Expedition 75 crew members aboard the International Space Station spent Tuesday on microbiology experiments, spacesuit maintenance and cargo preparations, NASA reported. Flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency worked in the Kibo laboratory module to study how bacteria adapt to microgravity. Menon processed microbe samples in a sealed glovebox, and Kutryk extracted DNA from some samples before storing them in a science freezer for return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft next week.

Menon also joined NASA flight engineer Jessica Watkins in moving cargo in and out of Dragon ahead of its departure. Watkins cleaned the Kibo lab earlier to make room for equipment arriving in a few weeks on Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft. Flight engineer Luke Delaney connected portable computer gear in the Columbus module and practiced Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers, then collected water samples for analysis on Earth.

Station commander Pyotr Dubrov and flight engineer Anna Kikina serviced three Roscosmos Orlan spacesuits inside the Poisk module, activating them and cleaning their cooling and ventilation systems. Flight engineer Sergey Teteryatnikov inspected and cleaned plumbing components in the Rassvet module and installed Earth observation hardware to photograph landmarks across Southeast Asia and Australia during an automated overnight session.