Expedition 74 kicked off the week exploring robotics, physics, and heart health aboard the International Space Station. The orbital residents also continued packing a Japanese cargo craft while servicing and inspecting lab hardware.
NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman swapped a memory card and verified the functionality of the docking interface that supports the Astrobee free-flying robotic helpers. The cube-shaped, toaster-sized Astrobees—being tested for their ability to assist astronauts with routine tasks—are attached to the docking station for recharging, data transfers, and systems monitoring. The maintenance work sets up the Astrobees for a test run of an educational robotic challenge that allows students to create programs that control the robotic devices on the station.
Cardman also set up hardware for an experiment that will demonstrate how Indium, a liquid metal, flows in space. The investigation takes place in an EXPRESS rack located inside the Destiny laboratory module, heats the Indium samples to between 200 and 400 degrees Celsius, and observes the metal’s behavior. Results may lead to advanced space repair techniques such as soldering metal parts and improved satellite thrusters for longer service life.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov began his shift exploring how microgravity and space radiation affect the thin layer of cells lining a crew member’s blood vessels, also called the endothelium. He wore electrodes on his chest and finger cuffs that measured his blood flow and blood pressure to help doctors protect crew health and advance cardiac research on Earth. At the end of his shift, Platonov installed a camera and programmed it to automatically photograph Earth landmarks from Asia to South America in a variety of wavelengths during the crew’s sleep shift.
Station Commander Mike Fincke spent his shift moving decommissioned life support station hardware from the Tranquility module and into the HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Cardman, NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams, and JAXA Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui assisted Fincke with the hardware transfers that will see the obsolete gear disposed of when HTV-X1 departs the orbital outpost in late January.
Afterward, Williams peered at stem cell samples using the KERMIT fluorescence microscope for a study that may enable superior stem cell manufacturing in space and advance regenerative medicine for patients on Earth. When the stem cell observations were complete, Yui turned off the microscope and temporarily stowed the research components for a later experiment run.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov spent the first half of his shift inside the Zvezda service module replacing orbital plumbing gear. He spent the last half of his shift inspecting module hatches, cleaning smoke detectors, and inventorying personal hygiene items. Flight Engineer Sergei Mikaev also started his shift in Zvezda but worked on ventilation system maintenance, then wrapped up his day photographing flow converters—instrumentation that manages water, air, coolant, and experimental fluids—for inspection and analysis.
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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