Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

NASA SpaceX Crew-8 Flight Readiness Review Concludes, Teleconference to Follow

The Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station has concluded, and teams are proceeding toward a planned liftoff at 12:04 a.m. EST on Friday, March 1, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 7:30 p.m. EST to discuss the outcome of the review. Listen live on NASA’s website.

Participants in the teleconference are:

• Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
• Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy
• Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
• Emily Nelson, chief flight director, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
• William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX
• Eric van der Wal, Houston office team leader, ESA (European Space Agency)
• Takayoshi Nishikawa, director, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Houston Office

Later tonight, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, will roll out to the pad at Launch Complex 39A. On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the crew will participate in a rehearsal of launch day activities ahead of an integrated static fire test in preparation for liftoff.

NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist, will fly to the International Space Station aboard the Dragon spacecraft. As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, Crew-8 marks the ninth human spaceflight mission on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and the eighth crew rotation mission to the space station since 2020.

Details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found by following the Crew-8 blog, the commercial crew blog, X, and Facebook.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jason Costa

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Astronauts Touch Down at Florida Spaceport

After departing via Gulfstream jet aircraft from Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin just landed at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will begin final preparations for liftoff to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission.

Crew-8 astronauts will be greeted shortly by NASA leaders for a brief welcome ceremony and media event, scheduled for about 2 p.m. EST with the following participants:

• Jennifer Kunz, associate director, NASA Kennedy
• Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager, Commercial Crew Program
• NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick
• NASA astronaut Michael Barratt
• NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps
• Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin

The event is scheduled to be streamed live on Kennedy’s YouTube, X, and Facebook accounts.

Crew-8 astronauts are scheduled to launch to the space station at 12:04 a.m. EST on Friday, March 1, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP). The crew will spend several months living and working aboard the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth in the fall of 2024.

This is the eighth crew rotation flight and the ninth human spaceflight mission on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station for CCP. Details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found by following the Crew-8 blog, the commercial crew blog, X, and Facebook.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jason Costa

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Astronauts Depart Houston for Florida

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 crew members are en route to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin final launch preparations.

Crew-8 crewmates NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist, departed by plane from Ellington Field near the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for the short flight to the Florida spaceport. The crew is expected to arrive at Kennedy’s Launch and Landing Facility this afternoon.

Crew-8 astronauts will be greeted upon their arrival by leaders from NASA for a brief welcome ceremony targeted for approximately 2 p.m. EST. The event is scheduled to stream live, if weather permits, on Kennedy’s YouTube, X, and Facebook accounts.

Meanwhile, NASA, SpaceX, and international partner representatives have gathered at Kennedy to participate in the agency’s Flight Readiness Review, which focuses on the preparedness of SpaceX’s crew transportation system, the space station, and its international partners to support the launch of Crew-8 and return of Crew-7. A teleconference is planned for later today, approximately one hour after the conclusion of the review. Be sure to follow along on our blog; additional details will be provided as the day progresses.

SpaceX Crew-8 is targeted to launch at 12:04 a.m. EST on Friday, March 1, to the International Space Station.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jason Costa

Expedition 70 Relaxes as SpaceX Crew-8 Preps for Launch

The seven-member Expedition 70 crew relaxed on Friday following a busy week of space research and cargo transfers beginning a three-day weekend. The orbital septet will go into the final days of February continuing its microgravity science while also preparing to welcome four new Commercial Crew members to the International Space Station.

On Sunday, Feb. 25, four SpaceX Crew-8 members will arrive at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for a five-day quarantine period. The Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft atop will also roll out to its launch pad at KSC’s Launch Complex 39A the same day. NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are in final preparations for their lift off aboard Dragon targeted for 12:04 a.m. EDT on Friday, March 1. The quartet will rendezvous with the orbital outpost just over a day later and dock to the Harmony module’s forward port on Saturday, March 2.

The four Dragon crewmates will be greeted by the station residents, call down to Earth for a welcoming ceremony with family and mission officials, then participate in a mandatory onboard safety briefing. The commercial quartet will become Expedition 70-71 crew members and remain in space until mid-summer.

During a six-month stay aboard the orbital lab, the Crew-8 foursome will research a multitude of space phenomena to improve life for humans living on and off the Earth. The quartet will explore the mechanisms behind neurological disorders, ways to prevent fluid shifts that occur in astronauts living in space, how microgravity affects plant growth, and how algae may improve spacecraft life support systems.

About a week later, four SpaceX Crew-7 crew members who have been aboard the space station since Aug. 27, 2023, will undock from the Harmony’s space-facing port aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft. Astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, and Satoshi Furukawa along with cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov are planned to take a day’s ride orbiting Earth inside Endurance before splashing down off the coast of Florida ending a six-and-a-half-month mission in space.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

Crew Explores Heart Health and Tries On “Anti-Gravity” Suit

Blood tests, cardiac research, and scientific maintenance were the prime duties aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The Expedition 70 crew also kept up its work on a variety of life support gear and exercise hardware throughout the day.

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara kicked off the day studying accelerated aging-like symptoms seen in astronauts’ arteries after a long-duration mission. The duo collected and processed blood samples for the Vascular Aging investigation to understand these space-caused mechanisms and physiological changes. Observations from the long-running experiment may help doctors improve cardiovascular health in space, as well as on Earth.

ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen started his day exploring how virtual reality movies may improve crew morale as spaceflight missions last longer and travel farther away from Earth. Mogensen then spent the afternoon replacing components inside a carbon dioxide removal device. Meanwhile, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa installed external science hardware inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock. Afterward, he joined Moghbeli and Mogensen and tried on a specialized suit that may help maintain an astronaut’s heart rate and blood pressure while adjusting to gravity shortly after returning to Earth.

The orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts from Roscosmos had a light duty day but did find time for science and exercise. Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub partnered together during the morning for a cardiac study observing heart performance in weightlessness. Kononenko photographed Chub as he conducted the research while attached to sensors measuring his heart activity.

Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov spent his morning on orbital plumbing before joining his astronaut crewmates for the “anti-gravity” suit fit check. Borisov along with Moghbeli, Mogensen, and Furukawa are due to return to Earth in March aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft.

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 weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia