The SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft is seen just after undocking from the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 1:20 a.m. Credit: NASA TV.
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.
The Dragon Endurance spacecraft is shown after the hatch closed between it and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission.
At 11:20 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 4, the hatch closed between the Dragon Endurance spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission with NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer.
NASA Television will air live coverage beginning at 12:45 a.m. Thursday, May 5, for undocking scheduled at 1:05 a.m. and continue coverage through their splashdown off the coast of Florida at about 12:43 a.m. EDT on Friday, May 6.
The four commercial crew astronauts representing the SpaceX Crew-3 mission are pictured in their Dragon spacesuits for a fit check aboard the International Space Station’s Harmony module on April 21, 2022.
Watch live coverage now on NASA TV, the NASA app and the agency’s website as hatch closure and undocking preparations are underway for the return of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission.
Crew-3 is targeting a return to Earth about 12:43 a.m. EDT on Friday, May 6, with a splashdown off the coast of Florida. The Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. on Thursday, May 5, to begin the journey home.
Dragon will autonomously undock, depart the space station, and splash down at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. Endurance also will return important and time-sensitive research to Earth.
NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn handed over command of the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev in a traditional Change of Command ceremony today ahead of Crew-3’s departure tonight. Credit: NASA TV.
NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn handed over command of the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev in a traditional Change of Command ceremony which began at 2:35 p.m. EDT today. Artemyev, a veteran of three spaceflights to the space station, will lead the Expedition 67 crew until the end of summer.
Marshburn and his Crew-3 crewmates Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer have been living aboard the orbital lab since November 11, 2021, and are set to depart tonight. Hatch closure is set for 11:20 p.m. EDT, with undocking following at 1:05 a.m. EDT. The commercial crew quartet is due to splashdown off the coast of Florida at 12:43 a.m. EDT on Friday, May 6. Watch live on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and the app.
The Crew-3 astronauts worked on final Dragon cargo operations and configuring Dragon for departure, final egress, and hatch closure, as well as transferring emergency hardware from Dragon to the space station prior to departure. The Endurance crew closed out research operations which included transferring and packing frozen samples and ice bricks from the Minus Eighty (Degrees Celsius) Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) into coldbags in preparation for the return to Earth. MELFI provides the space station storage and fast-freezing of life science and biological samples. The Crew-3 astronauts also removed and stowed their Actiwatches, small, lightweight, wrist-worn devices that simultaneously detect body movement and light intensity. They are used to evaluate sleep-wake adaptation and circadian cycle and determine if space travel has an impact on the sleep-wake patterns of crewmembers.
The station’s four newest astronauts, Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Samantha Cristoforetti, had a light duty day performing some life science, lab maintenance, and inventory tasks. The foursome and their three Russian crewmates are due to have an off-duty day following the departure of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission.
In the station’s Russian segment, Artemyev and Flight Engineers Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev performed monthly maintenance checks on laptops and video equipment, as well as physical training, and a robotic piloting experiment.
Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Kayla Barron and Jessica Watkins, both from NASA, and Samantha Cristoforetti from ESA (European Space Agency) are pictured check out systems inside the Kibo laboratory module.
NASA and SpaceX managers continue to plan for the departure of four commercial crew astronauts aboard the International Space Station this week. A change of command is also on tap as the 11 orbital residents transition to a seven-member crew before the end of the week.
NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer are nearing the end of their space research mission that began in November. The quartet will first see Marshburn hand over station command to Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev who will lead Expedition 67 until late summer. The following day, the four astronauts will enter the SpaceX Dragon Endurance, undock from the Harmony module’s forward port, then splashdown off the coast of Florida about 24 hours later.
The four departing astronauts have been handing over their responsibilities to the station’s newest quartet that arrived on April 27 aboard the Dragon Freedom. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins with Samantha Cristoforetti from ESA are in the first week of a four-and-a-half-month research mission on the orbiting lab.
Over in the Russian segment of the station, Artemyev took turns with Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov working out for a study exploring ways to maximize the effectiveness of exercise in weightlessness. Flight Engineer Denis Matveev worked on resupply activities inside the ISS Progress 80 cargo craft before cleaning ventilation systems.
This mosaic depicts the space station pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour on Nov. 8, 2021.
Four astronauts who have been aboard the International Space Station since November continue to prepare for their return to Earth. This comes at the same time as four new astronauts are beginning their mission and getting used to living and working aboard the orbiting lab.
Expedition 67 Commander Tom Marshburn is getting ready to hand over station control to Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev. The traditional change of command ceremony will take place Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. EDT live on NASA TV’s app and website, when the station’s nine flight engineers witness Marshburn handing over the station’s leadership role to Artemyev.
In the meantime, Marshburn and Flight Engineers Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer, are packing up and preparing for their return to Earth. The quartet will board the SpaceX Dragon Endurance later this week then undock from the Harmony module’s forward port ending their stay on the space station. Chari will command the ride back home when the foursome parachutes to a splashdown off the coast of Florida about a day after undocking.
Meanwhile, the station’s four newest crew members, who have been on the station less than a week, are kicking off their first science experiments while also getting up to speed with lab systems and operations.
NASA’s first time space-flyers Robert Hines and Jessica Watkins worked in the Columbus laboratory module on Monday and explored how microgravity affects their dexterous manipulation. NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren, on his second mission, collected and stored his blood and urine samples then spent the rest of the day on station familiarization and handover activities. ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti serviced life support equipment while also spending time adapting to life on the space station.
Artemyev, on his third space station mission, is about to take command of the Expedition 67 crew until late summer. Today, he worked on a pair of Russian experiments exploring future spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques, as well as effective ways to exercise in weightlessness. Flight Engineer Denis Matveev inspected the ISS Progress 80 cargo craft then continued cleaning up after April 28’s spacewalk to activate the European robotic arm. Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov swapped out a Russian computer before participating in more space exercise research at the end of the day.
Cosmonauts (from left) Denis Matveev and Oleg Artemyev worked outside the station’s Russian segment during the first spacewalk to outfit Nauka and configure the European robotic arm on April 18, 2022.
Two Roscosmos cosmonauts went on a spacewalk to activate the new European robotic arm (ERA) less than a day after the SpaceX Crew-4 mission arrived at the International Space Station. The next mission event taking place will occur next week when four Expedition 67 astronauts complete their stay aboard the orbiting lab.
Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev exited the station in their Orlan spacesuits at 10:58 a.m. EDT on Thursday beginning the fifth spacewalk of the year. Fellow cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov assisted the spacewalkers from inside the station’s Russian segment as they released the ERA from its launch restraints on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module and monitored the new robotic arm’s first motion.
The day before, the SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship, carrying four Crew-4 astronauts, docked to the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 7:37 p.m. EDT. Less than two hours later, NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, entered the station beginning a four-and-a-half month research mission aboard the space station. The 11-person crew will live and work together until next week when the SpaceX Crew-3 mission ends.
Station Commander Tom Marshburn along with Flight Engineers Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, all NASA astronauts, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, are packing up to end their stay on the orbiting lab. The four astronauts representing the Commercial Crew Program are finalizing a six-month science mission on the space lab. NASA and SpaceX mission managers are planning for the quartet to enter the Dragon Endurance crew ship and undock from Harmony’s forward port for a splashdown off the coast of Florida next week.
Spacewalkers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev monitor the station’s new European robotic arm as it moves on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev of Roscosmos concluded their spacewalk outside of the International Space Station at 6:40 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 42 minutes.
Artemyev and Matveev completed their major objectives during the spacewalk, which included monitoring the first commanded movements of the robotic arm from its grapple fixtures after removing thermal blankets and launch locks. The duo monitored the robotic arm as its end effectors translated one at a time to a new base points. The crew also installed more handrails on Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.
Shortly after the spacewalk ended, cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov completed the grapple of the second of the two end effectors on the new European Robotic Arm to a grapple mechanism on the Nauka module to successfully wrap up the major tasks of the excursion.
This was the fifth spacewalk in Artemyev’s career, and the second for Matveev. It will be the fifth spacewalk at the station in 2022 and the 250th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Additional spacewalks are planned to continue outfitting the European robotic arm and to activate Nauka’s airlock for future spacewalks.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev waves to the camera during a spacewalk on April 18, 2022, to configure the European robotic arm.
NASA Television coverage is underway as two Russian cosmonauts prepare to venture outside the International Space Station to continue activating the new European robotic arm – a 37-foot-long manipulator system mounted to the recently arrived Nauka module.
Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev of Roscosmos will conduct the second in a series spacewalk that will be staged out of the Poisk module airlock. During the spacewalk, the duo will monitor the first commanded movements of the robotic arm from its grapple fixtures after removing thermal blankets and launch locks. The arm’s end effectors will translate one at a time to a new base points. The crew also will install more handrails on Nauka.
Coverage of the spacewalk is on NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website.
Artemyev will wear a Russian Orlan spacesuit with red stripes. Matveev will wear a spacesuit with blue stripes. This will be the fifth spacewalk in Artemyev’s career, and the second for Matveev. It will be the fifth spacewalk at the station in 2022 and the 250th spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
During the first spacewalk on April 18, the cosmonauts installed and connected a control panel for the robotic arm. They also removed protective covers from the arm and installed handrails on Nauka. The arm will be used to move spacewalkers and payloads around the Russian segment of the station.
NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 Commander Kjell Lindgren, representing NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, is pictured during a training session inside a mockup of the Crew Dragon vehicle at SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California on Feb. 15, 2022.
NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website are providing live continuous coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission carrying NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on their way to the International Space Station.The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom, is about 45 minutes ahead of the planned mission timeline. Docking to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module now is expected about 7:40 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 27.
Crew-4 astronauts launched to International Space Station at 3:52 a.m. Wednesday, April 27, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
