Expedition 74 started the week training for the arrival of the next U.S. cargo mission and continuing to clean up after last week’s spacewalk. The orbital residents also practiced medical emergency procedures, unloaded supplies from a new Roscosmos resupply ship, and ensured the International Space Station remains in tip-top shape.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft is the next mission targeted to launch to the orbital outpost no earlier than Wednesday, April 8 at 8:49 a.m. EDT. NASA flight engineers Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway joined each other on Monday and reviewed the upcoming Cygnus XL mission, trained for its rendezvous procedures, and familiarized themselves with the equipment they will use to monitor Cygnus’ arrival. Cygnus will be delivering advanced microgravity research gear to study quantum physics, test stem cell therapies, promote astronaut health, and more.
NASA flight engineer Jessica Meir spent Monday servicing a pair of spacesuits that she and Williams wore during a seven-hour and two-minute spacewalk on March 18. She first cleaned and flushed the suit’s water-cooling loops that regulate an astronaut’s body temperature in the extreme environment of space. Next, she emptied and refilled the suit’s water system to remove gas bubbles and contaminants keeping its life‑support system healthy and reliable.
Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) focused on a variety scientific experiments throughout Monday that explore different microgravity phenomena. Adenot first collected data and powered down hardware from an investigation that is studying ways to quickly download large amounts of data from space. Next, she swapped research samples inside a science freezer then inventoried an …