Immunity and Heart Studies Top Schedule, Crew-8 Return Updated

Astronauts (from left) Nick Hague and Matthew Dominick check out a camera and its lighting hardware aboard the International Space Station.

Life science was back on the schedule Wednesday with the Expedition 72 crew members studying how microgravity affects space immunity, the circulatory system, and more. NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 mission is now targeted to depart the International Space Station no earlier than Sunday pending weather.

Flight Engineer Nick Hague was back on space immunity research servicing blood samples he had collected and stowed the previous day. The samples were incubated overnight in the Columbus laboratory module then spun in a centrifuge early Wednesday before being placed in science freezer for later analysis. Researchers are examining how living in space long-term affects a crew member's immune system.

Hague also joined Flight Engineer Mike Barratt transferring cargo in and out of the Cygnus space freighter attached to the Unity module's Earth-facing port. Cygnus launched to the orbital outpost on Aug. 4 arriving just over a day and a half later packed with about 8,200 pounds of science and cargo for the Expedition 71 crew.

NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit worked in the Kibo laboratory module setting up space biology hardware inside the Life Science Glovebox. The new research gear will support an upcoming experiment to prevent and treat the stress of spaceflight, as well as the symptoms of aging, on the immune system.

Pettit also joined his Soyuz MS-26 crew mates, Roscosmos Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, and trained for a medical emergency practicing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), reviewing medical gear and locations, and coordinating communications and crew roles. Ovchinin also studied microgravity's effect on blood pressure while Vagner attached sensors to himself for a 24-hour session measuring his heart rate.

NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps worked throughout Wednesday on a variety of maintenance tasks. Dominick installed orbital plumbing gear in the Tranquility module while Epps installed an argon gas bottle that supplies Kibo experiment racks. Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore also worked on lab upkeep duties. Williams downlinked research data to scientists on the ground and labeled science freezers while Wilmore checked on life support gear and analyzed station water samples for microbes.

In the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov wore a sensor-packed cap recording his reactions as he practiced futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques on a computer. Flight Engineer Alexander Gorbunov photographed crew activities for documentation.

NASA and SpaceX mission managers continue monitoring weather conditions off the coast of Florida and are now targeting no earlier than 3:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission aboard Dragon Endeavour.

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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