Hardware Put to the Test

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, ready to undergo testing in the In-Space Propulsion Facility—the world’s only facility capable of testing full-scale upper-stage launch vehicles and rocket engines under simulated high-altitude conditions. The chamber will allow SpaceX and NASA to verify Crew Dragon’s ability to withstand the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space. This is the spacecraft that SpaceX will fly during its Demonstration Mission 1 flight test under NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract with the goal of returning human spaceflight launch capabilities to the U.S.

Lueders Featured in NASA Podcast

Kathy Lueders Manager of the Commercial Crew Program, Kathy Lueders, is featured on Episode 49 of “Houston We Have a Podcast.” The episode discusses a brief history of the space program, how it started, and where it is now. Lueders talks about two commercial partners, Boeing and SpaceX, and the work they are doing to design, build and launch new spacecraft that will carry our astronauts to and from the International Space Station. You can listen here: https://go.nasa.gov/2JOqEHU

 

Spacewalkers Complete HD Camera Installation

Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold of NASA completed the sixth spacewalk at the International Space Station this year at 2:55 p.m. EDT, lasting 6 hours, 49 minutes. The two astronauts installed new high-definition cameras that will provide enhanced views during the final phase of approach and docking of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing Starliner commercial crew spacecraft that will soon begin launching from American soil.

They also swapped a camera assembly on the starboard truss of the station, closed an aperture door on an external environmental imaging experiment outside the Japanese Kibo module, and completed two additional tasks to relocate a grapple bar to aid future spacewalkers and secured some gear associated with a spare cooling unit housed on the station’s truss.

New Cameras to Enhance Views of Starliner, Crew Dragon Docking

Tune into NASA TV now to watch NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel install new high-definition cameras on the International Space Station. The cameras will give NASA enhanced views of the next generation of commercial American spacecraft as they approach and dock to the space station during upcoming flight tests. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will begin launching from U.S. soil later this year, and will each carry out an uncrewed flight test before putting astronauts on board. To enable the enhanced views, the two spacewalkers are installing brackets and the cameras near the international docking adapter mated to the front end of the station’s Harmony module. They also routed the ethernet and power cables to connect the cameras to the station. The booms holding the cameras also expand the wireless network at the orbiting laboratory.