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Expedition 65 Crew Preps for Science-Packed Cargo Dragon

New science, supplies and solar arrays are packed inside the SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle as it orbits toward the International Space Station. Two cosmonauts are also cleaning up following a successful spacewalk early Wednesday.

Five Expedition 65 astronauts are relaxing today, but will be on duty Saturday unpacking time-sensitive science experiments from the new Cargo Dragon resupply ship. NASA Flight Engineers Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will be monitoring Dragon during its rendezvous and approach on Saturday until its automated docking about 5 a.m. EDT. NASA TV begins its live coverage at 3:30 a.m.

Afterward, the duo will join Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Thomas Pesquet and Commander Akihiko Hoshide transferring cargo from the U.S. space freighter into the station. They will focus first on installing and activating new experiments researching rodents, microbes, sea life and plants.

Space biology studies help scientists understand how microgravity impacts a variety of life forms. This leads to new insights and developments that improve human health, innovate Earth industries and commercialize space.

Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov are cleaning up today following a seven-hour and 19-minute spacewalk on Wednesday to ready the station’s Russian segment for a new module. The duo spent Friday servicing their Orlan spacesuit components and stowing their spacewalking tools.

The spacewalkers worked early Wednesday to deconfigure the Pirs docking compartment which will undock from the Zvezda service module after 20 years later this summer. This will open up Zvezda’s Earth-facing port for the arrival of Russia’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module planned to arrive shortly after Pirs’ departure.

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Mark Garcia

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