Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

NASA+ Begins Coverage as Soyuz Trio Preps for Departure

NASA’s live departure coverage is underway on NASA+. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner will close the hatch between the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft and the International Space Station about 2:25 p.m. EDT.

The spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m. to begin the journey back to Earth, heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

NASA will provide live undocking coverage at 5:30 p.m. on NASA+.

Spanning 220 days in space, Pettit and his crewmates will have orbited the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission. The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft launched and docked to the station on Sept. 11, 2024.

This was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, where he served as flight engineer for Expedition 71 and 72. He has a career total of 590 days in orbit. Ovchinin completed his fourth flight in space, totaling 595 days, and Vagner has earned an overall total of 416 days in space during two trips to the orbiting laboratory.

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

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: https://www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia

Station Has New Commander; Soyuz Trio Ready for Saturday Departure

The International Space Station has a new commander as three Expedition 72 crew members get ready to return to Earth on Saturday. The orbital residents staying behind will soon welcome a U.S. cargo craft and get ready for their increment’s first spacewalk.

Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) took control of the orbital outpost from Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin during a change of command ceremony on Friday afternoon. Onishi will officially lead the new Expedition 73 mission when Ovchinin undocks from the station’s Rassvet module aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft with NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner at 5:57 p.m. EDT on Saturday. The Earthbound trio will parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 9:20 p.m. the same day (6:20 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, in Kazakhstan) of Pettit’s 70^th birthday. NASA+ will broadcast Saturday’s crew farewell, undocking, and landing activities live beginning at 2 p.m.

Ovchinin and Vagner had one last research session on Friday with assistance from Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov testing the lower body negative pressure suit. The specialized suit from Roscosmos may prevent space-caused head and eye pressure symptoms and help a crew member adjust to Earth’s gravity quicker. Vagner also wrapped up handing over his crew responsibilities to his fellow cosmonauts while Pettit finished cleaning out his crew quarters. Ovchinin will complete packing the Soyuz crew ship with cargo on Saturday before activating the spacecraft’s systems.

A day-and-a-half later, the NASA’s SpaceX 32^nd commercial resupply mission will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying about 6,700 pounds of new science experiments and crew supplies for the Expedition 73 crew. Dragon will launch at 4:15 a.m. EDT on Monday and dock at 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday to the Harmony module’s space-facing port for a month long cargo mission. Onishi and NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim will be on duty Tuesday monitoring Dragon’s automated arrival and docking. NASA+ will provide live launch and docking coverage of Dragon’s 32^nd cargo mission to the orbiting laboratory.

NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers are getting ready for the first spacewalk of Expedition 73 planned for May 1. The duo spent Friday organizing the Quest airlock where their spacewalk will begin and checking their spacesuits’ components and systems. Next, the duo verified the suits’ helmets, boots, and arm and leg assemblies fittings. McClain and Ayers will spend six-and-a-half hours in the vacuum of space preparing the station for a new rollout solar array and relocating an antenna that communicates with commercial spacecraft.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky have finished transitioning their new crew responsibilities from their departing crewmates Vagner and Ovchinin. Ryzhikov also spent Friday on life science activities collecting samples of mold and bacteria for analysis while Zubritsky set up and activated Earth observation gear.

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

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: https://www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia

Crew Swaps Command on Friday Before Soyuz Departure and Dragon Launch

Expedition 72 will come to an end and segue into the Expedition 73 mission after three veteran crewmembers depart the International Space Station on Saturday. Meanwhile, the orbital residents stayed busy on Thursday with cargo mission preparations, spacesuit checks, and microgravity research.

Station Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos will hand over command of the orbital laboratory to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi at 2:40 p.m. EDT on Friday. Afterward, Ovchinin will turn his attention to returning to Earth with Flight Engineers Don Pettit of NASA and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos after 220 days in space. The trio will undock in their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft from the Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m. EDT on Saturday ending Expedition 72 then parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 8:20 p.m. the same day (6:20 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, in Kazakhstan) on Pettit’s 70^th birthday. NASA+ will broadcast Saturday’s crew farewell, undocking, and landing activities live beginning at 2 p.m.

Onishi will stay onboard the space station leading Expedition 73 and orbiting Earth until July. Remaining with Onishi will be NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, and Jonny Kim, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky, and Kirill Pskov.

Onishi and Kim will be on duty early next week monitoring the automated approach and rendezvous of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft carrying about 6,700 pounds of science and supplies for the orbital residents. Dragon will launch at 4:15 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 21, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and dock at 8:20 a.m. the following day to the Harmony module’s space-facing port for a month long cargo mission. The duo continued training on Thursday for Dragon’s arrival reviewing spacecraft monitoring techniques on a computer.

Kim began his Thursday shift studying how McClain‘s sense of balance is adapting to microgravity as she wore virtual reality goggles for the CIPHER human research investigation. Afterward, Kim examined the retina, optic nerve, and cornea of his crew mates Ayers and Onishi using medical imaging hardware.

McClain and Ayers are due to exit the orbital outpost on May 1 for a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. The duo will prepare the port side truss structure for a new rollout solar array and relocate an antenna that communicates with commercial spacecraft at the station. Pettit spent Thursday preparing their spacesuits, cleaning the cooling loops, and inspecting suit components. Later, Kim and Onishi practiced installing jetpacks on the spacesuits that would be used to maneuver back to safety in the unlikely event a spacewalker became untethered from the space station.

Ryzhikov and Zubritsky are settling in for a seven-and-a-half-month space research mission and beginning to pick up Ovchinin’s and Vagner’s crew responsibilities. The cosmonauts also attached sensors to themselves and studied how a long duration spaceflight affects the respiratory system. Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov wrapped up a research session with the departing Vagner as they tested the lower body negative pressure suit that may help a crew member returning to Earth adjust quicker to gravity.

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

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: https://www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia

Crew Departure, Dragon Mission, and Spacewalk Preps Fill Crew’s Day

Three International Space Station residents will return to Earth this weekend just a couple of days before the expected arrival of the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission. Soon after that, two NASA astronauts will exit the orbital outpost for a solar array maintenance spacewalk.

Veteran orbital residents Don Pettit of NASA and Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, both from Roscosmos, are winding down a seven-month space research mission that began on Sept. 11, 2024. The Earthbound crewmates are scheduled to undock from the station’s Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m. EDT on Saturday inside their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft ending the Expedition 72 mission. They will orbit Earth twice before firing the Soyuz’ braking engines, descend into the atmosphere, then parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 8:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, in Kazakhstan).

The trio from NASA and Roscosmos spent the first half of Wednesday reviewing the steps they will perform to ready the Soyuz spacecraft for undocking, as well as the procedures they will use once they depart the station and head back to Earth. Pettit then continued packing up his personal gear for stowage aboard the Soyuz MS-26. Ovchinin and Vagner spent the last of half of their shift handing off their mission responsibilities to the orbiting lab’s two newest cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky who arrived at the station on April 8.

Next, the new Expedition 73 crew will turn its attention to the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft that will launch at 4:15 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 21, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Dragon will dock to the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 8:20 a.m. the following day delivering about 6,700 pounds of new science experiments and station supplies. Flight Engineers Jonny Kim of NASA and Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) trained on Wednesday for the spacecraft’s arrival and will be on duty next week monitoring Dragon’s automated approach and docking.

Just over a week after Dragon’s arrival, NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will put on their spacesuits and exit the orbiting lab’s Quest airlock for a six-and-half-hour spacewalk on May 1. First, the duo will install a modification kit to prepare the port side truss structure for a new rollout solar array. Next, they will relocate an antenna that communicates with approaching and departing commercial crew and cargo spacecraft. The astronauts spent Wednesday familiarizing themselves with the spacewalking tools and parts they will use and organizing them inside Quest.

Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov spent the first portion of his day collecting air samples from the Zvezda, Zarya, and Nauka modules for analysis. Later, he focused on orbital plumbing duties transferring water between the station’s U.S. and Roscosmos segments.

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

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: https://www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia

Astronauts Prep for May Spacewalk Amid Human Research and Crew Departure

Two NASA astronauts are preparing their spacesuits for a spacewalk planned for the beginning of May to ready the International Space Station for a new rollout solar array. In the meantime, the rest of the Expedition 72 crew on Tuesday kept up its ongoing vision, respiratory, and circulatory system research ahead of this weekend’s crew departure.

Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers have been tapped by mission managers to exit the orbital outpost’s Quest airlock on May 1 for a spacewalk and work six-and-half hours in the vacuum of space. The NASA duo will install a modification kit on the port side of the station’s truss structure enabling the future installation of the orbiting lab’s seventh rollout solar array. They will also relocate an antenna that communicates with approaching and departing commercial crew and cargo spacecraft. McClain will be going on her third spacewalk and Ayers will be conducting her first spacewalk.

McClain and Ayers spent Tuesday inside Quest adjusting the spacesuits ensuring the helmets, boots, and arm and leg assemblies they will wear fit together. Next, the pair powered up and checked the functionality of suit components such as  glove heaters, data recorders, cameras, and helmet lights. Finally, McClain and Ayers began collecting and configuring the tools they will use during the upcoming maintenance spacewalk.

Ayers earlier assisted NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim during the CIPHER investigation on Tuesday checking his blood pressure and performing an ultrasound scan. Kim wore electrodes as Ayers measured his blood pressure and scanned his chest using the Ultrasound 2 device. Doctors will use the data to determine if longer spaceflights lead to changes in vascular structure and function that may affect an astronaut’s eyes and vision. Ayers, Onishi, and McClain later took a vision test reading characters off a standard eye chart.

Kim also took turns with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and trained for the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft next week. The duo reviewed the different approach and rendezvous profiles Dragon may use based on the station’s position in space and the techniques used to monitor the spacecraft before it docks to the orbital outpost. Dragon is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 4:15 a.m. on Monday, April 21, and dock to the station’s space-facing port on the Harmony module at 8:20 a.m. the next day.

Roscosmos Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexander Zubritsky continued their human research studies first measuring their exhalation rate for a respiratory study then observing how blood flows back and forth from the head to the limbs. Doctors will use the insights to understand how microgravity affects the human body and learn how to keep crews healthy on long duration spaceflights. Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov started Tuesday with orbital plumbing work then checked the station’s Roscosmos segment for stowage space and inspected batteries and electronics components.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner continue preparing for their return to Earth planned for 9:20 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19 (6:20 a.m. on Sunday, May 20, Kazakh time). The trio is cleaning crew quarters, packing personal items, and handing over responsibilities to the crewmates staying behind. Ovchinin will also turn his station command over to Onishi the day before he leaves. Expedition 72 will end and Expedition 73 will officially begin when Pettit, Ovchinin, and Vagner undock from the Rassvet module inside the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship at 5:57 p.m. on Saturday.

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

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: https://www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia