Four Expedition 74 crew members enjoyed an off-duty day on Friday relaxing ahead of a robotics repair spacewalk planned for next week. The rest of the crew focused on artificial intelligence and virtual reality studies aboard the International Space Station at the end of the week.

NASA flight engineers Jessica Meir and Chris Williams, the two spacewalkers scheduled to exit the orbital outpost on Tuesday, June 30, along with flight engineers Jack Hathaway of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency), cleared their schedule on Friday beginning a three-day weekend. The four astronauts will use their free time to connect with family members on Earth, look at our planet from the cupola, watch movies, play games, and more. The quartet will go into the weekend with light house-keeping duties and continue their daily workouts to maintain their muscle and bone health in microgravity.

On Monday, Williams and Meir will complete spacewalk preparations ensuring their gear such as tethers, pistol grip tools, cameras, and more will be ready for use. They will also check their spacesuits for air and pressure leaks then stage them inside the Quest airlock to wear the following day. Hathaway and Adenot, who will monitor the astronauts during the spacewalk and help them in and out of their suits, will assist the duo with the tool and suit work then study the delicate maneuvers they will use to position the Canadarm2 robotic arm for its repair job.

Williams and Meir will spend about six hours and 40 minutes in the vacuum of space replacing a malfunctioning wrist joint on the Canadarm2 that has been in operation since it was installed on April 26, 2001. This will be the duo’s second spacewalk together. NASA+ begins its live coverage at 7 a.m. EDT on June 30 with the astronauts set to turn their spacesuits to battery power at 8:35 a.m. signifying the beginning of their spacewalk.

The orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts from Roscosmos stayed busy on Friday keeping up advanced microgravity research to benefit humans on and off the Earth and maintaining an array of life support systems.

Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov started his shift uninstalling an automated camera that photographed Asian and Pacific Ocean landmarks during the crew’s sleep shift. Next, Kud-Sverchkov set up sensors to measure station vibrations caused during crew exercise then studied artificial intelligence tools to boost crew efficiency.

Flight engineer Sergei Mikaev began his shift testing the functionality of oxygen-generating components housed inside the Nauka science module. Afterward, he tested his sense of balance and direction in weightlessness while wearing virtual reality goggles and electrodes. The electrodes tracked his brain signals and eye movement as he responded to computerized stimuli sent to the VR headset.

Flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev kicked off his shift with orbital plumbing transferring fluids between Roscosmos tanks then filling them with disinfectant. Next, he inspected the Zvezda service module’s ventilation system then wrapped up his day collecting station air samples to analyze for a safe breathing environment.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_stationon X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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