Expedition 72 is kicking off the New Year by preparing for an upcoming spacewalk to service scientific equipment and install new communication systems. In addition to these preparations, the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has been focused on space agriculture experiments and managing cargo operations.
Later this month, two NASA astronauts will exit the ISS through the Quest airlock to conduct a spacewalk addressing key astrophysics projects. Their first task will be to service the NICER X-ray telescope by installing a protective patch to block unwanted sunlight, which can interfere with its research data. They will also prepare the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for future upgrades planned during additional spacewalks later this year.
The four astronauts aboard the station including Commander Suni Williams and Fight Engineers Nick Hague, Don Pettit, and Butch Wilmore worked throughout Monday preparing for the science maintenance spacewalk. These preps included collecting and organizing spacewalking tools inside Quest and practicing installing the jetpacks on spacesuits a spacewalker would use to maneuver back to safety in the unlikely event they became untethered from the space station. The quartet also reviewed the procedures planned for the first spacewalk of 2025.
Pettit and Wilmore rounded out their day conducting science and transferring cargo. Pettit worked in the Columbus laboratory module thinning Red Romaine lettuce seedlings to learn how to grow food crops on space missions. Wilmore transferred cargo in and out of the Cygnus cargo craft that has been berthed to the Unity module since August 6, 2024.
The three cosmonauts from Roscosmos spent their shift in the Roscosmos segment of the orbiting lab performing a variety of science and maintenance tasks. Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov photographed microorganisms being incubated for a space biology study. Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner spent his day pumping water and transferring cargo from inside the Progress 90 resupply ship that docked to the Poisk module on November 23. Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin inventoried hardware inside the Zarya, Zvezda, Nauka, and Poisk modules.
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