Wednesday Boasted Health Scans in Space and More Dragon Cargo Stowage and Advanced Science Experiments for the Expedition 73 Crew

Wednesday Boasted Health Scans in Space and More Dragon Cargo Stowage and Advanced Science Experiments for the Expedition 73 Crew

NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers is pictured at the controls of the robotics workstation in the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory module. Ayers was monitoring the release of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft from the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm ending a seven-and-a-half-month mission at the orbital lab.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers is pictured at the controls of the robotics workstation in the International Space Station’s Destiny laboratory module. Ayers was monitoring the release of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft from the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm ending a seven-and-a-half-month mission at the orbital lab.
NASA

The International Space Station‘s Expedition 73 crew was busy this Wednesday with completing health scans, transferring more dragon cargo stowage, and carrying out additional advanced science experiments.

Three NASA Flight Engineers Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, Jonny Kim and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut and station commander Takuya Onishi spent considerable time on Wednesday working on cargo stowage inside SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft that arrived on April 21 as part of the 32nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

McClain, Ayers, and Onishi also collectively received medical scans via the Health Maintenance Systems (HMS) which provides in-flight preventive medicine, diagnostic and therapeutic care, and routine treatment for the majority of medical conditions expected to be encountered while in space. They each received their own Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Scan of the neck, clavicle, shoulder, and behind the knee.

Ayers worked through various steps replacing and installing the crystallizer in the Advanced Space Experiment Processor Industrial Crystallization Cassette. Kim was photographing Ayers work with the ADSEP-4 for historical documentation. Ayers also guided an eye ultrasound.

McClain continued her work with the Bio-Monitor garment and headband from Monday. She reapplied the electrode lubricant on the electrocardiogram electrodes, then transferred data to the ground, and finally removed the garment and headband upon the session’s competition. McClain also returned to her work recording the progress of tomato plant growth as part of a space agricultural study.

Onishi also recorded data on the station’s environment for the student coding experiment AstroPi after he set up the Nikon z9 camera.  Later he docked the Japanese Experiment Module camera Robot 2 and performed a platform checkout.

Onishi and Kim spent some time on in-flight station maintenance. Onishi worked to reinforce video cables to while Kim performed visual inspections of various parts of the space station.

Kim also terminated the autocycle on spacesuit batteries in the Battery Stowage Compartment. He later went on to perform a routine drying agent pack swap on the Glacier2. GLACIER provides a double middeck-locker-size freezer/refrigerator for a variety of experiments that require temperatures ranging from +4 °C (39 °F) and -160 °C (-301 °F). 

The station’s three cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, and Kirill Peskov worked on space station maintenance in the Russian segment. Peskov and Zubritskiy also worked specifically on water maintenance. Peskov continued his work with Potable water with the Water Process Assembly, while Zubritskiy was ensuring the maintenance of coolant and working with regeneration of micro purification systems with water transfer.

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 the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: https://www.nasa.gov/subscribe.

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Kelcie Nicole Howren

NASA, Partners Adjust Summer 2025 Space Station Flight Planning

NASA, Partners Adjust Summer 2025 Space Station Flight Planning

A blue circle with white type displaying the NASA acronym encircled by a white swoosh and a red arrow.
NASA

After reviewing the International Space Station flight schedule, NASA and its partners are shifting launch opportunities for several upcoming missions. The schedule adjustments provide more time to finalize mission plans, spacecraft readiness, and logistics.

The new targeted no-earlier-than-launch opportunities, pending operational readiness, are:

  • Axiom Mission 4: 9:11 a.m. EDT, Sunday, June 8
  • NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11: Late July
  • NASA’s SpaceX 33rd Commercial Resupply Services: Late August

Axiom Mission 4 will launch Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The private crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The private astronauts will work alongside the Expedition 73 crew aboard the orbiting laboratory for a short time, conducting mission-related science, outreach, and commercial activities.

As part of Crew-11, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will launch to the space station aboard a Dragon and Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A. There, the crew of four will hand over with the agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 crew before embarking on a long-duration mission aboard station.

In August, SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply mission for NASA will deliver science, supplies, and hardware to the orbital complex. This Dragon cargo spacecraft also will be equipped with a robust reboost kit to aid in providing propulsive boosts to maintain the space station’s altitude. This capability will help reduce Russian segment propellant use aboard the space station and maintain reserve levels.

NASA continues to review operations and will make future adjustments, as necessary, to support the space station’s needs, crew safety, and maximize science capability as the agency prepares for station’s retirement.

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Kelcie Nicole Howren

NASA Awards Launch Service Task Order for Aspera’s Galaxy Mission

NASA Awards Launch Service Task Order for Aspera’s Galaxy Mission

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Credit: NASA

NASA has selected Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Long Beach, California, to launch the agency’s Aspera mission, a SmallSat to study galaxy formation and evolution, providing new insights into how the universe works.

The selection is part of NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. This contract allows the agency to make fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity launch service task order awards during VADR’s five-year ordering period, with a maximum total contract value of $300 million.

Through the observation of ultraviolet light, Aspera will examine hot gas in the space between galaxies, called the intergalactic medium. The mission will study the inflow and outflow of gas from galaxies, a process thought to contribute to star formation.

Aspera is part of NASA’s Pioneers Program in the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, which funds compelling astrophysics science at a lower cost using small hardware and modest payloads. The principal investigator for Aspera is Carlos Vargas at the University of Arizona in Tucson. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contract.

To learn more about NASA’s Aspera mission and the Pioneers Program, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/42U1Wkn

-end-

Joshua Finch / Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov

Patti Bielling
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-7575
patricia.a.bielling@nasa.gov

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Tiernan P. Doyle

Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink

A spiral galaxy's winding arms are shades of pink and purple in this image. At the center is a bright, hazy yellow light.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA

The spiral galaxy known as Messier 81 (M81) has a rosy tint in this June 1, 2007, composite image that incorporates data from NASA’s Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, and NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Discovered by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774, M81 is one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky. It is located 11.6 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.

The galaxy’s spiral arms, which wind all the way down into its nucleus, are made up of young, bluish, hot stars formed in the past few million years. They also host a population of stars formed in an episode of star formation that started about 600 million years ago.

Learn more about M81 in Hubble’s Messier Catalog.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA

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Monika Luabeya

NASA to Participate in Next Private Astronaut Mission Teleconference

NASA to Participate in Next Private Astronaut Mission Teleconference

The Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
The Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
Credit: Axiom Space

NASA will join a media teleconference hosted by Axiom Space at 10:30 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, May 20, to discuss the launch of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.

Briefing participants include:

  • Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA
  • Allen Flynt, chief of mission services, Axiom Space
  • Sarah Walker, director, Dragon mission management, SpaceX
  • Sergio Palumberi, mission manager, ESA (European Space Agency)
  • Aleksandra Bukała, project manager, head of strategy and international cooperation, POLSA (Polish Space Agency)
  • Orsolya Ferencz, ministerial commissioner of space research, HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit)

To join the call, media must register with Axiom Space by 12 p.m., Monday, May 19, at:

https://bit.ly/437SAAh

The Ax-4 launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket is targeted no earlier than 9:11 a.m., Sunday, June 8, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

During the mission aboard the space station, a four-person multi-national crew will complete about 60 research experiments developed for microgravity in collaboration with organizations across the globe.

Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

The first private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 1, lifted off in April 2022 for a 17-day mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. The second private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 2, also was commanded by Whitson and launched in May 2023 for eight days in orbit. The most recent private astronaut mission, Axiom Mission 3, launched in January 2024; the crew spent 18 days docked to the space station.

The International Space Station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy. NASA’s goal is to achieve a strong economy off the Earth where the agency can purchase services as one of many customers to meet its science and research objectives in microgravity. NASA’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit provides the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost, enabling the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.

Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-space

-end-

Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov

Anna Schneider
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov

Alexis DeJarnette
Axiom Space, Houston
alexis@axiomspace.com

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Gerelle Q. Dodson