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 fifth full day (flight day eight) on the International Space Station (ISS).
Highlights of the Day
The crew is in full gear conducting research and outreach engagements. As the Ax-3 crew is now almost halfway through the mission, they participated in individual mission management conferences for an opportunity to connect with ground support to discuss overall mission success and their daily lookahead.
Research
Today, Villadei conducted a technology demonstration with the Smart Flight Suit 2 (SFS2). The suit contains sensors that monitor the heart's beating patterns, body temperature, and movement. The goals of this project are to test the comfort and behavior of the suit's fabrics in space, validate the function of the inbuilt sensors, and validate the utility of the suit within microgravity.
MLA supported Gezeravcı for the microgravity effects on metal particles dynamics in fluids (gMETAL) project, which investigates how the lack of gravity impacts mixing solid particles in a gas (two-phase mixture formation) within a contained environment. Expedition 70 crewmembers helped configure the Life Science Glovebox (LSG) for gMetal. Gezeravcı mixed the quartz tube samples and captured videos.
Wandt completed another Orbital Architecture cognitive assessment with the fNIRS headcap. He also finished a Virtual Reality on-board training for the European Space Agency (ESA).
Outreach
Today, Villadei participated in a NASA PAO event with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Tomorrow, Gezeravcı will participate in a fireside chat with the Türkiye Minister of Industry and Technology along with members of the delegation to celebrate the first Turkish astronaut and discuss Ax-3 mission objectives.
Media
Villadei will do an interview with Italian media outlet RAI1 to discuss the importance of scientific research, space exploration, education, and what it means to represent Italy on the Ax-3 mission.
Tomorrow at 8:15 a.m. CT, Wandt will participate in an interview with one of Sweden's largest TV channels, SVT. During the event, Wandt will discuss the experiments he is conducting on the ISS and his experience as an Ax-3 astronaut.