Astronauts Ready for Thursday Spacewalk as Biology, Earth Science Continues
Expedition 73 Commander Takuya Onishi processes cassettes containing biological fluid samples for installation inside the Advanced Space Experiment Processor-4, a research facility that can be shipped back and forth from Earth to space, for a biotechnology study.
Two NASA astronauts spent Wednesday finalizing preparations for a spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station’s power generation capabilities and relocate a communications antenna. Expedition 73 Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers began their shift staging their spacesuits and organizing their spacewalking tools inside the Quest airlock.
After a midday meal, McClain and Ayers teamed up with station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim and called down to mission controllers to discuss their spacewalk readiness. Onishi and Kim will be on duty Thursday helping the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits and monitoring their activities from inside the orbital outpost. The quartet also conducted a final review of the procedures necessary to ready the orbital outpost for a new rollout solar array and relocate an antenna that communicates with visiting vehicles. The planned six-hour and 35-minute spacewalk is set to begin at 8 a.m. EDT on Thursday and will be broadcast live on NASA+ beginning at 6:30 a.m.
McClain and Ayers also had a standard pre-spacewalk health checkout just before their lunch on Wednesday. Kim, a trained medical doctor, led the exams measuring the astronauts’ vital signs including temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and breathing rate.
Kim also had time to photograph tomato plants growing for a space agriculture experiment studying if crops can grow without photosynthesis in microgravity possibly increasing plant cultivation on Earth and in space. Onishi began his shift processing biological fluid samples for a biotechnology investigation that may lead to expanded research and commercial opportunities in space.
The station’s three cosmonauts from Roscosmos had a research-packed day studying the human cardiovascular system and photographing landmarks on Earth.
Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky took turns measuring each other’s blood pressure as electrodes monitored their circulation. The data will give doctors insight into how weightlessness affects blood flowing back and forth from the heart. The two crewmates later wrapped up their shift pointing their cameras toward Earth and photographing glaciers in the Patagonia region of South America.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov was also on Earth observation duties on Wednesday. He first powered down a camera used for photographing natural and manmade disasters across the planet. Afterward, he set up a specialized camera and pictured regions throughout North and South America in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths.
NASA Kicks Off Biological Research Aboard Space Station
Crew members are kicking off operations for several biological experiments that recently launched to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s 32nd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission. These include examining how microgravity affects production of protein by microalgae, testing a microscope to capture microbial activity, and studying genetic activity in biofilms.
Microalgae in microgravity
Sophie’s BioNutrients
This ice cream is one of several products made with a protein powder created from Chorella microalgae by researchers for the SOPHONSTER investigation, which looks at whether the stress of microgravity affects the algae’s protein yield. Microalgae are nutrient dense and produce proteins with essential amino acids, beneficial fatty acids, B vitamins, iron, and fiber. These organisms also can be used to make fuel, cooking oil, medications, and materials. Learning more about microalgae growth and protein production in space could support development of sustainable alternatives to meat and dairy. Such alternatives could provide a food source on future space voyages and for people on Earth and be used to make biofuels and bioactive compounds in medicines.
Microscopic motion
Portland State University
These swimming microalgae are visible thanks to the Extant Life Volumetric Imaging System or ELVIS, a fluorescent 3D imaging microscope that researchers are testing aboard the International Space Station. The investigation studies both active behaviors and genetic changes of microscopic algae and marine bacteria in response to spaceflight. ELVIS is designed to autonomously capture microscopic motion in 3D, a capability not currently available on the station. The technology could be useful for a variety of research in space and on Earth, such as monitoring water quality and detecting potentially infectious organisms.
Genetics of biofilms
BioServe
This preflight image shows sample chambers for the Genetic Exchange in Microgravity for Biofilm Bioremediation (GEM-B2) investigation, which examines the mechanisms of gene transfer within biofilms under microgravity conditions. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms that collect and bind to a surface. They can clog and foul water systems, often leave a residue that can cause infections, and may become resistant to antibiotics. Researchers could use results from this work to develop genetic manipulations that inhibit biofilm formation, helping to maintain crew health and safety aboard the International Space Station and on future missions.
Learn more about microgravity research and technology development aboard the space station on this webpage.
Synthetic DNA, Gravity Sensing Cells Top Research Ahead of Spacewalk
Astronaut Nichole Ayers shows off a research incubator that enables biology investigations into the effects of microgravity on cells, microbes, plants, and more.
NASA
The Expedition 73 crew is learning how to manufacture nanomaterials today possibly leading to new therapeutics, vaccines, and regenerative medicine. The orbital residents also conducted vein scans and wrapped a cellular gravity sensing experiment aboard the International Space Station.
NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Jonny Kim began their day inside the Kibo laboratory module mixing solutions to create DNA-like nanomaterials. The biotechnology experiment and may enable future in-space biomanufacturing and expand the commercial space economy. The microgravity environment enables high quality production of the synthetic DNA compared to commercially available nanomaterials on Earth. The samples will be analyzed on the station using an electromagnetic light tool then returned to Earth for further examination.
McClain is also getting ready for a spacewalk with fellow NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers. The duo is scheduled to set their spacesuits to battery power at 8 a.m. EDT on Thursday signifying the beginning of their spacewalk. They will spend six-and-a-half hours readying the orbital outpost for a new rollout solar array and relocating a communications antenna. McClain and Ayers took turns on Tuesday printing checklists highlighting their spacewalking tasks and inserting them into their spacesuit cuffs. NASA+ will begin its live spacewalk coverage beginning at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Kim later partnered with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky for vein scans inside the Columbus laboratory module. Station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) led the biomedical procedure operating the Ultrasound 2 device so doctors on the ground could look at the crew’s neck, shoulder, and leg veins in real-time.
Earlier, Onishi wrapped up the Cell Gravisensing experiment seeking to understand the mechanism that enables cells to feel the effects of gravity. He placed the cells inside a fluorescence microscope for one final observation session then stowed the samples and shut down the research hardware. Results may enable advanced treatments for conditions such as muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, and aging-like symptoms affecting both astronauts and Earthlings.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov was back on Earth observation duties first completing a photography session imaging the nighttime atmosphere in near ultraviolet wavelengths. Next he activated a different camera and photographed islands in the Pacific Ocean and other landmarks to study the effects of natural and manmade disasters on Earth.
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image of target “Hale Telescope” (the layered rock left of center) using its Left Navigation Camera on April 23, 2025 — Sol 4519, or Martian day 4,519 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 09:53:56 UTC.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Written by Deborah Padgett, OPGS Task Lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth planning date: Friday, April 25, 2025
On Sols 4520 and 4521, Curiosity was supposed to study layered rocks in its workspace, then drive on. Unfortunately, a communications pass didn’t go as expected, preventing this plan from being transmitted. Our rover is fine, but it has been metaphorically “twiddling its thumbs” waiting for the expected Wednesday contact from Earth. This is a process known as “runout,” which happens when Earth fails to call a spacecraft at the appointed time. The communications stations are back up now, so the team assembled a weekend plan made from Wednesday’s postponed activities plus an extra day of untargeted science observations after the drive. The additional two days prior to plan execution allowed our science team to add another interesting target to contact science at the starting location.
On Sol 4522, Curiosity will start science observations with a Mastcam 14 x 3 mosaic on the new target “Mesa Peak,” a flat-topped, layered outcrop named for a mountain in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California covered with sandstone pinnacles and offering an ocean view toward Channel Islands National Park. This will be followed by two Mastcam examinations of troughs to document evidence of differential ground motion. ChemCam will then shine its laser on the “Fan Palm” nodular rock to determine its surface composition. Its telescopic RMI camera will then image distant “Torote Bowl.” After a set of REMS observations, Curiosity will un-stow its arm and begin a detailed study of “Hale Telescope,” a finely layered stone with a target name honoring the famous 200-inch telescope (5.1 meters) on Palomar Mountain, northeast of San Diego.
Despite being close to 80 years old, Palomar Observatory’s Hale Telescope still enables world-class astronomy with teams from Caltech and its partner organizations competing for observing time every year. Here, 5,500 feet “up on the roof” (thank you, Carole King!) of Southern California is where I spent some of my happiest times in graduate school.
Curiosity’s arm will first deploy the APXS to touch “Hale Telescope.” Then, the MAHLI microscopic imager will take extreme close-up pictures of this rock and the neighboring “Cerro Alto” target. Finally, APXS will measure the composition of “Hale Telescope” in a measurement lasting two hours, similar to the exposure time required for the actual 200-inch telescope to measure the redshift of quasars, determining that they were located at cosmological distances. Sol 4522 ends with Curiosity stowing its arm in preparation for the next sol’s drive.
On 4523, Curiosity will perform Mastcam mosaics of “Puerto Suelo” and “Potrero Seco,” as well as companion observation of the ChemCam target “Fan Palm” and an AEGIS-selected target from Sol 4919. ChemCam will then use laser spectroscopy to obtain surface composition of “Mesa Peak” and train the RMI telescope on intriguing formations along the side of Texoli Butte. Mastcam will follow up with an “after the laser zap” picture of “Mesa Peak.” The science block ends with a Navcam 360-degree dust-devil survey. Afterwards, Curiosity will drive around 20 meters (about 66 feet), passing near or over some large rocks, followed by post-drive imaging with the Hazcams, Navcam, and Mastcam. Afterwards, the rover will do AEGIS observations and take a MARDI picture of the ground underneath the rover.
On Sol 4524, the science block will focus on the atmosphere, with a super horizon cloud movie, a dust-devil survey, and Mastcam dust opacity observation. There will also be ChemCam laser spectroscopy of a target selected by AEGIS.
Early on the morning of Sol 4525, Curiosity will wake to take a morning-light mosaic of the “boxwork” formations to the west with Navcam, then turn Navcam toward the sky for suprahorizon and zenith cloud movies and a dust opacity observation across Gale Crater. Mastcam will then perform its own dust observation, which will wrap up the plan. If the team finds that Curiosity’s wheels are firmly seated on Martian soil and not rocks, our rover will again do contact science on a new set of rocks and continue its journey toward the boxwork formation.
A number of NASA projects use mobile phone apps to put satellite data into the palm of your hand, and allow intrepid citizen scientists to upload data.
Credits: NASA
A cell phone, a computer—and your curiosity—is all you need to become a NASA citizen scientist and contribute to projects about Earth, the solar system, and beyond.
Science is built from small grains of sand, and you can contribute yours from any corner of the world.
All you need is a cell phone or a computer with an internet connection to begin a scientific adventure. Can you imagine making a pioneering discovery in the cosmos? Want to help solve problems that could improve life on our planet? Or maybe you dream of helping solve an ancient mystery of the universe? All of this is possible through NASA’s Citizen Science program.
NASA defines citizen science, or participatory science, as “science projects that rely on volunteers,” said Dr. Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist and the Citizen Science Officer in the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
For decades, volunteers have been supporting NASA researchers in different fields and in a variety of ways, depending on the project. They help by taking measurements, sorting data from NASA missions, and deepening our understanding of the universe and our home planet. It all counts.
“That’s science for you: It’s collaborative,” said Kuchner, who oversees the more than 30 citizen science projects NASA offers. “I connect the public and scientists to get more NASA science done.”
NASA astrophysicist Marc Kuchner is a pioneer in participatory science and today serves as NASA’s Citizen Science program officer. In 2014, Kuchner created the Disk Detective project, which helps NASA scientists study how planets form. Kuchner has also been the principal investigator for some of the agency’s many citizen science projects, but today he oversees the portfolio and promotes volunteer participation around the world. Credit: David Friedlander
A menu of projects for all tastes
Citizen scientists can come from anywhere in the world—they do not have to be U.S. citizens or residents. Volunteers help NASA look for planets in other solar systems, called exoplanets; sort clouds in Earth’s sky; observe solar eclipses; or detect comets and asteroids. Some of those space rocks are even named after the volunteers who helped find them.
Mass participation is key in initiatives that require as many human eyes as possible. “There are science projects that you can’t do without the help of a big team,” Kuchner said. For example, projects that need large datasets from space telescopes—or “things that are physically big and you need people in different places looking from different angles,” he said.
One example is Aurorasaurus, which invites people to observe and classify northern and southern auroras. “We try to study them with satellites, but it really helps to have people on the ground taking photos from different places at different times,” he explained.
“Part of the way we serve our country and humankind is by sharing not just the pretty pictures from our satellites, but the entire experience of doing science,” Kuchner said.
More than 3 million people have participated in the program. Kuchner believes that shows how much people want to be part of what he calls the “roller coaster” of science. “They want to go on that adventure with us, and we are thrilled to have them.”
The dream of discovering
“You can help scientists who are now at NASA and other organizations around the world to discover interesting things,” said Faber Burgos, a citizen scientist and science communicator from Colombia. “Truth be told, I’ve always dreamed of making history.”
Colombian citizen scientist Faber Burgos studied Modern Languages at the Colombian School of Industrial Careers and has a university degree in Classical Archaeology. Today, he is dedicated to disseminating science content through his social media accounts, focusing on children. In 2020, he and his team launched a balloon probe into the stratosphere with a camera that captured the curvature of the Earth, with the aim of demonstrating that the Earth is round. The video of that feat exceeds 97 million views on his Facebook account, earning him a Guinness World Record. Credit: Courtesy of Faber Burgos
Burgos has been involved in two projects for the past four years: the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC), which searches the sky for potentially dangerous asteroids, and Backyard Worlds: Planet 9. This project uses data from NASA’s now-completed Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and its follow-up mission, NEOWISE, to search for brown dwarfs and a hypothetical ninth planet.
“There are really amazing participants in this project,” said Kuchner, who helped launch it in 2015. NASA’s WISE and NEOWISE missions detected about 2 billion sources in the sky. “So, the question is: Among those many sources, are any of them new unknowns?” he said.
The project has already found more than 4,000 brown dwarfs. These are Jupiter-sized objects—balls of gas that are too big to be planets, but too small to be stars. Volunteers have even helped discover a new type of brown dwarf.
Participants in the project are also hopeful they’ll find a hypothetical ninth planet, possibly Neptune-sized, in an orbit far beyond Pluto.
The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project asks volunteers to help search for new objects at the edge of our solar system. The assignment is to review images from NASA’s past WISE and NEOWISE missions in search of two types of astronomical objects: brown dwarfs(balls of gas the same size as Jupiter that have too little mass to be considered stars) and low-mass stars. Or, even, the hypothetical ninth planet of our Sun, known as Planet nine, or Planet X. The image shows an artist’s rendering of such a hypothetical world orbiting far from the Sun. Credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Burgos explained that analyzing the images is easy. “If it’s a moving object, it’s obviously going to be something of interest,” he said. “Usually, when you see these images, everything is still. But if there’s an object moving, you have to keep an eye on it.”
Once a citizen scientist marks the object across the full image sequence, they send the information to NASA scientists to evaluate.
“As a citizen scientist, I’m happy to do my bit and, hopefully, one day discover something very interesting,” he said. “That’s the beauty of NASA—it invites everyone to be a scientist. Here, it doesn’t matter what you are, but your desire to learn.”
The first step
To become a NASA citizen scientist, start by visiting the program’s website. There you’ll find a complete list of available projects with links to their respective sites. Some are available in Spanish and other languages. Many projects are also hosted on the Zooniverse platform, which has been available since 2006.
“Another cool way to get involved is to come to one of our live events,” said Kuchner. These are virtual events open to the public, where NASA scientists present their projects and invite people to participate. “Pick a project you like—and if it’s not fun, pick a different one,” he advised. “There are wonderful relationships to be had if you reach out to scientists and other participants.”
Another way for people to get involved in citizen science is to participate in the annual NASA International Space Apps Challenge, the largest global hackathon. This two-day event creates innovation through international collaboration, providing an opportunity for participants to use NASA’s free and open data and agency partners’ space-based data to tackle real-world problems on Earth and in space. The next NASA International Space Apps Challenge will be October 4-5, 2025. Credit: NASA
Age is not the limit
People of all ages can be citizen scientists. Some projects are kid-friendly, such as Nemo-Net, an iPad game that invites participants to color coral reefs to help sort them. “I’d like to encourage young people to start there—or try a project with one of the older people in their life,” Kuchner said.
Citizen science can also take place in classrooms. In the Growing Beyond Earth project, teachers and students run experiments on how to grow plants in space for future missions. The IASC project also works with high schools to help students detect asteroids.
A student waters small plants inside a Growing Beyond Earth citizen science project grow box. Credit: NASA
Projects by the community, for the community
GLOBE Observer is another initiative with an international network of teachers and students. The platform offers a range of projects—many in Spanish—that invite people to collect data using their cell phones.
One of the most popular is the GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mapper, which tracks the migration and spread of mosquitoes that carry diseases. “It’s a way to help save lives—tracking the vectors that transmit malaria and Zika, among others,” Kuchner said.
Other GLOBE projects explore everything from ground cover to cloud types. Some use astronomical phenomena visible to everyone. For example, during the 2024 total solar eclipse, participants measured air temperature using their phones and shared that data with NASA scientists.
The full experience of doing science
No prior studies are needed, but many volunteers go on to collaborate on—or even lead—scientific research. More than 500 NASA citizen scientists have co-authored scientific publications.
One of them is Hugo Durantini Luca, from Córdoba, Argentina, who has participated in 17 published articles, with more on the way. For years, he explored various science projects, looking for one where he could contribute more actively.
Durantini Luca participated in one of NASA’s first citizen science projects, launched in 2006: Stardust at home. Still ongoing, this project invites volunteers to participate in the search for evidence of interstellar dust on the aerogel and aluminum foil collectors returned by NASA’s Stardust mission, using an online virtual microscope. Credit: NASA
He participated in NASA’s first citizen science project, Stardust@home, which invites users to search for interstellar dust particles in collectors from the Stardust mission, using a virtual microscope.
In 2014, he discovered Disk Detective, a project that searches for disks around stars, where planets may form. By looking at images from the WISE and NEOWISE missions, participants can help understand how worlds are born and how solar systems evolve.
“And, incidentally, if we find planets or some sign of life, all the better,” said Durantini Luca.
Although that remains a dream, they have made other discoveries—like a new kind of stellar disk called the “Peter Pan Disk,” which appears young even though the star it surrounds is not.
Durantini Luca participated in one of NASA’s first citizen science projects, launched in 2006: Stardust at home. Still ongoing, this project invites volunteers to participate in the search for evidence of interstellar dust on the aerogel and aluminum foil collectors returned by NASA’s Stardust mission, using an online virtual microscope. Credit: NASA
Science in person
In 2016, Durantini Luca got the chance to support Disk Detective with his own observations from the southern hemisphere. He traveled to El Leoncito Astronomical Complex (CASLEO), an observatory in San Juan, Argentina. There, he learned to use a spectrograph—an instrument that breaks down starlight to analyze its composition.
He treasures that experience. “Curiously, it was the first time in my life I used a telescope,” he said.
In 2016, citizen scientist Hugo Durantini Luca traveled for 18 hours to the El Leoncito Astronomical Complex (CASLEO), at the foot of the Andes Mountains. From there, he made observations of a candidate star of the Disk Detective project. Credit: Luciano García
While in-person opportunities are rare, both virtual and physical events help build community. Citizen scientists stay in touch weekly through various channels.
“Several of us are friends already—after so many years of bad jokes on calls,” said Durantini Luca.
“People send me pictures of how they met,” said Kuchner. He said the program has even changed how he does science. “It’s changed my life,” he said. “Science is already cool—and this makes it even cooler.”
