NASA to host press conference with astronaut Tracy Dyson to discuss her six-month stay in space

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson works on a computer inside the International Space Station. (Image: NASA)

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is set to share insights from her recent six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during a news conference on Friday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. EDT. The event will be held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and will be broadcast live on NASA+ and the agency’s website. This marks an opportunity for the public to delve into Dyson’s space journey and the cutting-edge scientific work she conducted.

Media members wishing to attend in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3. Alternatively, those participating via phone must reach out at least two hours before the event. Reporters calling in are required to join the line 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start, while questions can also be posed through social media using the hashtag #AskNASA.

Dyson’s Six-Month Expedition

Dyson's third spaceflight, which spanned 184 days, was a remarkable journey covering 2,944 orbits of Earth and a total of 78 million miles. As part of Expeditions 70 and 71, Dyson served as a flight engineer and participated in a spacewalk lasting 31 minutes. This brought her career spacewalk time to 23 hours and 20 minutes over four missions. Dyson returned to Earth on Sept. 23 alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

Her mission began with a launch on March 23 and a subsequent arrival at the ISS on March 25, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Belarusian spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya spent 12 days aboard the station before returning to Earth with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Scientific Contributions

While aboard the ISS, Dyson engaged in a variety of scientific and technological projects aimed at advancing space exploration and improving life on Earth. Among her key activities, Dyson remotely controlled a robot on Earth from space, assessing orbit-to-ground operations. Additionally, she utilised a 3D bioprinter to create cardiac tissue samples, a project that holds promise for developing transplant organs in the future.

Another significant experiment involved the crystallisation of model proteins, which was used to assess equipment that could lead to pharmaceutical advancements. Dyson also collaborated with students on software development for the station’s free-flying robots, sparking interest and innovation among the next generation of scientists.

Dyson’s contributions to scientific research and technology during her time on the ISS are paving the way for future space missions and enhancing our understanding of life both in space and on Earth. Her detailed accounts during the news conference are highly anticipated by the space exploration community and the public alike.