Week Starts with Pharma Research, Earth Observations, and Videography
A pharmaceutical study, Earth observations, and vision checks kicked off Monday’s research schedule aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 73 crew also worked on housekeeping tasks and recorded training videos for future crews.
Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers continued her dayslong investigation into studying how proteins behave inside a fluid using surface tension to eliminate the effects of contacting solid walls. She processed the samples swapping syringes containing the proteins and installed a test cell inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox. Results may provide better models that predict the behavior of complex fluids benefitting pharmaceutical manufacturing and 3D printing on Earth and in space.
Regularly scheduled vision checks awaited Flight Engineers Jonny Kim of NASA and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos at the beginning of their shift. The duo took turns reading characters off a standard eye chart found in a doctor’s office testing their clarity of vision and peripheral vision. Doctors constantly monitor the astronauts’ eyes and vision to counteract potential space-caused symptoms.
Afterward, Kim partnered together with station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and resumed filming training, or day-in-the-life, videos to familiarize future crews with space station operations and systems. They filmed and narrated activities inside the Quest airlock showing where spacesuits and spacewalking tools are stowed. The pair also filmed the location of safety hardware and configurations in the Harmony, Kibo, and Columbus modules.
Onishi also joined NASA Flight Engineer Anne McClain inside the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) and reorganized cargo. The pair moved items around the PMM creating more stowage space, documented lost or unknown items, and photographed the module’s layout for analysis by ground specialists.
Peskov spent his shift on video and photography duties first filming his crewmates going about their daily tasks including space research, lab maintenance, and exercise. Next, he pointed a camera out a window in the Zvezda service module and photographed landmarks such as Pacific islands and volcanos, the South China Sea region, and geological features across Australia.
Veteran cosmonaut and three-time station resident Sergey Ryzhikov worked throughout Monday servicing the Elektron oxygen generator and reorganizing stowage space and documenting inventory in the Zarya module. First time space-flyer Alexey Zubritskiy assisted Ryzhikov with the life support maintenance duties in Zvezda then replaced dust filters in the Roscosmos segment’s ventilation system.
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
