We asked our virtual guests what they would take with them as a zero-gravity indicator if they were launching on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft on July 30 for NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. More than 2,600 of you responded. Two large categories of items emerged: stuffed animals and balls. Nearly 10% of people suggested …
NASA will provide live coverage of the automated docking of the uncrewed Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) to the International Space Station Thursday, July 29, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Named Nauka, the Russian word for science, the 43-foot long, 23-ton module launched on July 21 and will serve as a new science facility, docking port, and spacewalk airlock for future …
Ahead of the Artemis I lunar-bound mission, teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center joined the launch abort tower to the Orion spacecraft on July 23. Working inside the spaceport’s Launch Abort System Facility, engineers and technicians with Exploration Ground Systems and primary contractor, Jacobs, lifted the system above the spacecraft and coupled it with the …
Payloads Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF): The crew opened the ELF facility, exchanged the sample holder assembly, and attempted to replace one of the fixation fasteners. Due to access issues and time constraints, the fastener replacement will be deferred. JAXA’s ELF is an experimental facility designed to levitate, melt and solidify materials by container-less processing techniques …
The rollout of the Starliner spacecraft and Atlas V launch vehicle is now targeted for Thursday, July 29 at 8 a.m. EDT. The delay is due to an internet service provider outage that could not be resolved before the onset of predicted weather exceeding operational constraints. The OFT-2 launch, planned for Friday, July 30, at …
Wednesday’s activities aboard the International Space Station remained focused on science and maintenance. In preparation of Russia’s Multipurpose Laboratory Module docking to the outpost the following day, July 29, Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy located and gathered equipment to set up temporary ventilation for the 43-foot long, 23-ton module. Live coverage of tomorrow’s event begins at 8:30 a.m. EDT on NASA …
Payloads Cell Science-04: The crew injected algae into the Cell Science-04 experiment bioreactors. The algae is used as a fuel source for the tardigrades in Cell Science-04. The tardigrade (aka “water bear”) is the model organism for studying biological survival under the most extreme environmental stress conditions on Earth and in space. The objective of …
Following the successful undocking of the Russian Progress 77 cargo spacecraft with the Pirs docking compartment yesterday, the Expedition 65 crew aboard the International Space Station continued to work on science and maintenance on the station. Today, NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei focused on hardware installation of Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) helmet assembly. He installed and …
Teams from NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance completed a launch readiness review on July 27 ahead of NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 mission to the International Space Station. The launch teams still are “go” for launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on a mission to the microgravity laboratory on the company’s second uncrewed flight test. Launch is scheduled at 2:53 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 30, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas …
Two additional secondary payloads that will travel to deep space on Artemis I, the first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, are ready for launch. The Team Miles and EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft (EQUULEUS) CubeSats are tucked into dispensers and installed in the Orion stage adapter – the ring …
