Station Nears Upcoming Crew Swap During Biomedicine, Cargo Duties

Four Expedition 75 crewmates are getting ready for their return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon next month, while the crew awaiting their arrival continues their duties on the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev launched on Feb. 13 to the orbital outpost. They are now nearing the end of their mission and await the arrival of the Crew-13 mission as soon as early October.

During the last week of their stay, the crew members focused on various tasks. Meir and Hathaway trained on a computer and reviewed procedures for undocking and descent inside Dragon. They checked their pressure suits, tested communication systems, and inspected the suits' condition. Meir also prepared emergency breathing gear for Crew-13's arrival.

Flight engineer Anil Menon, who has been aboard the space station since July 14, collected blood and saliva samples for the Immunity Assay investigation, spinning his samples in a centrifuge before preserving them in a science freezer. Roscosmos flight engineers Pyotr Dubrov and Annan Kikina, along with Menon, unloaded nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies from the Progress 96 cargo spacecraft. Dubrov also set up automated Earth imaging gear to photograph various landforms across Africa and Asia.

Fedyaev downloaded Earth imagery captured during the crew's sleep shift, uninstalled camera gear, and swapped the battery and memory card. He then helped his crewmates unload the new cargo from Progress 96.