Progress Resupply Cargo Craft Launching Live on NASA TV
The Progress 86 resupply ship is pictured approaching the space station for a docking on Dec. 3, 2023.
NASA’s live launch coverage is underway on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
The unpiloted Progress 88 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 5:43 a.m. EDT (2:43 p.m. Baikonur time) May 30, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Roscosmos spacecraft will liftoff carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 71 crew aboard the International Space Station.
After a two-day in-orbit journey to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock to the space-facing port of orbiting laboratory’s Poisk module at 7:47 a.m. Saturday, June 1. NASA coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 7 a.m. on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
NASA, Mission Partners ‘Go’ for Crew Flight Test Launch
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrive back at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. The first launch attempt on May 6 was scrubbed. As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:25 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 1. Photo credit: NASA/Cory S. Huston
NASA and Boeing teams polled “go” to proceed with plans to launch the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station at 12:25 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 1. During a Delta-Agency Flight Test Readiness Review Wednesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, leaders from NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) verified launch readiness, including all systems, facilities, and teams supporting the test flight.
A backup launch opportunity is available on Sunday, June 2, with additional launch windows on Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Kennedy on May 28, and will remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building until Saturday’s launch. The crew previously quarantined in Houston while mission teams worked to resolve various items with the rocket and spacecraft since scrubbing an initial launch attempt on May 6.
Next up, NASA leaders, along with Boeing and ULA partners, will hold a prelaunch news conference at 1 p.m. EDT Friday, May 31, at Kennedy’s press auditorium.
Liftoff of the Atlas V rocket and Starliner spacecraft will occur from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Crew Flight Test will send Wilmore and Williams to the orbiting laboratory for about a week before returning to Earth aboard the reusable crew capsule, which will make a parachute- and- airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.
Spacewalk Preps, Science Hardware Work Top Wednesday’s Schedule
Astronaut Mike Barratt reads maintenance procedures on a computer tablet as he works on a pair of spacesuits inside the Quest airlock.
Spacewalk preparations and science hardware maintenance topped the Expedition 71 crew’s schedule on Wednesday. Human research and 3D printing rounded out the itinerary aboard the International Space Station.
Three spacewalks are planned for the month of June when a pair of astronauts not yet named will exit the orbital outpost to replace and repair hardware and search for microbes on the orbital outpost. NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps spent a few hours on Wednesday reviewing standard spacewalk procedures such as suiting up, exiting and entering the Quest airlock, safety, and communications. Afterward, Dyson went on and configured Quest and readied a spacesuit for spacewalk operations. NASA will announce details of the upcoming spacewalks soon in a media advisory and a televised news conference.
Science hardware is constantly running aboard the space station and regularly needs monitoring and maintenance to ensure effective microgravity research. Dominick, Barratt, and Epps split their time throughout the day in the Destiny and Kibo laboratories servicing physics and botany gear.
Dominick began the science work by first swapping samples inside the Materials Science Laboratory, a research furnace that exposes materials such as metals, alloys, polymers, and more to high temperatures for physics research. Epps replaced a carbon dioxide bottle and checked for pressure leaks on the Advanced Plant Habitat that has grown a variety of crops for several years including lettuce and tomatoes for research and consumption. Next, Barratt installed experiment samples and replaced hardware inside the Combustion Integrated Rack to support an experiment exploring fire safety in space.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub finished a 24-hour heart and blood pressure monitoring session for a space cardiac investigation. Chub then wore a sensor-packed cap and studied futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques on a computer that may inform future planetary missions.
Commander Oleg Kononenko began his 24-hour cardio-monitoring session attaching sensors to himself measuring his heart rate and blood pressure. The veteran cosmonaut and five-time station visitor then activated a 3D printer and tested the on-demand manufacturing of tools in weightlessness.
Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin spent his day on life support duties starting with filling up Roscosmos’ Elektron oxygen generator with water. Next, the first-time space flyer spent the afternoon in the Nauka science module replacing orbital plumbing components.
Cargo Ship Departs, Two Rockets Near Launch During Busy Day on Station
May 28, 2024: International Space Station Configuration. Four spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter, the Soyuz MS-25 crew ship, and the Progress 87 resupply ship.
A cargo ship departed the International Space Station on Tuesday leaving four spacecraft parked at the orbital lab. Meanwhile, as the Expedition 71 crew keeps up its advanced microgravity research two more spaceships are counting down to their missions to the orbital outpost in less than a week.
A trash-loaded Progress 86 cargo craft undocked from the space station’s Poisk module at 4:39 a.m. EDT on Tuesday. The Roscosmos resupply ship ended its six-month stay in space a few hours later when it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere for a safe, but fiery demise above the Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, two rockets are gearing up to launch more cargo and a new crew to the orbiting outpost by the end of the week. First, more than three tons of food, fuel, and supplies are scheduled to lift off aboard the Progress 88 spacecraft at 5:43 a.m. on Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The resupply ship from Roscosmos will then orbit Earth for two days before its automated docking to Poisk at 7:47 a.m. on Saturday.
Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub trained on Tuesday for the arrival of the Progress 88. The duo practiced for the unlikely possibility of remotely controlling the spacecraft with the space station’s telerobotically operated rendezvous unit, or TORU. The device, located in the Zvezda service module, can send commands to control approaching Roscosmos’ spaceships and be used by cosmonauts to manually guide the vehicles to a docking if necessary.
Meanwhile, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are preparing to depart Houston for Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of Boeing’s Crew Flight Test launch to the International Space Station. The experienced space duo is targeted to launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft atop an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance at 12:25 p.m. on Saturday. They will take a daylong trip around the planet before docking to the Harmony module’s forward port at 1:50 p.m. on Sunday.
NASA TV will broadcast both missions live on the NASA+ streaming service via the web or the NASA app. Launch and docking coverage also will air live on NASA Television, YouTube, and on the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
Back in space, NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson spent her day inspecting a treadmill and finalizing spacesuit work. She took turns with fellow NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps checking and cleaning components on the Tranquility module’s treadmill and photographing the condition of the exercise device for analysis. Next, Dyson joined NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick in the Quest airlock and finished cleaning cooling loops inside a pair of spacesuits. Those suits are being readied for a trio of maintenance and science spacewalks planned for June.
NASA astronaut Mike Barratt spent most of his day supporting life science helping doctors understand how weightlessness affects biology. He started his day in the Kibo laboratory module configuring components on biology habitat hardware then installing the advanced gear on an artificial gravity generating incubator. Afterward, he participated in a vision test using a standard eye chart along with Dominick and Epps.
In the Roscosmos segment of the station, Kononenko and Chub worked on a pair of different experiments before their Progress 88 training session. Kononenko explored futuristic piloting techniques on a computer as Chub attached sensors to himself monitoring his heart activity and blood pressure. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin started his day collecting station air samples for analysis before spending the rest of his shift on life support maintenance tasks.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft at launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA/Joel Kowsky
Managers from NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) hosted a media teleconference to discuss ongoing work ahead of sending NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test.
The media event provided an update on a valve ULA replaced on the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket, as well as a small helium leak in the spacecraft’s service module, and a propulsion system assessment to understand potential helium system impacts on some Starliner return scenarios.
Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner on an Atlas V rocket. The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.
The crew remains in quarantine in preparation for the launch. NASA, Boeing, and ULA also will participate in a Delta-Agency Flight Test Readiness Review on Wednesday, May 29, to evaluate the work performed since the last launch attempt on May 6.
Liftoff is scheduled for 12:25 p.m. Saturday, June 1, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After successful completion of the flight test, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station.
