NASA’s Northrop Grumman CRS-24 Mission Targets April 11 Launch Amid Full Station Schedule
NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 7:41 a.m. EDT Saturday, April 11, for the next Cygnus XL and Falcon 9 launch opportunity to resupply the International Space Station. Teams adjusted the Friday, April 10, launch opportunity due to forecasted inclement weather at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Following an April 11 launch, astronauts aboard the space station will use the Canadarm2 to capture the Cygnus XL before the spacecraft is robotically installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading. Capture time is under review and additional details will be shared once available. If needed, the next available launch opportunity is 7:18 a.m., on April 12.
Watch the agency’s launch and arrival coverage on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. Hearing tests, eye checks, and an emergency drill topped the schedule for the Expedition 74 crew aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The orbital residents also worked inside the NanoRacks Biship airlock, updated the inventory management system, and a conducted a cargo craft communications test.
Regularly scheduled medical checkups were on tap for five flight engineers as doctors continuously monitor crew health in space. First up were hearing tests for NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The trio took turns in the quiet environment of the Quest Airlock and logged into specialized computer software, wore headphones, conducted an ear pressure check, and responded to a series of tones.
Afterward, Adenot joined NASA flight engineer Jessica Meir for eye checks inside the Columbus laboratory module. Meir led the biomedical research as crew medical officer by first applying a numbing fluid inside Adenot’s eyes, then tapping the surface of her eye with a small handheld device and finally calculating her internal eye pressure. Doctors seek to counteract the effects of weightlessness which can affect pressure around the eyes and change the shape of the eyeball ultimately affecting vision.
Meir began her shift with Hathaway inside the NanoRacks Bishop airlock attached to the port side of the Tranquility module. Meir and Hathaway removed hardware stowed inside Bishop ahead of an upcoming swap of experiment gear installed outside Bishop on its external platform in the vacuum of space. The NASA duo also staged the ArgUS multi-payload carrier inside Bishop in advance of upcoming science activities. Meir later participated in a relaxation study that promotes calmness, stress reduction, and improved sleep quality aboard a spacecraft. Hathaway measured the airflow inside a temporary sleep station located in Columbus to assure crew comfort and safety.
NASA flight engineer Chris Williams located and identified items designated as lost and found then stowed some of the items for further use, trashed the obsolete items, and updated the orbital lab’s inventory system. Williams later collected water samples for analysis from the Exploration Potable Water Dispenser, a technology demonstration to advance water sanitization methods, reduce microbial growth, and dispense hot water into crew food and drink bags.
Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, started their shift testing ship-to-ship communications between the space station and the Progress 93 resupply ship docked to the Zvezda service module’s aft port. The duo then split up as Kud-Sverchkov tested artificial intelligence tools for crew operations while Mikaev checked the operations of a scientific control and information processing unit.
Fedyaev worked primarily on life support and electronics maintenance throughout the station’s Roscosmos segment. He also wiped down surfaces inside the Nauka science module to inhibit the growth of fungus and protect crew health.
At the end of their shift, all seven space station crew members joined each other and conducted an emergency drill. The orbital septet coordinated with mission controllers from around the world and practiced their roles, responsibilities, and communication procedures necessary for the simulated emergency scenario.
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
