Commander Jessica Meir and Crew Check Spacesuits, Prep for Spacewalks

The seven-member Expedition 75 crew worked throughout Tuesday on spacesuit checks, eye exams, and exercise research aboard the International Space Station. Earth imagery and lab inventory duties rounded out the day for the orbital residents.

NASA has scheduled three spacewalks in August to continue upgrading solar arrays, replace a communications antenna, and connect power and data cables in support of space station operations. Station commander Jessica Meir and flight engineer Anil Menon, both from NASA, will conduct the first spacewalk beginning at 7:35 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 6. The duo will spend about six-and-a-half hours in the vacuum of space preparing the orbital outpost for its seventh roll out solar array to augment its power system. Mission managers will discuss the upcoming spacewalks during a news conference on NASA+ beginning a at 2 p.m. EDT, Thursday, July 30, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Meir and Menon joined flight engineers Jack Hathaway of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) in the Quest airlock and checked out a pair of spacesuits. The quartet first verified the suits for comfort, mobility, and fitness for the upcoming spacewalks. Next, they powered on the suits and tested the life support and electronics systems. NASA will soon announce the spacewalkers for the second and third spacewalks.

Meir and Adenot teamed up at the end of their shift for an eye exam using standard medical imaging hardware inside the Harmony module. Meir led the exam guiding Adenot as she peered into the biomedical device. Doctors on the ground monitored in real time to determine how microgravity is affecting her retina, lens, and cornea.

Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev pedaled on an exercise cycle while attached to cardiac sensors for a regularly scheduled physical fitness assessment. Afterward, he installed and activated Earth observation hardware for an automated photography session to capture imagery of islands, mountains, and lakes during the crew’s sleep shift.

Roscosmos flight engineers Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, along with Menon, are still familiarizing themselves with station operations while assuming their mission roles and responsibilities. Dubrov and Kikina took turns taking  inventory and inspecting tools and supplies throughout the station’s Roscosmos segment. Dubrov then loaded obsolete gear inside the Progress 94 cargo spacecraft while Kikina assisted Fedyaev with his fitness test.

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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