Author Topic: Expedition 73 thread (Read 60730 times)

ddspaceman · « **Reply #100 on:** 04/28/2025 05:14 pm »

Nichole “Vapor” Ayers
@Astro_Ayers
How am I testing my vision in space?? With a laptop and a remote guider who talks to me from Mission Control in Houston.

I’m holding our @Space_Station mic over one eye so I can easily push the talk button and read the lines to the optometrist on the ground. My other hand is on the ceiling to help stabilize my body. You can’t just stand at the line and read the letters!

We are also live streaming this view so the medical team can see where I am and what I’m doing. Regular checkups are critical to maintaining our health and wellness up here, and vision is just one example!

As a pilot, the annual vision test can be a little daunting because you need good eyesight to fly. Haha the test up here was no different! Think you can read the last line?

https://twitter.com/Astro_Ayers/status/1916872921798135876

ddspaceman · « **Reply #101 on:** 04/28/2025 05:35 pm »

Jonny Kim
@JonnyKimUSA
M+14: So what happens after a cargo resupply vehicle docks to the @Space_Station? Same thing when a supply ship reaches its destination on Earth.

The cargo needs to be unloaded and stowed away. We call this “Cargo Ops” and if able, it’s an all-hands on deck operation to get as much precious cargo containing food, science experiments, equipment, etc. to its final destination.

Our Lab module gets very busy since it’s the central highway connecting all of our USOS modules, but in microgravity we can use the ceilings or walls to get by so it’s not too bad squeezing past people with cargo bags.

https://twitter.com/JonnyKimUSA/status/1916891167926485105

ddspaceman · « **Reply #102 on:** 04/28/2025 06:12 pm »

NASA
@NASA
LIVE: Astronaut Don Pettit is talking about his recent mission to the @Space_Station.

If you have questions for @astro_Pettit, share them with #AskNASA—or join us at 3:15pm ET (1915 UTC) for a live Q&A with Don on our Instagram! https://instagram.com/nasa/

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1916915648258572386

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #103 on:** 04/28/2025 06:28 pm »

Dextre is heading to station starboard with the MTT.

ddspaceman · « **Reply #104 on:** 04/28/2025 08:37 pm »

大西卓哉（JAXA宇宙飛行士）Takuya Onishi
@Astro_Onishi
Expedition 73 is working on science which was delivered by SpaceX CRS-32 mission as well as preparing for an upcoming spacewalk.
Last Friday, I was performing the Cell Gravisensing experiment while Anne and Nichole were working in the Life Sciences Glovebox. A big science day!

https://twitter.com/Astro_Onishi/status/1916914430316511254

ddspaceman · « **Reply #105 on:** 04/28/2025 08:41 pm »

Crew Kicks off Busy Research Week Before Thursday’s Spacewalk

Mark A. Garcia
April 28, 2025

Biotechnology, human health, and space botany kicked off the research week aboard the International Space Station on Monday. The Expedition 73 crew is also preparing for a spacewalk on Thursday to ready the orbital outpost for a new rollout solar array and relocate a communications antenna.

Numerous experiments exploring how blood pressure, eyes, and cells are affected by microgravity packed the schedule aboard the International Space Station on Monday. Scientists will take the unique data and pursue advanced therapies promoting healthy humans on and off the Earth.

Blood pressure checks awaited NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers on Monday for the CIPHER suite of 14 human research investigations. Ayers began her shift scanning McClain’s chest with the Ultrasound 2 device while electrodes measured her blood pressure. Doctors are observing the arterial structure and function of astronauts to assess the cardiovascular risk of living and working in space.

McClain later installed research hardware inside the Veggie space botany facility for the Advanced Plant Experiment-12 space botany study that will observe how space radiation affects plant genetics. Ayers then peered into medical imaging gear with assistance from NASA astronaut Jonny Kim so researchers could get a glimpse of her optic nerve to identify potential space-caused eye health issues.

Kim also set up physics research hardware inside the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox for the Colloidal Solids experiment that may benefit the pharmaceutical, food, and personal care industries on Earth. The upcoming investigation will observe how soft solids, such as gels, respond to weightlessness and may lead to the design of new materials.

McClain and Ayers are also preparing to exit the space station on Thursday for a six-hour and 35-minute spacewalk. The pair spent an hour on Monday reviewing the steps necessary in the vacuum of space to install a rollout solar array modification kit on the station’s port side truss structure and relocate an antenna that communicates with visiting vehicles. This will be McClain’s third spacewalk, Ayers first, and the 275th in space station program history.

Station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) split his day between exploring how cells sense gravity and installing hardware containing biological fluid samples. He first relocated cell samples from an incubator into a microscope to observe the mechanism that enables cells to sense the effects of gravity. Results from the Cell Gravisensing investigation may lead to therapies treating space-caused and Earthbound muscle and bone conditions. Onishi then installed cassettes containing fluid samples in the Advanced Space Experiment Processor-4, a research facility that can be shipped back and forth from Earth to space, for the biotechnology study. That investigation may further research and commercialization opportunities in space.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov set up Earth observation gear and activated a camera to photograph landmarks in Canada and western Africa. Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky took a hearing test on Monday inside the Quest airlock using specialized audiometric hardware that eliminates the need to isolate oneself in a soundproof booth. The pair would spend the rest of the day on a variety of electronics and life support maintenance.

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/04/28/crew-kicks-off-busy-research-week-before-thursdays-spacewalk/

The Large Magellanic Cloud among a starry backdrop above Earth’s atmospheric glow highlights this long duration photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico.
NASA/Don Pettit

ddspaceman · « **Reply #106 on:** 04/28/2025 09:48 pm »

大西卓哉（JAXA宇宙飛行士）Takuya Onishi
@Astro_Onishi
GT:
With the momentum of having won the previous two times in one shot, I went to my blood test this morning 💉
Perhaps because his right arm had been fatigued from the consecutive games, the first shot missed the vein, but the second shot went into the vein successfully, but after drawing one tube's worth of blood, he must have let his guard down, as the needle slipped out of the skin in a regrettable error 🩸
(To be continued)

At this point, we had no choice but to bring in the left-handed relief pitcher for his first appearance of the season. While holding the third shot, which had been a beautiful hit in the first batter's bout, with a fierce look on his face, Nicole was able to quickly draw blood into the remaining two tubes, and we were able to prevent a big inning 😓
In the end, it was a hectic Monday morning with three tubes of blood drawn and three needles required.

As I tried to insert the needle with my left hand, which is my non-dominant hand, Nicole and Johnny, who were watching next to me, were quite surprised.
Is it rare?
Eh, does that mean you're skillful? 😀 (Oi)

https://twitter.com/Astro_Onishi/status/1916956096427606219

https://twitter.com/Astro_Onishi/status/1916956105298637083

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #107 on:** 04/28/2025 11:17 pm »

Dextre has taken up a position near the MISSE flight facility.

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #108 on:** 04/29/2025 12:06 am »

Getting ready to pull the first MSC out of the R2 slot (R for Ram).

ddspaceman · « **Reply #109 on:** 04/29/2025 12:56 am »

COL Anne McClain
@AstroAnnimal
How does space radiation affect plants? NASA’s Advanced Plant EXperiment-12 (APEX-12) seeks to find out. Flown up on SpaceX-32 last week, I installed a series of petri dishes with thale cress plants into our VEGGIE facility today. Over the next seven days, these cress plants will grow in our unique microgravity environment, then will be placed in cold stowage and returned home. There, scientists will be able to look at how radiation may have impacted the genome and telomere activity. Telomeres are protectors of chromosomes, and are a marker of a plant’s survivability. This experiment will tell us a lot about how to equip plants for the stress of longer duration missions.

In the first photo, I am setting up the facility in one of the NASA EXPRESS racks. In the second photo, I am testing the light type and intensity inside the facility to ensure the plants are in a controlled environment.

https://twitter.com/AstroAnnimal/status/1916986863119962283

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #110 on:** 04/29/2025 02:43 am »

The first sample carrier (MSC 5, I think, but the resolution's not good enough to be sure) has been transferred to the transfer table (slot T2).

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #111 on:** 04/29/2025 11:24 am »

Another MSC was pulled from MISSE (not sure which one, the camera didn't pan over to show), but SSRMS moved away from MISSE for the night before stowing it on the MTT.

Edit - it was MSC 14 out of slot W3.

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #112 on:** 04/29/2025 05:12 pm »

Next MSC is stowed on the transfer tray, slot T4.

ddspaceman · « **Reply #113 on:** 04/29/2025 05:41 pm »

ISS Research
@ISS_Research
.@JonnyKimUSA installs AstroPi near a window aboard @Space_Station.💻

Students can run their own code in space through this educational program. See more ways station inspires the next generation : http://go.nasa.gov/447Swmo

https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1917231892367032336

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #114 on:** 04/29/2025 06:19 pm »

Dextre has removed MSC 9 (probably - could also be MSC 8) from slot W2 on the MISSE-FF. This angle also shows that the previous / second MSC removed in this sequence was MSC 14 in slot W3.

Also of interest - MSC 7 in slot Z1 is still open, so it seems like at least one sample carrier will be left outside.

ddspaceman · « **Reply #115 on:** 04/29/2025 06:44 pm »

Skip to about 8.5 min in.

Astronaut Q&A with California Students: What Inspired You to Become an Astronaut?

ddspaceman · « **Reply #116 on:** 04/29/2025 06:56 pm »

NASA Astronaut Anne McClain Talks with KOMO TV, Seattle

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #117 on:** 04/29/2025 08:01 pm »

MSC 9 (from MISSE slot W2) has been installed into slot T6 on the MTT.

ddspaceman · « **Reply #118 on:** 04/29/2025 10:14 pm »

大西卓哉（JAXA宇宙飛行士）Takuya Onishi
@Astro_Onishi
GT:
I transferred the last observation sample to the microscope, and my main task regarding the cell grater was successfully completed 😄
But there's still some cleanup left to do.
Since a large number of items were used, we stored them in the appropriate locations according to a list prepared by our colleagues on the ground indicating what should be returned to Earth, what should be stored in orbit, and what should be discarded.

https://twitter.com/Astro_Onishi/status/1917329391572394061

ddspaceman · « **Reply #119 on:** 04/29/2025 10:28 pm »

Synthetic DNA, Gravity Sensing Cells Top Research Ahead of Spacewalk

Mark A. Garcia
April 29, 2025

The Expedition 73 crew is learning how to manufacture nanomaterials today possibly leading to new therapeutics, vaccines, and regenerative medicine. The orbital residents also conducted vein scans and wrapped a cellular gravity sensing experiment aboard the International Space Station.

NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Jonny Kim began their day inside the Kibo laboratory module mixing solutions to create DNA-like nanomaterials. The biotechnology experiment and may enable future in-space biomanufacturing and expand the commercial space economy. The microgravity environment enables high quality production of the synthetic DNA compared to commercially available nanomaterials on Earth. The samples will be analyzed on the station using an electromagnetic light tool then returned to Earth for further examination.

McClain is also getting ready for a spacewalk with fellow NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers. The duo is scheduled to set their spacesuits to battery power at 8 a.m. EDT on Thursday signifying the beginning of their spacewalk. They will spend six-and-a-half hours readying the orbital outpost for a new rollout solar array and relocating a communications antenna. McClain and Ayers took turns on Tuesday printing checklists highlighting their spacewalking tasks and inserting them into their spacesuit cuffs. NASA+ will begin its live spacewalk coverage beginning at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Kim later partnered with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky for vein scans inside the Columbus laboratory module. Station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) led the biomedical procedure operating the Ultrasound 2 device so doctors on the ground could look at the crew’s neck, shoulder, and leg veins in real-time.

Earlier, Onishi wrapped up the Cell Gravisensing experiment seeking to understand the mechanism that enables cells to feel the effects of gravity. He placed the cells inside a fluorescence microscope for one final observation session then stowed the samples and shut down the research hardware. Results may enable advanced treatments for conditions such as muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, and aging-like symptoms affecting both astronauts and Earthlings.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov was back on Earth observation duties first completing a photography session imaging the nighttime atmosphere in near ultraviolet wavelengths. Next he activated a different camera and photographed islands in the Pacific Ocean and other landmarks to study the effects of natural and manmade disasters on Earth.

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/04/29/synthetic-dna-gravity-sensing-cells-top-research-ahead-of-spacewalk/

Astronaut Nichole Ayers shows off a research incubator that enables biology investigations into the effects of microgravity on cells, microbes, plants, and more.
NASA