NASA astronaut Jessica Meir configures hardware for the StarSteel experiment

iss074e0364965 (March 6, 2026) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 flight engineer Jessica Meir works inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory, configuring hardware for the StarSteel materials research experiment. Meir was preparing to investigate stainless‑steel spheres produced inside Kibo’s Electrostatic Levitation Furnace to observe and understand metallic solidification behavior in microgravity, potentially benefiting both Earth-based and space-based metallurgy and manufacturing techniques.