NASA plans crew swap and a full slate of science and maintenance aboard ISS in late September 2026
NASA reported on Sept. 22, 2026, that the International Space Station is preparing for an upcoming crew swap while continuing a series of biomedical experiments, cargo operations and spacesuit maintenance as part of Expedition 75. The agency’s update described a cadence of activities that follow a busy month of spacewalks and that will include routine science, cargo-handling and preparations for a scheduled handover of crewmembers.
According to NASA, the orbital residents have been focused on life-sciences investigations to protect crew health and to test technologies relevant to long-duration human spaceflight. The Sept. 22 blog emphasized biomedical research taking place alongside cargo duties; a separate Sept. 2 report from NASA provided additional context about the crew’s recent work cleaning up and relaxing after multiple spacewalks in August and early September, and noted that spacesuit cleaning and maintenance have been central tasks.
Those earlier updates described Expedition 75 activities in more granular terms: after completing a third August spacewalk to install a high-speed antenna, the crew spent time cleaning up and resting, then shifted attention to additional planned extravehicular activity (EVA) in September. The station blog entries also highlighted routine operations such as exercise research and emergency-drill practice to ensure crew readiness for medical contingencies in microgravity.
Spacesuit work has been repeatedly mentioned across the NASA posts. The Sept. 2 update described spacesuit cleaning as one of the key maintenance tasks that wrapped up a week aboard the station, while the Sept. 10 excerpted context noted spacesuit maintenance and science-hardware work contributed to the crew’s schedule. That maintenance supports both safe EVA operations and continued use of suits for planned installation and repair tasks outside the station.
Cargo operations have been another recurring element. NASA’s Sept. 22 item framed cargo-handling as part of the logistical rhythm accompanying the crew swap and science campaign. The Sept. 2 update likewise called out cargo operations among the activities that closed out the busy month, indicating the crew is managing incoming and outgoing supplies while also supporting experiments.
On the human-research front, NASA highlighted multiple ongoing investigations that study how living in microgravity affects the body and how countermeasures — including exercise protocols — can protect crew health. The agency’s blog posts repeatedly point to the importance of these studies for future long-duration missions, though NASA’s material presents this as operational research rather than as definitive breakthroughs.
The crew also has been documenting daily life aboard the station. NASA noted Expedition 75 members filmed and photographed routines to share with Earth audiences, an activity that supplements formal outreach and supports public understanding of life in orbit.
Operationally, the station’s sequence of tasks—spacewalks, suit maintenance, cargo-handling, biomedical studies and an imminent crew change—illustrates the mixed demands of maintaining a continuously crewed laboratory in low Earth orbit. The agency’s September posts present this as a tightly scheduled set of handoffs: following multiple August EVAs, the crew moved through cleanup and maintenance, then into preparatory work for September activities and the crew swap.
Historical context: the International Space Station has regularly combined EVA campaigns, cargo missions and biomedical research since assembly operations began in the late 1990s. Expedition 75’s pattern of alternating spacewalks with suit servicing and science echoes previous expeditions, where hardware upgrades and science often proceed in parallel to maintain station capability while maximizing research return.
Looking ahead, NASA’s briefings indicate more EVAs and continued science are likely through the handover. The agency invited media to cover discussions with some crew members in mid-September — a routine practice during rotation periods — to highlight mission accomplishments and the status of return preparations.
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All details in this report come from NASA’s official International Space Station blog posts dated Sept. 2 and Sept. 22, 2026, which together describe Expedition 75 operations and the forthcoming crew swap alongside the station’s biomedical, cargo and spacesuit activities.
Sources
NASA: "Station Nears Upcoming Crew Swap During Biomedicine, Cargo Duties" (Sept. 22, 2026) and NASA: "Station Crew Cleans Up, Relaxes After Busy Month of Spacewalks" (Sept. 2, 2026).
