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NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara discussed her upcoming mission to the International Space Station during live interviews on August 23. O'Hara, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, is scheduled to launch to the space station Friday, Sept. 15, aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. She will be a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 70 station crew. Long duration missions such as O'Hara's help to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions.

The uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo spacecraft launched to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan August 22 on a Soyuz booster rocket. Progress is filled with alnmost three tons of supplies and cargo and will dock to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module after a two-day rendezvous. The resupply spacecraft will remain docked to the space station until early next year.

Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos and NASA Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara conducted final qualification training August 21 and 22 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, for their upcoming International Space Station mission. Their backups, cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, joined them for the training sessions. Kononenko, Chub, and O'Hara are scheduled to launch Friday, Sept. 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft for a six-month mission on the International Space Station.

An international crew is preparing to launch to the International Space Station aboard NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and cosmonaut Konstantin BorisoV of Roscosmos will perform research technology demonstrations, science experiments, and maintenance activities aboard the microgravity laboratory.