This week begins with a focus on cargo stowage inside SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft and health research aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 73 crew members also scheduled in time for maintenance and agricultural work.
The morning consisted of NASA Flight Engineer (or astronaut) Anne McClain setting up the CIPHER Falcon Goggles hardware for Vestibular Exams that she and fellow NASA Flight Engineer (or astronaut) Jonny Kim later performed. They were aided by an operator and remote guide on the ground. The CIPHER investigation, or the Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research, is one of many ongoing health-focused studies in microgravity that looks at how various systems in the body—the heart, muscles, bones, and eyes—adapt to longer missions.
Work later began with the Life Sciences Glovebox by Kim as he worked to support the DNA Nano Therapeutics Mission 2 which produces a special type of molecule formed by DNA-inspired, customizable building blocks known as Janus base nanomaterials. It also evaluates how well the materials reduce joint inflammation and whether they can help regenerate cartilage lost due to arthritis. He moved on to work on ADSEP-4, which is Advanced Space Experiment Processor where he replaced and removed the Crystallizer in the Advanced Space Experiment Processor Industrial Crystallization Cassette.
NASA Flight Engineer (or astronaut) Nichole Ayers, McClain, and station commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) then spent a portion of their day transferring cargo from the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft onto the International Space Station. Ayers and Onishi also continued some spacewalk clean-up as they stowed tools used from preparing the space station for the ISS Roll Out Solar Array (IROSA).
Photography consumed parts of McClain’s day on station as she recorded the progress of tomato plants as part of a space agricultural study. She later closed out her tasks documenting Kim’s work on the ADSEP-4 as he was holding the Advanced Space Experiment Processor Industrial Crystallization Cassette.
Onishi carried out several station maintenance tasks starting with the setting up, analyzing, and recording data from water samples taken from the Water Processor Assembly using the TOCA (Total Organic Carbon Analyzer) Water Sample Hose. TOCA helps ensure reclaimed water is safe to drink by providing capabilities to measure total organic carbon, total inorganic carbon, total carbon, pH and conductivity in water. He later moved on to maintenance for the 4-Bed CO2 Scrubber, which is an integral part of crew life support through the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on the International Space Station.
In the Roscosmos segment, the station’s three cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy, and Kirill Peskov spent much of their day working on space station maintenance. Peskov worked with potable water with the Water Process Assembly, while Ryzhikov was ensuring the maintenance of coolant. Both he and Zubritskiy also oversaw finding an adaptor cable.
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