Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

SpaceX Dragon Lifts Off for Thursday Cargo Delivery

At 6:33 a.m. EDT, more than 6,300 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo launched to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of the company’s 35th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

The spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. About nine minutes after launch, Dragon separated from the rocket’s second stage, opened its nosecone, and began a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station.

Dragon is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting outpost at approximately 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15. NASA will provide live rendezvous and docking coverage beginning at 9:15 a.m. across a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

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

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Mark A. Garcia

SpaceX Dragon Counts Down to Launch for Station Resupply Mission

NASA is streaming live coverage as it prepares for the launch of the 35th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for the agency. Watch online at:  

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Dragon will dock autonomously with the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15. NASA’s live rendezvous and docking coverage begins at 9:15 a.m.

Aboard Dragon is the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays. The arrays will augment the orbiting laboratory’s power system and increase available electricity for research, operations, and the station’s safe and controlled deorbit. Astronauts will install the arrays during a series of spacewalks planned for later this fall.

Dragon also is delivering several new experiments, including hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity that could help restore vision for patients on Earth and 3D heart tissue models to advance large-scale drug testing on future space missions. Dragon also will carry materials to study how a new type of glass is formed in microgravity, and brain organoids that could uncover potential treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Cygnus XL Cargo Spacecraft Released from Station by Canadarm2

At 12:44 p.m. EDT, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm after it detached from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the space station was flying about 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean.

Cygnus XL successfully departed the orbiting laboratory nearly six months after arriving with about 11,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo for NASA and its international partners.

Mission controllers will command the spacecraft to deorbit Monday, Oct. 12, carrying several thousand pounds of disposal items and other unneeded cargo into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will harmlessly burn up during re-entry. NASA will not provide coverage of the deorbit. 

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Cygnus XL Cargo Spacecraft Departing Station Soon on NASA+

NASA is streaming live coverage of Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Resupply Services-24 mission departure from the International Space Station. Watch online at:  

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Ground controllers commanded the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the Cygnus XL spacecraft from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and maneuver it into position for release at approximately 12:43 p.m. EDT. NASA astronaut Luke Delaney is monitoring the operation aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Loaded with thousands of pounds of disposal items and other unneeded cargo, Cygnus XL will deorbit Sunday, Oct. 11, and make a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will safely burn up. NASA will not provide coverage of the deorbit.

The resupply spacecraft launched April 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Dragon Splashes Down at 11:34 a.m. EDT

At 11:34 a.m. EDT (8:34 a.m. PDT), the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev splashed down off the coast of Los Angeles, California.

Teams aboard the recovery ship, including two fast boats, are securing the SpaceX Dragon and ensuring the spacecraft is safe for the recovery effort. As the fast boat teams complete their work, the recovery ship will move into position to hoist Dragon onto the main deck with the astronauts inside. Once on the main deck, the crew will exit the spacecraft.  

This completes 237 days at the International Space Station for the four-person crew. Meir has logged 440 total days in space, placing her in NASA’s Top 10 for cumulative days in space. The Crew-12 mission was the first time Hathaway and Adenot had been to space, while it was the second time for Fedyaev. The crew also conducted four spacewalks during their nearly eight-month mission.

NASA will host a post-splashdown media teleconference at 1:15 p.m. EDT to cover return, as well as the launch of the agency’s next cargo resupply mission for the microgravity laboratory with the following participants:

• Bill Spetch, deputy manager of Commercial, NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program
• Dr. Liz Warren, deputy chief scientist, NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program
• Lee Echerd, senior mission manager, Customer Operations and Integration, SpaceX
• Andreas Mogensen, leader, Human Exploration Group, ESA

NASA’s live coverage is streamed through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:

www.nasa.gov/live

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Elyna Niles-Carnes