Expedition 74 Stays Busy and Awaits Tuesday’s New Crew Arrival
Expedition 74 is poised to welcome three new crew members to the International Space Station who are counting down to their launch aboard a Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft. The trio, comprised of NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina will launch at 10:47 a.m. EDT on Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and dock to the Prichal module at 1:56 p.m. the same day. About two hours later, the hatches will open and the new crew will enter the orbital outpost officially beginning an eight-and-a-half-month research mission.
In the meantime, the seven orbiting lab residents kicked off the week packed with ongoing maintenance and human research. They will soon split up when three crewmates, who have been orbiting Earth since Nov. 27, 2025, depart the space station two weeks after the new crew arrives.
NASA flight engineers Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway spent Monday focusing on hardware maintenance. Meir swapped batteries on spacewalking gear inside the Quest airlock then inspected and cleaned the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device located in the Columbus laboratory module. Hathaway serviced hardware inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock to enable the upcoming installation of external research gear.
Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) also worked inside Kibo, setting up Intravenous Fluid Generation – Mini research gear in the Life Science Glovebox to demonstrate how potable water can be used to make saline solution for treating medical conditions during spaceflight. Afterward, she powered up and checked out the anomaly gas analyzer that checks the station’s atmosphere for harmful gases.
NASA flight engineer Chris Williams cleaned his crew quarters located in the Unity module’s port side. He cleaned its ventilation system and airflow sensors then patched up areas where dust and debris might escape. Williams is also preparing to return to Earth with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev soon after the new crew arrives. He spent a portion of his shift on Monday reviewing cargo and personal items he will pack inside the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft spacecraft for the ride back home.
Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev also began organizing the return items they will take back to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-28. The cosmonauts started their shift measuring their blood pressure for a long-running cardiac study. Afterward, they continued testing the lower body negative pressure suit that may offset the effects of microgravity and ease the adjustment to Earth’s gravity after a long-term spaceflight.
Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev began his shift servicing life support components including the Elektron oxygen generator in the Zvezda service module. Afterward, Fedyaev checked the functionality of video gear then wrapped up his shift with Meir, Hathaway, and Adenot, his SpaceX Crew-12 crewmates, and reviewed Dragon spacecraft safety procedures.
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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