On Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, NASA reported that cartilage bioprinting and lead-free soldering topped the International Space Station's microgravity research schedule that day. According to the Sept. 15 report, Expedition 75 crew members also explored blood pressure in weightlessness, serviced spacesuit components and inspected laboratory hardware.

The report said NASA's Jessica Meir, the station commander, and ESA's Sophie Adenot processed cartilage cell samples in the MERLIN incubator and loaded them into the Auxilium bioprinter inside the Kibo laboratory's Life Science Glovebox. NASA said bioprinting cartilage in microgravity has produced higher-quality tissue than on Earth, potentially leading to treatments for cartilage injuries. NASA flight engineer Anil Menon continued studying lead-free soldering in the Harmony module, soldering circuit-board components and photographing the results; the report said the samples will be returned to Earth for comparison with identical ground-soldered samples.

The NASA account also described Menon cleaning a water filter cartridge in the Unity module's oxygen generation system and testing a spacesuit emergency jet pack in the Quest airlock. Jack Hathaway worked on Quest's atmospheric control system, installed an oxygen tank and checked lithium-ion batteries and metal oxide carbon-dioxide-removal canisters. In the Roscosmos segment, Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina monitored research hardware in the Nauka module, and Andrey Fedyaev measured his blood pressure using cuffs on his arm, wrist and fingers.