Also on 22 March, current International Space Station commander Sergey Ryzhikov began the 11th science campaign for joint Roscosmos/ESA experiment Plasma Kristall-4 (PK-4). Following a monitor installation and check-out, Sergey completed two science runs using neon gas, performed a gas supply exchange to argon and exchanged a hard drive in preparation for upcoming runs.

PK-4 focuses on low temperature gaseous mixtures known as ‘complex plasmas’, made up of ions, electrons, inert gas and micro-particles. Due to the strong influence of gravity on the micro-particles, most experiments on complex plasmas are strongly distorted or even impossible on Earth.

Plasma for the PK-4 experiment is created with neon or argon gas in tubes that give particles an electrical charge. The experiment allows researchers across the world to better understand how objects melt, how waves spread in fluids and how currents change at the atomic level.