The newly-docked Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is next to one of the Cygnus’ round Ultraflex solar arrays in the left foreground. The Cygnus cargo craft departed the station two days after the Soyuz arrived.
Three new crew members are in their first week aboard the International Space Station. They joined the Expedition 50 crew Saturday bringing the occupancy of the orbital lab to six humans.
The two U.S. astronauts, three cosmonauts and one French astronaut are getting ready for Thanksgiving in space. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is beginning her third station mission and will spend the traditional U.S. holiday orbiting above the Earth for the third time.
Meanwhile, new crew members Whitson, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and first time space-flyer Thomas Pesquet and are familiarizing themselves with their home on orbit where they will live for the next six months. Whitson was last onboard the station during Expedition 16 in 2008 before Japan’s Kibo lab module had been delivered and the final solar arrays had been installed.
Whitson spent several hours repairing the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) today, one of two functional toilets aboard the station. She replaced several components after a leak was detected in the WHC on Monday.
Novitskiy’s previous mission was Expedition 34 which ended in 2013. Pesquet is on his first spaceflight and is the fourth astronaut from France to visit the space station.
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An Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz rocket and members of the media Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The Soyuz rocket that will launch three new Expedition 50 crew members to space Thursday was blessed at its launch pad today. Back in space, the Canadarm2 grappled the Cygnus cargo craft ahead of its release early next week.
An Orthodox priest performed the traditional blessing of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft today before its launch to the International Space Station. Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA are in quarantine at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Kazakhstan and are scheduled to liftoff Thursday at 3:20 p.m. EST on a two-day trip to their new home in space.
The new trio will dock to the Rassvet module Saturday afternoon and join Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko who have been in space since Oct. 19. The new Soyuz crew ship will make four spacecraft docked at the orbital complex before the Cygnus resupply ship departs two days later.
Cygnus will end its month-long stay at the Unity module on Monday when Kimbrough commands the Canadarm2 to release the cargo craft at 8:20 a.m. NASA TV will broadcast the release and departure of Cygnus beginning at 8 a.m. Before Cygnus begins its fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere it will stay in space a few more days to release a set of ocean ship tracking CubeSats and conduct the Saffire-II spacecraft fire study.
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Expedition 50 crew members (from left) Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy and Thomas Pesquet stand in front of the first stage engines of their Soyuz booster rocket.
NASA announced today the crew members chosen to launch on four upcoming missions to the International Space Station. Meanwhile, three Expedition 50 crew members are orbiting Earth today working on cargo operations, human research and awaiting the launch and docking of three new crew members this weekend.
New space station crews were officially announced today that will launch to the station in 2017. Four NASA astronauts, four Roscosmos cosmonauts and one astronaut each from the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are scheduled to launch in March, May, September and October of next year.
Commander Shane Kimbrough is nearly complete with Cygnus cargo transfers and will close the hatch this weekend. The Cygnus space freighter from Orbital ATK is on track to be released early next week from the Unity module. NASA TV will cover the event live when the Canadarm2 grapples Cygnus and releases it for departure Monday at 8:20 a.m. EST.
Flight engineers Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov recorded their food and medicine consumption again today for the Morze hormone and immune experiment. Borisenko then moved on to transferring cargo from the Progress 64 resupply ship while Ryzhikov checked lights and cleaned vents and fans.
Back on Earth, two veteran station residents and a new space flyer are two days away from launching aboard a Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft to begin a five-month mission on the orbital complex. First-time European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet will join NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who will be on her third mission, and cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, who will be on his second mission, Nov. 17 when they lift off and take a two-day trip to their new home in space.
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The Soyuz MS-03 rocket stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The rocket that will launch the next crew to the International Space Station rolled out to its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On orbit, the three Expedition 50 crew members are conducting human research, measuring radiation levels and wrapping up Cygnus cargo operations.
Veteran space travelers Peggy Whitson of NASA and Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos along with space newcomer Thomas Pesquet from ESA are in Kazakhstan getting ready for their mission in space. Their Soyuz MS-03 rocket stands at its launch pad counting down to a launch Thursday at 3:20 p.m. EST. The new crew members will take a two-day trip to the orbital complex where they will live and work until May.
Shane Kimbrough, NASA astronaut and Expedition 50 Commander, is nearing the end of Cygnus cargo transfers as he readies the resupply vehicle for its Nov. 21 release from the Unity module. Afterward, Cygnus will stay in space a few more days to release a set of tiny weather satellites and conduct the Saffire-II spacecraft fire study.
Cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko, who is on his second space station mission, logged his food and medicine intake today for the Morze hormone and immune experiment. Kimbrough handed Flight Engineer Sergey Ryzhikov a collection of radiation detectors that only monitor neutrons and will be processed for the RaDI-N experiment.
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The six-member Expedition 49 crew poses for a portrait in the Destiny lab module. (Front row, from left) Kate Rubins, Anatoly Ivanishin and Takuya Onishi. (Back row) Shane Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko.
One spacecraft is being packed and readied for the return of three humans to Earth while a cargo craft is being unloaded and settling in for a one-month stay.
The Expedition 49 trio of Commander Anatoly Ivanishin and Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi are packing gear and preparing for their return to Earth Saturday night. The veteran cosmonaut and two first-time astronauts will wrap up their mission after 115 days in space.
They will parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan inside the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft. The ride back to Earth takes about 3-1/2 hours after undocking from the International Space Station.
The Orbital ATK Cygnus is the latest cargo ship to arrive at the International Space Station. It was captured and installed to the Harmony module on Sunday Oct. 23 after a six-day flight that began in Virginia.
The hatches were opened the day it arrived and the crew began unloading over 5,100 pounds of crew supplies and science gear. Cygnus is scheduled to depart in mid-November and release a set of nanosatellites before scientists remotely set fire inside the spacecraft for the Saffire-II experiment.
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The Cygnus resupply ship slowly approaches the space station before the Canadarm2 reaches out and grapples it. Credit: NASA TV
Expedition 49 Flight Engineers Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Kate Rubins of NASA successfully captured Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft with the station’s robotic arm at 7:28 a.m. EDT. NASA TV coverage of operations to install Cygnus to the space station’s Unity module begins at 9 a.m.
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Western Europe is pictured at night by an Expedition 49 crew member.
Astronauts Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi are having a light day today ahead of the arrival of three new crewmates Friday morning. The duo also is waiting for Sunday morning’s cargo delivery aboard the Cygnus resupply ship.
NASA TV will broadcast the Soyuz MS-02 space ship docking to the International Space Station beginning Friday at 5:15 a.m. EDT. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will dock to the Poisk module, beginning their Expedition 49-50 mission which will last until February.
Two days later on Sunday morning, the Cygnus resupply craft from Orbital ATK will arrive with more than 5,100 pounds of cargo, including gear to support dozens of science investigations. Onishi and Rubins will be stationed in the cupola at the controls of the Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple Cygnus following its journey to the complex.
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The Cygnus spacecraft and its solar arrays are displayed in this computer representation. Credit: NASA TV
The Cygnus spacecraft’s solar arrays have deployed.
The cargo ship will rendezvous with the International Space Station on Sunday, Oct. 23. It will be grappled at approximately 7:05 a.m. by Expedition 49 Flight Engineers Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Kate Rubins of NASA. After Cygnus’ capture, ground controllers will command the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Unity module. It is scheduled depart the space station on Nov. 18.
Science investigations aboard Cygnus on their way to the space station also include commercial and academic payloads in myriad disciplines, including:
Saffire II, the second in a series of experiments to ignite and study a large-scale fire inside an empty Cygnus resupply vehicle after it leaves the space station and before it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere to improving understanding of fire growth in microgravity and safeguarding future space missions.
Cool flames, an investigation into a phenomenon where some types of fuels initially burn very hot and then appear to go out — but actually continue to burn at a much lower temperature with no visible flames.
Controlled Dynamics locker- equipment that can minimize fluctuations and disturbances in the microgravity environment that can occur onboard a moving spacecraft that can enable a new class of research experiments.
NanoRacks Black Box- a platform that can provide advanced science capabilities and is specially designed for near-launch payload turnover of autonomous payloads including use of robotics, new automated MixStix and NanoLab-style research.
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, launches from Pad-0A, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft lifted off at 7:45 p.m. EDT and is on its way to the International Space Station. At the time of launch, the space station was traveling at an altitude of about 250 miles, over northwest Australia.
An hour and half after launch, commands will be given to deploy the spacecraft’s UltraFlex solar arrays.
Launch coverage will continue on NASA TV at https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv until shortly after spacecraft separation then resume at about 9:05 p.m. for solar array deployment, which is expected to last about 30 minutes.
A post-launch news conference will follow and is scheduled to begin on NASA TV at approximately 10:00 p.m.
The full moon sets Oct. 16 over the Antares rocket at the launch pad in Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The countdown has begun for Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket, with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on top, and is progressing smoothly today. There are no technical concerns with the rocket or spacecraft and weather is 100 percent “go.”
Liftoff is scheduled to occur during a five minute window beginning at 7:40 p.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport’s Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Cygnus is loaded with about 5,100 pounds of science investigations, food, supplies and hardware for the space station and its crew.
When Cygnus arrives to the space station, on Sunday, Oct. 23, Expedition 49 Flight Engineers Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Kate Rubins of NASA will grapple the spacecraft. They will use the space station’s robotic arm to take hold of the Cygnus, dubbed the S.S. Alan Poindexter. After Cygnus’ capture, ground controllers will command the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Unity module.
The Cygnus spacecraft will spend about 5 weeks attached to the space station. Cygnus will remain at the space station until November, when the spacecraft will depart the station and initiate the second spacecraft fire safety investigation, Saffire-II, and then dispose of approximately several tons of trash during its fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Orbital ATK CRS-5 Countdown & Launch Highlights
The countdown uses both a range countdown clock (L Minus Clock) and a software sequencer (T Minus Clock). The launch countdown is initiated with the Range Clock at L minus 6 hours 15 minutes and is a running clock. The T Minus Clock is initiated at T minus 3 hours 10 minutes (sequencer start-up) and stops with built-in holds.
EDTEvent
1:10 pm Report to stations
1:25 pm Open Checklist, begin countdown
3:10 pm Poll to Readiness for LV External Power On
3:55 pm Poll to initiate Loading Sequencer Timeline
4:00 pm Loading Sequencer Start
5:40 pm Enter into 20-minute built-in hold at T-1 hour, 30 minutes (L-2 hours)
6:00 pm Resume the count at T-1 hour, 30 minutes (L-1 hour, 40 minutes)
6:05 pm Start propellant loading at T-1 hour, 25 minutes (L-1 hour, 35 minutes) 6:45 pmNASA TV COVERAGE BEGINS
7:22 pm Enter into final 10-minute hold at T-8 minutes (L-18 minutes)
7:30 pm Poll for readiness to proceed with the final countdown (L-10 minutes)
7:32 pm Start final countdown at T-8 minutes
7:37 pm Initiate Auto Sequence Handoff for the Terminal Count (T-3:30) 7:40 pm LAUNCH
7:44 pm MECO on Antares first stage
7:44 pm Stage 1 Sep
7:44 pm Fairing Sep
7:44 pm Interstage Sep
7:44 pm Second stage ignition
7:47 pm Stage 2 Burnout/orbit insertion
7:49 pm Cygnus Sep from second stage
9:05 pm NASA TV Commentary resumes for Solar Array Deploy
~9:10 pm Solar Array Deployment Begins
~9:40 pm Solar Array Deployment Ends
~9:45 pm Commentary ends
~10:00 pm Post-launch news conference
