Friday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station included maintenance and tech demonstration set up for the Expedition 73 crew.
In the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers teamed up in the morning to remove MISSE hardware and sample carriers before bagging them for return to Earth. The facility provides a unique platform for the testing of materials, coatings, and components in the space environment.
Afterward, the duo split up for a majority of the afternoon to focus on other tasks. McClain photographed tomato plants for a space agricultural study, while Ayers set up ELVIS—a microscope for 3D imaging of objects such as bacteria—in the Life Sciences Glovebox. She then inserted Colwellia bacteria samples into GLACIER, one of the station’s ultra-cold freezers, before conducting a sample run to analyze the active behavior and genetic changes in the bacteria. Ayers and McClain were then joined by NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim and current station commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) for a conference with ground support.
Kim spent most of the day on maintenance and IT activities. He first set up hardware on the orbital lab’s bicycle, CEVIS, then scanned the disk drive of the Microgravity Science Glovebox for any system errors. Later on, he conducted some computer hard drive tests, then took inventory of supplies in the Human Research Facility.
Onishi had a light-duty morning before work picked up in the afternoon. In the Harmony Module, he installed a crystallizer in the ADvanced Space Experiment Processor, or ADSEP, a biotech facility that contains three thermal zones to accommodate a variety of experiments, including crystal growth. He then replaced the controller card in the Potable Water Dispenser before setting up a tech demo in JEM that will more efficiently transfer space-to-ground data.
The station’s three Roscosmos cosmonauts, Alexey Zubritsky, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Kirill Peskov, all enjoyed a day off, relaxing and completing their routine two hours of daily exercise.
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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