![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/iss073e0505925\/iss073e0505925~large.jpg?w=1920&h=1280&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint\")
<\/a><\/figure>Expedition 73<\/a> awaits over 11,000 pounds of new science<\/a> and supplies packed inside Northrop Grumman\u2019s Cygnus XL cargo craft and orbiting Earth toward the International Space Station<\/a>. NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim<\/a> and Zena Cardman<\/a> will be on duty in the cupola to capture Cygnus at 6:35 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. The pair spent Tuesday studying rendezvous procedures and practicing Canadarm2 robotic arm<\/a> maneuvers they will use when Cygnus reaches a point about 10 meters away from the orbital outpost. Kim will be in the cupola commanding Canadarm2 with Cardman backing him up and monitoring the activities.<\/p>\n At the beginning of Tuesday, the duo joined Flight Engineers Mike Fincke<\/a> of NASA and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and reviewed Cygnus\u2019 mission profile and the cargo it is delivering. They will soon be unloading new science experiments to explore manufacturing semiconductor crystals<\/a>, disinfecting spacecraft with ultraviolet light<\/a>, producing cancer-treating pharmaceuticals<\/a>, and developing cryogenic fluid tanks<\/a>. The quartet also called down to mission controllers at the end of Tuesday\u2019s shift and discussed the upcoming cargo operations.<\/p>\n Another cargo craft, the Progress 93 from Roscosmos, arrived at the orbital outpost on Saturday<\/a> when it docked to the Zvezda service module<\/a>\u2019s aft port packed with three tons of food, fuel, and supplies. Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky spent Tuesday unpacking Progress and transferring fluids to and from the new resupply ship. The station commander and flight engineer also continued configuring the spacecraft for six months of cargo transfers and docked operations.<\/p>\n Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov worked on a pair of different science experiments on Tuesday. \u00a0He first set up physics research hardware to observe complex plasmas<\/a> potentially advancing spacecraft designs and industrial processes on Earth. Next, he photographed glaciers and mountains throughout South America and Africa to analyze natural and man-made conditions on Earth.<\/p>\n Learn more about station activities by following the <\/em>space station blog<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>@space_station<\/em><\/a> on X, as well as the <\/em>ISS Facebook<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>ISS Instagram<\/em><\/a> accounts.<\/em><\/p>\n Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. <\/em>Subscribe here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Mark A. Garcia <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Expedition 73 awaits over 11,000 pounds of new science and supplies packed inside Northrop Grumman\u2019s Cygnus XL cargo craft and orbiting Earth toward the International Space Station. Continue reading