Expedition 75 Wraps Up Third August Spacewalk, Preps for September Spacewalk
The Expedition 75 crew members spent Wednesday cleaning up and relaxing the day after a spacewalk to install a high-speed antenna outside the International Space Station. The orbital residents are now turning their attention to another spacewalk in September. Meanwhile, the crew on Monday also continued a variety of human research to protect crew health.
Flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) wrapped up a six-hour and 30-minute spacewalk on Tuesday after completing the installation of a high-speed space-to-ground antenna. On Wednesday, the duo joined station commander Jessica Meir and flight engineer Jack Hathway, both NASA astronauts, and cleaned up the Quest airlock, refilled spacesuit water tanks, and recharged suit batteries. All four astronauts called down to mission specialists for a post-spacewalk conference and set some time aside to relax after Tuesday's spacewalking and robotics activities.
The next spacewalk is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 1, when Adenot and Meir will exit the orbital outpost for about six hours and 30 minutes of high-altitude maintenance. The duo will replace a visiting spacecraft navigational aid, install jumper cables for data-relay systems, prepare the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for future upgrades, and replace a high-definition camera.
At the start of his shift on Wednesday, Menon filled out a questionnaire documenting his stress level and emotions then collected his saliva and hair samples. The samples will be analyzed on Earth for stress-related hormones and immune markers. The research activities are part of the RelaxPro investigation exploring mindfulness and relaxation techniques during a long-term spaceflight.
Meir also assisted Menon as he collected, processed, and analyzed his blood sample for the Venus Flow investigation that is exploring circulatory system health risks during a long-duration space mission. Next, Meir checked out the operation of components inside a fluorescence microscope. After her battery charging tasks, Adenot guided Menon during an eye exam and imaged his retina, cornea, and lens as doctors on the ground monitored in real-time to detect potential space-caused vision issues.
Hathaway began his shift inside the Harmony module setting up the medical imaging gear for the eye exam then powering it down and stowing it at the end of the day. In between, he inspected a research incubator then swapped out ammonia detection tubes.
Roscosmos flight engineer Pyotr Dubrov finished a 24-hour heart rate monitoring session on Wednesday after maintenance on the Vozdukh carbon dioxide removal device. Roscosmos flight engineer Anna Kikina uninstalled automated, multi-wavelength Earth imagery gear that photographed Asia-Pacific landmarks during the crew's sleep shift. Afterward, she attached sensors to herself to measure her cardiac activity while working and sleeping over a 24-hour period. Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev shift inside the Zarya module replacing electronic components with upgrades.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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Mark A. Garcia
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