The Expedition 74 crew continued exploring ways to advance cancer treatments and prevent excessive bleeding aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The orbital residents are also unpacking a U.S. cargo spacecraft while preparing spacesuits for an upcoming spacewalk.
NASA flight engineer Chris Williams was back on new cancer research treating samples of fruit flies engineered with the genetic profile of pancreatic cancer inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Saibo research rack. The fruit flies, delivered aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft, will be treated with an anti-cancer drug, frozen for preservation, then returned to Earth so doctors can analyze how the therapy and its molecular mechanisms respond to microgravity. Results may lead to the development of more effective therapies to treat pancreatic cancer both on Earth and in microgravity.
Another new experiment running onboard the orbital outpost seeks to understand how weightlessness affects a crew member’s blood clotting and immune response. Blood platelets form clots when a blood vessel is damaged and help stop bleeding. NASA flight engineer Jessica Meir processed blood platelet samples launched aboard Dragon for incubation and growth inside the Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox. Researchers will study the samples to understand how the space environment affects blood platelets at the cellular and genetic level to maintain normal blood clotting, prevent excessive bleeding, and protect astronaut health.
Flight engineers Jack Hathaway of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) both had a light duty day on Wednesday compensating for their long shift on Sunday, May 17, when they monitored the arrival of Dragon packed with about 6,500 pounds of cargo. Hathaway, however, was back on cargo duty during the second half of his shift on Wednesday continuing to unpack supplies from inside Dragon. Adenot watered and photographed alfalfa plants growing inside the Columbus laboratory module’s Veggie facility for the Veg-06 study. The space agriculture study is exploring plant-microbe interactions to help plants thrive in microgravity and promote food production off the Earth.
Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, both from Roscosmos, took turns at the beginning of their day pedaling on an exercise cycle while attached to cardiac sensors for a fitness evaluation. Afterward, the duo moved a pair of pressurized Orlan spacesuits into the Poisk module’s airlock and staged them ahead of a spacewalk planned for later this month. Finally, the two cosmonauts configured spacewalk training software and staged medical kits ahead of the upcoming excursion.
Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev assisted his cosmonaut crewmates with the spacesuit transfers and software configurations throughout Wednesday. Fedyaev also replaced orbital plumbing components inside the Nauka science module then cleaned the Poisk module’s ventilation system.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_stationon X, as well as the ISS Facebookand ISS Instagram accounts.
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