Jessica Meir

There is a lot going on right now on the @Space_Station, but fortunately we are all safe and witnessed a spectacular southern aurora show yesterday thanks to a recent solar event.

My thoughts are with all of those affected by the Canadian wildfires. This weekend I spotted their smoke drifting out across the Atlantic Ocean (the hazy, grayer layer among the clouds seen here). Stay safe, Earthlings!

The lineup for the out of this World Cup 2026.

Welcome to the @Space_Station Pyotr, Anna and @astro_anil! Here’s a view of their Soyuz docking yesterday, as seen from a Russian Segment window. Let the games begin!

Expedition 74 expanded to 10 crew members at 4:30 p.m. EDT today when the hatches opened and @NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina entered the International Space Station. More... go.nasa.gov/4yn2iO6

With the @Space_Station Expedition 74 mission soon coming to an end, we realized we had been a bit remiss in capturing portraits of our full crew. It has been an honor and a privilege (and yes, A LOT of fun!) serving with these exceptional humans for the past 5 months. So many wonderful memories! Today our crew will grow by 3 as we welcome Pyotr, Anna and @astro_anil, and in just a couple weeks, we will say goodbye to Sergey, Sergei, and @Astro_ChrisW to commence our portion of Expedition 75.

How many people can you fit in the @Space_Station Cupola? At least 5! Eyes peeled over Baikonur as we watch our friends make their way toward their new home with us! Go Pyotr, Anna, and @astro_anil, go 75S! Here’s a glimpse of the launch plume trail they left behind.

We are so excited to welcome our new crewmates to the @Space_Station tomorrow! We’ve been prepping their supplies and will be welcoming Pyotr, Anna, and @astro_anil with the largest floating hugs we can muster. Godspeed Soyuz 75S (MS-29), we will see you soon!

Photos 3-6: Various angles and layers of mesospheric clouds as seen from the @Space_Station Cupola.

Polar mesospheric clouds (or noctilucent clouds) are Earth’s highest clouds, forming in the mesosphere, about 50 miles above the surface. They form from water ice crystals that condense on minute meteor dust particles, reaching upward toward the perimeter of space. I’ve observed many of these from the @Space_Station over the past week…a fitting tribute to the life and legacy of Wally Funk, a pioneering aviator and member of the Mercury 13, a group of women who demonstrated that they had the skills and determination needed for spaceflight. Although the Mercury 13 were not part of NASA’s astronaut corps and never flew in space through that program, Wally continued to break barriers in aviation throughout her remarkable career. I had the pleasure of meeting Wally at @NASAJohnson and flew a postcard with her picture on it (that she gave me that day) to the ISS with me on my first mission. Shortly after in 2021, Wally reached space herself aboard a @blueorigin New Shepard flight. Thank your contributions and inspiration, Wally. May you continue to fly high. Photo 1: A rainbow of sunrise leads to a trailblazing mesospheric cloud, pushing toward the edge of space. Photo 2: Meeting Wally at JSC

Pretty in pink! We’re currently in a period of “high beta” on the @Space_Station. Given the current angle between the orbital plane of the ISS and the direction of the Sun, we currently have no real “night” dark periods – there is always a bit of light. This makes for some interesting (and stunning!) effects with long shadows and lighting, like the pink sunrise I experienced in the Cupola yesterday. Pretty in pink, isn’t she?

Still in awe that another of my childhood dreams has come true! I wanted to be an astronaut since I was five years old, but another childhood aspiration of mine was to play in a professional symphony. Who would have guessed that one dream could lead to the other? Immense gratitude to @TheBostonPops for the extraordinary opportunity to join their iconic July 4th Fireworks Spectacular and play the piccolo solo in Stars and Stripes Forever from the @Space_Station! This one is for you, Mr. McLaughlin!

You asked for it, and you got it! Behold the making of a space cake, @roscosmos cosmonaut style! Our crewmate Andrey Fedyaev made this video capturing the process, using sweetened condensed milk, layers of intricately sliced honey bread and yogurt (@roscosmos food supplies) and rehydrated berries (@NASA food supplies).  Our crewmates are such “space kitchen” masters, that I’ve eaten far more cake on the @Space_Station than I do on Earth! Each homemade cake is unique, of course (another beloved ingredient is pine nuts!). This one happened to be for my birthday last week. Thank you to all of the Expedition 74 crew for making it such a special event! 🎂🎉

This old gem from my high school yearbook surfaced recently, and I figured the opportunity for an inspirational message was well worth the personal embarrassment! After my fifth spacewalk last week, I can attest that with passion, drive, and perseverance, dreams and high school aspirations are well within your grasp. What are your future plans? Caribou High School, Class of ‘95

Happy 250th Birthday to the United States of America, from all of us on the @Space_Station and at @NASA! Wishing all a safe and celebratory 4th of July.

A few shots from this week’s spacewalk on the @Space_Station. Unfortunately there was little time for photos, as we had our hands full of various parts of the @csa_asc Canadarm2 most of the time, for good reason! Can’t beat @Astro_ChrisW’s smile, inside or outside the ISS! Immense thanks to all of the ground teams around the globe that supported this week to help regain this vital resource.

Cartilage repair, cardiac research, and cargo ops wrapped up the week for the Expedition 74 crew heading into a three-day weekend. The space station is also orbiting higher following a reboost maneuver on Wednesday. More... go.nasa.gov/4weiFuk

The Exp 74 astronauts relaxed then worked on spacesuits the day after a spacewalk. The cosmonauts focused on cardiac research and lab maintenance during their shift on Wednesday. More... go.nasa.gov/4vrUjgd

Day 138, orbit 2141 — US EVA-95: success! 🎉 @Astro_Jessica and @Astro_ChrisW completed yesterday their second EVA together, and Canadarm2 is in a good configuration now to go back to 100% operational. Congratulations to all the teams who made it happen! I had the privilege of leading the intravehicular (IV) operations, and I couldn't be happier of how well we worked together. While strictly following all procedures, we still managed to get Jessica and Chris into the airlock about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. That may not sound like much, but for the crew members in the suit, it’s 30 minutes of energy saved for the EVA marathon ahead, a huge advantage! 📸 ESA/NASA/Roscosmos: Thanks to cosmonaut Sergei K for the moral support and the pictures! #εpsilon •@esa • @esaspaceflight • @Space_Station • @nasa • @NASAJohnson