Archivo de la etiqueta: spacestation

Station Prepares to Welcome Crew-13 while Continuing Space Research

Expedition 75 is getting the International Space Station ready for the arrival of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission scheduled to launch and dock to the orbital outpost on Thursday, Oct. 1. In the meantime, space research and lab maintenance rounded out the schedule keeping the astronauts and cosmonauts busy on Wednesday.

Crew-13 commander Jessica Watkins and pilot Luke Delaney, both NASA astronauts, along with mission specialists Johsua Kutryk of CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and Sergey Teteryatnikov of Roscosmos will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop the Falcon 9 rocket at 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday. NASA+ begins its live launch coverage at 9:20 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Pad 40 in Florida.

Dragon will dock to the Harmony module’s forward port on the orbital outpost about 7 p.m. the same day. The four Crew-13 members will open the hatch about an hour-and-a-half later, enter Harmony, and join the Expedition 75 crew for welcoming remarks and a safety orientation. Docking coverage begins at 5:20 p.m. on NASA+.

Three NASA astronauts living aboard the station worked together on Wednesday getting ready for the arrival of Crew-13. Station commander Jessica Meir reorganized cargo inside the Harmony’s pressurized mating adapter-2, where Dragon will dock, making room for Crew-13’s entry into the orbital outpost. Flight engineers Anil Menon and Jack Hathaway staged supplies in Harmony necessary to support the four crewmates immediately after their entry into the station and beginning their mission.

Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) focused primarily on science throughout her shift on Wednesday. Adenot started her day in the Columbus laboratory module working out on the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D). She pedaled on the E4D’s exercise cycle continuing to test the device’s ability to keep crews fit inside spacecraft during long-term missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Next, she practiced simulated lunar landing techniques on a computer helping researchers understand how microgravity affects a crew member’s cognition when manually piloting a spacecraft.

Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev continued testing the lower body negative pressure suit that reverses space-caused fluid shifts from the head toward the feet. The specialized suit may help crews adjust quicker to Earth’s gravity after a long-term mission in weightlessness.

Roscosmos flight engineers Anna Kikina and Pyotr Dubrov took turns wearing arm, wrist, and finger cuffs measuring their blood pressure to understand how microgravity affects a crew member’s microcirculatory system. Afterward, Kikina unloaded cargo delivered recently aboard the Progress 96 cargo spacecraft while Dubrov worked on life support and computer maintenance.

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

Weather 55% Favorable for Thursday Crew-13 Mission Launch

Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 55% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission at 11:10 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 1.

A ridge of high pressure over the Mid‑Atlantic is directing warm, moist air across Florida, producing scattered showers and mid‑level clouds that could impact Crew‑13’s launch, with the timing and placement of these disturbances still uncertain.

The Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, commander, and Luke Delaney, pilot, along with mission specialists CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will launch to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch, launch, and docking activities through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Continue checking the mission blog for updates, or join the conversation on social media by following and tagging these accounts:

X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @Space_Station, @ISS National Lab, @SpaceX
Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab, @SpaceX

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jason Costa

NASA, SpaceX Complete Crew-13 Dry Dress Rehearsal

With the rocket on the launch pad, the four-person crew for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station participated in a dry dress rehearsal Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida.

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, spent the morning in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, donning spacesuits and completing air leak checks. Once suited, they boarded vehicles and traveled to Space Launch Complex 40, where they entered the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will take them to the space station.

Crew-13 is scheduled to launch to the station no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 1, for a long-duration science mission.

After Crew-13 arrives aboard the orbiting laboratory, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 crew members will help familiarize the new crew with ongoing science and station maintenance activities for a smooth transition of operations. Following this brief handover, and pending weather conditions, Crew-12, including NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, will board its SpaceX spacecraft and head for a splashdown off the coast of California.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Office has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is opening access to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities.

For more than 25 years, people have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon as we prepare for Mars.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jason Costa

Advanced Health Research Begins Week as Station Awaits Crew-13 Mission

Expedition 75 began the week scanning veins, checking out space workout gear, and testing specialized suits to ease the adjustment to Earth’s gravity. Back on Earth, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 members are counting down to a launch on Oct. 1.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon, station commander and flight engineer respectively, started their shift together with vein scans in the Columbus laboratory module. Meir operated the Ultrasound 3 device and scanned Menon’s jugular vein then measured his blood pressure for the Venous Flow investigation. Doctors will analyze the biomedical data to detect potential space-caused blood conditions such as blood clots or changes to blood chemistry.

NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway assisted Menon at the beginning of the vein study collecting a blood sample and placing it inside a centrifuge for spinning. At the conclusion of the sample processing, Menon analyzed the sample for a red blood cell count to help doctors determine if the cardiovascular system, influenced by microgravity, delivers adequate oxygen throughout a crew member’s body. Afterward, Hathaway collected station water samples for microbial analysis then cleaned his crew quarters in the port side of the Harmony module.

Meir later joined the three crewmates she will return to Earth with next week and tested specialized suits that may help the foursome quickly adjust to gravity after nearly eight months in space. The suit may help maintain adequate cerebral blood pressure once on the ground and prevent dizziness or light-headedness at the end of a mission. Meir and Hathaway along with flight engineers Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos are preparing to ride the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft back to Earth a few days after the SpaceX Crew-13 mission launches and docks to the orbital outpost on Thursday. Oct. 1.

Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) spent most of her shift working on exercise research hardware. Adenot’s first job was inside the Tranquility module where she tested the functionality of ARED (advanced resistive exercise device) Kinematics computer hardware. The human research study allows researchers to track an astronaut’s body load during a space workout to optimize crew health in microgravity. Next, she guided Menon on how to work out on the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D) located in Columbus. The E4D is being evaluated for its ability to keep crews fit inside spacecraft on long-term missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Fedyaev conducted a second session with an experimental suit, this one designed by Roscosmos, that may ease his adjustment to Earth’s gravity. Roscosmos flight engineer Anna Kikina assisted Fedyaev as he wore the lower body negative pressure suit that reverses space-caused fluid shifts from the head toward the feet. Kikina also pointed a camera out a window on the Zvezda service module and photographed landmarks in southern Russia from the Volga River to the Ukok Plateau.

Roscosmos flight engineer Pyotr Dubrov explored high-purity semiconductor crystals using a high-temperature furnace in the Nauka science module. The physics research may advance space and terrestrial manufacturing techniques.

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-13 Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission rolled out to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Sunday, Sept. 27. Teams raised the rocket to vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40, where it will await liftoff no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 1.

At the pad, rocket and ground systems engineering teams conducted an integrated static fire of the Falcon 9, followed by detailed data reviews by operations teams.

The Crew-13 mission will carry NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov to the International Space Station for a long-duration mission. They will conduct new and exciting scientific research aboard the orbiting laboratory to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth.

While this is the first spaceflight for Delaney, Kutryk, and Teteryatikov, Crew-13 will be Watkins’ second spaceflight, as she will become the first NASA astronaut to launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft twice.

Keep up with the Crew-13 launch updates by following along on the mission blog, @NASAKennedy on X, or NASA Kennedy on Facebook.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jason Costa