Expedition 73 presses on: research and maintenance continue aboard the International Space Station
Even as a U.S. government shutdown began on Earth, the crew of Expedition 73 kept up a demanding schedule of science, maintenance, and orbital operations aboard the International Space Station. The seven-person team—an international mix spanning NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, and other partners—maintains a constant rhythm of experiments, system checks, and preparation for future missions to deep space.
Orbital observation and everyday life in microgravity
Among the highlights this week were small moments that remind the crew they are living and working in space. On Oct. 2, NASA astronaut Kimiya Yui shared a glimpse of life in microgravity, noting that a workout interval left time for photos near the Mediterranean. About 25 minutes after capturing images, the crew passed overhead Japan’s Honshu region, and Yui joked that viewers waving at the ISS only to see him during strength training got an unexpected greeting from a window-watching audience on Earth. Such exchanges underline the blend of routine and wonder that frames life aboard the ISS.
Science status: cutting-edge experiments in microgravity
The Expedition 73 crew advanced several experiments designed to exploit microgravity and support future space exploration. The SHRIMP—State-of-the-art Humidity Removal in Microgravity Payload—was activated by NASA astronaut Jonny Kim to extract moisture from the station’s atmosphere for reuse, a small but essential step in improving life-support efficiency for long-duration missions.
In the realm of heat transfer, Mike Fincke installed the Heat Transfer Host 2 experiment to study condensation when gas becomes a liquid. Findings could inform thermal system design for crewed spacecraft venturing farther from Earth, where reliable cooling and humidity management are critical to mission success.
NASA flight engineer Zena Cardman added new sample cassettes to the Advanced Space Experiment Processor-4, a study supporting the manufacturing of medicines in microgravity. By enabling the production and analysis of pharmaceutical compounds in space, researchers aim to unlock processes that could benefit health on Earth as well as on future space habitats.
Station keeping: maintenance that keeps the lab viable
Beyond experiments, the crew performed station-keeping tasks that ensure systems stay healthy and ready for future research. Mike Fincke and Jonny Kim configured the Fluid Science Laboratory, a European Space Agency facility used to explore the physics of fluids in microgravity. They swapped electrical cables, assembled components, and mounted foam coarsening samples to study how liquids evolve in weightlessness, informing industrial processes and materials science in space and on Earth.
Fincke also installed the TransAstra Fly Trap Capture Bag Demo into the NanoRacks Bishop airlock. The trick: a bag designed to remain open, close, and stay airtight in the vacuum of space, potentially offering a method to capture and dispose of space debris—a growing concern for operational safety in orbit.
In a similar vein of materials science, Kimiya Yui updated the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace hardware, placing a laser-based heating system under new specimen handling cables. The goal is to measure thermo-physical properties of materials at ultra-high temperatures, a line of inquiry that can influence everything from metallurgy to crystal growth in reduced gravity.
By the numbers: who’s aboard and what’s docked
As of Friday, Oct. 3, the International Space Station hosted seven crew members: Expedition 73 commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, fellow cosmonauts Alexey Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman, NASA flight engineer Mike Fincke, and JAXA’s Kimiya Yui. The station also boasted two docked spacecraft: SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance at the zenith port of the Harmony module and Roscosmos’ Soyuz MS-27 at the Earth-facing port of the Prichal node. Four cargo craft remained docked nearby: Roscosmos’ Progress MS-31 (92P) at Poisk, Progress M-32 (93P) at Zvezda, SpaceX’s CRS-33 Dragon at Harmony Node 2, and Northrop Grumman’s NG-23 Cygnus XL, named “SS William C. ‘Willie’ McCool,” berthed to the Unity node.
Looking ahead
As the ISS team continues its work, the ongoing experiments and maintenance not only advance human spaceflight capabilities but also feed back into Earth-based science. The crew’s ability to persevere through a shutdown on the ground while maintaining a rigorous research cadence highlights the resilience and international collaboration that define life aboard the International Space Station. The week’s activities—ranging from humidity management to advanced materials processing—underscore the ISS’s role as a 24/7 laboratory that transcends national boundaries and political shifts.
