Space Health Research Fills Day Before Cargo Craft Departs
The trash-packed Progress 93 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos will depart the International Space Station later today completing a seven-month mission docked to the Zvezda service module’s aft port. Progress 93 will conduct an automated deorbit maneuver several hours later and reenter the Earth’s atmosphere above the South Pacific Ocean for a fiery, but safe disposal. The Roscosmos resupply ship arrived at the orbital outpost on September 13, 2025, delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies two days after it launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, the seven-member Expedition 74 crew kicked off the work week with a full schedule of space research investigating blood stem cells, plant-microbe interactions, and more to benefit human health on and off the Earth. The orbital residents also serviced a variety of lab hardware to ensure ongoing science operations while maintaining space station life support systems.
NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway had a busy day on Monday loading a microscope with blood stem cell samples and installing Earth observation and biology research equipment on an external platform. Hathway spent the first half of his shift swapping sample hardware containing blood stem cells inside the KERMIT fluorescent microscope. Scientists on the ground are using KERMIT’s remote imaging capabilities to view the samples with an eye toward enabling stem cell production in space and developing blood disease and cancer therapies.
Next, Hathaway installed three science payloads on the NanoRacks External Platform for placement outside the Kibo laboratory module in the vacuum of space. Two payloads will test Earth observation technologies including ultra-high resolution hyperspectral imagery and a device that measures radio signals passing through Earth’s ionosphere. A third investigation will observe how round worms adapt to weightlessness to identify space-sensitive proteins and evaluate therapies to protect mobility and neuromuscular health during a spaceflight.
NASA flight engineers Chris Williams and Jessica Meir each worked on a different botany investigation for two separate purposes on Monday. Williams checked on alfalfa plants growing inside the Columbus laboratory module’s Veggie facility and videotaped the operation of the botany research gear. The Veg-06 study is exploring beneficial plant-microbe interactions and whether organic carbon and nitrogen can be recycled to support plant growth for food production in space. Meir videotaped packs of Japanese rice samples that will be returned to Earth for cultivation promoting space education and space commercialization.
Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) installed the AstroPi imaging computer inside the Destiny laboratory module’s Earth observation window for a pair of student challenges. The first challenge will see students using sensor data and Earth imagery collected from AstroPi to accurately calculate the space station’s orbital speed. During the second challenge students will write code creating pixel art imagery on AstroPi’s LED matrix to be shared back on Earth.
Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, joined each other at the beginning of their shift and trained to use simulation software that prepares a crew for returning to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Kud-Sverchkov then moved on to ventilation system maintenance inside Zvezda while Mikaev studied artificial intelligence tools to boost crew efficiency.
Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev strapped an acoustic sensor to his neck that recorded his breathing for a space respiration study early in his shift. Next, Fedyaev worked on a laptop computer that supports the European robotic arm then ensured flow valves inside the Nauka science module were safely configured and properly operating.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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Mark A. Garcia
