As Axiom-4 mission nears ISS, a look at the expedition 73 crew's busy schedule

As the seven-member crew of the International Space Station (ISS) awaits the arrival of the Axiom-4 mission, their schedule remains packed with numerous scientific studies, experiments, maintenance checks, and exercise.

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On Thursday, as the Dragon C-213 spacecraft carrying four astronauts, including an Indian, began aligning with the ISS for docking, the ISS residents kept up with microgravity research and lab maintenance.

Two women flight engineers onboard the ISS, Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, will be on duty when the Dragon docks on Thursday at around 4:30 PM Indian Standard Time, monitoring the spacecraft during its automated approach and rendezvous. While Anne is a Colonel in the US Army, Nichole is a Major in the US Air Force.

According to information shared by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), McClain configured research hardware and processed samples in the Destiny laboratory module, and then photographed her work for later analysis on the ground. Ayers tended to a fluid physics study in the Microgravity Science Glovebox that may benefit pharmaceutical manufacturing techniques and 3D printing in space.

Both are part of Expedition 73 that began on April 19, 2025, and will end on December 8, 2025, with a fresh crew taking over. The expedition is led by Takuya Onishi, an astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who is on his second trip to the ISS. The others include three astronauts from NASA and three cosmonauts from Russia’s Roscosmos, as its State Corporation for Space Activities is commonly known.

NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will be on duty at the beginning of their shift, monitoring Dragon during its automated approach and rendezvous maneuvers. After docking, the Ax-4 private astronauts will greet the seven Expedition 73 crewmates, call down to Earth for welcoming remarks, and then participate in a safety briefing with the station residents.

Meanwhile, McClain and Ayers, along with the rest of the station crew, had a normal shift on Wednesday, keeping up with microgravity research and lab maintenance. McClain configured research hardware and processed samples in the Destiny laboratory module, then photographed her work for analysis on the ground. Ayers once again tended to a fluid physics study in the Microgravity Science Glovebox that may benefit pharmaceutical manufacturing techniques and 3D printing in space.

Since the Falcon-9 rocket carrying the Dragon module blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31 AM local time, which was noon in India, Flight Engineer Jonny Kim, a US Navy officer, partnered with the station commander, Onishi, to test a specialized thigh cuff that may reverse space-caused fluid shifts toward a crew member’s upper body. The duo took turns wearing the biomedical device in the Columbus laboratory module as ultrasound-2 scans and blood pressure checks measured cardiac output, heart rate, and more to determine the effectiveness of the thigh cuff to protect crew health, NASA said.

Three-time space station visitor Sergey Ryzhikov from Russia began his shift in the Zvezda service module replacing computer components before wrapping up his day charging science experiment batteries and activating an Earth observation camera.

Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritskiy spent his day reorganising cargo inside the Nauka science module and stowing trash and discarded gear inside the Progress-90 cargo craft due to depart the Poisk module next week, while Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov cleaned Nauka ventilation systems, then checked radiation exposure data the station experiences while orbiting Earth. Both are Russian and on their first visit to the ISS.

The Axiom-4 mission, a joint venture between NASA and two US-based space companies, SpaceX and Axiom Space, was originally scheduled for launch on May 29, but was postponed several times because of unfavorable weather conditions or technical glitches like a leak on the Falcon’s liquid oxygen tank and loss of pressure in a module onboard the ISS.

During their nearly month-long wait for the Axiom-4, the Expedition-73 members involved themselves in a wide range of activities that included fitness regimes and health check-ups such as crew works exercise, blood and oxygen research for crew health, vein scans, vision and immune system studies, and brain research, according to NASA updates on the ISS.

On the scientific and technical fronts, Earth studies, spacesuit checks, lab inspections, science maintenance and window inspections, space physics, biology studies, updating science software and hardware, and 3D microscopic tests kept them busy. There were also a couple of instances when the residents had a relatively light day.

The Dragon is ferrying four crew members of the Axiom-4 mission led by Peggy Whitson, one of NASA’s most experienced astronauts. IAF fighter pilot, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, is the spacecraft’s pilot while the other two members are mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a scientist from Poland, and Tibor Kapu, an engineer from Hungary.

Less than two hours after docking, at about 4:30 PM India time, the crew will enter the ISS and meet the Expedition-73 members, call down to Earth for welcoming remarks, participate in a safety briefing, and complete other formalities. Over the next two weeks, they will conduct over 60 experiments related to space science.

as noon in India, Flight Engineer Jonny Kim, a US Navy officer, partnered together with the station commander, Onishi, to test a specialised thigh cuff that may reverse space-caused fluid shifts toward a crew member’s upper body. The duo took turns wearing the biomedical device in the Columbus laboratory module as ultrasound-2 scans and blood pressure checks measured cardiac output, heart rate, and more to determine the effectiveness of the thigh cuff to protect crew health, NASA said.

Three-time space station visitor Sergey Ryzhikov from Russia began his shift in the Zvezda service module replacing computer components before wrapping up his day charging science experiment batteries and activating an Earth observation camera.

Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritskiy spent his day reorganising cargo inside the Nauka science module and stowing trash and discarded gear inside the Progress-90 cargo craft due to depart the Poisk module next week, while Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov cleaned Nauka ventilation systems then checked radiation exposure data the station experiences while orbiting Earth. Both are Russian and on their first visit to the ISS.

The Axiom-4 mission, a joint venture between NASA and two US-based space companies, SpaceX and Axiom Space was originally scheduled for launch on May 29, but was postponed several times because of unfavourable weather conditions or technical glitches like leak on the Falcon’s liquid oxygen tank and loss of pressure in a module onboard the ISS.

During their nearly month long wait for the Axiom-4, the Expedition-73 members involved themselves in a wide range of activities that included fitness regimes and health check-ups such as crew works exercise, blood and oxygen research for crew health, vein scans, vision and immune system studies and brain research, according to NASA updates on the ISS.

On the scientific and technical fronts, Earth studies, spacesuit checks, lab inspections, science maintenance and window inspections, space physics, biology studies, updating science software and hardware and 3D microscopic tests kept them busy. There were also a couple of instances when the residents had a relatively light day.

The Dragon is ferrying four crew members of the Axiom-4 mission led by Peggy Whitson, one of NASA’s most experienced astronauts. IAF fighter pilot, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is the spacecraft’s pilot while other two members are mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a scientist from Poland and Tibor Kapu, an engineer from Hungary.

Less than two hours after docking at about 4.30 PM India time, the crew will enter ISS and meet the Expedition-73 members, call down to Earth for welcoming remarks, participate in a safety briefing and complete other formalities. Over the next two weeks, they will conduct over 60 experiments related to space science.