From measuring one’s mass to boosting the just about 1 million kilos (454,000 kilograms) that comprise the complete orbiting advanced, the Expedition 73 crew aboard the Worldwide House Station had a busy week in Earth orbit.
Orbital commentary
“In area, we’re weightless, however not massless. So how can we measure our mass?” NASA astronaut Johnny Kim, a flight engineer on the area station’s Expedition 73 crew, wrote in a social media publish on Thursday (Nov. 20).
In brief, it takes specialised gear like Russia’s Physique Mass Measurement Machine. All of them, nevertheless, depend on Newton’s Second Legislation: F = ma.
“Apply a recognized drive, measure the ensuing acceleration, and you’ll calculate mass from the connection between the 2,” Kim wrote.
Science standing
Among the many analysis that was performed by the Expedition 73 crew aboard the area station this week was:
DROPLET — Flight engineer Mike Fincke of NASA continued an experiment observing how particles connect to liquid droplets and rearrange within the weightlessness of area by putting in samples inside a fluorescence microscope to be noticed by scientists on Earth.
Ultrasound 3 — Zena Cardman, Fincke’s fellow NASA flight engineer, checked out the operations of the brand new scanning gadget, which can be utilized for crew coronary heart and vein scans, in addition to inner imaging of bones, organs and tissues.
Station retaining
The Expedition 73 crew additionally devoted time to sustaining the area station’s programs, together with:
Progress MS-32 (93P) — On Wednesday (Nov. 19), the Russian cargo capsule fired its engine for 14 minutes and seven seconds whereas nonetheless docked to the aft port of the Zvezda service module, elevating the altitude of the area station by 1 mile at apogee and a pair of.3 miles at perigee (1.6 and three.7 kilometers), leaving the advanced in the next orbit for the upcoming arrival of a brand new crew on a Soyuz spacecraft.
Crew Alternate Sleep Lodging — Flight engineer Jonny Kim arrange a short lived sleep station for one of many three arriving Soyuz MS-28 crew members within the Columbus laboratory module. The Soyuz crew will briefly enhance the station’s residency to 10 members.
Spacesuit stowage — Flight engineer Zena Cardman photo-documented and ready for packing parts from the station’s extravehicular mobility items (EMUs, or spacesuits) which are slated to return to Earth on Russia’s Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft.
Astronaut exercise
“Gloves on, science flowing. Beginning a brand new marketing campaign for Stellar Stem Cells-2 contained in the Microgravity Science Glovebox — the place tiny cells educate us large issues,” wrote NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, an Expedition 73 flight engineer, in a Nov. 19, 2025 social media publish from the ISS.
The Stellar Stem Cells Mission-2 research explores how microgravity impacts stem cells changing into cardiac and mind cells. Rising such cells on Earth is just not as environment friendly on the bottom, however doing so in area helps scientists study extra about produce them for regenerative drugs each on Earth and for future spaceflights.
By the numbers
As of Friday (Nov. 21), there are 7 individuals aboard the Worldwide House Station: Expedition 73 commander Sergey Ryzhikov and flight engineer Oleg Platonov of the Russian area company Roscosmos; NASA astronauts Zena Cardman,Mike Fincke and Jonny Kim of NASA and JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Company) astronaut Kimiya Yui, all flight engineers.
There are two docked crew spacecraft: SpaceX‘s Dragon “Endeavour” hooked up to the space-facing port of the Concord module and Roscosmos’ Soyuz MS-27 hooked up to the Earth-facing port of the Prichal node.
There are three docked cargo spacecraft: Roscosmos’ Progress MS-31 (92P) docked to the space-facing port of the Poisk module, Progress MS-32 (93P) hooked up to the aft port of the Zvezda service module, and Japan’s HTV-X1 hooked up to the Earth-facing widespread berthing mechanism on the Concord node.
As of Friday, the area station has been repeatedly crewed for 25 years and 19 days.
