Biomedical research topped the science schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday as the Expedition 73 and Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crews explored cellular immunity and electrical muscle stimulation. Cargo transfers and exercise gear maintenance rounded out the day for the orbital residents.
Station Commander Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) began his shift continuing his space biology studies and collecting his blood and saliva samples for processing and stowage. He spun the specimens in a centrifuge then placed the blood samples in a science freezer. Next, he stowed the saliva samples in the Kubik incubator. The samples will be analyzed to understand microgravity’s effect on cellular immunity, monitor stress-related immune reactions in space, and learn how to treat space-caused immunity symptoms.
NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim, Nichole Ayers, and Anne McClain spent their day on a variety of orbital lab maintenance and crew support activities. Kim focused primarily on orbital plumbing as he drained and replaced tanks in the Tranquility module. Ayers checked power components and cables inside the Destiny laboratory module then deactivated and stowed a microscope. McClain took a cognition test on a laptop computer and continued supporting the Ax-4 crew during their busy research schedule.
Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson and her Ax-4 crewmates Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tibor Kapu kept up their numerous space investigations throughout the orbital lab. The private astronauts in their second full week on the station explored electrical muscle stimulation to enhance space workouts and counter muscle atrophy in microgravity. Other Ax-4 experiments on Tuesday looked at suit fabrics that promote thermal comfort when exercising in weightlessness, crew behavioral health, and space agriculture.
Roscosmos Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy spent their Tuesday shift working together in the Zvezda service module repairing and placing components on a treadmill, one of two inside the space station including the COLBERT treadmill located in Tranquility. Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov started his day analyzing biological samples from his cosmonaut crewmates then serviced video recording gear. He wrapped up his shift transferring water from the newly arrived Progress 92 cargo craft and unloading some of its three tons of crew supplies and hardware.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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