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
