Monday Sees Physical Science Prep and Training for Station Crew

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA's Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module's forward port. This long-duration photograph was taken at night from the orbital complex as it soared 258 miles above western China.

A suite of training and conferences kept the International Space Station residents busy on Monday as they embark on a new week of work in microgravity. Though a light duty science day, some crew members did schedule in time to assess how spaceflight affects the human body and prep for upcoming physical science investigations.

In the morning, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps set up hardware for the CIPHER investigation and then conducted an exam on NASA astronaut Mike Barratt to assess how microgravity affects the vestibular system, including spatial orientation, cognitive function, and changes in head-eye coordination.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson spent some time in the Tranquility module troubleshooting the toilet pressure sensor, then replaced experiment samples and igniter tips in SoFIE, a physical science payload used to study the ignition and flammability of spacecraft materials. Meanwhile, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick spent some time replacing Packed Bed Retractor Experiment hardware, another physical science investigation that looks at the behaviors of gases and liquids in microgravity.

Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams spent Monday powering up communication software and holding a conference with ground teams as they begin their formal integration into the Expedition 71/72 crew.

NASA announced on Saturday that Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will return to Earth uncrewed, allowing the agency and Boeing to continue gathering testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew. Wilmore and Williams will continue their work aboard the orbiting laboratory through February 2025 and fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Starliner is expected to depart from the space station and make a safe, controlled autonomous re-entry and landing in early September. Since their arrival, the duo has been supporting station research, maintenance, Starliner system testing, and a host of other orbital activities.

To prepare for upcoming missions in September, Barratt, Epps, Dyson, Dominick, Wilmore, and Williams, along with cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, all completed a round of SpaceX Dragon overview training throughout the day. The septet then joined forces in the evening to review Dragon emergency procedures and hold a conference with ground teams to discuss future Dragon configuration.

Afterward, the septet was joined by station Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos to discuss emergency response and coordination amongst all crew members.

Kononenko and Chub also partnered throughout the day to inspect and replace hardware in the Zvezda service module and install software to a few station computers.

Soyuz MS-26 prime and backup crew members flew to their launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan to begin final prelaunch training ahead of the launch of NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, currently scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 11.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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