Astronauts Relax with Light Science Before Dragon Cargo Mission Arrives

Thrusters on the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft fire adjusting the vehicle's approach toward the station for a docking to the Harmony module's forward port in November of 2023.

Four of the seven Expedition 72 crew members aboard the International Space Station had a light duty day on Monday awaiting a space delivery due to arrive Tuesday morning. However, there was still time aboard the orbital outpost for a heart health study, DNA research, spacesuit work, and more.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon cargo spacecraft atop is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida counting down to a lift off at 9:29 a.m. EST today. Dragon is packed with over 6,000 pounds of science, supplies, and hardware to replenish the lab residents. NASA Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore will be on duty monitoring Dragon's automated rendezvous and docking scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday. Afterward, station Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Don Pettit, both NASA astronauts, will join the duo and begin unloading critical research samples and hardware to begin exploring the solar wind, radiation tolerance in plants, and more aboard the orbital outpost.

Watch Dragon's launch and docking live on the NASA+ streaming service via the web or the NASA app. Coverage also will air live on NASA Television, YouTube, and on the agency's website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.

The NASA quartet mostly had an off-duty day on Monday following Sunday morning's short ride aboard the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft to different space station docking port. Hague commanded Williams, Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov inside Dragon as it undocked from the Harmony module's forward port at 6:35 a.m. then redocked to Harmony's adjacent space-facing port at 7:25 a.m. opening it up for Tuesday's Dragon cargo delivery. Pettit remained inside the space station monitoring the crew's automated relocation maneuver aboard the Dragon crew spacecraft.

However, Hague spent about an hour on Monday gathering hardware that will measure his heart and breathing activity during an upcoming exercise session for the Cardiobreath human research study. Wilmore had a quick task setting up a student-designed DNA experiment that will explore the genetic risks, including cancer, of living and working in space. Williams was on spacesuit duty during the second part of her day inspecting the spacewalking gear for leaks. Pettit spent a few moments logging his daily meals in a space health app for the EveryWear technology demonstration.

Gorbunov had a full schedule aboard the station on Monday operating a variety of Earth observation gear imaging the nighttime atmosphere and landmarks on the ground in different wavelengths. Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin inventoried personal cosmonaut items then worked on ventilation systems in the Nauka science module. Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner charged video camera batteries then stowed trash and other discarded items inside the Progress 88 resupply ship before its departure later this month.

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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