Astronaut Expresses Longing for Lunar or Martian Missions During ISS Assignment
The International Space Station’s complement briefly swelled to eleven individuals last Saturday (August 2nd) before returning to a standard seven-person crew with the departure of the four-member SpaceX Crew-10 mission on Friday (August 8th). The majority of this week was dedicated to integrating the newly arrived astronauts and cosmonauts into the Expedition 73 team and preparing for Crew-10’s scheduled return journey. Veteran astronaut Mike Fincke, who joined the ISS aboard the SpaceX Crew-11 mission last Saturday, voiced a desire to venture beyond Earth’s orbit, stating his ambition to explore the Moon or Mars. This marks Fincke’s fourth assignment on the orbiting laboratory, and he is already looking toward future deep space endeavors.
Expedition 73’s scientific activities included ongoing research into cardiovascular health in microgravity conditions. NASA astronaut Mike Fincke and JAXA flight engineer Kimiya Yui continued an experiment – “Drain Brain 2.0” – initially undertaken by previous crew members, which uses electrodes to monitor blood flow from the heart to the brain. Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky conducted similar investigations, focusing on blood circulation in the upper extremities to inform countermeasures against physiological challenges faced during extended spaceflight.
Crew-10 commander Anne McClain collaborated with Crew-11 commander Zena Cardman within ESA’s Columbus laboratory to establish equipment for optical fiber production, a process yielding superior cable quality compared to terrestrial manufacturing methods. Prior to their departure, the entire Crew-10 team – comprising McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov – held a farewell gathering with their Expedition 73 colleagues on Tuesday (August 5th). Command of Expedition 73 was then formally transferred from Onishi to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov.
Currently aboard the ISS are seven individuals: Expedition 73 commander Sergey Ryzhikov and cosmonauts Alexey Zubritsky, Oleg Platonov, all of Roscosmos; NASA astronauts Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke; and JAXA flight engineer Kimiya Yui. The station remains connected to two crewed spacecraft – SpaceX’s Dragon “Endeavour” and Roscosmos’ Soyuz MS-27 – alongside two docked cargo vessels: Roscosmos’ Progress MS-30 (91P) and Progress MS-31 (92P). The ISS has maintained continuous human habitation for 24 years, 9 months, and 6 days as of August 8th.
