Archivo de la etiqueta: International Space Station

Soyuz Docked to Space Station

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos docked to the International Space Station at 9:01 p.m. EDT while both spacecraft were flying about 250 miles over the Pacific Ocean just west of Peru. Expedition 59 officially began at the time of docking.

Aboard the space station, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Expedition 59 Commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency will welcome the new crew members when the hatches between the two spacecraft are opened following standard pressurization and leak checks.

The crew members will spend more than six months conducting about 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development. Seventy-five of the investigations are new and have never been performed in space. Some of the investigations are sponsored by the U.S. National Laboratory on the space station, which Congress designated in 2005 to maximize its use for improving quality of life on Earth.

Highlights of upcoming investigations the crew will support include devices that mimic the structure and function of human organs, free-flying robots, and an instrument to measure Earth’s distribution of carbon dioxide.

Watch the hatch opening and welcome ceremony to follow live on NASA TV and the agency’s website beginning at 10:30 p.m.

For continued coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/. Get space station news, images and features via social media on Instagram at: @iss, ISS on Facebook, and on Twitter @Space_Station and @ISS_Research.

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Norah Moran

Crew Safely in Orbit After Successful Launch

The Soyuz MS-12 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 3:14 p.m. EDT (12:14 a.m. March 15 Kazakhstan time) and has safely reached orbit.  At the time of launch, the station was flying about 250 miles over southern Russia, across the northeast border with Kazakhstan; more than 1,100 statute miles ahead of the Soyuz as it leaves the launch pad.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmoshave begun their six-hour trip to the orbital laboratory where they will live and work for more than six months. The new crew members will dock to the Rassvet module at 9:07 p.m. Expedition 59 will begin officially at the time of docking.

About two hours later, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open and the new residents will be greeted by NASA astronaut Anne McClain, station commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency. The current three-person crew just welcomed the first American commercial crew vehicle as it docked to the station on March 3, amidst a busy schedule of scientific research and operations since arriving in December.

Coverage of the Soyuz docking to the International Space Station will begin on NASA TV’s media channel and the agency’s website beginning at 8:45 p.m. with the spacecraft docking expected at 9:07 p.m.

Coverage of the hatch opening between the Soyuz and the space station will begin at 10:30 p.m.

For continued coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/. Get space station news, images and features via social media on Instagram at: @iss, ISS on Facebook, and on Twitter @Space_Station and @ISS_Research.

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Norah Moran

Watch NASA TV Now to See New Crew Launch at 3:14pm ET

Live launch coverage is underway on NASA Television and the agency’s website for the targeted lift off at 3:14 p.m. EDT (12:14 a.m. March 15 Kazakhstan time) of a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos will begin a six-hour journey to the International Space Station.

The three will join NASA astronaut Anne McClain, station commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency. The crew members will continue important research experiments in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/. Get space station news, images and features via social media on Instagram at: @iss, ISS on Facebook, and on Twitter @Space_Station and @ISS_Research.

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Norah Moran

Expedition 59 Prepares to Launch to Station

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, teams are making final preparations for the launch of NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, to the International Space Station. Their journey to the station will begin with a lift off at 3:14 p.m. EDT (12:14 a.m. March 15 Kazakhstan time). Live launch coverage will begin at 2 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The trio’s arrival will return the orbiting laboratory’s population to six, including three NASA astronauts. This launch will also mark the fourth Expedition crew with two female astronauts. The three will join station commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency. The new crew members will dock to the Rassvet module at 9:07 p.m. Expedition 59 will begin officially at the time of docking.

Hague and Ovchinin are completing a journey that was cut short Oct. 11, when a booster separation problem with their Soyuz rocket’s first stage triggered a launch abort two minutes into the flight. They landed safely a few minutes later, after reaching the fringes of space, and were reassigned to fly again after McClain, Kononenko and Saint-Jacques launched in early December. This will be Ovchinin’s third flight into space, the second for Hague and the first for Koch. Hague, Koch, and McClain are from NASA’s 2013 astronaut class, half of which were women—the highest percentage of female astronaut candidates ever selected for a class.

Below is the crew’s launch timeline in EDT:

Thursday, March 14

EDT              L-Hr/M/Sec    Event

• 6:14:09am    9:00                 Crew wakeup at Cosmonaut Hotel
• 9:14:09am    6:00                 Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel
• 9:29:09am    5:45                 Batteries installed in booster
• 9:59:09am    5:15                  Crew arrives at Site 254
• 10:14:09am   5:00                 Tanking begins
• 10:44:09am  4:30                 Crew suit up
• 11:09:09am   4:05                 Booster loaded with liquid Oxygen
• 11:44:09am   3:30                 Crew meets family members on other side of the glass
• 12:09:09pm  3:05                First and second stage oxygen fueling complete
• 12:14:09pm   3:00                Crew walkout from 254 and boards bus for the launch pad
• 12:19:09pm   2:55                Crew departs for launch pad (Site 1)
• 12:39:09pm   2:35                Crew arrives at launch pad (Site 1)
• 12:49:09pm   2:25               Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
• 1:39:09pm      1:35                Descent module hardware tested
• 1:54:09pm      1:20                Hatch closed; leak checks begin
• 2:00:00pm      1:14:09           NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS
• 2:14:09pm      1:00                Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation
• 2:15:00pm        :59:09             NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities B-roll played)
• 2:29:09pm     :45:00            Pad service structure components lowered
• 2:30:09pm     :44:00            Clamshell gantry service towers retracted
• 2:37:09pm     :37:00             Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
• 2:40:09pm     :34:00            Emergency escape system armed
• 2:59:09pm     :15:00             Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
• 3:04:09pm     :10:00             Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
• 3:07:09pm     :07:00             Pre-launch operations complete
• 3:08:09pm     :06:00            Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
• 3:09:09pm     :05:00            Commander’s controls activated
• 3:09:56pm       :04:13              ISS flies directly over the Baikonur Cosmodrome 
• 3:10:09pm      :04:00            Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
• 3:11:09pm       :03:00            Propellant drainback
• 3:11:26pm       :02:43            Booster propellant tank pressurization
• 3:12:39pm      :01:30             Ground propellant feed terminated
• 3:13:09pm       01:00             Vehicle to internal power
• 3:13:34pm      :00:35             First umbilical tower separates

Auto sequence start

• 3:13:39pm     :00:30            Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
• 3:13:54pm     :00:15             Second umbilical tower separates
• 3:13:57pm     :00:12             Launch command issued

Engine Start Sequence Begins

• 3:13:59pm      :00:10            Engine turbo pumps at flight speed
• 3:14:04pm     :00:05            Engines at maximum thrust
• 3:14:09pm       :00:00            LAUNCH OF SOYUZ MS-12 TO THE ISS
• 3:22:54pm     +8:45               Third stage shutdown; Soyuz orbital insertion

For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/. Get space station news, images and features via social media on Instagram at: @iss, ISS on Facebook, and on Twitter @Space_Station and @ISS_Research.

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Norah Moran

Housekeeping and Maintenance Punctuate Last Full Day of Expedition 58

The last full day of Expedition 58—before the launch, docking and consolidation of crews to become Expedition 59—was mostly spent on housekeeping items for the continued, successful operation of the International Space Station. 

NASA astronaut Anne McClain floated through the Tranquility and Zvezda service modules, deploying acoustic monitors. She paused in the U.S. lab at an EXPRESS rack to install communications gear and perform additional maintenance. David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency also worked with EXPRESS today, moving Space Automated Bioproduct Labs from rack-1 to rack-2. This miniature laboratory within the larger orbiting laboratory supports life science research, hosting microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, algae, fungi, viruses, etc.), small organisms, animal cells, tissue cultures and small plants for evaluation in space.  

Expedition Commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos replaced fuel bottles on the Combustion Integrated Rack, which allows the crew members to conduct fluids and combustion studies in microgravity. 

Today in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, were certified for flight by the Russian state commission and held their final news conference.  

Tomorrow, the soon-to-be station residents will hitch a ride aboard a Soyuz MS-12 for blastoff at 3:14 p.m. EDT on, coincidentally, 3/14. After a relatively speedy six-hour flight, the Soyuz is expected to dock to station’s Rassvet module at 9:07 p.m. Expedition 59 will begin officially at the time of docking. 

The events will unfold live on NASA TV, with launch coverage beginning at 2 p.m. and docking coverage at 8:15 p.m., respectively. After a brief break, tune in at 10:30 p.m. for the hatch opening and welcome, which will return the orbiting laboratory’s population to six—including three NASA astronauts. And, just in time for Women’s History Month, this launch marks the fourth Expedition crew with two female astronauts.  

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

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Catherine Williams