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NASA TV is Live as SpaceX Cargo Dragon Prepares for Departure

NASA Television and the agency’s website are broadcasting live coverage for the departure of a SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station.

The spacecraft is filled with more than 4,900 pounds of valuable scientific experiments and other cargo to return to Earth to complete SpaceX’s 24th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will send commands at 10:35 a.m. for Dragon to undock from the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module Dragon will fire its thrusters to move a safe distance from the station and exit the area of the space station to begin its return to Earth.

Dragon will initiate a deorbit burn Monday, Jan. 24 to begin its re-entry sequence into Earth’s atmosphere then make a parachute-assisted splashdown about 4:05 p.m., off the coast of Florida. NASA TV will not broadcast the splashdown but the agency will provide updates on the space station blog.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

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Dragon Departure Waits One More Day Due to Adverse Weather

As a result of adverse weather conditions at the targeted splashdown zone off the coast of Florida, SpaceX has waived off today’s planned departure of an upgraded SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft.

SpaceX and NASA are now targeting 10:40 a.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 23 for undocking from the International Space Station of a SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft filled with more than 4,900 pounds of valuable scientific experiments and other cargo.

NASA Television and the agency’s website will broadcast its departure live beginning at 10:15 a.m. EST.

Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the experiments to NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, allowing researchers to collect data with minimal sample exposure to Earth’s gravity.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

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Mark Garcia

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Dragon Go for Saturday Departure; Post-Spacewalk Cleanup Continues

The five astronauts representing the Expedition 66 crew had an off-duty day on Friday while the two cosmonauts continued their post-spacewalk activities. A U.S. resupply ship is also on track to depart the International Space Station on Saturday.

Mission controllers have given the go for the Cargo Dragon, packed with science experiments and station hardware, to undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 10:40 a.m. EST on Saturday. Dragon will then parachute to a splashdown off the coast of Florida early Monday morning for retrieval by SpaceX recovery personnel. NASA TV will cover only the undocking and departure activities live on the NASA app and the agency’s website beginning Saturday at 10:15 a.m.

The four U.S. astronauts and one European astronaut aboard the orbiting lab relaxed today ahead of final cargo packing operations inside the SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle on Saturday. NASA astronaut Kayla Barron along with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer will begin Saturday loading frozen research samples into Dragon. Following that, NASA Flight Engineers Thomas Marshburn and Raja Chari will ensure all the Dragon cargo has been secured for a safe return to Earth before finally closing the hatch.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei will uninstall protein crystal samples, grown on the station and studied for the Advanced Nano Step experiment, then stow them inside the Cargo Dragon. Scientists on the ground will analyze the samples to learn how to develop new materials and drugs in space and the impacts of weightlessness on biochemistry.

Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov serviced their Orlan spacesuits today following Wednesday’s seven-hour and 11-minute spacewalk. Vande Hei joined the pair for a couple of hours in the afternoon disconnecting and stowing spacesuit components. During the excursion, the Russian spacewalkers activated the new Prichal docking module successfully integrating it with the orbiting lab’s Russian segment.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

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Mark Garcia

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