Comentarios desactivados en Watch NASA TV Now to See New Crew Launch to Station
Watch NASA TV Now to See New Crew Launch to Station
The Soyuz booster MS-11 spacecraft is seen on the launch pad Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Live launch coverage is underway on NASA Television and the agency’s website for the targeted lift off at 6:31 a.m. EST (5:31 p.m. in Baikonur) of a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Oleg Konenenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will begin a six-hour journey to the International Space Station.
The three will join Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos. The crew members will continue important research experiments in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.
This is the first spaceflight for both McClain and Saint-Jacques and the fourth trip to the space station for Kononenko.
Comentarios desactivados en Live on NASA TV Now, Watch New Crew Blast Off to Station
Live on NASA TV Now, Watch New Crew Blast Off to Station
The Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft is seen on the launch pad Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, teams are making final preparations for the launch of Anne McClain of NASA, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Oleg Konenenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos to the International Space Station. Their journey to the station will begin with a lift off at 6:31 a.m. EST Monday (5:31 p.m. in Baikonur). Live launch coverage will begin at 5:30 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
The three will join Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos. Auñón-Chancellor, Gerst and Prokopyev are scheduled to remain aboard the station until Dec. 20; Expedition 58 officially begins when they undock from the space station.
McClain, Saint-Jacques and Konenenko will spend more than six months conducting hundreds of science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development, providing the foundation for continuing human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars. Some of the investigations they will conduct are sponsored by the U.S. National Laboratory on the space station, which Congress designated in 2005 to maximize its use for improving quality of life on Earth. Highlights of upcoming investigations include experiments in forest observation, robotic refueling, and satellite deployment.
Below is the crew’s launch timeline in EST:
Monday, Dec. 3
12:31:53am 6:00 Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel
12:46:53am 5:45 Batteries installed in booster
1:16:53am 5:15 Crew arrives at Site 254
1:31:53am 5:00 Tanking begins
2:01:53am 4:30 Crew suit up
2:26:53am 4:05 Booster loaded with liquid oxygen
3:01:53am 3:30 Crew meets family members on other side of the glass
3:26:53am 3:05 First and second stage oxygen fueling complete
3:31:53am 3:00 Crew walkout from 254 and boards bus for the launch pad
3:36:53am 2:55 Crew departs for launch pad (Site 1)
3:56:53am 2:35 Crew arrives at launch pad (Site 1)
4:06:53am 2:25 Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
4:56:53am 1:35 Descent module hardware tested
5:11:53am 1:20 Hatch closed; leak checks begin 5:30:00am 1:01:53 NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS
5:31:53am 1:00 Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation 5:45:00am :46:53 NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities B-roll played) 5:46:53am :45:00 Pad service structure components lowered
5:47:53am :44:00 Clamshell gantry service towers retracted
5:54:53am :37:00 Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
5:57:53am :34:00 Emergency escape system armed
6:16:53am :15:00 Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
6:21:53am :10:00 Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
6:24:53am :07:00 Pre-launch operations complete
6:25:53am :06:00 Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
6:26:53am :05:00 Commander’s controls activated
6:27:53am :04:00 Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
6:28:53am :03:00 Propellant drainback
6:29:10am :02:43 Booster propellant tank pressurization
6:30:23am :01:30 Ground propellant feed terminated 6:30:43am :01:10 ISS flies directly over the Baikonur Cosmodrome
6:30:53am :01:00 Vehicle to internal power
6:31:18am :00:35 First umbilical tower separates Auto sequence start
6:31:23am :00:30 Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
6:31:38am :00:15 Second umbilical tower separates
6:31:41am :00:12 Launch command issued Engine Start Sequence Begins
6:31:43am :00:10 Engine turbo pumps at flight speed
6:31:48am :00:05 Engines at maximum thrust 6:31:53am :00:00 LAUNCH OF SOYUZ MS-11 TO THE ISS 6:40:38am +8:45 Third stage shutdown; Soyuz orbital insertion
Comentarios desactivados en Spacewalk Preps and Muscle Research Keep Crew Busy
Spacewalk Preps and Muscle Research Keep Crew Busy
Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor researches the complex process of cement solidification in space. Results may impact possible construction processes and designs for space habitats on the surface of the Moon and Mars.
A Russian spacewalk is planned before three Expedition 57 crew members return to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft just before Christmas. Meanwhile, in the middle of the spacewalk and departure preparations, the International Space Station residents today also explored how living in space impacts the human muscle system.
Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev will work outside the space station Dec. 11 to inspect the Soyuz MS-09 crew vessel. The first-time spacewalker will join veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko for a scheduled 6-hour inspection on the outside of the spaceship that will return the Expedition 57 crew home Dec. 19 U.S. time.
Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor then moved on to a study that has been ongoing aboard the orbital lab since September of 2017 observing how muscles adapt to outer space. The duo set up the Columbus lab module for research operations and scanned their head and foot muscles with an ultrasound device. The data may help doctors improve fitness in space and develop treatments for muscle and aging problems on Earth.
Back on Earth, on opposite sides of the globe, a pair of rockets are getting ready to send a new crew and more science and supplies to the space station. Russia’s Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft will launch Kononenko and fellow crew members Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques from Kazakhstan to the station on Monday at 6:31 a.m. EST. The following day at 1:38 p.m. in Florida, the SpaceX Dragon will blast off to the station to deliver more than 5,600 pounds of cargo to resupply the station residents.
Comentarios desactivados en Station Crews Ramping Up for Busy December
Station Crews Ramping Up for Busy December
NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor is pictured in the Japanese Kibo lab module mixing protein crystal samples to help scientists understand how they work.
December is shaping up to be a heavy traffic period at the International Space Station. Two crews will swap places before Christmas and a U.S. spaceship will deliver new supplies and science. A Russian spacewalk is also planned for a crew vehicle inspection.
Monday and Tuesday are launch days for a new crew and a cargo delivery. Two new astronauts and a veteran cosmonaut are set to blast off first on Monday at 6:31 a.m. EST aboard the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft. Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko flanked by new Expedition 58 Flight Engineers Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques will dock to the station’s Poisk module just six hours and five minutes later.
The very next day, the SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply ship will launch on its 16th mission to the orbital laboratory with a variety of new science experiments at 1:38 p.m. Dragon will orbit Earth for two days before reaching a point about 10 meters from the station where it will be captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Following those two critical arrivals at the orbital laboratory, cosmonauts Prokopyev and Oleg Kononenko will exit the station for the third Russian spacewalk of the year on Dec. 11. The duo will wear their Orlan spacesuits for about six hours of inspection work on the Soyuz MS-09 crew craft docked to the Rassvet module.
After the vehicle inspection, the Soyuz MS-09 will return to Earth Dec. 20 bringing home the Expedition 57 crew after six and a half months in space. Auñón-Chancellor and Gerst will sit on either side of Soyuz Commander Prokopyev as he leads the trio to a parachuted landing in Kazakhstan at 12:03 a.m.
Comentarios desactivados en Russian, U.S. Spaceships Get Ready for Launch Ahead of Spacewalk
Russian, U.S. Spaceships Get Ready for Launch Ahead of Spacewalk
In Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 58 crew members (from left) Anne McClain, Oleg Kononenko and David Saint-Jacques pose for pictures Nov. 27 as part of traditional pre-launch activities.
In a replay similar to the weekend before Thanksgiving, two rockets on the opposite sides of the world are poised to launch one day after another to replenish the International Space Station with a new crew and cargo.
Three new Expedition 58 crew members are preparing to blast off to the space station on a Russian Soyuz crew ship early next week. The following day, SpaceX will launch its Dragon cargo craft to the orbital lab atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
New astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques with veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko will take a six-hour ride to the station on Monday Dec. 3. The trio will lift off inside their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft at 6:31 a.m. EST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. About six hours later they will reach their new home in space and dock to the Poisk module beginning a six-and-a-half-month mission.
The SpaceX Dragon is targeted to begin its ascent to space from the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 4. Dragon will orbit Earth for two days loaded with new science before it is captured with the station’s Canadarm2 and installed to the Harmony module.
Back in space, three Expedition 57 crew members are getting ready for the arrival of both spacecraft while staying focused on microgravity science and spacewalk preparations.
Commander Alexander Gerst and Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor trained for next week’s Dragon rendezvous and capture on a computer today. The duo also continued working on more life science and physics research. Gerst once again studied how protein crystals impact Parkinson’s disease to possibly improve treatments on Earth. Serena researched how cement hardens in space and continued setting up hardware for a semiconductor crystal experiment.
Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev is configuring the station’s Russian segment for a spacewalk targeted for Dec. 11. He and Kononenko will inspect the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked to the Rassvet module before the Expedition 57 trio returns to Earth on Dec. 20.
