Tag: spacex

11 crew members are living aboard the International Space Station with four spaceships now docked to the orbiting lab. A fifth spaceship is due to launch Wednesday and arrive a few hours later with cargo to replenish the Expedition 69 crew.

Two SpaceX Dragon crew ships are docked adjacent to each other on the station’s Harmony module after the arrival of Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) aboard Dragon Freedom on Monday at 9:12 a.m. EDT. The four private astronauts from Axiom Space opened Freedom’s hatch at 11 a.m. and entered the station beginning eight days of docked operations.

The private quartet consisting of Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Al Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi spent Tuesday getting familiar with station operations. They practiced preparing food and drinks, conducting hygiene practices, performing safety procedures, and operating lab equipment while getting used to living in space.

At the end of the day, the foursome joined the seven-member Expedition 69 crew and reviewed roles and responsibilities in the unlikely event of an emergency. The international crew of 11 located safety gear such as fire extinguishers and portable breathing gear, followed escape routes, and coordinated communications with mission controllers in response to fire, ammonia leak, or pressure leak events.

In the middle of the new crew adaptation activities, there was still time for ongoing space science and lab maintenance activities. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio serviced a variety of components and swapped samples inside a research furnace and a fluorescence microscope. NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg configured gear supporting a pharmaceutical study, while UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi set up the Stellar Stem Cells experiment, an Ax-2 investigation, that will explore regenerative medicine therapies.

NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen spent his day with the Ax-2 crew and joined Commander Whitson transferring emergency gear and configuring safety hardware between Dragon Freedom and the space station. Bowen and former NASA astronaut Whitson are both Dragon crew ship commanders with Bowen leading the SpaceX Crew-6 mission aboard the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft.

The next mission to launch to the orbital outpost is an uncrewed cargo mission from Roscosmos counting down to its liftoff at 8:56 a.m. EDT on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The ISS Progress 84 (84P) cargo craft will dock to the Poisk module just under three-and-a-half hours later at 12:20 p.m. delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the orbital residents. Expedition 69 Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will be on duty monitoring 84P’s arrival then open its hatch several hours later to begin offloading the new cargo.

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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The Expedition 69 crew members continue preparing the International Space Station for the arrival four private astronauts early next week. Meanwhile, the orbital residents also stayed focused on their life science activities and lab maintenance tasks.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon Freedom crew ship attached, rolled out to its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday morning. It is scheduled to launch four Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) astronauts at 5:37 p.m. EDT on Sunday to the orbital outpost. Former NASA astronaut and Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson will lead first-time space flyers Pilot John Shoffner and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi aboard Dragon during its space flight. Dragon will automatically approach and dock to the space-facing port on the Harmony module at 9:24 a.m. on Monday.

Two station flight engineers spent a portion of Thursday configuring station equipment to support the four Ax-2 crew members during their stay aboard orbital lab. NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen gathered and staged emergency hardware on midday Thursday to accommodate the additional astronauts and their Dragon vehicle. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi relocated a station computer from the Kibo laboratory module to the Harmony module for Ax-2 crew use.

Bowen would go on and work the rest of the day inside the Destiny laboratory module servicing life support gear that cools station hardware and rejects heat using water loops. Alneyadi charged batteries, removed components, and practiced installing jetpacks on the Extravehicular Mobility Units, or spacesuits, in preparation for upcoming spacewalks.

NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio worked inside the Kibo lab installing protein crystal research hardware and a centrifuge supporting life science and physics research. NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg wrapped up the checkout and activation of the Treadmill 2 in the Tranquility module following its inspection and cleaning earlier in the week.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev joined Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin after breakfast for ultrasound scans of their stomachs to understand microgravity’s effect on the digestion process. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev attached sensors to himself recording his heart activity while pedaling on an exercise cycle for a fitness evaluation. Fedyaev that partnered with Prokopyev at the end of the day transferring cargo from the ISS Progress 83 resupply ship docked to the Zvezda service module’s aft port.

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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The Expedition 69 crew spent Wednesday servicing an array of science gear, maintaining orbital lab systems, and readying gear for the next private astronaut mission. The International Space Station crew members also joined each other at the end of the day and practiced responding to a variety of emergency scenarios.

NASA Flight Engineers Frank Rubio and Woody Hoburg worked during the morning on science hardware supporting different space biology experiments. Rubio uninstalled video components inside the Cell Biology Experiment Facility, a research incubator that generates artificial gravity. Hoburg deployed a computer on the Tranquility module’s life support rack before ground controllers loaded network security software into the device.

Rubio later joined UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and returned the station’s Treadmill 2 to its normal configuration inside Tranquility. Alneyadi and Hoburg had worked the day before on the treadmill rotating it out of its stowage position to inspect and clean its electronic components.

NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen swapped out pharmaceutical samples inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox for the Ring Sheared Drop experiment that seeks potential treatments for neuro-degenerative diseases. He also removed a vest and headband he was wearing that recorded his vital signs and prepared the medical data for review by doctors on the ground.

Bowen also prepared computer tablets that will be used during the upcoming Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2). Bowen configured the devices to allow the Ax-2 crew to access ground resources and connect to the internet. Ax-2 will be commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson who will lead first-time space flyers Pilot John Shoffner and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. The private quartet is scheduled to launch aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at 5:37 p.m. EDT on Sunday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and automatically dock to the orbiting lab at 9:24 a.m. on Monday.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin worked throughout Wednesday on life support maintenance before partnering together and testing ultrasound gear for a human research study. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent his day inspecting surfaces inside the Roscosmos station modules.

At the end of the day, all seven crewmates joined each other for a regularly scheduled emergency training session. The orbital residents reviewed how they would coordinate their response to unlikely emergency events such as a fire, an ammonia leak, or a pressure leak. They familiarized themselves with escape routes, safety gear, and communication protocols with mission controllers.

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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Mission managers have given the go for the launch of the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station on Sunday. The Expedition 69 crew is preparing to meet the new astronauts while also keeping up its human research, maintaining orbital lab systems, and stowing spacewalk tools.

Axiom Space, SpaceX, and NASA managers met on Monday and agreed to launch four Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) crew members to the space station at 5:37 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Veteran astronaut and commander Peggy Whitson will lead first-time space flyers Pilot John Shoffner and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and guide it to an automated docking at 9:24 a.m. on Monday. The private astronauts will enter the station through the Harmony module’s space-facing port and begin several days of research, outreach, and commercial activities before returning to Earth.

Four station flight engineers joined each other during Tuesday afternoon and reviewed the Ax -2 mission schedule. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Frank Rubio, and Woody Hoburg, along with UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi familiarized themselves with the upcoming mission activities and reviewed how the crews will coordinate during docked operations.

In the meantime, the seven space station residents continued ongoing microgravity science and kept up the maintenance of the orbital outpost. Spacesuit work and cargo transfers also rounded out the day.

Bowen was back on human research Tuesday morning servicing samples in a centrifuge for a study exploring the immunity systems of astronauts. Rubio powered on the Astrobee free-flying robotic assistants then removed experiment hardware from inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock.

Hoburg and Alneyadi spent most of the day working on the Tranquility module’s treadmill. The duo rotated the exercise rack from its stowage position to gain access to its internal electronics components for inspection and cleaning. Alneyadi then spent a few moments testing the operations of the Astrobees for an upcoming student competition to control the robotic devices.

Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin continued cleaning up after last week’s spacewalk. The duo reconfigured the Poisk airlock and stowed the tools and hardware used during the five-hour and 14-minute excursion that saw the deployment of a radiator on the Nauka science module. Prokopyev also partnered with Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev unpacking cargo from the ISS Progress 83 cargo craft, while Petelin also explored how weightlessness affects the cardiovascular system.

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.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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