Williams Leads Station as Crew Swap Operations Continue – Space Station | Space

Expedition 72 is officially underway with NASA astronaut Suni Williams as its commander aboard the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the nine orbital residents are awaiting more visitors while also preparing for the next crew departure.

Williams took command of the orbital outpost when NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub undocked from the Prichal docking module at 4:36 a.m. EDT on Monday. The trio inside the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship parachuted to a landing in Kazakhstan at 7:59 a.m. EDT (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

Williams, who arrived at the station with NASA Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore on June 6, will lead orbital outpost operations until February when she and Wilmore are scheduled to return to Earth with the SpaceX Crew-9 members aboard the Dragon Endurance spacecraft. Williams was busy Tuesday readying standard emergency equipment ahead of Crew-9’s upcoming arrival. Wilmore explored how specialized substances gel and coarsen possibly leading to advancements in the pharmaceutical, food, and 3D printing industries.

NASA and SpaceX teams have adjusted the next launch opportunity for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to no earlier than 1:17 p.m. EDT, Saturday, Sept. 28, from…

Source blogs.nasa.gov