Blogs

NASA and SpaceX officials announced during a news conference Friday their plan to launch the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 18. Watch a full replay of the news conference. Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew …

The orbital residents representing Expedition 71 and NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test switched gears on Friday and turned their attention to a host of lab maintenance activities. The nine astronauts and cosmonauts living and working aboard the International Space Station focused on spacewalking tools, computer networks, housecleaning, and inspections at the end of the week. …

Boeing CST-100 Crewed Flight Test (CFT): The CFT crew continued assisting the ISS crew with various audits and housekeeping.  They also performed CloudNet Testing and STEMonstration Earth Science activities. Payloads: Sleep in Orbit: A crewmember transferred the MicroSD memory card into a Columbus Payload Laptop to allow the ground to downlink data. The Sleep in …

NASA and Boeing leadership provided an update on Starliner’s Crew Flight Test during a news conference Thursday. The integrated Starliner team continues to assess the spacecraft’s propulsion system performance and complete other tasks before scheduling its undocking from the International Space Station and return to Earth. Watch the full replay of the news conference. Engineering teams …

Boeing CST-100 Crewed Flight Test (CFT): Today, the CFT crew performed checkouts and measurements in preparation for a future potential CFT undock. They also assisted the ISS crew in NanoRacks Airlock (NRAL) restow operations. Payloads: KIBO Robot Programming Challenge 5: Preparation activities and the Robo-Pro Challenge #5 Technical Rehearsal were performed using JEM Camera Robot …

Space biology was back on the schedule Thursday as the crewmates aboard the International Space Station resumed exploring how living in weightlessness affects the human  body. The orbital residents also worked on Starliner spacecraft configurations, serviced spacesuit components, and continued lab inspections. Expedition 71 Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps and Matthew Dominick, both from NASA, kicked …

Commissioning is nearly complete for NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, and mission operators are charting a course for their next milestone – hoisting the sails using new composite booms. The sail will unfurl from the spacecraft’s 12-unit (12U) CubeSat body using composite booms made from new materials that are stiffer and lighter than previous …

NASA and Boeing will host a news conference with mission leadership at 11:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 25, to provide the latest status of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test aboard the International Space Station. NASA previously planned an audio-only media teleconference to host the discussion. The agency will provide live coverage on NASA+, NASA Television, …

Boeing CST-100 Crewed Flight Test (CFT): Today, the CFT crew assisted the ISS crew by installing the ArgUS 1-1 Multi Payload Platform in the NanoRacks Airlock (NRAL).  They also assisted the ISS crew in the Butterfly iQ Scans and stowage management in the Columbus Module. Payloads: ArgUS 1-1: The assembled ArgUS 1-1 plate was installed …