Space Station Prepares for Spacewalk and Scientific Tasks as SpaceX Dragon Nears Launch

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying four Axiom Mission-2 astronauts including Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi is docked to the space-facing port on the International Space Station's Harmony module. The spacecraft arrived at the orbital lab on May 22, 2023. Credit: NASA

NASA astronauts on board the International Space Station are getting ready for a spacewalk on June 9, during which they will install new solar arrays and carry out various health and scientific studies. However, the launch of a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft carrying the arrays may be delayed due to weather conditions from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

On the Expedition 69 schedule, spacesuits and science take priority, with the astronauts preparing for the spacewalk, while a US resupply ship, filled with cargo, gets ready to launch and replenish the station's residents.

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg are making preparations to install one of the two new roll-out solar arrays on the space station's starboard-side truss structure during their spacewalk. They spent Friday morning setting up their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, and arranging spacewalk tools inside the Quest airlock. Hoburg then joined NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio in the afternoon to check the fit of his EMU.

Microgravity research for improving health on Earth and in space is also ongoing, with Bowen setting up blood samples in a centrifuge and storing them in a science freezer to learn how spaceflight affects cellular immune functions. UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi is participating in the Cardiobreath astronaut health study, pedaling on an exercise bike while attached to sensors monitoring his breathing and blood pressure. Rubio has also been swapping protein crystal samples in the Kibo laboratory module in a study to advance biochemistry research in space.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev carried out a human research study on Friday that focuses on understanding how microgravity affects digestion processes. Commander Sergey Prokopyev studied the interaction of micro-particles such as electrons, ions, and neutral gases, and how they turn into plasma crystals when exposed to electrical charges.

As for the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, it's set to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 12:35 p.m. EDT on Saturday, carrying two new roll-out solar arrays packed inside its unpressurized trunk. While mission managers have reported all systems are go for the launch to the orbiting lab, weather forecasters predicted scattered thunderstorms at the launch pad with a 70% no-go chance for both Saturday and Sunday launches. If the launch goes ahead, Dragon is scheduled to rendezvous and dock with the Harmony module's space-facing port at 5:36 a.m. on Monday. Two days later, the Canadarm2 robotic arm will extract the solar arrays from the trunk, and stage them on a pallet attached to the starboard truss, allowing the two spacewalkers to retrieve the arrays and begin installation work.