NASA astronauts visit Huntsville: Expedition 71 crew shares details of 2024 mission to space, experiments in orbit

On Wednesday, January 29, four NASA astronauts from Expedition 71 — Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. Dyson — visited the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. 

During their time at the center, the crew shared compelling insights into their 2024 missions to the International Space Station.

Dominick served as commander, Barratt as pilot, and Epps as a mission specialist on their launch aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission in March 2024. After almost eight months in orbit, the three astronauts returned to Earth in October 2024.

Dyson launched separately as a flight engineer on a Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft in March 2024 as part of an international crew. Dyson returned in September 2024 after finishing a six-month research mission while on the ISS.

Expedition 71 was Epps’ and Dominick’s first spaceflight. It was Barratt’s and Dyson’s third trip to space

Barratt expressed appreciation for the crew’s strong relationship with MSFC and their positive impact on the mission. 

“The relationship we had with Huntsville, especially with the POIC (Payload Operations Integration Center), was really key. It was crucial, and it wasn’t just space to ground communication; it was a dialogue,” Barratt said.

The crew gave insight into the hundreds of technology demonstrations and science experiments they conducted onboard the ISS. 

Human research was a significant part of Expedition 71, focusing on understanding the mechanisms of changes in the human body in space, which is essential for future long-duration missions. Barratt, a physician, has a special passion for researching and conducting experiments on the impact of spaceflight on humans.

“Every system in the body changes when you put it into this novel environment called zero gravity weightlessness. You have to pay some penalties for flying in space. But the fact that we can adapt the way we do, become three dimensional creatures and function so well, is just an astounding thing,” Barratt said. 

One significant experiment onboard the ISS included the bioprinting of human tissues. 

According to NASA, “These higher-quality tissues printed in microgravity could help advance the production of organs and tissues for transplant and improve 3D printing of foods and medicines on future long-duration space missions.”

While in orbit, the crew also studied neuroinflammation, which is common in those with neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. To do this, they looked at neurological organoids created with stem cells from patients.

For Dominik, in addition to the experiments and technological objectives, photographing the mission was a significant way to share the incredible journey with the people on Earth. 

“I felt an immense obligation to take a lot of pictures but then to share it. And then also we were incredibly lucky to be up there during an insane Aurora, a comet, a solar eclipse … ” Dominik expressed. 

Dominik also emphasized the strong international collaboration on the ISS, particularly highlighting the relationship with Russian cosmonauts despite political tensions on land below.

“It’s an incredible relationship we have. In the last two and a half decades and the fact that despite everything that’s happened between the countries politically on Earth, we’ve come together and worked together as one team and keep pushing the community forward,” Dominik said. 

In addition to sharing exciting moments from the recent Expedition 71, Dyson recalled her first spaceflight in 2007, describing an awe-inspiring moment when she saw stars while in orbit for the very first time. 

“It was amazing to be above the atmosphere where things aren’t twinkling but just solid lights. And you could tell sometimes that a star was bigger than another, but you could also sense that a star was perhaps closer than another,” Dyson said. 

Dyson continued, ” … knowing that there’s light years difference between their positions in the universe was just mind-boggling to me.”

The Expedition 71 crew gave inspiring advice to anyone interested in becoming an astronaut or working to advance space exploration.

Epps shared the importance of persevering through tough times to reach your goals.  

“There’s going to be times and days where, if you’re getting a Master’s or a Ph.D., there’s going to be times when you’re like, okay, I’ve had it. But if you have that passion that Matt and I talked about, you’ll go through it, and you’ll get through it, and you’ll come out on the other side,” Epps said.

Barratt encouraged individuals wondering if they are too advanced in age to pivot in their career or, in his case, travel to the cosmos. Barratt said he was chosen to be an astronaut at 40. 

“It’s almost never too late to make a career change. I turned 50 during my first flight. I turned 65 during this recent one,” Barratt said.