Science and Spacesuit Work Before Crew Changes Commanders

Science and Spacesuit Work Before Crew Changes Commanders
The International Space Station will change commanders on Saturday before three Expedition 74 crew members return to Earth on Sunday. As the homebound trio prepares for departure, the rest of the orbital crewmates are keeping up microgravity research and checking out spacewalking gear.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev are getting ready to return to Earth this weekend inside the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft. They will undock from the Rassvet module at 3:03 a.m. EDT on Sunday, July 26, and land in Kazakhstan at 6:25 a.m. (3:25 p.m. local time). They spent Thursday packing the Soyuz with cargo and practicing their landing procedures on a computer.
Kud-Sverchkov, the station’s commander, will hand over leadership of the orbital outpost to NASA flight engineer Jessica Meir during the change of command ceremony scheduled for 9:40 a.m. on Saturday. Meir will take charge of the seven-member crew until the end of summer. Expedition 75 will officially begin when the Soyuz carrying the Expedition 74 trio home undocks from Rassvet.
Meir spent Thursday setting up advanced scientific hardware to expand biology research in space. Meir first installed a specialized microscope in the Destiny laboratory module to observe microgravity’s effects on disease, tissue development, and drug responses. Next, she mixed living cartilage cell samples with bioink and placed them in a bioprinter to test printing viable tissues on demand to treat a range of health conditions on and off the Earth.
NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway assisted Meir with the bioprinting duties. Hathaway also joined flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) and checked out the functionality of spacesuit components including batteries, lights, and cameras. Menon also processed his blood samples for the Immunity Assay investigation that monitors health and cellular immune function in space. Adenot continued testing workout techniques on the new European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device.
Roscosmos flight engineers Andrey Fedyaev and Pyotr Dubrov partnered together collecting air and surface samples then processing and stowing the samples for microbial analysis on Earth. Flight engineer Anna Kikina continued her human research measuring the blood pressure in her tiny vessels, or microcirculatory system, and wearing an acoustic monitor that recorded her rapid exhalation rate for a respiratory study.
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.