The orbiting Expedition 34 trio was busy Friday with medical operations, physical science and ongoing maintenance. The trio waiting to launch on Dec. 19 tested their launch suits and spacecraft in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Commander Kevin Ford started the morning brushing up on his Crew Medical Officer responsibilities. He checked out the crew medical restraint system where a crew member would be placed in the event of a medical emergency.

Ford later spent most of his afternoon working with the Environmental Health System (EHS) in the Destiny laboratory. He set up the EHS sound level meter to conduct an acoustic survey throughout the International Space Station.

In between those medical operations and his exercise, Ford also worked with the ongoing InSpace-3 physical science experiment. That study investigates the physical properties of fluids in response to magnetic fields.

He powered on the Microgravity Science Glovebox and its video cameras to monitor vials of fluid being exposed to magnetic fields of varying strengths. Benefits include the creation of smart materials on Earth for stronger, safer buildings.

Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin continued their week-long session of fan and filter checks and replacements in the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory.

Novitskiy also transferred and inventoried gear to and from a Progress cargo craft docked to the Zvezda service module.

In Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Flight Engineers Chris Hadfield, Roman Romanenko and Tom Marshburn continued final training and preparations for their mission to join Expedition 34.

The trio conducted a dress rehearsal and suited up in their Sokol launch and entry suits and entered their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft.