![\"Expedition](\"https:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/spacestation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/240\/2019\/03\/ISS-PAO.png\")
Expedition 58 capped off its busy weekend with additional outfitting for the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which had only completed its hard dock to the International Space Station<\/a> yesterday morning as part of the Demo-1 uncrewed flight test.<\/p>\n After opening the hatch between the two spacecraft, the crewmates configured Crew Dragon for its stay while barnacled to the orbiting laboratory. This work included installation of the intramodule ventilation system, which helps cycle air from Crew Dragon to station. The crew members ticked off additional items from their checklist, also installing window covers and checking valves before taking part in a welcoming ceremony for the visiting vehicle at 10:45 a.m. EST Sunday, which aired on NASA Television.<\/p>\n Today, NASA astronaut Anne McClain<\/a>, David Saint-Jacques<\/a> of the Canadian Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut and Expedition 58 Commander Oleg Kononenko<\/a> went over emergency procedures specific to Crew Dragon\u2019s stay in orbit. While Crew Dragon is designed to remain docked to the space station for up to 210 days, this test of the spacecraft will be much shorter, ending early Friday morning. Crew Dragon is expected to return to Earth with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean at approximately 8:45 a.m. on Friday, March 8\u2014a little more than six hours after its separation from station.<\/p>\n While Kononenko was focused on the Plasma Kristall-4 experiment<\/a>, which investigates the liquid phase and flow phenomena of complex plasmas, for this week\u2019s runs, McClain and Saint-Jacques spent most of the day in the Quest airlock. The pair worked on their EMU [Extravehicular Mobility Unit] spacesuits, making sure their suits fit in advance of a series of spacewalks currently slated for late March and early April.<\/p>\n Saint-Jacques also made time in the day to connect with junior high school and college students in Hallifax, Nova Scotia, through a space-to-ground downlink where he shared his perspective of living and working aboard the world\u2019s only microgravity laboratory.<\/p>\n More details about the mission and NASA\u2019s commercial crew program can be found in the press kit online<\/a> and by following the commercial crew blog<\/a>, @commercial_crew<\/a> and commercial crew on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Learn more about station activities by following\u00a0@space_station<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@ISS_Research<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter, as well as the\u00a0ISS<\/a> Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ISS<\/a> Instagram<\/a>\u00a0accounts.<\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Catherine Williams <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Expedition 58 capped off its busy weekend with additional outfitting for the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which had only completed its hard dock to the International Space Station<\/a> yesterday morning as part of the Demo-1 uncrewed flight test.<\/p>\n After opening the hatch between the two spacecraft, the crewmates configured Crew Dragon for its stay while barnacled to the orbiting laboratory. This work included installation of the intramodule ventilation system, which helps cycle air from Crew Dragon to station. The crew members ticked off additional items from their checklist, also installing window covers and checking valves before taking part in a welcoming ceremony for the visiting vehicle at 10:45 a.m. EST Sunday, which aired on NASA Television.<\/p>\n \u2026 Continue reading Making Space for SpaceX Crew Dragon, Spacewalk Prep and Science<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Expedition 58 crew members Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques and Oleg Konenenko welcome the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station after a successful docking on March 3, 2019, ushering in the era of NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program. Image Credit: NASA TV <\/p>\n