As the seven residents of the International Space Station (ISS) delved into the effects of space on the immune system, engaged in robotics tasks, and interacted with students on Earth on Wednesday, March 20, a crew and cargo spacecraft stood ready for launch on two separate continents.
On the morning of Thursday, March 21, three crew members will depart from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, and Flight Engineer Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus will blast off aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft at 9:21 a.m. EDT and arrive at the station just a few hours later at 12:39 p.m. This will be Dyson's third journey to the orbital complex, where she will spend the next six months conducting research in low Earth orbit.
Shortly after the new crew's arrival, NASA's SpaceX 30th commercial resupply mission will take off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. Scheduled to launch at 4:55 p.m. on Thursday, the Dragon cargo craft will carry a variety of new scientific and technological experiments, as well as food and supplies for the crew. After orbiting Earth, Dragon will autonomously dock at the zenith port of the Harmony module at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 23.
In preparation for the upcoming station activity, the crew divided tasks on Wednesday while in microgravity. NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick collected samples for the Immunity Assay experiment, which were then processed by fellow flight engineer Jeanette Epps. This investigation examines the effects of spaceflight on immune functions in blood samples, a study that was previously only possible on Earth. With new technology, processing samples onboard the ISS will provide researchers with a better understanding of the immune changes experienced by astronauts during long-term space missions.
Dominick and Epps later worked together to reconfigure some of the cameras on the station, which are used to capture photos of research and Earth. In the Japanese Experiment Module, NASA Flight Engineer Michael Barratt powered on the free-flying Astrobee robots and conducted a demonstration of Zero Robotics technology. This program allows students on Earth to write software to control Astrobee, inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers. Following this, Barratt joined fellow flight engineer Loral O'Hara in an ISS Ham Radio session with a school in Greece, where they answered questions from students about their experiences living and working in space.
In the Nauka module, Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub replaced air filters and collected and processed water samples from the Roscosmos water processing system. Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin practiced piloting techniques during a Pilot-T session, while Commander Oleg Kononenko readied himself for the arrival of the Soyuz spacecraft, which he will monitor during the autonomous docking process.