The crew of the Expedition 72 focused on astrobiology, physics research and cargo operations throughout the International Space Station on Thursday. Orbital residents also conducted maintenance and documentation activities to ensure that the Microgravity Research Institute took the form of a tip top.
NASA flight engineers Nick Hague and Dom Petit took turns during shifts to examine and video recording rack layouts within the modules that make up the US segment of the space station. Astronauts downloaded the video, allowing ground engineers to inspect the safety and configuration of cables routed between numerous racks. The Hague then wrapped the day of cargo and trash packing inside the Northrop Grumman Cygnus freighter, which arrived at the station on August 6, 2024.
NASA Commander Suni Williams began uninstalling the carbon dioxide removal device and checked the cable connections inside the life support rack of the tranquility module, which controls air and water quality. She then helped pack Cygnus cargo, then worked on waste and track plumbing inside the sanitary room.
NASA flight engineer Butch Willmore spent the first half of his shift on computer maintenance, preparing a laptop computer for electronics testing, and loading new software into his tablet computer. He then checked food stocks for the rest of the time and reviewed the menu of the crew aboard the space station.
Three astronauts invading the seven-station crew were able to adapt microgravity studies to their schedules on Thursday, maintaining the Los Cosmos segment of the space station.
Roscosmos flight engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov has compiled a run of a plasma crystal-4 physics study to observe the transformation of highly interacting charged particles into plasma crystals. Golvnov was then replaced by astronaut Alexy Obchinin, who was tested to learn how to improve communication between international crews and mission controllers around the world. Ouchinin also participated in a cardiac study with flight engineer Ivan Bagner wearing sensors to measure how zero gravity affects the electrical activity of the heart that pumps blood throughout the body. The Roscosmos trio maintained housekeeping activities that served ventilation systems and maintained life-supporting hardware.
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February 6, 2025
