ISS and Expedition 72 crew stay busy with experiments, cargo arrivals, and spacecraft movements

The International Space Station and the Expedition 72 crew have transitioned from an eventful summer into a more normal, operational routine in the last few months, although the Station has dealt with unexpected issues in recent weeks.

Station commander Suni Williams and her Boeing Crewed Flight Test crewmate Butch Wilmore, both veteran NASA astronauts and test pilots, were transitioned onto the Expedition 72 crew for a full tour of duty aboard ISS after NASA decided to return Starliner Calypso to Earth without the crew aboard following issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters. Crew Dragon Freedom flew the Crew-9 mission to the ISS with NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov in September, and will serve as Williams and Wilmore’s return spacecraft when the end of their mission arrives.

Crew Dragon Freedom docked at the ISS Harmony module’s zenith port. (Credit: NASA TV)

The revised Crew-9 complement made their first operational spacecraft flight movement aboard Freedom when they moved the spacecraft from the forward port on the Station’s Harmony node to the zenith (upward-pointing) port on Nov. 3. The move was made to make way for the CRS-31 Cargo Dragon spacecraft, which will use the forward port for docking upon its arrival to the Station.

All four crew members — Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore, and Williams — needed to be aboard Freedom as it was their “lifeboat” if anything happened during the relocation process that would render the spacecraft unable to redock with the ISS. In such an event, the spacecraft would be forced to make an emergency return to Earth.

Fortunately, all went well, and Freedom is now located at the zenith port of Harmony. The CRS-31 cargo ship, C208, docked with the forward port of the Harmony module on Nov. 5 and became the first Cargo Dragon to perform a reboost maneuver on the ISS. The spacecraft needed to be docked at the forward port to perform the reboost test, which was successfully performed on Nov. 8. Cargo Dragon is now one of three spacecraft that can reboost the ISS, along with the Cygnus and Progress spacecraft.

The current configuration of visiting vehicles at ISS as of the end of November 2024. (Credit: NASA)

The CRS-31 mission brought up 2,762 kg of cargo to the Station, including experiments related to Antarctic moss and its tolerance to radiation and microgravity, cold welding to repair damage to the Station’s hull, material exposure to space, and solar wind measurement. Spacewalk equipment, crew supplies, and hardware were also aboard C208.

CRS-31 was not the only resupply mission to reach the Station in November. On Nov. 21, the Progress MS-29 spacecraft launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with approximately 2,500 kg of cargo. MS-29 successfully docked with the Russian segment’s Poisk module on Nov. 23 after a two-day trip, replacing Progress MS-27, which undocked from Poisk for a destructive reentry on Nov. 19.

Progress MS-29 during its approach to the ISS Russian Segment’s Poisk module. (Credit: NASA+)

However, not everything has gone smoothly for the Station recently. After MS-29’s docking to the Station, during the spacecraft’s initial opening, crew members noticed a smell that Expedition 72 astronaut Don Pettit likened to spray paint.

The Russian Roscosmos crew members also noticed small “droplets” emanating from the open hatch between MS-29 and the Station’s Poisk module. They donned protective suits and closed the hatch, delaying the unpacking of the cargo ship, while the smell was reportedly described as toxic.

The Expedition 72 crew members activated air scrubbers to dissipate the smell. Air quality aboard ISS was reported to be normal on Nov. 24, and the smell was found to be caused by the outgassing of materials aboard the pressurized section of the Progress spacecraft. This outgassing did not involve propellant, as per a NASA spokesperson. The crew has now been able to reopen MS-29’s hatch and load its supplies.

Suni Williams (left) and Aleksandr Gorbunov (right) wearing protective equipment while opening the Cargo Dragon spacecraft on Nov. 5. (Credit: NASA)

The Progress outgassing issue was not the only issue the Station, its crew, and its controllers have had to deal with recently. Two days before MS-29’s launch, the ISS needed to perform a pre-planned debris avoidance maneuver to distance itself from the remnants of a defense meteorological satellite — the U.S. Air Force’s DMSP F13 — that broke up in 2015 due to a battery rupture.

This maneuver, lasting five minutes and 31 seconds, was performed by the Progress MS-28 spacecraft. Without the maneuver, the fragment could have come within four kilometers of the Station. The Station has had to perform 39 debris avoidance maneuvers during its operational lifetime, and it is likely it will have to perform more of these maneuvers before its operations are scheduled to cease in 2030.

The entire Expedition 72 crew, including the Roscosmos members, did get time to celebrate the traditional U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 28 while taking the day off. The four NASA members sent a Thanksgiving video message, which included them showing their meal of packed freeze-dried smoked turkey, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, and apples with spice.

While the holiday season continues in many parts of Earth, the Expedition 72 crew is packing Cargo Dragon C208 with hardware, finalized experiments, and critical research samples in advance of CRS-31’s undocking from the Station.

Undocking is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 5, at 16:05 UTC, with a splashdown off the coast of Florida hours later. This is expected to be one of the last Dragon missions to return to the East Coast, with Crew and Cargo Dragon splashdowns in the Pacific set to start next year. After Cargo Dragon’s departure, the Cygnus NG-21 S.S. Francis R. Scobee is scheduled to depart the Station in January 2025.

Following CRS-31’s return to Earth, a spacewalk is scheduled for the ISS before the end of 2024. Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos are scheduled to perform Russian EVA 63 on Dec. 19 at 15:30 UTC. This EVA is scheduled to last six hours and 40 minutes and further details on its objectives are expected to be released closer to the date of the spacewalk.

NSF will have the opportunity to conduct an in-flight media event discussing photography with astronaut Don Pettit on Monday, Dec. 9 at 16:45 UTC. This is one of a number of media events that have occurred during the expedition; every ISS expedition periodically has media events featuring crew members discussing their mission with media, students, and other members of the public.

(Lead image: Atmospheric airglow and star trails from the ISS as taken by NASA astronaut Don Pettit. Credit: NASA)

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