Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Russian and U.S. Spaceship Activities Keep Crew Busy

An unpiloted Russian spacecraft is ready to make a second docking attempt tonight as a U.S. resupply ship is preparing for its departure Tuesday. This follows Sunday night’s relocation of a Soyuz crew ship at the International Space Station.

Three Expedition 60 crewmembers swapped docking ports in their Soyuz MS-13 crew ship late Sunday. Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov, with Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan and Luca Parmitano seated next to him, backed the Soyuz away from the Zvezda service module at 11:35 p.m. EDT on Sunday and pulled their vehicle into the Poisk module just before midnight.

The relocation opens up Zvezda’s docking port, with its fully operable Kurs automated rendezvous system, to receive the uncrewed Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft today at 11:12 p.m. The MS-14 has been safely trailing the station by over 160 miles after its aborted docking attempt Saturday due to a faulty automated rendezvous component on Poisk.

Morgan and fellow NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague are getting the SpaceX Dragon space freighter ready for its release from the Harmony module on Tuesday morning. Ground controllers in Houston will remotely command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release Dragon from its grips Tuesday at 10:42 a.m. It will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California a few hours later for retrieval by SpaceX personnel.

NASA TV is covering all of the spaceship docking and departure activities live. Soyuz MS-14 docking coverage begins tonight at 10:30 p.m. Dragon release coverage begins Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. Dragon splashdown will not be broadcast.

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Mark Garcia

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NASA TV Broadcasting Second Docking Attempt of Russian Spacecraft

Beginning at 10:30 p.m. EDT Monday, NASA Television and the agency’s website will air the arrival and docking to the International Space Station of an uncrewed Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz MS-14  is scheduled to dock to the station’s aft-facing Zvezda module at 11:12 p.m.

It is the spacecraft’s second attempt to dock to the station after cosmonauts aborted its first attempt Saturday at 1:36 a.m. because of a problem on the station’s side of the so-called KURS automated rendezvous system that prevented its automated docking. The Soyuz has been on a safe trajectory above and behind the space station.

To enable the second attempt, three Expedition 60 crew members boarded their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft Sunday night and relocated it from the Zvezda module to the Poisk module, making the Zvezda port available.

The uncrewed Soyuz launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Aug. 21 on a test flight to validate the spacecraft’s compatibility with a revamped Soyuz booster rocket. The booster will be used to transport crews to the International Space Station beginning in spring 2020.

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.

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Mark Garcia

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Crew Relocates Russian Soyuz Spacecraft to Different Port

At 11:59 p.m. EDT, the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft with three Expedition 60 members inside successfully docked to the International Space Station’s Poisk module. The crew of Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and Andrew Morgan of NASA began the relocation maneuver when they undocked from the aft port of the station’s Zvezda module at 11:35 p.m.

Skvortsov flew the spacecraft, backing about 124 feet (38 meters) away from the space station before completing a roll maneuver to take them to the Poisk module for the manual docking.

The move frees the port for an uncrewed Soyuz MS-14 that currently is on a safe trajectory above and behind the space station to execute a second docking attempt Monday night to the Zvezda port. The so-called KURS automated rendezvous system has been tested and is in perfect working order. NASA TV coverage of the docking Monday night will begin at 10:30 p.m. with docking scheduled at 11:12 p.m.

The uncrewed Soyuz launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Aug. 21 on a test flight to validate the spacecraft’s compatibility with a revamped Soyuz booster rocket. The spacecraft will deliver 1,450 pounds of cargo to the Expedition 60 crew.

The last relocation of a Soyuz was in August 2015 when Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos and NASA’s Scott Kelly conducted a similar operation, but in reverse, flying their Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from Poisk to Zvezda.

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.

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Mark Garcia

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Crew Undocks in Russian Soyuz Spacecraft for Port Relocation

At 11:35 p.m. EDT, the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft with three Expedition 60 members inside undocked from the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module. They are beginning a 25-minute journey to relocate their spacecraft to the to the Poisk module.

Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and Andrew Morgan of NASA donned their Russian Sokol launch and entry suits before climbing aboard their Soyuz for the relocation maneuver.

The relocation will accommodate a second rendezvous and docking attempt for an uncrewed Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft on Monday night. The uncrewed Soyuz launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 11:38 p.m. EDT (8:38 a.m. Aug. 22 Baikonur time) on a test flight to validate the spacecraft’s compatibility with a revamped Soyuz booster rocket. Cosmonauts aborted its first attempt to dock on Saturday at 1:36 a.m. because of a problem on the station’s side of the so-called KURS automated rendezvous system that prevented its automated docking.

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.

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Mark Garcia

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Second Docking Attempt for Russian Spacecraft Planned for Monday Night

International Space Station managers and the international partners met on Saturday and approved a plan to allow a second rendezvous and docking attempt for the unpiloted Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft to occur on Monday night. The Soyuz’ initial docking attempt early Saturday was aborted after what Russian officials said was a suspected problem with a component associated with the Kurs automated rendezvous system for the Poisk module docking port.

The Soyuz was commanded to back away from the station after approaching to within 100 meters of Poisk when the vehicle could not achieve a solid telemetry lock to that docking port through the automated rendezvous system. The unpiloted Soyuz is currently orbiting a safe distance from the ISS with all of its systems functioning normally. The six crewmembers on board the station were never in any danger during the initial rendezvous attempt.

Plans now call for the unpiloted Soyuz to execute a second docking attempt Monday night at 10:12 p.m. Central time, 11:12 p.m. Eastern time, but this time to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module. The Kurs system on Zvezda has been checked out and is in perfect working order. NASA TV coverage of the docking Monday night will begin at 9:30 p.m. Central time, 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.

To accommodate the new plan, Expedition 60 crewmembers Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Drew Morgan of NASA will don their Russian Sokol launch and entry suits Sunday night, climb aboard their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft which docked to Zvezda on July 20 and undock for a 25-minute Soyuz relocation maneuver and a manual docking by Soyuz commander Skvortsov to the Poisk module. The suspect Kurs rendezvous unit component for Poisk is not a factor for the relocation maneuver by Skvortsov and his Soyuz crewmates.

NASA TV coverage of the relocation will begin Sunday night at 10 p.m. Central time, 11 p.m. Eastern time. Undocking of the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft from Zvezda is scheduled at 10:34 p.m. Central time, 11:34 p.m. Eastern time with redocking to Poisk scheduled at 10:59 p.m. Central time, 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

It would be the first Soyuz relocation since August 2015 when Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos and NASA’s Scott Kelly conducted a similar operation, but in reverse, flying their Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from Poisk to Zvezda.

The docking of the unpiloted Soyuz Monday night will preserve the robotic release of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft Tuesday morning after a four-week stay at the station. Dragon will be deorbited for a parachute-assisted splashdown several hours later in the Pacific Ocean, bringing home cargo and valuable scientific experiments from the orbital laboratory.

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Mark Garcia

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