On Wednesday, the four astronauts of the Expedition 70 crew coordinated and completed the final cargo transfer inside the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Dragon cargo spacecraft. Dragon, which has been docked with the space station since November 11, was scheduled to decouple from the Orbital Outpost front port on the Harmony module at 9:05 pm ET on Wednesday. Due to weather conditions, departure is now scheduled for Thursday, December 21 at 5:05 PM ET.

In July 2022, a SpaceX Dragon resupply ship carrying more than 5,800 pounds of new science experiments and crew supplies approached the International Space Station over the South Atlantic from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship. Image source: NASA

NASA will broadcast Dragon's undocking and departure live on the NASA+ streaming service via the web or the NASA app starting at 8:45 p.m. The coverage will also be broadcast live on NASA Television, YouTube and the agency's website. Learn how to watch NASATV on various platforms, including social media.

In April 2023, SpaceX's Dragon supply ship approached the International Space Station, carrying more than 6,200 pounds of scientific experiment items, crew supplies and other cargo to replenish the Expedition 68 crew. When this photo was taken, both spacecraft were flying 269 miles above the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. Image source: NASA

Astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Andreas Mogensen began science return work in the morning, transferring frozen research samples from the space station's science freezers into insulated Dragon science transport bags. Astronauts Loral O'Hara and Satoshi Furukawa continue to hand over samples in the "Destiny", "Hope" and "Columbus" experimental modules and load them into the "Dragon" spacecraft. NASA flight engineers O'Hara and Mogbeli concluded the study by loading fresh astronaut blood samples into the Dragon spacecraft for recovery and analysis on Earth. Mogberg will be the last crew member aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft before departing and closing the hatch just hours before takeoff.

The seven-member Expedition 70 team took a group photo in the "Hope" experimental module of the International Space Station. Front row (from left) are Commander Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Flight Engineers Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara from NASA. In the back row are Russian Space Agency flight engineers Nikolai Chubu, Konstantin Borisov and Oleg Kononenko; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa. Source: NASA

All four crew members began their shifts collecting blood and saliva samples for use in the CIPHER suite's 14 experiments, studying the effects of weightlessness on the human body. O'Hara also took a cognitive test to learn how the brain functions in space. Mogbeli downloaded medical data stored in health-monitoring vests and headbands. At the end of the day, Furukawa and Mogensen, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) respectively, used Ultrasound 2 equipment to scan each other's neck, shoulder and leg veins.

The three cosmonauts living and working on the space station continue to focus on their Roscosmos scientific experiments and laboratory maintenance task force. Flight engineers Konstantin Borisov and Nikolai Chub participated in a pair of different fitness assessments. Borisov first pedaled on an exercise bike, then Chubb jogged on a treadmill, both equipped with sensors that measure aerobic output. Flight engineer Oleg Kononenko conducted another 3D printing course demonstrating the manufacture of tools and supplies in microgravity.