Expedition 71 Flight Engineers (from left) Jeanette Epps and Mike Barratt assist Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson, all three NASA astronauts, during a spacesuit fit check inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. Credit: NASA
The Expedition 71 crew at the 
A dim aurora and an atmospheric glow crown Earth’s horizon in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 266 miles above a cloudy Indian Ocean southwest of Australia. In the foreground, from left, are a portion of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter, the Rassvet module, and the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship docked to the Prichal docking module which is itself mated to the Nauka science module. Credit: NASA
Spacewalk Preparations and Equipment Checks
On Friday, June 7, Expedition crew members completed the installation of the spare pump carried aboard Starliner for the urine processing assembly on the orbital outpost, and the hardware is functioning properly.
microorganisms to survive the extreme microgravity environment.
Mission managers will discuss the upcoming spacewalk details during a news conference at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Live coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
Tampa, Florida, and its surrounding suburbs on Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the Sunshine State. Credit: NASA
Daily Activities and Health Monitoring
NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt assisted Dominick as he tried on his spacesuit during a standard fit check in the Quest airlock on Monday morning. During the afternoon, the two spacewalkers joined Barratt and NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps and reviewed Canadarm2 robotic arm procedures necessary to retrieve the radio gear.
Earlier, Epps attached an acoustic monitor to herself measuring the sound environment she’s exposed to aboard the station. Afterward, she collected lab water samples to test for microbes then conducted a hearing exam listening to tones on a pair of headphones connected to a computer. Dyson joined cosmonaut Nikolai Chub at the end of the day and peered at a standard eye chart reading characters to test their visual acuity.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter, attached to the Unity module, is pictured firing its single engine boosting the International Space Station’s orbital altitude. This long-duration photograph also shows an atmospheric glow hovering above Earth’s horizon. Credit: NASA
Extended Mission for Commercial Crew
New station visitors Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, both veteran NASA astronauts, learned on Sunday they will orbit Earth until June 18 before returning home aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The extra days in space will allow teams more time to check out Starliner’s systems and free up the Expedition crew’s schedule for more spacewalk preparations.
Wilmore and Williams started Monday with health checks measuring their temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate. The duo then split up as Wilmore worked on computer maintenance inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox and Williams installed hardware to support a space fire investigation.
Routine Maintenance and Scientific Research
In the orbital outpost’s
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