Life in Space: A Recap of Events on the ISS from June 23 - 27, 2025

Expedition 73 flight engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both of NASA, monitored the approach of SpaceX's Crew Dragon \"Grace\" from inside the windowed Cupola of the International Space Station on June 26, 2025.

They have arrived! After an extended delay, the Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4) crew flying aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon \"Grace\" pulled up to the International Space Station and docked, beginning a two-week stay on the orbiting laboratory. Meanwhile, science and maintenance work continued this week for the Expedition 73 crew.

Orbital observation

In space, what goes up ... doesn't really matter to our brains. \"I think one of the most surprising or unexpected things is just how quickly your brain figures out that up and down doesn't really matter,\" said Nichole Ayers, Expedition 73 flight engineer, answering one of the questions the young students at P.S. 71 Forest Elementary School in Ridgewood, New York on Monday (June 23). \"You know, on Earth, we've got gravity, and it pulls us down, and so we know where the floor is, but here on the space station, somebody could be upside down, and you could be talking to them like normal.\"

It was at this point in the video downlink that fellow NASA astronaut Anne McClain flipped upside down (in relation to Ayers' orientation). \"You know, our treadmill is on the wall, so is our lifting machine. And so it's pretty often that you turn around the corner and someone is not exactly like you would expect them to be, but your brain, after a couple weeks, just kind of goes, 'Okay, we can do this.' And you figure out that you can go through a module upside down, you can go through a module doing multiple aileron rolls, and your body is totally okay with that.\"

Science status

Among the research that was conducted by the Expedition 73 crew aboard the space station this week was:

• Thigh Cuff — Expedition 73 commander Takuya Onishi and flight engineer Jonny Kim took turns wearing tight cuff on their legs in an effort to change the direction of the fluids in their body.
• Ring Sheared Drop — Continuing a multi-week fluids physics experiment, Nichole Ayers worked with an apparatus mounted inside a microgravity glove box in the U.S. Destiny Laboratory to see if surface tension can be used to isolate liquids from their containers' walls.
• Bio-Analyzer — Anne McClain activated this device, which allows for the on-orbit qualification of cellular and molecular samples collected aboard the space station.

Station keeping

The Expedition 73 crew also devoted time to maintaining the space station's systems, including:

• Day in the Life — Onishi, Kim and Ayers filmed training videos for future station crew members.
• Stowage space — Speaking of the PMM, McClain and Onishi rearranged cargo in the station's \"storage closet,\" with the aim of making more room for more items to be moved inside.

Astronaut activity

After a two week delay, the four-member Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) visiting crew arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday June 26, 2025.

And then there were 11. The Axiom Mission-4 crew arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, June 26, 2025. Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Tibor Kapu of the Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) astronaut program have joined the Expedition 73 for a two-week stay.

By the numbers

As of Friday (June 27), there are 11 people aboard the International Space Station. There are three docked crew spacecraft and two docked cargo spacecraft. As of Friday, the space station has been continuously crewed for 24 years, 7 months and 26 days.