Month: May 2023

Station Crew Focuses on Spacewalks, Cargo Mission After Ax-2

Astronaut Stephen Bowen is pictured exiting the space station's Quest airlock and beginning a spacewalk on April 28, 2023.
Astronaut Stephen Bowen is pictured exiting the space station’s Quest airlock and beginning a spacewalk on April 28, 2023.

The seven Expedition 69 crew members are turning their attention to a pair of spacewalks and a cargo mission after saying goodbye to their Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) guests on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a pair of experiments onboard the International Space Station on Wednesday looked at monitoring health and 3D printing.

The four astronauts and three cosmonauts that comprise Expedition 69 are resuming their standard mission activities today following the departure of four Ax-2 astronauts. Next up in June for the orbital residents are a pair of spacewalks to upgrade the station’s power generation system and a commercial resupply mission.

Mission managers will preview the upcoming power upgrade spacewalks during a news conference live on NASA TV at 12 p.m. EDT on Thursday. The first spacewalk will begin at 9:15 a.m. on June 9 with NASA Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg. The duo will exit the Quest airlock in their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), or spacesuits, and install a new roll-out solar array on the orbital lab’s starboard-side truss segment. The second spacewalk will take place on June 15 with a duo going back out in EMUs and installing another roll-out solar array on the starboard truss.

Bowen and Hoburg started Wednesday morning reviewing their spacewalk activities and cleaning spacesuit cooling loops. The pair then joined Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) in the afternoon for spacewalk training. The quartet logged into a computer and practiced the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers necessary to support the solar array installation work planned for next Friday.

Both roll-out solar arrays are packed inside the trunk of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft that is counting down to liftoff at 12:35 p.m. on Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Dragon will arrive at the station for an automated docking to the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 5:36 a.m. on Monday. The new solar arrays will be extracted from Dragon’s trunk with the Canadarm2 two days before the first spacewalk begins and staged on a pallet attached to the starboard truss. Dragon is also carrying new experiments, food, supplies, and hardware to replenish the station crew.

Microgravity science is still continuing onboard the station while the crew gets ready for the upcoming cargo mission and spacewalks. Alneyadi put on the Bio-Monitor vest and headband at the end of the day testing their ability to monitor an astronaut’s health while minimally interfering with crew activities. Commander Sergey Prokopyev worked on a 3D printer to demonstrate printing tools and parts in space reducing the crew’s reliance on cargo missions for hardware.

Prokopyev also partnered with Roscosmos Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin installing upgraded data cables in the Zvezda service module. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent his day on ventilation and electronics maintenance.

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.

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Ax-2 Astronauts Undock from Station Inside Dragon Freedom

May 30, 2023: International Space Station Configuration. Four spaceships are docked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship and Roscosmos' Soyuz MS-23 crew ship and Progress 83 and 84 resupply ships.
May 30, 2023: International Space Station Configuration. Four spaceships are docked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship and Roscosmos’ Soyuz MS-23 crew ship and Progress 83 and 84 resupply ships.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 11:05 a.m. EDT to complete the second all-private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2).

Dragon is slowly maneuvering away from the orbital laboratory into an orbital track that will return the astronaut crew and its cargo safely to Earth, targeting a splashdown off the coast of Panama City, Florida, targeted about 11:04 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 30.

Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi will complete 9 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 300 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams end and NASA coverage of the mission concludes when the spacecraft exits the area of the space station, approximately 30 minutes after undocking.

Axiom Space leads independent mission operations for Ax-2 and will resume coverage of Dragon’s re-entry and splashdown.

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.

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Ax-2 Astronauts Enter Dragon Freedom, Close Hatch

Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson (foreground) and Pilot John Shoffner (background) are suited up and seated inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft preparing to undock from the space station. Credit: NASA TV
Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson (foreground) and Pilot John Shoffner (background) are suited up and seated inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft preparing to undock from the space station. Credit: NASA TV

At 9:20 a.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the Dragon spacecraft and the  International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) with astronauts Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi.

NASA Television will air  live coverage  resuming at 10:45 a.m. in advance of the planned departure of Dragon with undocking about 11:05 a.m. and will continue until about 30 minutes after undocking when joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams ends.

Today’s undocking will begin the Ax-2 mission’s journey home with splashdown off the coast of Tampa, Florida, no earlier than approximately 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 30.

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.

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Ax-2 Astronauts Ending Station Mission Live on NASA TV

The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members join each other for a Crew Farewell Ceremony on May 29, 2023. In the front row (from left) are, Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Frank Rubio, Andrey Fedyaev, Sultan Alneyadi, Dmitri Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev, Woody Hoburg, and Stephen Bowen.
The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members join each other for a Crew Farewell Ceremony on May 29, 2023. In the front row (from left) are, Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio with Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Andrey Fedyaev, Sultan Alneyadi, Dmitri Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev, Woody Hoburg, and Stephen Bowen.

NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website are providing live coverage from the International Space Station for the closure of the hatches between the station and the Dragon spacecraft to prepare for undocking and departure of the second private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2).

Hatch closure is expected at about 9:10 a.m. EDT. The four-member private astronaut crew is scheduled to undock at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday, May 30, to begin the journey home with splashdown off the coast of Florida.

NASA coverage will break following hatch closure and resume at 10:45 a.m. in advance of the planned undocking and will continue until about 30 minutes after undocking when joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams ends.

Ax-2 crew members Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi will complete 10 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 300 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from over 20 different experiments.

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.

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Expedition 69, Ax-2 Crews Study Ways to Improve Life on Earth and in Space

The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members pose for a portrait together aboard the space station. In the center front row, is Expedition 69 crew member Sultan Alneyadi flanked by (from left) Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Dmitri Petelin, Stephen Bowen, Andrey Fedyaev, Sergey Prokopyev, and Woody Hoburg. Not pictured is astronaut Frank Rubio.
The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members pose for a portrait together aboard the space station. In the center front row, is Expedition 69 crew member Sultan Alneyadi flanked by (from left) Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Dmitri Petelin, Stephen Bowen, Andrey Fedyaev, Sergey Prokopyev, and Woody Hoburg. Not pictured is astronaut Frank Rubio.

Life science for the benefit of human beings living on and off the Earth once again filled the research schedule aboard the International Space Station for the Expedition 69 and Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) crew members.

Flight Engineers Frank Rubio of NASA and Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) worked on a pair of space biology studies with Ax-2 Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi throughout Friday. Alneyadi partnered with Barnawi during the morning treating human cell samples inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox (LSG) for a study observing their inflammatory response to microgravity. Barnawi then spent the afternoon servicing stem cell samples in the LSG with Rubio for a study that seeks to improve regenerative cell therapies on Earth. Alqarni began the stem cell study during the morning inserting the samples into a fluorescence microscope for imaging inside the Destiny laboratory module.

At the end of the day, Alneyadi got together again with Barnawi and Alqarni for the Bio-Data investigation helping the private astronauts measure their blood pressure, blood oxygen, heart rate levels, and investigate changes in brain blood flow and function in microgravity. The human research study is assessing different tools that monitor brain and eye health and may offset the long-term effects of living in weightlessness.

Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson and Pilot John Shoffner also worked on different biomedical research studies exploring ways to improve life on Earth and in space. Whitson removed tumor cell samples from a research incubator and placed them in the fluorescence microscope for imaging to learn how cancers form and possibly develop ways to predict and treat cancer on Earth. Shoffner exercised while wearing a specialized skinsuit to demonstrate its ability to prevent space-caused and Earth-bound back problems.

NASA Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg had their hands full on Friday reviewing spacewalk procedures and organizing cargo for return to Earth. The duo first took turns studying maneuvers on a computer for an upcoming spacewalk to install a roll-out solar array on the orbital outpost’s truss structure. Bowen and Hoburg then spent the afternoon together collecting and prepacking gear that will be stowed inside the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle after it arrives in June.

The space station’s three cosmonauts spent their day on cardiac research, cargo duties, and life support maintenance. Commander Sergey Prokopyev first attached sensors to himself measuring his heart activity for a long-running Roscosmos cardiac study. Afterward, he replaced components inside the Vozdukh carbon dioxide removal device then checked its performance. Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev partnered together in the morning updating station data files to account for Wednesday’s arrival of the ISS Progress 84 resupply ship. The duo then split up for the rest of the day working on orbital plumbing and ventilation systems.

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.

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Expedition 69 and Ax-2 Working Together on Space Biology

The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members pose for a portrait together aboard the space station. In the center front row, is Expedition 69 crew member Sultan Alneyadi flanked by (from left) Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Dmitri Petelin, Stephen Bowen, Andrey Fedyaev, Sergey Prokopyev, and Woody Hoburg. Not pictured is astronaut Frank Rubio.
The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members pose for a portrait together aboard the space station. In the center front row, is Expedition 69 crew member Sultan Alneyadi flanked by (from left) Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Dmitri Petelin, Stephen Bowen, Andrey Fedyaev, Sergey Prokopyev, and Woody Hoburg. Not pictured is astronaut Frank Rubio.

The Expedition 69 and Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) crews worked throughout Thursday conducting a multitude of space research aboard the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts started unpacking a new cargo ship and worked on the European robotic arm controller.

Science is moving full speed ahead aboard the orbital outpost as four Expedition 69 astronauts and four Ax-2 private astronauts focused their research activities on a variety of space biology studies on Thursday. The life science and human research studies may provide insights unattainable on Earth promoting healthier astronauts living in space and humans on the ground.

UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi assisted Ax-2 Mission Specialist Rayyanah Barnawi in the Kibo laboratory module as she treated samples for a study exploring the effects of microgravity on the inflammatory response of human cells. Afterward, Barnawi was joined by NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio as she serviced stem cell samples inside Kibo’s Life Science Glovebox to potentially improve regenerative cell therapies on Earth.

Ax-2 Pilot John Shoffner and Ax-2 Mission Specialist Ali Alqarni joined each other for eye and brain scans. The private astronauts took turns in the morning scanning each other’s eyes with the Ultrasound 2 device in the Columbus laboratory module. The pair then got back together in the Destiny laboratory module during the afternoon, each wearing a cap filled with sensors, for a scan of their brains’ oxygen levels using near-infrared light. The scans are part of a single Ax-2 study that may provide insights into the effects of weightlessness on cognition and vision.

NASA Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg also participated in a pair of eye scans on Thursday. The duo’s first test saw them scanning each other’s eyes with the Ultrasound 2 in Columbus. Afterward, Hoburg examined Bowen’s eyes using standard medical imaging hardware in the Harmony module that can be found in an optometrist’s office on Earth. Doctors on the ground assisted the pair during both eye checks to understand how an astronaut’s eye shape and vision may change while living long-term in space.

Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson began her day swapping tumor cell samples inside a fluorescence microscope to help researchers understand how cancers form and possibly develop ways to predict and treat cancer on Earth. The former NASA astronaut would later spend the rest of the day supporting her Ax-2 crewmates.

Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, both from Roscosmos, began Thursday disassembling the new ISS Progress 84 (84P) resupply ship’s docking mechanism following its arrival at 11:19 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. Petelin would go on and unpack priority cargo from inside the 84P. Prokopyev studied futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques then stowed trash and discarded gear inside the ISS Progress 83 cargo craft. Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev worked throughout Thursday configuring data on the European robotic arm’s internal controller located inside the Nauka science module.

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.

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Resupply Cargo Craft Docks to Station

Progress 84 approaches space station before docking at 12:19 EDT on May 24, 2023.
Progress 84 approaches the space station before docking at 12:19 EDT on May 24, 2023.

The uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 84 spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station’s Poisk module at 12:19 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 24, following launch on a Soyuz rocket at 8:56 a.m. (5:56 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Progress is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the space station for the Expedition 69 crew.

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.

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Resupply Cargo Craft Docking to Station Live on NASA TV

The Progress 81 cargo craft approaches the International Space Station on June 3, 2022 for a docking to the Zvezda service module's rear port.
The Progress 81 cargo craft approaches the International Space Station on June 3, 2022 for a docking to the Zvezda service module’s rear port.

NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website now are providing live coverage of the rendezvous and docking of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. An automatic docking to the Poisk module is planned at 12:20 p.m. EDT.

The uncrewed Progress 84 launched on a Soyuz rocket at 8:56 a.m. EDT Wednesday, May 24 (5:56 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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.

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Progress Cargo Craft Successfully Launches to Resupply Crew

The Progress 84 cargo craft is safely in orbit and headed to the station following a successful launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Progress 84 cargo craft is safely in orbit and headed to the station following a successful launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA TV

The uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 84 is safely in orbit headed for the International Space Station following launch at 8:56 a.m. EDT Wednesday, May 24 (5:56 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The resupply spaceship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned, on its way to meet up with the orbiting laboratory and its Expedition 69 crew members.

Progress will dock to the Poisk module at 12:20 p.m. Coverage on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website will resume at 11:30 a.m. for rendezvous and docking.

Progress will deliver about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the space station.

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.

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Station Resupply Mission Launching Live on NASA TV

Russia's Progress 76 resupply ship is pictured approaching the station in July of 2020 packed with nearly three tons of food, fuel and supplies.
Russia’s Progress 76 resupply ship is pictured approaching the station in July of 2020 packed with nearly three tons of food, fuel and supplies.

NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website now are providing live coverage of the launch of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.

The uncrewed Progress 84 is scheduled to lift off on a Soyuz rocket at 8:56 a.m. EDT Wednesday, May 24 (5:56 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After a two-orbit journey, Progress will dock to the station’s Poisk module at 12:20 p.m. NASA coverage will resume at 11:30 a.m. for rendezvous and docking

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.

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