Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency – Page 256

Astronauts Relaxing Ahead of U.S. Cargo Mission

Expedition 60 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA harvests Mizuna mustard greens for the VEG-04 botany study that is exploring the viability of growing fresh food in space to support astronauts on long-term missions.

A quartet of Expedition 60 astronauts are relaxing today ahead of planned operations to receive a new space freighter on Friday. Meanwhile, a pair of cosmonauts checked Soyuz spacecraft systems and collected air samples aboard the International Space Station.

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday at 6:24 p.m. EDT for the launch of its Dragon cargo craft to resupply the station. Meteorologists, however, predict a 30% chance of favorable weather for a liftoff at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

An on time launch Wednesday would see Dragon arriving at the station early Friday packed with new science experiments and a new International Docking Adapter-3. NASA Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Christina Koch will be on duty in the cupola to command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture Dragon at 7 a.m., while Flight Engineer Drew Morgan monitors the cargo craft’s telemetry as it approaches the orbiting lab.

The station’s newest arrivals including Morgan, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos are getting up to speed with station systems today. They are orienting themselves in microgravity, while conducting science and maintenance operations aboard the lab.

Station Commander Alexey Ovchinin checked the air quality over in the Russian side of the station. Skvortsov checked the hatch seal and recharged batteries in the new Soyuz MS-13 crew ship docked to the Zvezda service module.

Towards the end of the day, the entire six-member crew gathered for about an hour to review their roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency. The four astronauts and two cosmonauts reviewed procedures, safety gear and escape paths for unlikely emergency scenarios such as a fire or a pressure leak aboard the station.

New Station Crew Launches Live Today on NASA TV

Expedition 50 Crew Members — Expedition 50 crew members (from left) Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy and Thomas Pesquet are seen in quarantine behind glass during a crew press conference. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) are preparing for launch to the International Space Station. They are scheduled to lift off today in a Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft at 3:20 p.m. EST (2:20 a.m. Nov. 18, Baikonur time).

Live coverage of the launch will begin at 2:30 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Check out the NASA TV schedule online for information on how to watch live and replays.

The three crew members will join Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who have been aboard the complex since October. Whitson, Novitskiy and Pesquet will remain aboard the station until next spring. Kimbrough, Ryzhikov and Borisenko are scheduled to remain aboard the station until late February.

The Expedition 50 crew members will contribute to more than 250 experiments in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

Below is the launch timeline for the crew in EST:

Nov. 17

9:20 a.m.        Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel
9:35 a.m.        Batteries installed in booster
10:05 a.m.      Crew arrives at Site 254
10:20 a.m.      Tanking begins
10:50 a.m.      Crew suit up
11:15 a.m.      Booster loaded with liquid oxygen
11:50 a.m.      Crew meets family members on other side of the glass
12:15 p.m.      First and second stage oxygen fueling complete
12:20 p.m.      Crew walkout from 254; boards bus for the launch pad
12:25 p.m.      Crew departs for launch pad at Site 31
12:45 p.m.      Crew arrives at launch pad
12:55 p.m.      Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
1:45 p.m.       Descent module hardware tested
2:00 p.m.       Hatch closed; leak checks begin
2:20 p.m.        Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation
2:30 p.m. NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS
2:35 p.m.        Pad service structure components lowered
2:36 p.m.        Clamshell gantry service towers retracted
2:43 p.m.        Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
2:45 p.m. NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities played (B-roll)
2:46 p.m.        Emergency escape system armed
3:05 p.m.        Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
3:10 p.m.        Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
3:13 p.m.        Pre-launch operations complete
3:14 p.m.        Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
3:15 p.m.        Commander’s controls activated
3:16 p.m.        Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
3:17 p.m.        Propellant drainback
3:17 p.m.        Booster propellant tank pressurization
3:18 p.m.        Ground propellant feed terminated
3:19 p.m.        Vehicle to internal power;
3:19 p.m.        First umbilical tower separates
Auto sequence start
3:19 p.m.        Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
3:19 p.m.        Second umbilical tower separates
3:20 p.m.        Launch command issued
Engine Start Sequence Begins
3:20 p.m.        Engine turbopumps at flight speed
3:20 p.m.        Engines at maximum thrust
3:20:13 p.m. LAUNCH
3:28 p.m.        Third stage separation and orbital insertion

To learn more about the International Space Station, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/station. For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs-stage-old.nasawestprime.com/spacestation/. Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram at: http://instagram.com/iss and on Twitter @Space_Station.

Crew Looks to Friday Spacewalk, Cargo Ship Swap Next Week

Spacewalkers (from left) Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet work to complete the installation of a roll out solar array on June 20, 2021,

The Expedition 65 crew continued its space research activities today while two astronauts prepared for their third spacewalk in less than two weeks. The International Space Station will also see a U.S. cargo craft depart and a Russian one launch on the same day next week.

NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei strapped himself to an exercise cycle and attached sensors to himself on Tuesday morning for a workout study measuring aerobic capacity in space. NASA Flight Engineer Megan McArthur explored how bacteria is affected by microgravity and ways to counteract harmful changes.

Eye checks were back on the schedule for four astronauts on Tuesday afternoon. Commander Akihiko Hoshide and Vande Hei took turns operating medical imaging gear and scanned the eyes of astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet. A variety of eye exams take place on the station helping researchers understand how weightlessness impacts an astronaut’s vision.

Kimbrough and Pesquet are also getting ready for more solar array installation work on the outside of the orbiting lab. The duo reviewed procedures today for installing a second roll out solar array on the station’s Port-6 truss structure. The veteran spacewalkers will set their spacesuits to battery power at 8 a.m. EDT on Friday signifying the official start of their third excursion in 9 days. Live coverage on NASA TV starts at 6:30 a.m. on the agency’s website and the NASA app.

Hoshide and Vande Hei spent some time Tuesday morning loading Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter ahead of its departure scheduled for July 29 at 12:25 p.m. Russia’s ISS Progress 78 resupply ship will launch the same day at 7:27 p.m. and dock to the station two days later at 9:02 p.m.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy packed the ISS Progress 77 resupply ship readying the vehicle for its undocking in late July. The veteran cosmonaut also trapped clouds of particles using both neon and argon gas for a plasma crystal experiment. Russian Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov had an exercise test on a treadmill today then serviced a variety of communications and life support hardware.