleshoot the toilet’s electrical power system.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin also slept in on Thursday following their late-night support of the Soyuz MS-26 crew arrival. The trio spent the afternoon working on electrical and life support maintenance while also assisting their new crewmates.

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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Soyuz Hatches Open, Expedition 71 Welcomes Trio Aboard Station

The Soyuz MS-26 crew joins the Expedition 71 crew in orbit aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
The Soyuz MS-26 trio joins the Expedition 71 crew in orbit aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The hatch between the International Space Station and the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft opened at 5:58 p.m. EDT.

The spacecraft arrived at the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 3:32 p.m. Sept. 11, after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 p.m. (9:23 p.m. Baikonur time) with NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.

The trio will spend approximately six months aboard the orbital laboratory before returning to Earth in the spring of 2025.

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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NASA Coverage Underway of Soyuz Hatch Opening

The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is seen approaching the station ahead of docking at 3:32 p.m. EDT. Credit: NASA
The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is seen approaching the station ahead of docking at 3:32 p.m. EDT. Credit: NASA

NASA’s live hatch opening coverage is underway on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms including social media. Hatch opening is scheduled to begin at 5:50 p.m. EDT.

The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft arrived at the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 3:32 p.m. Sept. 11, after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 p.m. (9:23 p.m. Baikonur time) with NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.

The trio will spend approximately six months aboard the orbital laboratory before returning to Earth in the spring of 2025.

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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Soyuz Spacecraft Docks to Station With Three Crew Members Aboard

The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is seen approaching the station ahead of docking at 3:32 p.m. EDT. Credit: NASA
The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is seen approaching the station ahead of docking at 3:32 p.m. EDT. Credit: NASA

At 3:32 p.m. EDT, the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft arrived at the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module as the International Space Station was flying 262 miles over central Ukraine. NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner launched at 12:23 p.m. Sept. 11 (9:23 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

NASA’s coverage of hatch opening will stream at 5:30 p.m. on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms including social media. Hatch opening is scheduled to begin at 5:50 p.m. EDT.

Once aboard, the trio will join Expedition 71 crew members including NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko, and spend approximately six months at the orbital laboratory before returning to Earth in the spring of 2025.

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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