![\"Expedition](\"https:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/spacestation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/240\/2021\/07\/blog_iss065e158464.jpg\")
<\/a>As the week kicked off, the\u00a0Expedition 65<\/a>\u00a0crew members spent much of their Monday fine-tuning procedures in anticipation of Wednesday\u2019s port-relocation activity<\/a>, which will free up the Harmony\u2019s forward port for the docking of Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station<\/a>. That vehicle is scheduled for launch Friday, July 30, as part of NASA\u2019s\u00a0Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 mission<\/a>.<\/p>\n Science also continued aboard the orbiting laboratory, with NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei<\/a> conducting experiment runs throughout the day for Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Ellipsoids, or InSPACE-4<\/a>. This investigation studies the assembly of tiny structures from colloids using magnetic fields. Off the Earth and without the constraints of gravity, scientists are able to observe the assembly processes free from confining sample walls and sedimentation and to timescales not possible during simulation.<\/p>\n Vande Hei teamed up with fellow crewmate Shane Kimbrough<\/a> to perform needed maintenance to the station\u2019s toilet system, removing and replacing a hose for the assembly and completing a motor test and leak check. Station Commander\u202fAkihiko\u202fHoshide<\/a>, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut, along with NASA astronaut Megan McArthur<\/a>, helped keep station experiments running optimally by removing two deployers from the Japanese Experiment Module Small Satellite Orbital Deployer<\/a> and a hard drive from the Fluids and Combustion Facility<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n Cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov<\/a> and Oleg Novitskiy<\/a>, meanwhile, worked to transfer equipment for disposal to the Progress 77 cargo craft<\/a>, which is set to undock \u2014 along with the Pirs Docking Compartment \u2014 from the International Space Station on Friday, July 23. A few hours later, Progress\u2019 engines will fire in a deorbit maneuver to send the cargo craft and Pirs into a destructive re-entry in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n Replacing Pirs, a module that has been part of the orbital outpost for the past 20 years, is the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) named Nauka, the Russian word for \u201cscience.\u201d The MLM is scheduled to launch on Wednesday, July 21, on a three-stage Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n Most pressing for the team in space was a comprehensive onboard training session and simulation for the upcoming Crew Dragon port relocation, which will set the stage for a historic first \u2014 when two different U.S. commercial spacecraft built for crew will be docked to the outpost at the same time.<\/p>\n See all these mission events on NASA Television, the\u00a0NASA app<\/a>, and the agency\u2019s\u00a0website<\/a>. Live coverage of the port relocation begins at 6:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday, July 21, with launch coverage of the MLM at 10:30 a.m. that same day. On Friday, July 23, coverage for the undocking of Progress 77 and Pirs beginning at 8:45 a.m. EDT Friday, July 23.<\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Catherine Williams <\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the week kicked off, the\u00a0Expedition 65\u00a0crew members spent much of their Monday fine-tuning procedures in anticipation of Wednesday\u2019s port-relocation activity, which will free up the Harmony\u2019s forward port for the docking of Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. That vehicle is scheduled for launch Friday, July 30, as part of NASA\u2019s\u00a0Boeing \u2026 Continue reading