Science and Maintenance Aboard Station as Crew Awaits New Arrivals

Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev were busy aboard the International Space Station Thursday with a variety of maintenance activities and science experiments as they await the arrival of the remainder of the Expedition 22 crew.

Williams worked in the Kibo laboratory troubleshooting the System Laptop Terminal 2. He also performed a routine scrub of the coolant loops on the spacesuits inside the Quest airlock.

ommander Jeff Williams (left) and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev hold a globe with the Expedition 22 logo in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA

Williams also collected water and surface samples from around the station for analysis as part of the SWAB (Surface Water and Air Biocharacterization) experiment. The primary goal of this experiment is to use advanced technologies to better understand the types of organisms that the crew could encounter, identify their sources and assess the potential risks.

Suraev worked with the PILOT-M experiment. PILOT-M is an ongoing experiment that examines the effects of long-duration space flight and stress on the ability of crew members to complete manual spacecraft control tasks.

Suraev also conducted routine maintenance on systems in the Russian segment of the station.

Both Suraev and Williams worked with ground controllers to conduct a standard onboard depressurization training drill. They also had time set aside to exercise, which helps minimize the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the body.

Meanwhile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi are making final preparations for their launch Sunday aboard the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft. After docking with the station on Tuesday, the trio will join Williams and Suraev as the newest Expedition 22 crew members.