The hatches are open between Northrop Grumman’s second Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft and the International Space Station following its robotic capture and installation on Monday. The Expedition 74 crew is now beginning to unload some of the new science and crew supplies delivered on Monday.
NASA flight engineers Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway were the first crew members to enter Cygnus XL on Tuesday after a series of pressure and leak checks inside the spacecraft. They were joined soon after by flight engineers Jessica Meir of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) transferring time critical research samples stowed in Cygnus’ portable science freezers for preservation in the station’s MELFI science freezers and the MERLIN incubators.
Among the several tons of cargo Cygnus XL delivered Monday are over 2,300 pounds of new research hardware and science experiments. The crew will soon begin exploring blood stem cells to treat cancers and blood disorders, study ways to protect astronaut gut health, observe proteins suspended in water to advance pharmaceutical production, and install a quantum physics module to expand the abilities of the Cold Atom Lab. Other gear delivered aboard Cygnus XL include an advanced exercise system from ESA, new eye-imaging hardware, oxygen and nitrogen tanks to recharge spacesuits, and more.
Meanwhile, the Roscosmos Progress 93 resupply ship is nearing the end of its stay after seven months docked to the Zvezda service module’s aft port. Cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, station commander and flight engineer, spent the day packing trash and obsolete equipment inside Progress before its departure later this month. The duo also configured the spacecraft’s docking hardware for the upcoming undocking activities.
Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev kicked off his shift collecting air samples inside Cygnus XL shortly after Williams and Hathaway opened the spacecraft’s hatch to protect the station’s environment. Fedyaev then spent the rest of his shift maintaining the Roscosmos segment’s orbital plumbing and ventilation systems.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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April 14, 2026 1:04PM
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