While asteroid 2024 YR4 is currently too distant to detect with telescopes from Earth, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope collected one more observation of the asteroid before it escaped from view in its orbit around the Sun. With the additional data, experts from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in […]
NASA’s SunRISE Mission Reviewing Launch Date, Names New Science Lead
The team for NASA’s SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) is reviewing the mission’s launch date, with anticipated launch no earlier than September. The heliophysics mission is sharing a ride aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan-Centaur rocket carrying U.S. government payloads. The SunRISE mission consists of six toaster-size small satellites, or SmallSats, that will detect […]
Blood, Oxygen Research for Crew Health, and Axiom Preps Fill Day
Blood and oxygen investigations to improve health in space dominated the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 73 crewmates also trained for the arrival next week of the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew inside the Space Dragon spacecraft.
Station Prepares for Axiom Mission 4, Studies How Body Adapts to Space
The Expedition 73 crew is preparing to welcome the arrival of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) and its four astronauts to the International Space Station next week. Station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim, Anne McClain, and Nichole Ayers joined each other on Tuesday and reviewed the upcoming private astronaut mission. The station quartet called down to mission managers and discussed Ax-4 operations and station readiness.
Axiom Mission 4 Targets Launch No Earlier than Tuesday, June 10
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 8:22 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 10, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4. This shift allows teams to account for predicted inclement weather during the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft transport in addition to completing final processing of the spacecraft ahead of launch.
NASA’s IMAP Spacecraft Readied for Launch Preparations
Technicians removed NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) spacecraft from its shipping container on Thursday, May 29, after transferring it from the airlock into the high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The IMAP spacecraft arrived at the facility on May 10, coming by truck […]
Crew Preps for Fourth Axiom Private Mission, Keeps up Human Research
The Expedition 73 crew members are turning their attention to the upcoming fourth private mission from Axiom Space. While the International Space Station crewmates prepare for the Ax-4 quartet’s arrival aboard a SpaceX Dragon they also continued studying how their bodies are adapting to weightlessness in the midst of ongoing lab maintenance duties.
Week Ends with Vein Scans, Brain Research, and 3D Microscope Test
Vein scans and hearing checks were the main human research activities aboard the International Space Station on Friday ensuring the Expedition 73 crew remains healthy. The orbital residents also tested a 3D microscope and kept up the maintenance of the orbital outpost at the end of the week.
NASA Wallops to Support Sounding Rocket Launch
A suborbital sounding rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window extending from 1 June – 14 June, 2025. No real-time launch status updates will be available. The launch will not be livestreamed, and updates will not be provided during the countdown. The rocket launch may be visible from […]
Crew Works on Spacesuits, Life Support as Human Research Continues
Spacesuit and life support maintenance were the main focus on Thursday while the Expedition 73 still had time set aside for space biology research aboard the International Space Station.