Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Saying Farewell, Closing Dragon Hatch Soon

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will close the hatch at approximately 6:20 a.m. EDT between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station. 

The spacecraft will autonomously undock from the station at 8:05 a.m. as the crew begins its roughly 27-hour journey home. NASA will provide live undocking coverage beginning at 7:45 a.m. 

NASA and SpaceX are targeting splashdown at about 11:34 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, off the coast of California. NASA will provide coverage of deorbit burn, entry, and splashdown starting at 10:20 a.m. 

Crew-12 launched at 5:15 a.m. EST Feb. 13 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The crew’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost at 3:15 p.m. the following day. This was the second mission for Meir and Fedyaev and the first for Hathaway and Adenot.

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

Crew-12 Ready to Depart as New Residents Begin Advanced Health Research

Four Expedition 75 crew members are in their final full day aboard the International Space Station as they prepare to undock aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and return to Earth. Their departure will leave seven residents aboard the orbital outpost to continue advanced space research and lab maintenance.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway will respectively command and pilot Dragon when it undocks from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 8:05 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. Mission specialists Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos will ride back to Earth with the NASA duo for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 11:34 a.m. on Thursday where NASA and SpaceX support personnel will retrieve Dragon and greet the crew. Their return to Earth will represent the completion of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission after 237 days in space.

The homebound quartet has finalized packing Dragon with personal items, cargo, and scientific samples that began a couple of weeks ago. The returning crew also prepared drink bags combined with salt tablets that they will consume before reentering Earth’s atmosphere. Fluid loading is a part of every crew’s return to Earth and helps the body adjust to gravity after a long duration spaceflight.

NASA+ will begin its live coverage of Crew-12’s return at 6 a.m. as the foursome enters Dragon and closes its hatch at around 6:20 a.m. NASA+ will resume undocking coverage at 7:45 a.m. Finally, splashdown coverage begins at 10:20 a.m. on Thursday.

The station’s four newest crewmates, who arrived at the station on Oct. 1 as NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 members, have begun their research duties to advance health on and off the Earth. They will live and work aboard the orbital outpost until spring 2027.

NASA flight engineer Jessica Watkins collected, processed, and analyzed her blood samples to study the risk of space-caused blood clots on Tuesday. NASA flight engineer Luke Delaney logged his sleep patterns, collected a saliva sample, then configured a smart watch to measure his health data for the RelaxPro investigation. Flight engineer Josh Kutryk of CSA (Canadian Space Agency) had his veins scanned by Adenot who operated the Ultrasound 3 device. Finally, Roscosmos flight engineer Sergey Teteryatnikov wore an acoustic sensor around his neck and recorded his breathing rate for a respiratory study.

NASA flight engineer Anil Menon and station commander Pyotr Dubrov and flight engineer Anna Kikina, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, began their mission on July 14 and will also stay in space until spring. Menon wore a sensor-packed vest and headband that measured his heart and breathing rate as he pedaled on the Destiny laboratory module’s exercise cycle. Dubrov and Kikina set up hardware to test a special body-worn control device to simulate manipulating robots for the Teledroid investigation.

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

Expedition 75 Welcomes Crew-13 and Preps for Crew-12 Departure

Expedition 75 is in the middle of a crew swap aboard the International Space Station as four new crew members get used to life in microgravity and another quartet prepares for its return to Earth. The 11 crew members have been busy packing and unpacking the two SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost’s Harmony module and preparing for upcoming cargo mission activities.

New Expedition 75 crew members Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney of NASA, Josh Kutryk of CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and Sergey Teteryatnikov of Roscosmos have been living and working on the space station since Thursday, Oct. 1. They began their mission as NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 after launching aboard a SpaceX Dragon and docking to Harmony’s forward port on the orbital outpost the same day. The four crewmates have been unpacking Dragon and familiarizing themselves with space station systems as they begin a six-month space research mission.

Now, the SpaceX Crew-12 quartet, which has been aboard the orbital outpost since Feb. 14, is packing up for its departure scheduled for 8:05 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 7. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway will respectively command and pilot Dragon alongside mission specialists Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos. The foursome will undock from Harmony’s space-facing port then orbit Earth for just over a day inside Dragon. Crew-12 will reenter Earth’s atmosphere then parachute inside the spacecraft to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 11:34 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, ending a nearly eight-month stay in space.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov accepted command of the International Space Station from Meir on Sunday, Oct. 4, during a traditional change of command ceremony. Dubrov will be staying in space with flight engineers Anna Kikina of Roscosmos and Anil Menon of NASA until spring 2027.

The next spacecraft to depart from the orbiting complex will be Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus XL resupply ship which has been attached to the Unity module since April 13. NASA flight engineers Menon and Hathaway loaded trash and discarded gear inside Cygnus XL on Monday. The cargo spacecraft is scheduled to be released from the station into Earth orbit with the Canadarm2 robotic arm at the end of the week.

Soon after that, SpaceX will launch Dragon on its 35^th commercial resupply mission to deliver science and supplies to the Expedition 75 crew. Kutryk on Monday studied tools and procedures to monitor Dragon’s approach and rendezvous following its upcoming launch from Florida. Meir reorganized the Kibo laboratory module where some of Dragon’s cargo will be stowed after its arrival.

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

NASA, SpaceX Set No Earlier Than Oct. 7 for Crew-12 Departure 

Following a review weather and splashdown conditions off the coast of California, NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 1:05 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, Oct. 7, for the undocking of the agency’s Crew-12 mission from the International Space Station. 

An Oct. 7 undock puts NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev on a schedule to splash down off the coast of California about 11:25 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8. The exact splashdown time down could adjust slightly pending on the return location selected. 

Mission managers will continue monitoring conditions in the recovery area, as undocking of the SpaceX Dragon depends on spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA and SpaceX will select a specific splashdown time and location closer to the Crew-12 spacecraft undocking. The next weather review will take place about 48 hours prior to undocking. 

On Sunday, Oct. 4, the departing Crew-12 crew members will officially transfer their mission responsibilities to their new crewmates. Meir will hand over command of the space station to Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov during a change-of-command and farewell ceremony beginning at 10:20 a.m. EDT. The crew’s farewell remarks and change-of-command ceremony will stream through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online: 

https://www.nasa.gov/live

NASA will provide more information about the agency’s coverage in the coming days.

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

Station Crew Expands as NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Prepares to Depart

The Expedition 75 crew slept in Friday and spent the rest of the day relaxing following the Oct. 1 arrival of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission. The four new crew members, who arrived after a record-setting 7-hour, 55-minute Dragon spacecraft flight from Florida, bring the number of people living aboard the International Space Station to 11. 

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will spend the next few days getting used life to in weightlessness and familiarizing themselves with station systems. 

On Saturday, Oct. 3, Crew-13 will spend the day unpacking Dragon, transferring standard safety gear into its spacecraft, and discussing emergency roles and responsibilities. 

On Sunday, Oct. 4, the departing Crew-12 crew members will officially transfer their mission responsibilities to their new crewmates. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir also will hand over command of the space station to Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov during a change-of-command and farewell ceremony beginning at 10:20 a.m. EDT. 

The crew’s farewell remarks and change-of-command ceremony will stream through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online: 

https://www.nasa.gov/live

The homebound Crew‑12 crew members have spent the past several days packing cargo, configuring Dragon systems, and testing their pressure suits in preparation for their return.

NASA and SpaceX continue to monitor weather conditions off the California coast, with additional departure weather briefings planned over the weekend. Weather permitting, Meir, NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev could begin their trip home as early as Monday, Oct. 5. NASA will share more information and issue an advisory for Crew‑12’s return to Earth following the upcoming weather briefings.

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