Ax-4 astronauts get to work on ISS after docking with Expedition 73

The four astronauts of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission have officially joined the seven-member Expedition 73 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS), bringing the total number of astronauts on the orbiting laboratory to 11.

The Ax-4 crew docked with the ISS on June 26 and quickly got to work. NASA said the new arrivals were welcomed by the Expedition 73 crew and began undergoing safety briefings and orientation sessions to get acquainted with orbital lab systems and emergency protocols.

“In the unlikely event of an emergency aboard the ISS, the Ax-4 astronauts have been trained in communication protocols and safety responsibilities,” NASA said in a statement.

The new team also unloaded hardware and portable science freezers from the Dragon spacecraft, which are being installed in station incubators for ongoing experiments. Scientific activities began on June 28, with the Ax-4 crew launching into nearly two weeks of microgravity research. Meanwhile, Expedition 73 members continued their routine work, including space exercise studies, eye exams, and lunar surface photography.

Expedition 73, which began on April 19, 2025, is scheduled to continue until November. The crew is engaged in a wide range of scientific research across biology, human physiology, materials science, and physics, while also handling station maintenance and upgrades.

With the addition of Ax-4, the ISS is once again a hub of intense international collaboration and private spaceflight activity, supporting both long-term missions and commercial space research.

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