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Robotics, Exercise Studies Improving Space Missions as Crew Swap Nears [1]

['Mark A. Garcia']

Date: 2025-07-24

Robotics, Exercise Studies Improving Space Missions as Crew Swap Nears

NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers works inside the International Space Station’s Tranquility module swapping out a remote power controller module and inspecting components on the Avionics Rack. NASA

Thursday’s research aboard the International Space Station explored ways to control robots on a planetary surface and how microgravity affects exercise and digestion. The Expedition 73 crew is also in the middle of its preparations to welcome a new crew then split up.

Human exploration of the solar system may include commanding robots on asteroids, the lunar surface, and Mars from an orbiting spacecraft. NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim tested space-to-ground robotic controlling methods on a laptop computer such as consoles, touchscreens, haptics, and virtual reality goggles in coordination with engineers in Earth. Results may provide safer methods of planetary exploration besides labor-intensive spacewalks and inform operations in disaster zones or inhospitable areas on Earth.

Living and working in weightlessness long-term requires daily workouts to maintain muscle and bone health ensuring crews stay fit and healthy. Aerobic and cardiovascular conditioning in microgravity are also important especially for more strenuous tasks such as spacewalks and the return to Earth’s gravity after months or even years.

Station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers took turns pedaling on the Destiny laboratory module’s exercise cycle for just one of many exercise investigations on the orbital outpost. They wore electrodes and breathing gear measuring their heart and breathing rate as researchers on the ground monitored in real time. Results will help doctors track an astronaut’s health and develop improved space workout programs.

NASA Flight Engineer Anne McClain worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device, that mimics free weights on Earth and is in the Tranquility module, while wearing the sensor-packed Bio-Monitor headband and vest. The biomedical device is designed to comfortably monitor and collect a crew member’s heath data as they go about their daily activities. Afterward, she removed the wearable devices and downloaded her blood pressure data for review by specialists on the ground.

At the end of their shift, McClain, Ayers, and Onishi joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov and called down to flight controllers at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, for a conference. The quartet coordinated with controllers from both SpaceX and NASA preparing to end a five-month stay in space and return to Earth next month inside the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft. The four NASA SpaceX Crew-10 crewmates also practiced Earth reentry techniques on computer tablets and have already begun packing personal items and cargo inside Dragon for the ride home. They will gather at 10:40 a.m. EDT on Friday for a news conference and discuss their upcoming departure live on YouTube.

Waiting on Earth to replace Crew-10 is NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission with Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke, both from NASA, and Mission Specialists Kimiya Yui of JAXA and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos. The Commercial Crew quartet is due to depart NASA’s Johnson Space Center on Saturday and arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to begin their countdown to a launch inside Dragon atop the Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than 12:09 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 31.

Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky joined each other for stomach scans with an ultrasound device after their breakfast on Thursday. The cosmonauts were exploring how microgravity affects the digestion system to understand potential space-caused biochemical changes. The duo then split up as Ryzhikov tested electrical cables in the Nauka science module and Zubritsky photographed Earth landmarks in multiple wavelengths. Peskov prepared computer hardware for a software update to add remote control functionality to the European robotic arm.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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[1] Url: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/07/24/robotics-exercise-studies-improving-space-missions-as-crew-swap-nears/

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