![\"The](\"https:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/spacestation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/240\/2024\/07\/blog_iss071e256960.jpg\")
<\/a>Orbital maintenance and upkeep occupied Friday\u2019s schedule aboard the International Space Station<\/a> as the two crews went back to work following a day off on Thursday to observe the Independence Day holiday.<\/p>\n In preparation for the future installation of new exercise equipment, Expedition 71<\/a> Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick<\/a> and Boeing Crew Flight Test<\/a> Commander Butch Wilmore<\/a> and Pilot Suni Williams<\/a> worked together throughout the day inside the Columbus module<\/a> to swap out an empty rack that previously housed retired exercise gear.<\/p>\n Afterward, Dominick and Williams moved into the Tranquility module<\/a> to reinstall the toilet system after the pressure control pump motor was replaced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, NASA astronaut Mike Barratt<\/a> focused on additional orbital plumbing tasks, including a fluid transfer from the wastewater processing system and a manual fill of the water recovery system.<\/p>\n In the Kibo Laboratory<\/a>, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps<\/a> spent a majority of the day recording a video survey of hardware that enables data communications between space and Earth. The video was then downlinked to ground teams for analysis. After lunch, Epps analyzed water samples that were collected on Wednesday to assess for microbial growth.<\/p>\n NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson<\/a> kicked off her day by loading new software onto the Surface Avatar<\/a> program which allows crew members to remotely control robots on Earth and investigate how haptic controls, user interfaces, and virtual reality could command surface-bound robots from long distances. Dyson was then joined by cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub to complete on-orbit emergency training.<\/p>\n Kononenko and Chub also completed hearing assessments on Friday, then loaded trash and discarded gear inside Progress 87<\/a>, which is slated to undock from the orbiting laboratory in mid-August. Their crewmate, Alexander Grebenkin, worked maintenance on the water recovery system then completed some computer work in the Nauka module<\/a>.<\/p>\n Learn more about station activities by following the\u00a0space station blog<\/a>,\u00a0@space_station<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@ISS_Research<\/a>\u00a0on X, as well as the\u00a0ISS Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ISS Instagram<\/a>\u00a0accounts.<\/p>\n Get weekly video highlights at:\u00a0https:\/\/roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov\/videoupdate\/<\/a><\/p>\n Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here:\u00a0www.nasa.gov\/subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Garcia <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Orbital maintenance and upkeep occupied Friday\u2019s schedule aboard the International Space Station as the two crews went back to work following a day off on Thursday to observe the Independence Day holiday. In preparation for the future installation of new exercise equipment, Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick and Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch \u2026 Continue reading
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