Crew Status
Today Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı, and Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt completed their third full day (flight day six) on the International Space Station (ISS).
Highlights of the Day
The crew has seamlessly adjusted to microgravity and are now busy conducting research and outreach engagements.
Research
Today, Villadei continued to complete more microscope imaging of the cancer cell cultures stored in bioreactor bags for the Cancer in LEO project, which studies tumor organoids in microgravity with the goal to identify early warning signs of cancer for prediction and prevention of disease.
Gezeravcı spent most of his day working in the Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG). He added a growth solution to plant samples in petri dishes and then returned them to the staging location. The Extremophyte Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) project will examine how the stress responses of plants in microgravity could translate to improved agricultural practices on Earth, in space, or on other terrestrial bodies for future space exploration missions.
Now that the Orbital Architecture study is set up, Wandt recorded his brain activity through a cap embedded with sensors on his forehead to collect data assessing cognitive function. This study will investigate how isolated and confined environments on Earth and in space affect an astronaut’s cognitive performance, stress levels, and stress recovery rate.
Media
Yesterday, MLA and Gezeravcı completed the first (out of three) webcast mission updates, which provide insight into the work, experiences, and day-to-day activities of the crewmembers at the beginning, middle, and upon the conclusion of their 14-day stay aboard the space station.
WATCH MISSION UPDATE #1 BELOW.
Today, Wandt participated in an interview with Aftonbladet, which is the largest newspaper in Scandinavia. He discussed the importance of human spaceflight, living and working in space, and microgravity research.
Wandt also joined his European Space Agency (ESA) colleague and ISS Commander Andy Mogensen in a joint event for the European Space Conference.
Outreach
MLA participated in a live event with ASTM International, the American Society for Testing and Materials. During this event, MLA spoke with ASTM chair members about the difference between commercial and government astronaut missions, as well as safety frameworks and standards.
Tomorrow, Villadei will participate in an event with the medical director for the Italian company GVM Assistance, Giampaolo Stopazzolo. During the event, Villadei and Stopazzolo will discuss medicine in space. During Ax-3, GVM will be testing its telemedicine platform by collecting and monitoring data through a health application from wearable devices worn by the crew. This technology could be used in the future to monitor and manage the health of astronauts before, during, and after human spaceflight missions.