An atmosphreric glow blankets Earth’s horizon and a web of city lights interconnect across India in this photograph from the space station. The week kicked off with a multitude of space biology activities as the Expedition 71 crew studied microgravity’s effect on humans and serviced research hardware. Robotics and lab maintenance rounded out Monday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station. NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps worked throughout Monday on biomedical activities processing her blood, saliva, and urine samples for analysis. After her blood draws, she spun the samples inside ..read more

  One of the International Space Station’s free-flying robots, Astrobee. Expedition 71 wrapped up a week of maintenance and health investigations aboard the International Space Station on Friday. The septet worked robotics, two human health studies, and finished some cleaning in the cupola. NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps started her day in the Japanese Experiment Module to power on Astrobee, the station’s free-flying robots, to later rehearse the device’s flight and tech operations for an upcoming Kibo Robot Programming Challenge. The challenge is an educational program designed for s ..read more

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen on the launch pad illuminated by spotlights at Space Launch Complex 41 on Sunday, May 5, 2024. Photo Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) teams will take additional time to work through spacecraft closeout processes and flight rationale before proceeding with the launch of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. The teams now are targeting a launch no earlier than 3:09 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 25, for the flight test carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore ..read more

  The southern coast of Africa is pictured from the International Space Station’s “window to the world,” or cupola, as it soared 265 miles above. Expedition 71 continued microgravity research on Thursday as the crew spent the day on immunology work and space biology. Two crew members also worked on the orbital upkeep tasks that began earlier in the week. Aboard the International Space Station, one investigation, Immunity Assay, takes a closer look at immune changes that happen in flight through the processing of biological samples. NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick started the day by ..read more

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps prepares tubes to collect samples from the crew for the Immunity Assay investigation. Orbital upkeep was at the forefront of Wednesday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station, but the Expedition 71 crew did have some time to conduct human health research and prepare scientific payloads for future operations. NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt spent the morning completing tasks for the CIPHER investigation, collecting blood samples—with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps—and completing a cognition test. CIPHER, or the Complement of Inte ..read more

The last rays of an orbital sunset illuminate Earth’s atmosphere and reveal the cloud tops in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. While science often occupies the crew schedule aboard the International Space Station, upkeep of the orbiting complex is just as important to ensure the longevity of microgravity operations. On Tuesday, the Expedition 71 septet spent another full day conducting maintenance on scientific payloads and life support systems. NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps kicked off the day preparing measurement aids ..read more

Expedition 70 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick smiles for a portrait during photography duties aboard the International Space Station. A full day of orbital upkeep and maintenance kept the Expedition 71 crew busy on Monday as the septet continues to prepare the International Space Station for the arrival of two astronauts. In the Tranquility module, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick kicked off the morning by removing the top and bottom port stalls of the orbital lab’s toilet. Removing the stalls allowed him and his NASA crewmate, Tracy C. Dyson, to access the conductivity sens ..read more

The space station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during its departure and flyaround on Nov. 8, 2021. Space physics and life support maintenance topped the schedule at the end of the week for the Expedition 71 crew as the Starliner astronauts return to Houston. 3D printing and cargo operations also rounded out the operations aboard the International Space Station. The coldest place in the universe may be the Cold Atom Lab located aboard the orbital outpost’s Destiny laboratory module. NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt opened up the quantum physics research device Friday morni ..read more

Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson checks out an Astrobee robotic free-flyer for the Zero Robotics tech demonstration for an educational contest to write robot-controlling software. The four astronauts aboard the International Space Station had a full schedule of science activities on Thursday while the three cosmonauts took the day off and spent time relaxing in the microgravity environment. The Expedition 71 crew services not only life support systems and electronics gear, but also research hardware to ensure the ongoing operation and integrity of a multitude of science experiments. Thursday was no ex ..read more

City lights illuminate the country of China to the East China Sea in this nighttime photograph from the International Space Station. Microgravity science is the main mission aboard the International Space Station, however on Wednesday, the Expedition 71 crew focused primarily on life support maintenance. Nevertheless, the orbital septet did find time for cargo operations and biomedical research during a busy day full of hardware swaps. NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick kicked off Wednesday swapping out advanced orbital plumbing gear that took up most of their day. The d ..read more