Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

Astronauts Complete Spacewalk, Dragon Launch Moves to Nov. 7

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara concluded their spacewalk today at 2:47 p.m. EST after 6 hours and 42 minutes.

Moghbeli and O’Hara were able to complete one of the spacewalk’s two major objectives, replacing one of the 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the port solar alpha rotary joint, which allows the arrays to track the Sun and generate electricity to power the station. Mission Control told the station crew that the solar array is functioning well after the bearing replacement. Spacewalkers also removed a handling bar fixture to prepare for future installation of a roll-out solar array and properly configured a cable that was previously interfering with an external camera.

The astronauts had planned to remove and stow a communications electronics box called the Radio Frequency Group, but there was not enough time during the spacewalk to complete the work. The duo lifted some multilayer insulation to make a better assessment of how to approach the job before replacing the insulation and deferring the task to a future spacewalk.

During the activity, one tool bag was inadvertently lost. Flight controllers spotted the tool bag using external station cameras. The tools were not needed for the remainder of the spacewalk. Mission Control analyzed the bag’s trajectory and determined that risk of recontacting the station is low and that the onboard crew and space station are safe with no action required.

Moghbeli and O’Hara are in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 9:16 p.m. EST Tuesday, Nov. 7, for launch of the company’s 29th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The additional time allows for completion of final prelaunch processing ahead of liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and cargo Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA Television coverage of launch will begin at 8:45 p.m. The spacecraft, which is carrying approximately 6,500 pounds of supplies, research, and hardware will arrive at the space station shortly before 12 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, with coverage beginning at 10:15 a.m.

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.

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Mark Garcia

Two Spacewalkers Exit Station for Communications, Solar Array Work

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara began a spacewalk at 8:05 a.m. EDT today to conduct science research and station maintenance.

Moghbeli, designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1), is wearing a suit with red stripes. O’Hara, designated extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2), is in an unmarked suit. Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

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/

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Mark Garcia

Astronauts Prep for Maintenance Spacewalk Today on NASA TV

NASA Television coverage of today’s spacewalk with NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara is now underway and is also available on the NASA app, the space station blog and the agency’s website.

The crew members of Expedition 70 are preparing to exit the International Space Station‘s Quest airlock for a spacewalk expected to begin about 8:05 a.m. EDT and last approximately six-and-a-half hours.

Moghbeli and O’Hara will exit the station’s Quest airlock to remove an electronics box called the Radio Frequency Group from the station’s truss that was temporarily stowed after a faulty communications antenna was replaced in Dec. 2021. They also will replace one of 12 trundle bearing assemblies on a solar alpha rotary joint. The bearings enable the station’s solar arrays to rotate to track the Sun as the station orbits the Earth to collect and store electricity for power generation for station systems.

Moghbeli will serve as extravehicular activity (EVA) crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. O’Hara will serve as extravehicular crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. U.S. EVA 89 will be the first spacewalk for both crew members.

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/

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Mark Garcia

Astronauts are Go for Wednesday’s Spacewalk

Final preparations are underway as the Expedition 70 crew gets ready for a maintenance spacewalk on Wednesday. Meanwhile, human research and a manufacturing study continued aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday.

Mission managers have given the go for NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara to conduct a near seven-hour spacewalk beginning at 8:05 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The duo will remove radio communications gear and swap hardware that enables the orbiting lab’s solar arrays to track the Sun. NASA TV will begin its spacewalk coverage at 6:30 a.m. on the agency’s app and website.

The duo was joined today by Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration) for the daylong spacewalk preparations. Moghbeli and O’Hara kicked off the day with standard medical exams as Mogensen assisted the pair during the temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory checks. Furukawa gathered with the three astronauts reviewing the spacewalk procedures and calling down to ground specialists for a final readiness conference.

Moghbeli and O’Hara also readied their tools and spacesuits inside the Quest airlock where they will begin tomorrow’s spacewalk. This will be the first spacewalk for both astronauts and the 12^th at the space station this year.

The space station’s three cosmonauts stayed focused on their daily schedule of science and maintenance in the Roscosmos segment of the station. The trio also finalized their clean up tasks following last Wednesday’s spacewalk.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko attached sensors to himself in the morning for a 24-hour session measuring his cardiac and blood pressure activity. Afterward, he swapped samples inside a 3D printer for a study exploring space manufacturing techniques. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub opened the hatch between the Poisk module and Progress 84 cargo craft and stowed spacewalk tools he and Kononenko used last week. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov handed over radiation detectors the astronauts will wear on their spacesuits on Wednesday then spent the rest of the day on life support and maintenance tasks.

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/

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Mark Garcia

Spacesuits, Science, and Cargo Ops Kick Off Week

Monday was a busy day for the seven Expedition 70 crew members packed with spacesuit work, microgravity research, and cargo operations. Two astronauts are also due to exit the International Space Station on Wednesday for a maintenance spacewalk.

Two astronauts and a cosmonaut joined each other on Monday afternoon practicing powering up spacesuits and suiting up their spacewalking crewmates inside the Quest airlock. The trio of flight engineers, including Jasmin Moghbeli from NASA, Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Nikolai Chub from Roscosmos, activated suit life support and communications components, checked water and oxygen levels, then performed a suit fit check.

Moghbeli and NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara are scheduled to start a spacewalk on Wednesday at 8:05 a.m. EDT for about seven hours of communications and solar array work. The duo will remove an electronics box called the Radio Frequency Group that was part of a communications antenna system. They also will replace one of 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the station’s port solar alpha rotary joint. The bearings enable the station’s solar arrays to track the Sun.

O’Hara took a day off from spacewalk preparations on Monday and focused on space botany and cargo tasks. She first replaced components inside the Plant Habitat facility to prepare for an experiment investigating how tomato plants defend against disease in the weightless environment. Next, she swapped cargo in and out of the Cygnus space freighter. She finally cleaned up cardiac and neuron cell research hardware to make space for an upcoming SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.

ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen worked throughout Monday staging gear that will soon be packed inside the visiting Dragon cargo spacecraft. He also readied hardware that will be used during Wednesday’s spacewalk. At the end of the day, he joined Furukawa and practiced Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers on a computer to support the spacewalkers.

Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko began his day wearing a helmet packed with sensors practicing piloting techniques crew members might use on future planetary missions. Afterward, he worked on Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo craft maintenance then practiced a medical emergency with O’Hara and Chub. Chub also worked on a 3D printing experiment testing manufacturing in space to reduce dependency on supplies from Earth.

First-time space flyer and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov spent an hour on an Earth photography session during the morning. He would then spend the rest of the day on a variety of life support maintenance tasks throughout the station’s Roscosmos segment.

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/

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Mark Garcia