science – Space Station

Expanded Station Crew Works Together Before Next Trio Departs

The Moon's image is refracted due to Earth's atmosphere in this photograph from the space station as it orbited above the Pacific Ocean. — The Moon’s image is refracted due to Earth’s atmosphere in this photograph from the space station as it orbited above the Pacific Ocean.

Ten people are living aboard the International Space Station following Friday’s arrival of three crewmates aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft. However, at the end of the month another trio of orbital lab residents will return to Earth after a year in space.

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara is in her first week aboard the space station along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko. O’Hara and Chub are getting used to life in space for the first time as they familiarize themselves with station operations and systems. O’Hara also worked throughout the day on life support tasks while Chub installed Earth imaging hardware in the Harmony module.

Kononenko is beginning his record fifth mission as a space station crew member. The experienced cosmonaut spent Monday on a variety of activities including charging video camera batteries and unpacking cargo delivered aboard the new Soyuz crew ship. Kononenko will stay in space for a year with Chub, while O’Hara will live aboard the station until spring for a six-month mission.

Meanwhile, NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is nearing a year in space with his crewmates Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, both from Roscosmos. The trio is now turning its attention to parachuting back to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship on Sept. 27. The threesome joined each other midday on Monday and checked out the Sokol launch and entry suits they will wear inside the Soyuz during the ride home. Prokopyev and Petelin also tested the lower body negative pressure suit that may help their bodies adjust quicker to Earth’s gravity.

The station’s other four Expedition 69 flight engineers are in their fourth week aboard the orbital lab having arrived on Aug. 27 aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft. The quartet has completed its familiarization and orientation activities and are working full-time on space research and lab maintenance.

Astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA and Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) kicked off Monday with life science in the Columbus laboratory module. Moghbeli set up a pair of Kubik incubators that Mogensen used to stow blood samples. The duo later conducted a vision test in the Destiny laboratory module using similar tools found in a doctor’s office.

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa spent Monday on housekeeping tasks cleaning up the Harmony module, reorganizing food packs, and transferring cargo in and out of the Cygnus space freighter. Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov primarily spent his day on electronics maintenance and wiping down surfaces for microbes in the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab.

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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Next Station Crew is Go for Launch on Friday

This bottom up view shows the Soyuz MS-24 rocket's first stage boosters as the spacecraft stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls — This bottom up view shows the Soyuz MS-24 rocket’s first stage boosters as the spacecraft stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Mission managers have given the go for the launch of three new crew members aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft to the International Space Station at 11:44 a.m. EDT on Friday. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will ride the Soyuz crew ship and dock to the Rassvet module just over three hours later at 2:56 p.m.

Expedition 69 Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin will be on duty Friday monitoring the arrival of the new Soyuz. After the new crew docks and after leak and pressure checks, Prokopyev will open the station’s Rassvet hatch while Kononenko and Chub will open the Soyuz hatch. The new trio will enter the orbital outpost, join the station crew for a welcoming ceremony, participate in a safety briefing, and begin a six-month space research mission.

Prokopyev and Petelin continued preparing for the arrival of the new trio by setting up crew quarters for the new cosmonauts inside the orbital lab’s Roscosmos segment on Thursday. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio will configure O’Hara’s new crew quarters in the Columbus laboratory module on Friday before she arrives.

Prokopyev, Petelin, and Rubio are also preparing for their return to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on Sept. 27. The two cosmonauts have been testing the lower body negative pressure suit that may help their bodies adjust quicker to Earth’s gravity after living in weightlessness for just over one year. When Rubio lands with his Soyuz crewmates, he will have the record for the longest single spaceflight by a NASA astronaut at 371 days, surpassing astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s record of 355 days.

Rubio joined several of his Expedition 69 crewmates on Thursday for the Vascular Aging study collecting blood, urine, and saliva samples for analysis. Rubio along with astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, and Satoshi Furukawa assisted each other with the blood draws. Moghbeli of NASA closed out the study spinning samples in a centrifuge then stowing them in a science freezer.

Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) later trained to operate the Canadarm2 robotic arm and serviced laptop computers in the Columbus lab. Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) set up food and drinks for the arriving crew and collected water samples for analysis from the Kibo laboratory module.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov focused his activities on orbital plumbing and electronics maintenance during the first part of his day. In the afternoon, he checked out video hardware and laptop computers.

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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Midweek Sees the Crew Work Robotics, Lab Upkeep, and Microbes

Expedition 69 astronauts (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli, Frank Rubio, and Satoshi Furukawa join each other for lunch aboard the space station's Unity module. — Expedition 69 astronauts (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli, Frank Rubio, and Satoshi Furukawa join each other for lunch aboard the space station’s Unity module.

Robotics, lab maintenance, and microbiology were the top priorities aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 69 crew members also had time set aside for Earth science operations and biomedical duties.

Astrobee, the toaster-sized, cube-shaped free-flying robotic helper was activated today inside the Kibo laboratory module. Student-written algorithms were uplinked to the orbital outpost to control the robotic assistants, encourage problem-solving, and promote space education. Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) monitored the robotic activities and noted his impressions for review on the ground.

Three flight engineers worked across from Kibo inside the Columbus laboratory module finalizing the reorganization of the research facility from ESA (European Space Agency). NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio kicked off the work transferring research and cargo racks into slots aboard Columbus. He was joined during the morning by ESA Flight Engineer Andreas Mogensen of who helped him move the racks back and forth. NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli concluded the work in the afternoon restoring the Columbus lab to its operating configuration and stowing hardware. The Columbus work was done to accommodate new exercise gear that will keep astronauts healthy and in shape during long-term space missions.

Mogensen also studied how to capture Earth’s reflective properties, also called albedo, by photographing the Moon during specific lunar phases. Results may provide new insights about Earth’s climate using satellite instruments. Moghbeli drew her blood sample at the end of the day for a glucose test as part of the Vascular Aging study that is monitoring accelerated aging-like symptoms that occur in astronauts’ arteries.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov was back on microbiology duty on Wednesday collecting and stowing microbe samples from surfaces inside the Zvezda service and Nauka science modules. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin studied fermentation to improve food preservation and preparation in space. Commander Sergey Prokopyev continued readying hardware for packing inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship that will take him, Petelin, and Rubio back to Earth at the end of September.

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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Exercise, Science Gear Work on Station as Next Crew Preps for Launch

The Soyuz MS-24 rocket that will launch three crew members to the space station on Friday, Sept. 15, is pictured standing at its launch pad in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Tuesday was filled with health research and science hardware maintenance for the Expedition 69 crew. The rocket to launch the next crew to live aboard the International Space Station has also rolled out to its launch pad.

Four flight engineers kicked off the day with a health examination checking vital signs such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli set up the medical gear, including the sensors and software that recorded the biomedical data, inside the Destiny laboratory module. She then joined Frank Rubio of NASA along with international astronauts Satoshi Furukawa and Andreas Mogensen for the periodic health checks.

Moghbeli moved on to the Columbus laboratory module reorganizing the ESA (European Space Agency) research facility and swapping research and cargo racks. She was making space inside Columbus to accommodate new exercise gear that will keep astronauts healthy and in shape during long-term space missions.

Mogensen of ESA attached breathing gear and sensors to himself and pedaled on an exercise cycle for an investigation measuring an astronaut’s aerobic capacity in microgravity. Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) assisted Mogensen setting up the exercise gear. He then serviced samples inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, a high temperature research device that safely measures thermophysical properties of a variety of materials.

Rubio worked in the Kibo laboratory module readying a plasma monitor for placement outside the orbital outpost and into the external microgravity environment. The ionospheric plasma research device will be robotically installed on the Bartolomeo science platform. After a series of checkouts, it will begin studying how upper atmosphere phenomena like auroras affect radio and satellite signals.

Microbiology and cargo transfers were the focus for the orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts throughout Tuesday. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov spent the day swabbing station surfaces for microbes then stowing the samples for later analysis. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin studied how to maintain safe and sterile conditions for space biology research. Commander Sergey Prokopyev checked items for packing inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship that will return him, Petelin, and Rubio back to Earth at the end of September.

Meanwhile, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-24 rocket has rolled out to its launch pad counting down to a lift off at 11:44 a.m. EDT on Friday. The Soyuz crew ship will carry NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on a short ride to the station that will see them dock to the Rassvet module at 2:56 p.m. the same day.

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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Week Ends with Microbiology, Spacesuits, and Lab Maintenance

The space station soars above the coast of Argentina into an orbital sunset. From left are, the station's main solar arrays, the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and an external research platform. — The space station soars above the coast of Argentina into an orbital sunset. From left are, the station’s main solar arrays, the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and an external research platform.

Human research and spacesuit work topped the schedule for the Expedition 69 crew aboard the International Space Station at the end of the week. The orbital residents also analyzed microbes, maintained life support systems, and worked on cargo transfers.

Researchers on the ground continuously investigate how living in space affects astronauts to keep crews healthy. The crew members provide blood samples and other specimens during their mission for examination on the orbital outpost or in laboratories on the ground. They also attach a variety of sensors to themselves measuring their physiological reactions while either at rest, exercising, or even working. The data is downlinked real-time or later to help doctors understand how weightlessness affects their bodies.

Two astronauts, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA and Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), took turns pedaling on an exercise cycle for a workout study in the Destiny laboratory module. The duo wore breathing gear and cardiac sensors for the investigation monitoring their aerobic fitness. Moghbeli later sequenced DNA from microbe samples collected from the potable water dispenser. Furukawa moved on and inventoried medical supplies inside the Human Research Facility.

Flight Engineer Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) wrapped up four days of an immunity study of Friday. He removed experiment hardware, stowed blood samples in a science freezer, and disconnected the Kubik research incubator. Mogensen was helping doctors learn how microgravity affects cellular immune functions and to monitor the human immune system in space.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio worked in the Quest airlock scrubbing cooling loops in a pair of U.S. spacesuits. After Rubio’s cooling loop work was completed, Moghbeli would take over and deconfigure the spacesuits then stow them in Quest.

In the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab, Commander Sergey Prokopyev serviced docking hardware, jogged on a treadmill for a fitness evaluation, then began packing items inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship. The two cosmonaut flight engineers, Dmitri Petelin and Konstantin Borisov, split their day between collecting station microbe samples for analysis, replacing life support hardware, and disposing trash and used hardware inside the Roscosmos Progress 84 cargo craft.

The space station is orbiting slightly higher after the Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo craft fired its engines for 21 minutes and 55 seconds Friday afternoon. The orbital reboost sets up the correct phasing for the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft docking on Sept. 15.

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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Crew Works Biology, Physics Research and Checks Out Spacesuits

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli collects water samples for microbial analysis inside the Destiny laboratory module.

Life science and space physics continued aboard the International Space Station on Thursday helping researchers improve human health and advance fundamental knowledge. The Expedition 69 crew members also worked on spacesuit maintenance and ongoing cargo activities.

Flight Engineers Andreas Mogensen and Satoshi Furukawa concentrated their research activities on space biology to learn how weightlessness affects human immunity and the aging process. Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) spent his third day this week processing blood samples and preparing them for incubation to understand how space affects an astronaut’s immune system. Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) sampled water from the Kibo laboratory module’s water recovery system, conducted a hearing test, them swapped out commercial research hardware.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio collected samples from the potable water dispenser and analyzed them to detect microbes and determine the quality of the water. Afterward, Rubio finalized the hardware replacement work inside the Cold Atom Lab preparing the quantum research device, that chills atoms to near absolute zero, for testing and operations.

NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli inventoried medical supplies inside the Human Research Facility and photographed the contents for review by specialists on the ground. Next, she checked out a spacesuit jet pack testing its components and performing leak checks. The jet pack, also called Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), is attached to spacesuits the astronauts wear during spacewalks. The SAFER provides controls allowing a spacewalker to return to the station in the unlikely event they became untethered from the orbiting lab.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Konstantin Borisov joined each other Thursday morning testing the lower body negative pressure suit that may help crew members readjust to Earth’s gravity environment. Petelin also collected water samples from an Orlan spacesuit cooling system for testing. Borisov partnered with Commander Sergey Prokopyev and installed docking hardware on the Zvezda service module’s aft port where the Roscosmos Progress 85 resupply ship is docked.

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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Biotech Research on Station Promoting Astronaut Health

JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa removes experiment hardware from inside the Multi-use Variable-g Platform, a biology research device that can generate artificial gravity.

The Expedition 69 crew aboard the International Space Station focused its main research activities on biotechnology on Wednesday. The orbital residents also continued the ongoing maintenance of lab hardware.

Researchers on the ground use the facilities aboard the space station to understand how living in weightlessness affects the human body. Some of the experiments operate remotely or autonomously, for others the astronauts set up and run the experiments, or even act as subjects as NASA and its international partners learn how to sustain crews on future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli began her day conducting DNA research by analyzing microbe samples collected from the orbital outpost’s potable water dispenser. She used a small commercial DNA sequencing device to identify the samples for the BioMole technology demonstration. BioMole may improve environmental monitoring systems on the station and future spacecraft traveling farther away from Earth.

Moghbeli then assisted JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa as he replaced components on the BioFabrication Facility (BFF). The 3D biological printer is testing printing organ-like tissues in microgravity with an eye to manufacturing whole human organs in space in the future.

Flight Engineer Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) continued his human research duties that he began on Tuesday. The two-time station visitor serviced blood samples that had been placed overnight in the Kubik research incubator then stowed the specimens in a science freezer for later analysis. Mogensen is helping doctors learn how microgravity affects cellular immune functions and to monitor the human immune system in space.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio continued his space physics activities for a second day as he replaced experiment gear inside the Cold Atom Lab. The research device chills atoms to near absolute zero creating almost no motion allowing scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics.

The station’s three cosmonauts turned their attention on Wednesday to the upkeep of hardware in the Roscosmos segment of the orbital lab. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin spent the day replacing pumps and installing batteries on an Orlan spacesuit. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov videotaped himself becoming familiar with and exercising on the advanced resistive exercise device before checking out a laptop computer in the Nauka science module.

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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Station Back to Business Following Crew Departure

From left, crewmates Andrey Fedyaev, Woody Hoburg, Stephen Bowen, and Sultan Alneyadi are pictured inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after returning to Earth on Sept. 4, 2023. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Four new Expedition 69 flight engineers are in their second week aboard the International Space Station spending more time on microgravity research and lab maintenance. Another trio of station crewmates is nearing one year in space and will soon turn its attention to departure at the end of the month.

Two of the station’s newest new flight engineers, Jasmin Moghbeli from NASA and Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), worked Tuesday on the NanoRacks Bishop airlock inside the Tranquility module. The duo inspected cameras and installed components on the commercial doorway that enables larger payloads to be moved inside and outside the station. Earlier, mission controllers had spent about a week maneuvering Bishop in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for an experiment to measure temperature, vibrations, and radiation on external payload sites.

The other two new crewmates, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, worked on biomedical science and station upkeep tasks throughout the day. Mogensen spun blood samples in a centrifuge then processed them for incubation to study how cellular immune functions are affected by microgravity. Borisov spent his day on battery maintenance and orbital plumbing duties in the orbital lab’s Roscosmos segment.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is nearing 365 continuous days in space along with Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, both from Roscosmos. The trio, which has been on the station since Sept. 21 of last year, is due to leave the orbital lab at the end of the month inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan.

In the meantime, Rubio worked Tuesday removing and replacing components inside the Cold Atom Lab that chills atoms to extremely low temperatures to observe quantum characteristics. Prokopyev inventoried personal items aboard the station and continued transferring cargo from the Roscosmos Progress 85 resupply ship. Petelin attached electrodes to himself and recorded his heart activity for a cardiac investigation.

Five spacecraft are still parked at the orbital outpost following the undocking on Sunday of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour with four Commercial Crew members aboard. Dragon Endeavour, commanded by Stephen Bowen and piloted by Woody Hoburg, both from NASA, with Mission Specialists Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Andrey Fedyaev from Roscosmos splashed down early the next day off the coast of Florida. The quartet split up soon after reaching shore and headed home to their individual countries.

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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Science Ramps Up as Crew Departure Preps Continue

NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Frank Rubio pose for a portrait aboard the International Space Station. The three crewmates were selected as part of NASA's 2017 class of astronauts. — NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Frank Rubio pose for a portrait aboard the International Space Station. The three crewmates were selected as part of NASA’s 2017 class of astronauts.

The Expedition 69 crew is expected to split up soon when four flight engineers return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Meanwhile, all crew members on the International Space Station spent Friday keeping up their orbital research and maintenance tasks.

Unfavorable weather conditions off the coast of Florida have pushed back Saturday’s planned undocking and splashdown of four station crew members at least 24 hours. Mission managers from SpaceX and NASA are now targeting the undocking of Endeavour with four crewmates inside for no earlier than 7:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday.

Endeavour, commanded by Stephen Bowen and piloted by Woody Hoburg, both NASA astronauts, is targeted to splash down in the waters off Florida’s coast at 12:07 a.m. on Monday. Flanking the NASA duo during the 19-hour ride back to Earth will be UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The quartet will be completing a six-month space research mission that began with a launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on March 2.

New station flight engineers Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency), Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos have been familiarizing themselves with station systems all week. They are turning their attention now to full-time science, cargo, and health activities having been living on the space station since Aug. 27.

Moghbeli transferred research samples to science freezers that will be returned to Earth inside the Endeavour spacecraft with the departing crewmates. Mogensen set up a pair of Kubik research incubators that support studies of seeds, cells, and small mammals inside the Columbus laboratory module. Furukawa worked in the Kibo laboratory module removing a microbiology experiment from a research incubator that can generate artificial gravity. Finally, Borisov unpacked cargo from the Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo craft and tested ways future crews might pilot spacecraft and robots on planetary missions.

The space station’s other three crewmates are due to leave the orbital lab at the end of September completing just over one year orbiting Earth. In the meantime, the trio from NASA and Roscosmos has continued its research and lab upkeep tasks. Astronaut and Flight Engineer Frank Rubio configured and stowed emergency masks and had his eyes scanned by Mogensen using standard medical imaging hardware. Cosmonaut and Commander Sergey Prokopyev partnered with Borisov for the Progress 85 cargo unpacking duties. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin also participated in the futuristic piloting study, then inspected windows in the Zvezda service module, and inventoried cargo in the Poisk module.

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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Ongoing Crew Swap, Science Activities on Station this Week

Expedition 69 astronauts (from left) Frank Rubio and Sultan Alneyadi pose for a portrait during pizza night aboard the International Space Station.

Aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, four new crew members are adjusting to their first week orbiting Earth. Meanwhile, another quartet of Expedition 69 flight engineers is preparing to end their six-month stay in space.

Eleven crew members from five countries are living and working together on the orbital outpost as two of its crews are in the middle of swapping places. New station flight engineers Jasmin Moghbeli and Andreas Mogensen, of NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) respectively, continued unpacking the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft throughout the day. In the afternoon, the duo joined NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio, who has been aboard the station for nearly a year, and reviewed station operations, systems, and procedures.

The other two new flight engineers, Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos, also continued familiarizing themselves with life in weightlessness. The pair is learning how to make meals, exercise on the workout facilities, sleep in the crew quarters, and use the station’s bathroom, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment.

The station crew will fall back to seven members no earlier than Sept. 2 when the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour is due to return four flight engineers, who have been in space since March, back to Earth. NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen will command Endeavour leading NASA Pilot Woody Hoburg and Mission Specialists Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos to a splashdown off the coast of Florida.

The Earth-bound foursome has been handing over its responsibilities to the newly arrived crew while preparing for the return to Earth’s gravity environment. The four crew mates this week have been packing Endeavour, reviewing deorbit and splashdown procedures, and talking to NASA and SpaceX ground support personnel.

Bowen and Hoburg still had time on Wednesday for ongoing research activities. Bowen rounded up science hardware for an upcoming space biology experiment. Hoburg inspected and activated an Astrobee free-flying robotic helper as engineers on the ground monitored its performance.

The longest-serving crew aboard the station has been orbiting Earth since Sept. 21, 2022. Rubio along with Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin are assisting with the crew swap activities. The trio from NASA and Roscosmos has also worked on cargo activities, space science, and standard health checks this week.

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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