Research goals for the International Space Station on Tuesday included learning how to grow crops on spacecraft and produce vitamins and nutrients in space to maintain crews far from Earth. The crew of the Expedition 72 also investigated how the human body itself opened its mouth in zero gravity and served the pair of docked spacecraft.
NASA flight engineers Butchwillmore and Nick Hague joined each other on Tuesday to set up the hardware for the Plant Habitat-07 botanical experiment within the Kibora Laboratory module. Wilmore set up a scientific carrier packed with red romaine lettuce seeds in the advanced plant habitat of the gigantic vegetation, and subsequently collected water samples for analysis. The Hague prepared a packing bag and injected the water into the plant’s habitat to begin cultivating small lettuce crops. Space Agriculture research examines the optimal plant growth methods in space, the nutrient content of space-grown plants, and the types of microorganisms they support.
NASA flight engineer Dom Petit studied how spatial radiation exposure affects plant growth at the molecular and cellular level. He processed samples that had been cultivated for two weeks at Kibo Cell Biology Laboratory Facility and sprinkled tarcres plants. Samples were then placed in a science freezer for future analysis. Plant UV-B studies observe how microgravity stress and high UV rays affect plants and promote growing space crops
Commander Suni Williams continued his research to use genetically modified yeast to generate on-demand nutrients and avoid vitamin defects on a long-term mission. She first moisturized a cured production pack containing yeast and edible media for incubation to activate yeast growth. Williams then photographed the pack to get upset before putting it inside a research incubator. The samples are later frozen and then returned to Earth to analyze their capabilities, promote crew health and improve probiotic storage.
In the Roscosmos segment of Orbital Outspost, flight engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner took turns wearing virtual reality headsets while being attached to the electrodes. The two astronauts were studying how crew vision, balance, and spatial orientation adapted to microgravity. Obchinin then replaced the life support equipment on the Soyuz MS-26 crew and then collected items for disposal on the Progress 89 cargo ship. Vagner pointed the camera outside the Zvezda service module and photographed the components of the Nauka Science module for routine inspections.
Flight engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov was turned off and housed a student-controlled camera that photographed pre-programmed Earth landmarks. He then searched areas within the station’s Roscosmos segment to seek extra cargo storage space and then worked on Nauca’s ventilation system.
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February 11, 2025
