Eleven residents reside and dealing aboard the Worldwide House Station following the docking of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) at 6:31 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The seven Expedition 73 crew members welcomed the 4 Ax-4 astronauts and are actually serving to them familiarize themselves with orbital lab techniques and put together for roughly two weeks of microgravity analysis.
Veteran astronaut and Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson was the primary to enter the area station after the hatch opened at 8:14 a.m. on Thursday between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the Concord module’s space-facing port. She was adopted shortly afterward by Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu. After welcoming remarks, the Ax-4 crew was briefed on normal orbital security procedures and the placement of station emergency gear.
On Friday, Ax-4 shortly started working unloading sample-packed {hardware} and transportable science freezers from inside Dragon for set up in station incubators and analysis fridges forward of upcoming experiments. Station security {hardware} was additionally quickly transferred inside Dragon as is customary for visiting spacecraft. The non-public astronaut quartet later joined the Expedition 73 crew for extra security evaluations to be taught their roles and obligations and communication protocols with mission controllers within the unlikely occasion of an emergency on the orbital outpost.
In the meantime, Expedition 73 saved up its day by day analysis schedule with an area train research, eye exams, and lunar images. Cargo transfers and life help upkeep rounded out crew’s day.
NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers arrange the Future laboratory module’s train cycle for NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim and the sensors he wore measuring his cardio output as he pedaled throughout a exercise session. Researchers will use the information to assist hold astronauts slot in area making ready them for strenuous actions corresponding to spacewalks and the return to Earth’s gravity setting. Kim earlier pointed a digicam towards the Moon and photographed the reflection of Earth’s gentle shining on the lunar floor.
Ayers additionally joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov and operated medical imaging gear whereas scanning the eyes of Kim and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Medical doctors on the bottom monitored in actual time the examination for potential space-caused eye construction and imaginative and prescient points.
Station Commander Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Company) arrange a microscope within the Future lab then moved to the Kibo laboratory module and examined spacecraft communications {hardware} in coordination with mission controllers in Japan. NASA Flight Engineer Anne McClain spent her day aiding the Ax-4 crewmates with their station familiarization duties and cargo transfers. Peskov partnered with Roscosmos Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritskiy and packed trash and discarded gear contained in the Progress 90 resupply ship earlier than its departure on July 1.
Study extra about station actions by following the area station weblog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, in addition to the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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