Category: Expedition 67

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft successfully docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 8:28 p.m. EDT. Starliner launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on a flight test to the International Space Station at 6:54 p.m. on Thursday, May 19 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA will host a media teleconference to give an update on Starliner’s progress tonight at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 20 where it will be streamed live on NASA’s website. Participants include:

• Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
• Joel Montalbano, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
• Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Boeing Commercial Crew Program

Starliner’s hatch opening is scheduled to begin at approximately 11:45 a.m. Saturday, May 21. Coverage of hatch opening will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Saturday, May 21

• 11:30 a.m. – NASA TV hatch opening coverage begins
• 11:45 a.m. – (approximately) Hatch opening and welcoming remarks

Starliner is scheduled to depart the space station Wednesday, May 25, when it will undock and return to Earth, with a desert landing in the western U.S. The spacecraft will return with more than 600 pounds of cargo, including Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System reusable tanks that provide breathable air to station crew members. The tanks will be refurbished on Earth and sent back to station on a future flight.

Following certification, NASA missions aboard Starliner will carry up to four crew members to the station, enabling the continued expansion of the crew and increasing the amount of science and research that can be performed aboard the orbiting laboratory.

OFT-2 will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station.

Boeing Starliner updates provides the latest information from the Orbital Flight Test-2.

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More details about the mission and NASA’s commercial crew program can be found in the press kit online and by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is proceeding toward the International Space Station on the NASA-Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2).

Boeing and NASA met as an International Space Station Mission Management Team (IMMT) this afternoon to review the status of the flight test and approved a plan to proceed toward the final phase of rendezvous and docking, which remains scheduled at for 7:10 p.m. EDT.

Docking broadcast coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Friday, May 20

• 3:30 p.m. – NASA TV rendezvous and docking coverage begins.
• 7:10 p.m. (approximately) – Docking

Saturday, May 21

• 11:30 a.m. – NASA TV hatch opening coverage begins
• 11:45 a.m. – (approximately) Hatch opening and welcoming remarks

Starliner successfully executed all of its autonomous demonstration burns as well as rendezvous and docking maneuvers, including:

• An abort maneuver demonstration
• Reaction Control System (RCS) attitude hold demonstration
• Abort execution maneuvers
• Phasing burn
• Far-field demonstration
• Vision-based, Electro-Optical Sensor Tracking Assembly (VESTA) system checkout
• NASA Docking System (NDS) cover open and system checkout

Flight control teams continue to learn more about the vehicle and about how it is operating in space, and it continues to perform well as it makes its way toward the station. The Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) systems are performing nominally. Flight software is executing as designed. Power generation is positive. The spacecraft has good link connection with TDRS for commanding of the vehicle. Teams are investigating off-nominal behavior of a thermal cooling loop, however, the thermal subsystem is maintaining stable temperatures.

The teams also looked into the two Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC) thrusters that shut off early during the orbital insertion (OI) burn. The teams have concluded that a chamber drop in pressure caused the cutoff. That system operated normally during all of the propulsion system demonstrations, and with redundancies in place, does not pose a risk to the rest of the flight test.

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For continuing coverage of Starliner’s mission, follow @NASA, @commercial_Crew, and @BoeingSpace, or visit www.nasa.gov, www.boeing.com/Starliner and www.StarlinerUpdates.com.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer splashed down safely in the SpaceX Dragon Endurance in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, at 12:43 a.m. EDT after 177 days in space.

Teams on the Shannon recovery ship, including two fast boats, now are in the process of securing Dragon and ensuring the spacecraft is safe for the recovery effort. As the fast boat teams complete their work, the recovery ship will move into position to hoist Dragon onto the main deck of Shannon with the astronauts inside. Once on the main deck, the crew will be taken out of the spacecraft and receive medical checks before a helicopter ride to board a plane for Houston.

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Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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The Dragon Endurance spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer on their return to Earth after a nearly six-month science mission has completed its deorbit burn as expected ahead of splashdown at about 12:43 a.m. EDT in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida.

Four minutes before splashdown, the drogue parachutes will deploy at about 18,000 feet in altitude while Dragon is moving approximately 350 miles per hour, and less than a minute later, the main parachutes deploy at about 6,000 feet in altitude while the spacecraft is moving approximately 119 miles per hour.

NASA TV coverage available online and via the NASA app will continue until the crew is recovered from the spacecraft.

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Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Watch the agency’s live coverage as NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft are nearing the final stages of return before splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico at 12:43 a.m. EDT. Weather conditions remain within the splashdown weather criteria and are “Go” at the primary targeted site off the coast of Tampa, Florida.

Here are the upcoming approximate milestones (all times Eastern):

Thursday, May 5

11:47 p.m. – Dragon performs claw separation. The claw is located on Dragon’s trunk, connecting thermal control, power, and avionics system components located on the trunk to the capsule.
11:48 p.m. – Trunk jettison
11:53 p.m. – Deorbit burn

FRIDAY, MAY 6

12:01 a.m. – Deorbit burn complete
12:04 a.m. – Nosecone closed
12:27 a.m. – Dragon maneuvers to attitude for re-entry
12:39 a.m. – Drogue parachutes deploy at about 18,000 feet in altitude while Dragon is moving approximately 350 miles per hour.
12:40 a.m. – Main parachutes deploy at about 6,000 feet in altitude while Dragon is moving approximately 119 miles per hour.
12:43 a.m. – Dragon splashdown

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Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

The SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft with NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer inside undocked from the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 1:20 a.m. EDT to complete a nearly six-month science mission.

The return timeline with approximate times (all times Eastern):

Thursday, May 5

11:48 p.m.    Trunk jettison

11:53 p.m.    Deorbit burn

FRIDAY, MAY 6

12:04 a.m.    Nosecone closed

12:43 a.m.    Dragon splashdown

NASA will continue to provide live coverage until Endurance splashes down off the coast of Florida and the Crew-3 astronauts are recovered off the coast of Florida.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission launched Nov. 10 on a Falcon 9 rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked to the space station Nov. 11.

More details about the mission and NASA’s commercial crew program can be found by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

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Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe