A member of the International Space Station External Microorganisms payload development team demonstrates removing a swab from the sampling caddy that is used by an astronaut during a spacewalk. A crew member uses the swabbing tool to collect samples from the exterior surface of the space station at various locations as part of a study to examine whether a spacecraft releases microorganisms and, if so, how many and how far they may travel. Results could inform preparations for future human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars. Photo credit: NASA
While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Crew-7 will see the arrival of cargo aboard both a SpaceX Dragon and a Roscosmos Progress spacecraft. Crew-7 also is expected to welcome the Axiom Mission-3 crew during their expedition. The Soyuz spacecraft with three new crew members also is planned for launch during their stay, and the Soyuz carrying NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin will depart after 371 days on the station.
Commercial crew missions enable NASA to maximize use of the space station, where astronauts have lived and worked continuously for more than 22 years testing technologies, performing research, and developing the skills needed to operate future commercial destinations in low Earth orbit, and explore farther from Earth. Research conducted on the space station provides benefits for people on Earth and paves the way for future long-duration trips to the Moon and beyond through NASA’s Artemis missions.
The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission pose for a photo inside SpaceX Hangar X at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right are: Konstantin Borisov, Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Satoshi Furukawa. Photo credit: SpaceX
This will be NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli’s first trip into space after being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. The New York native earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering with information technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Moghbeli, a helicopter and Marine Corps test pilot, has more than 150 combat missions and 2,000 hours of flight time in over 25 different aircraft. She also is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. As mission commander, she will be responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. She will serve as an Expedition 69/70 flight engineer aboard the station. Follow @astrojaws on X.
Andreas Mogensen was selected as an ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut in 2009 and became the first Danish citizen in space after launching aboard a Soyuz for a 10-day mission to the space station in 2015. As the pilot on Crew-7, he will be responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. Aboard the station, he will serve as an Expedition 69/70 flight engineer. Mogensen is from Copenhagen, Denmark. He completed undergraduate studies and received a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London in England before gaining his doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Mogensen has since served as a crew member for NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) missions 17 and 19. Mogensen was the European astronaut liaison officer to NASA’s Johnson Space Center from 2016-2022, working as a CAPCOM for astronauts aboard the station and as ground support for spacewalks, relaying tasks and direction from mission control to the spacewalkers. Follow @astro_andreas on X.
Satoshi Furukawa will be making his second trip to space, having spent 165 days aboard the space station as part of Expeditions 28 and 29 in 2011. Furukawa is from Kanagawa, Japan, and was selected as a JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut in 1999. He is a physician and received his medical degree from the University of Tokyo, and later a doctorate in medical science from the same university. Furukawa served as a crew member on the 13th NEEMO mission, and later, was appointed head of JAXA’s Space Biomedical Research Group. Aboard the station, he will become a flight engineer for Expedition 69/70. Follow @astro_satoshi on X.
Konstantin Borisov will be making his first trip to space, and will also serve as a mission specialist, working to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and entry phases of flight. He entered the Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps as a test cosmonaut candidate in 2018 and will serve as a flight engineer for Expedition 69/70.
Crew-7 is the first commercial crew launch to send three international partners to the space station, and it is the first time a non-NASA astronaut will be the pilot on a Dragon spacecraft on a Commercial Crew Program flight.
Follow the commercial crew blog for the latest information on Crew-7 progress and flight readiness as milestones continue. Details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found by following the Crew-7 blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.
The SpaceX Crew-7 astronauts are in the suit-up room inside the crew quarters at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 26, 2023. Photo credit: NASA TV
Crew-7 mission crew members NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, pilot; and mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov are in the suit room in the Astronaut Crew Quarters inside Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.
A team of SpaceX suit technicians will help them as they put on their custom-fitted spacesuits and check the suits for leaks.
Watch now on NASA Television or the agency’s website, where NASA is providing live coverage of key milestones leading up to launch and through ascent following liftoff.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft atop is on the pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA TV
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission — the seventh crew rotation flight and the eighth human spaceflight mission on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Launch is scheduled for no earlier than 3:27 a.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 26, from historic Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Here at Kennedy, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped by the company’s Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, awaits liftoff early Saturday morning with an international crew. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, pilot; and mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will fly to the space station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which previously supported the Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions to and from the orbiting laboratory.
The countdown is proceeding according to schedule. At the Florida spaceport’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, the astronauts have eaten and will undergo medical checks and get a weather briefing before suiting up.
Starting at 11:30 p.m., on NASA Television and the agency’s website, there will be continuous live coverage of important Crew-7 activities.
Stay with us as the countdown continues. We’ll keep you updated on the key milestones throughout this mission. Details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found by following the Crew-7 blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.
The Moon is pictured above the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon Endurance spacecraft on top at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
The International Space Station welcomed a new cargo craft overnight as mission managers postponed the launch of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission for 24 hours. The Expedition 69 crew members have begun unpacking the new cargo while servicing a variety of science equipment aboard the orbital lab.
Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin went to bed Friday mid-afternoon after monitoring the Roscosmos Progress 85 resupply ship as it docked to the Zvezda service module’s aft port at 11:45 p.m. EDT on Thursday. The duo worked through leak and pressure checks, opened the Progress 85 hatch, then spent the next several hours offloading some of the nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to replenish the lab residents.
As the Roscosmos resupply ship approached the station, four SpaceX Crew-7 crew members in Florida were informed their launch to join the Expedition 69 crew would wait one more day. Liftoff of the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket is now scheduled for 3:27 a.m. EDT on Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Mission managers decided to use the extra day to review Dragon’s safety and life support systems.
Crew-7 Commander Jasmin Moghbeli will lead Pilot Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Mission Specialists Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos, during their flight to the station. The Commercial Crew quartet aboard Endurance will automatically dock to the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 8:39 a.m. on Sunday. Soon after, the foursome will enter the station, greet the Expedition 69 crew, and begin a six-month microgravity research mission.
Meanwhile, the seven station crew members orbiting Earth are all but ready to welcome their four new crewmates. While the two cosmonauts were wrapping up Progress 85 activities and getting ready for bed, the other five lab residents worked on advanced research hardware and investigated ways to treat heart ailments.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, stands tall at the pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, who arrived at Kennedy on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, will fly to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission. Photo credit: SpaceX
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 3:27 a.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 26, for launch of the agency’s Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station.
Mission managers met on Thursday to discuss the status toward final readiness for a Friday launch opportunity. After performing an extra data review, teams decided to take additional time to reconfirm required factors of safety and operational margin on one of the Dragon spacecraft’s environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) components. The new launch date provides teams additional time to complete the analysis and thoroughly review the necessary data ahead of launch. All ECLSS valves on the Crew-7 and Crew-6 Dragon spacecraft are performing normally, and performed as expected in all preflight testing. Safety continues to be the team’s top priority. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft remain healthy as teams complete and discuss the final results of this additional analysis, and the crew is ready to fly when the entire team is ready.
For a launch on Saturday, the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch pad for liftoff based on Falcon 9 Crew Dragon launch weather criteria.
The Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, pilot; and mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will launch atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, is scheduled to dock to the space station at 8:50 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 27.
Live coverage of Crew-7 activities begins at 11:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 25, on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Follow along for details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program on the Crew-7 blog, the commercial crew blog,@commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.
NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Friday, Aug. 25, launch opportunity for the agency’s Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station. Launch now is targeted at 3:27 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, for SpaceX’s seventh crew rotation mission to the microgravity laboratory for NASA. More to come.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, stands tall at the pad at Launch Complex 39A as the sun rises at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Photo credit: SpaceX
For a launch targeted at 3:50 a.m. EDT Friday, Aug. 25, the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch pad for liftoff based on Falcon 9 Crew Dragon launch weather criteria. The primary weather concern for the launch area is the cumulus cloud rule.
The Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, pilot; and mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will launch atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Live coverage of Crew-7 activities begins at 11:45 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24, on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Follow along for details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program on the Crew-7 blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top is seen on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as preparations continue for the launch of the Crew-7 mission. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
The Expedition 69 crew will receive a space delivery late Thursday night and just a few hours before a new crew will launch to the International Space Station. While the orbital residents are getting ready for both missions there was still some time for gene therapy research and lab maintenance tasks.
Two cosmonauts, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, will be on duty monitoring the Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo craft during its automated docking planned for 11:50 p.m. EDT. During the morning, the duo practiced on the telerobotically operated rendezvous unit, or TORU, to remotely control an arriving spacecraft in the unlikely event the vehicle was unable to automatically dock. The Progress 85 is carrying three tons of food, fuel, and supplies the cosmonaut duo will begin unpacking about two hours after its arrival. The space freighter will remain docked to the Zvezda service module’s aft port for six months of cargo activities.
About 4 hours after the resupply ship’s arrival, the SpaceX Crew-7 mission will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to the orbital lab. Liftoff of the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft with four Commercial Crew members atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 3:50 a.m. Friday.
Endurance, commanded by NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli with Pilot Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Mission Specialists Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos, will automatically dock to the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 2:02 a.m. on Saturday. About two hours later the foursome will enter the station, greet the Expedition 69 crew, and begin a six-month microgravity research mission.
Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, both from NASA, and Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) prepared for Saturday’s Crew-7 arrival configuring the station for four new crew members. Bowen staged emergency equipment in the orbital lab’s U.S. segment that is standard procedure before a new crew arrives. Hoburg set up a new crew quarters in the Columbus laboratory module. Alneyadi configured computers inside the cupola that will monitor Dragon Endurance’s arrival on Saturday morning.
While the mission preparations were underway, NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio focused his time on biotechnology research. He treated cell samples to seek ways to closely mimic the human central nervous system and brain environment for the Neuronix investigation. Results may provide paths for researchers to discover new therapies treating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
On Thursday, Aug. 24, the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module engines were fired for 21.5 seconds, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT to maneuver the complex away from the predicted track of an orbital debris fragment. The maneuver will not affect the rendezvous of the Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo vessel or the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission.
