Archivo de la etiqueta: iss

NASA Astronauts Send Independence Day Message Before Cargo Mission Launches

NASA’s Expedition 73 Flight Engineers Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, and Jonny Kim called down to Earth from the International Space Station and shared an Independence Day message in this video recorded on June 16, 2025.

The NASA trio along with their Expedition 73 crewmates station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Roscosmos Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, and Kirill Peskov relaxed the day before the U.S. holiday. Their Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) visitors also had an off-duty day. Ax-4 private astronauts Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tibor Kapu will resume their science-packed schedule on Friday and work into the weekend.

Roscosmos’ Progress 92 resupply ship is counting down to its launch at 3:32 p.m. EDT on today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Progress is scheduled to dock to the Poisk module at 5:27 p.m. on Saturday delivering about three thousand pounds of food, fuel and supplies for the orbiting lab residents. NASA+ will provide live coverage of both events.

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

Brain Research Continues on Station Ahead of Cargo Mission Launch

Brain research continued aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday as the Expedition 73 and Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crews kept up their ongoing space biology studies. Meanwhile, a Progress cargo craft counts down to its launch to resupply the orbital residents this weekend.

NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers took her turn today in the Columbus laboratory module wearing neck and chest electrodes measuring oscillations in the blood flow from her brain to the heart for the Drain Brain 2.0 human research experiment. Similarly, Ax-4 private astronaut Tibor Kapu wore a cap that imaged blood flow in his cerebral artery using doppler ultrasound for the Cerebral Hemodynamics investigation. Veteran astronaut and Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson assisted Kapu with the biomedical hardware and measured his blood pressure inside the Tranquility module. Both studies are supported by different organizations with the first seeking to prevent space-caused blood clots and the second to protect crew visual processing and perception in microgravity.

Ayers later joined her station crewmates Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and NASA Flight Engineer Anne McClain for eye checks using high-resolution, near-infrared medical imaging hardware. McClain led the B Complex optical investigation in the Harmony Module as Ayers and Onishi peered into the ocular device while doctors on the ground examined their optic nerve at the back of the eye in real time. Researchers are exploring using B vitamin supplements as a method to protect crew vision in microgravity.

NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim began his shift inspecting portable emergency hardware including fire extinguishers and breathing masks. After his lunch period, he joined his Soyuz MS-27 crewmates Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Zubritskiy, both flight engineers from Roscosmos, and practiced using respirator masks in the unlikely event of a chemical leak onboard the orbital outpost.

Ryzhikov and Zubritskiy started their shift repairing a Roscosmos treadmill in the Zvezda service module. Ryzhikov also wore virtual reality glasses for a study observing how a crew member’s balance and visual perception adjust to microgravity. Zubritskiy serviced research physics hardware that measures neutron radiation. Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov spent his shift in the orbital outpost’s Roscosmos segment servicing orbital plumbing gear and activating Earth observation equipment.

Ax-4 crewmates Shubhanshu Shukla and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski partnered together in Columbus and studied using near-infrared technology to record brain activity for constructing brain-computer interfaces. Uznański-Wiśniewski wore a specialized cap connected via Bluetooth to a laptop computer recording his brain activity while Shukla optimized the signal quality and calibrated the hardware. The pair also recorded and downlinked video of crew activities for the Astronaut Mental Health study. Shukla also looked at muscle cell stem cultures through a microscope to understand the muscle repair process in weightlessness.

The next uncrewed cargo mission, Progress 92, is counting down to its launch at 3:32 p.m. EDT on Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Progress 92 is scheduled to dock to the Poisk module at 5:27 p.m. on Saturday delivering about three thousand pounds of food, fuel and supplies for the orbiting lab residents. NASA+ will provide live coverage of both events.

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

Brain, Cancer, and Biotech Top Science Schedule as Cargo Craft Departs

The 11 crew members aboard the International Space Station representing Expedition 73 and Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) returned to their space science duties on Tuesday exploring brain circulation, observing cancer cells, and studying biotechnology, among other investigations.

Station Commander Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) attached sensors to his neck and chest measuring how blood flows from the brain to the heart. Doctors will review the data to understand how blood circulation adapts to weightlessness. Ax-4 crewmates Peggy Whitson and Tibor Kapu also studied cerebral circulation for another experiment designed for their mission. Whitson assisted Kapu who wore a cap using doppler ultrasound to image blood flow in his cerebral artery while a cuff measured his blood pressure. Doctors will use the results to help protect crew visual processing and perception in microgravity. Whitson later peered inside a fluorescence microscope at cancer cells to learn how to detect and prevent cancer earlier.

NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers spent a portion of their shift assisting the Ax-4 crew on Tuesday. McClain helped the private astronauts operate the research hardware throughout the orbital lab and guided their science activities. Ayers set up a microscope in the Destiny laboratory module that Ax-4 crew member Shubhanshu Shukla used to view how tardigrades, tiny aquatic animals, survive numerous harsh climates including microgravity. Ax-4 astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski explored using nanomaterials in wearable devices that monitor crew health.

NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim began his shift with Onishi collecting blood samples, processing them in a centrifuge, and stowing the specimens in a science freezer for preservation. Kim later reorganized hardware inside the Harmony module’s maintenance work area then installed ventilation system components inside the Quest airlock.

The uncrewed, trash-packed Progress 90 cargo craft ended its stay at the orbital outpost today undocking from the Poisk module at 2:42 p.m. EDT. It will reenter Earth’s atmosphere for a fiery, but safe demise above the south Pacific Ocean completing a seven-month space delivery mission.

Waiting to replace the spacecraft is the Progress 92 cargo craft standing at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Progress 92 is counting down to its launch at 3:32 p.m. EDT on Thursday. It will arrive at the orbital lab on Saturday and dock to Poisk at 5:27 p.m. delivering about three thousand pounds of food, fuel and supplies for the orbiting lab residents. NASA+ will provide live coverage of both events.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy began their day training on the telerobotically operated rendezvous unit, or TORU, for Saturday’s approach and rendezvous of the Progress 92. Ryzhikov then set up hardware to capture hyperspectral imagery of landmarks in Mexico and South America. Zubritskiy photographed the Progress 90 as it departed the station. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov checked a laptop computer used for European robotic arm operations then completed a 24-hour session wearing sensors that measured his heart activity and blood pressure.

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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Mark A. Garcia

Crews Fill Day With Muscle, Heart, and Brain Research Before Cargo Mission Swap

The seven-member Expedition 73 crew wrapped up a weekend of housecleaning and relaxation then kicked off Monday with muscle and brain research aboard the International Space Station. Their Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) counterparts worked throughout the weekend and began the week taking a closer look at muscle cells and exploring brain computer interfaces. The public and private biology studies complement each other while the research data and hardware are supported by different organizations.

NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers joined each other in the Columbus laboratory module exploring electrical muscle stimulation as a supplement to space exercise. McClain operated the biomedical gear from ESA (European Space Agency) that collected data from electrodes measuring the response of Ayer’s leg muscles to electrical signals. Results may help offset space-caused muscle atrophy in combination with shorter, more effective workouts in microgravity.

McClain earlier took a set of tests helping researchers understand how an astronaut’s cognition, the ability to acquire and process knowledge, adapts to weightlessness. Doctors hope to gain insights into potential adverse effects on a crew member’s brain structure and function while living and working in space.

Ayers began her day with NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim taking turns processing blood samples for a variety of biology experiments. Ayers performed a blood draw on herself at the beginning of her shift, spun the sample in a centrifuge, then stowed the specimen in a science freezer for later analysis. Kim collected blood samples from Ax-4 private astronauts Peggy Whitson and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski in Columbus for the Bone on ISS study, another ESA investigation, that is exploring space-induced bone loss.

Station Commander Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) worked throughout Monday processing his blood and urine samples for cold stowage and upcoming analysis to understand how his body is adapting to long term weightlessness. Onishi then worked inside the Kibo laboratory module servicing hardware that monitors particulate matter in the station’s atmosphere.

Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, trained on a computer for the arrival and docking of the Progress 92 cargo craft to the Poisk module scheduled for July 5. The duo also finished loading the Progress 90 cargo craft with trash and discarded gear and closed the spacecraft’s hatch before its undocking from Poisk on Tuesday. Fellow cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov attached sensors to himself for a 24-hours session measuring his heart activity and blood pressure. Peskov then set up the European robotic arm from inside the Nauka science module ahead of ground-controlled robotics tests.

The Ax-4 private astronauts had a science-packed Monday fulfilling research objectives for their home countries. Whitson performed vein scans with the Ultrasound 2 device on Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu providing doctors from Budapest, his nation’s capital, insights into how space affects blood pressure, balance, and vision. Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla filmed a video targeted to young Indian students discussing how the digestion system adapts to space. Next, Shukla worked in Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox checking muscle stem cell cultures to learn how to maintain muscle health in space. Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland wore a specialized headset from ESA to test a brain-controlled computer interface. He then joined Whitson and Shukla filming crew activities for the Astronaut Mental Health study.

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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Mark A. Garcia

Ax-4 Meets Expedition 73 and Begins Space Research

Eleven residents are living and working aboard the International Space Station following the docking of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) at 6:31 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The seven Expedition 73 crew members welcomed the four Ax-4 astronauts and are now helping them familiarize themselves with orbital lab systems and prepare for approximately two weeks of microgravity research.

Veteran astronaut and Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson was the first to enter the space station after the hatch opened at 8:14 a.m. on Thursday between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the Harmony module’s space-facing port. She was followed shortly afterward by Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu. After welcoming remarks, the Ax-4 crew was briefed on standard orbital safety procedures and the location of station emergency equipment.

On Friday, Ax-4 quickly got to work unloading sample-packed hardware and portable science freezers from inside Dragon for installation in station incubators and research refrigerators ahead of upcoming experiments. Station safety hardware was also temporarily transferred inside Dragon as is customary for visiting spacecraft. The private astronaut quartet later joined the Expedition 73 crew for more safety reviews to learn their roles and responsibilities and communication protocols with mission controllers in the unlikely event of an emergency on the orbital outpost.

Meanwhile, Expedition 73 kept up its daily research schedule with a space exercise study, eye exams, and lunar photography. Cargo transfers and life support maintenance rounded out crew’s day.

NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers set up the Destiny laboratory module’s exercise cycle for NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim and the sensors he wore measuring his aerobic output as he pedaled during a workout session. Researchers will use the data to help keep astronauts fit in space preparing them for strenuous activities such as spacewalks and the return to Earth’s gravity environment. Kim earlier pointed a camera toward the Moon and photographed the reflection of Earth’s light shining on the lunar surface.

Ayers also joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov and operated medical imaging gear while scanning the eyes of Kim and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Doctors on the ground monitored in real time the examination for potential space-caused eye structure and vision issues.

Station Commander Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) set up a microscope in the Destiny lab then moved to the Kibo laboratory module and tested spacecraft communications hardware in coordination with mission controllers in Japan. NASA Flight Engineer Anne McClain spent her day assisting the Ax-4 crewmates with their station familiarization duties and cargo transfers. Peskov partnered with Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritskiy and packed trash and discarded gear inside the Progress 90 resupply ship before its departure on July 1.

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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Mark A. Garcia