Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

NASA, SpaceX Work Toward Friday Morning Crew-12 Launch

NASA and SpaceX teams are continuing final preparations on Thursday as the four crew members of Crew-12 follow their own precise checklist of activities before they launch to the International Space Station. Crew-12 is set to lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 5:15 a.m. EST Friday, Feb. 13, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket.

Weather forecasters issued an improved outlook for the launch site conditions, with a 90% chance of acceptable weather at launch time. They also will be watching the weather conditions along Crew-12’s flight path throughout the countdown, specifically the potential for elevated wind speeds. After detailed weather briefings Thursday morning, forecasters and mission managers opted to continue into the Crew-12 launch countdown. They will again review the forecast around 10 p.m. Thursday, a few hours before the crew suits up.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, commander, and Jack Hathaway, pilot, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will fly aboard the Dragon spacecraft to begin an eight-month rotation aboard the space station, where they will conduct a host of experiments. They will return the orbiting laboratory to its full crew complement of seven crew members following the return of Crew-11 in January.

Crew-12 will be SpaceX’s 12th crew rotational flight to the space station and 13th crewed mission as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Watch NASA’s live launch coverage starting at 3:15 a.m., on Feb. 13 on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media. Launch blog coverage begins at 1:15 a.m. on Feb. 13. 

For a Feb. 13 launch, Crew-12 would arrive at the space station at approximately 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14. NASA’s live coverage of Crew-12’s arrival to the space station will begin at 1:15 p.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. 

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Elyna Niles-Carnes

Crew-12 Proceeds to Friday Launch as Health Research Continues on Station

NASA and SpaceX continue proceeding toward a launch of Crew-12 to the International Space Station for no earlier than 5:15 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 13. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will ride a SpaceX Dragon to the orbital outpost for a docking at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.

NASA’s Crew-12 launch coverage begins at 3:15 a.m. on Friday with docking coverage starting at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.

Back onboard the orbital outpost, NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams continued staging gear the Crew-12 quartet will use throughout its long-duration research mission on the station. Williams also set up the Lumina radiation monitoring experiment and transferred the radiation data it collected to the EveryWear health data application for later analysis. Finally, the first-time lab resident loaded trash and obsolete gear inside the HTV-X1 cargo craft from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) targeted to end its mission at the orbital outpost in March.

Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos began his shift testing the performance of the regenerative water recycling system in the Zvezda service module then sending the results to mission controllers on the ground. The veteran cosmonaut also treated moisture-prone surfaces for mold and mildew in the Zvezda and Nauka modules to maintain the safety and reliability of station hardware and systems.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergei Mikaev began his shift taking a memory test, answering a questionnaire, and collecting his hair samples for analysis helping researchers understand how living in space affects stress, cognitive performance, and immune function. Next, Mikaev removed air bubbles from fluid systems, transferred water between tanks, then photographed the results helping engineers on the ground ensure the operability of life support hardware. He wrapped up his shift in the Zarya module inspecting and videotaping the operation of fans to determine their acoustic characteristics.

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.

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Proceeds Toward Launch

NASA and SpaceX teams completed the final major review – the Launch Readiness Review – for the agency’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station, with mission leaders polling “go” to proceed into the launch countdown pending weather along the ascent corridor. Liftoff remains targeted for no earlier than 5:15 a.m. EST Friday, Feb. 13, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Weather at the launch site is 85% favorable, with cumulus clouds being the main concern. Teams continue to monitor elevated winds along the Atlantic Coast in Crew-12’s flight path which prompted earlier shits in the launch date from Feb. 11.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, commander, and Jack Hathaway, pilot, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will fly aboard the Dragon to begin an eight-month crew rotation mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. The four remain in quarantine at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida since arriving on Feb. 6 at the launch site.

Crew-12 will be SpaceX’s 12th crew rotational flight to the space station and 13th crewed mission as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Watch agency launch coverage starting at 3:15 a.m., on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.

For a Feb. 13 launch, Crew-12 would arrive at the space station at approximately 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14.

Blog coverage of the Crew-12 launch will begin at 1:15 a.m. Feb. 11, and the live broadcast coverage begins at 4 a.m. on NASA+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Elyna Niles-Carnes

Crew-12 Targets Friday Launch as Expedition 74 Keeps Up Tech, Psych Research

NASA and SpaceX managers continue targeting no earlier than 5:15 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 13, for the launch of Crew-12 aboard a SpaceX Dragon to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev remain in Florida ahead of a liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Expedition 74 Flight Engineer Chris Williams of NASA has been preparing the orbital outpost for the arrival of Crew-12 expected at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14. Williams spent several days staging a variety of lab hardware, such as tablet computers, the soon to arrive crew will use during their mission, as well as required emergency gear to be transferred inside Dragon shortly after the quartet’s arrival. Williams will be on duty Saturday monitoring Dragon’s automated approach and rendezvous from the cupola.

NASA’s Crew-12 launch coverage begins at 3:15 a.m. on Friday with docking coverage starting at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the space station trio kept up its ongoing microgravity research duties exploring spacecraft fuel physics and crew psychology. The NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts also focused on cargo transfers and standard lab maintenance.

Williams began Wednesday photographing the configuration of scientific hardware attached to the outside of the Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft that will demonstrate a new electronic propulsion technology. Next, he continued stowing experiments and lab gear inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for its upcoming return to Earth and retrieval.

During the afternoon, the first-time space flyer inspected lithium-ion batteries for continued use or disposal. Afterward, he wrapped up his shift injecting gas into research hardware installed inside the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox. The physics experiment is testing ways to control a spacecraft’s fuel tank pressure due to cryogenic fuel propellants evaporating from the surrounding heat.

Station Commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Flight Engineer Sergei Mikaev joined each other at the beginning of their shift and took a test with increasing complexity to help researchers understand and improve crew communications, operations, and training. Kud-Sverchkov then explored how living in space affects stress, cognitive performance, and immune function. He ended his shift inventorying orbital plumbing components and synchronizing station cameras to Greenwich Mean Time. Mikaev tested and configured the operation of the physics research hardware and power supply systems then photographed and inspected the Zvezda service module’s windows.

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.

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia

Cardiac and Psychology Research on Station as Crew-12 Adjusts Launch Date

NASA and SpaceX have completed a weather review and have waived off Crew-12’s Thursday, Feb. 12, launch opportunity to the International Space Station due to unfavorable forecasted weather conditions. Meanwhile, the Expedition 74 crew focused on astronaut health research, cargo operations, and lab maintenance.

Mission teams are targeting the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission for no earlier than 5:15 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 13, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway along with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev would then dock to the space station’s Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14. The commercial crew quartet will stay in space for a nine-month microgravity research mission.

Back on the orbital outpost, NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams began his shift with a fitness test measuring his cardiovascular health. Williams attached sensors to his chest and strapped on a heart rate monitor then pedaled for an hour on an exercise bike in the Destiny laboratory module. Doctors on the ground monitored his workout session in real time to detect potential signs of space-caused distress and ensure his long-term well-being off the Earth.

Williams ended his day continuing to pack completed science experiments, their associated samples, and station hardware inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for return to Earth on an upcoming date. Dragon arrived at the orbital outpost on Aug. 25, 2025, delivering over 5,000 pounds of scientific investigations, station hardware, and crew supplies.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev took turns measuring their heart activity using electrodes and collecting their blood pressure measurements wearing cuffs on their arm, wrist, and thumb. Their biomedical data was recorded to a computer and will be shared with doctors on Earth to assess microgravity’s effect on blood flow regulation and inflammation responses.

Kud-Sverchkov then studied how living in space affects memory and immunity. He first collected his saliva and hair samples for analysis. Next, he took a test measuring his sleep quality, daily moods, and the stress levels he experiences. Finally, he collected his heart and oxygen data and saved the data to a computer. Doctors will use the data to investigate how living in space long term impacts a crew member’s psychological state.

Mikaev focused on maintenance during the first part of his shift on Tuesday starting in the Nauka science module and servicing its ventilation system then inspecting and photographing cargo panels in the Zarya module. Next, he participated in a psychological test to determine how living in space affects his personality characteristics and his team behavior. Researchers will use the insights to help prevent stress-related health issues, maintain cognitive performance, and maintain team harmony during a spaceflight.

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.

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Mark A. Garcia