Aviation Week reports that the first all-European private astronaut crew “is working toward a planned 14-day visit aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to carry out more than 30 science and technology investigations.” It is anticipated they “will have an economic potential as well as pay scientific dividends beyond those already afforded by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) long-standing partnership in the 15-nation NASA led orbital laboratory.” Axiom Space is “leading its third private astronaut mission (AX-3), which is planned for launch no sooner than January from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.” The crew will “be Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei; Turkey’s first astronaut, Alper Gezeravci, a Turkish Air Force fighter pilot; and ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden.” The commander will “be retired NASA astronaut Mike Lopez Alegria, Axiom’s chief astronaut.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: ISS
NASA Postpones Spacewalk Due to Coolant Leak from Russian ISS Module
SPACE reports NASA officials have postponed a planned spacewalk from the ISS “as a precautionary measure after a leak of ammonia coolant was spotted Monday (Oct. 9) in a backup radiator on the Russian Nauka science module. Another spacewalk on Oct. 20 is also postponed and new dates will be announced shortly, NASA officials stated.”
Full Story (SPACE)
NASA Releases Industry Solicitation for ISS Deorbit Vehicle
FlightGlobal reports that on September 20, NASA “released an industry solicitation for a platform the agency is calling the US Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) – which will be used to safely return the aging ISS to Earth.” NASA said that the “primary objective of this contract is to procure a safe, reliable and cost-effective de-orbit vehicle to meet NASA’s ISS end-of-life de-orbit mission requirements.” According to FlightGlobal, the “USDV solicitation gives the US aerospace industry two months to submit proposed designs for such a platform. Prospective contractors will be required to design, develop, manufacture, test, integrate, deliver and sustain the new orbital vehicle.” NASA said, “The USDV is focused on the final de-orbit activity. … It will be a new spacecraft design or modification to an existing spacecraft that must function on its first flight and have sufficient redundancy and anomaly recovery capability to continue the critical de-orbit burn.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
NASA’s Rubio Discusses Record Time in Space
Aviation Week reports that as his U.S. record-setting mission “aboard the International Space Station (ISS) draws to a close, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio says he knows his body will take months to fully readapt to gravity and its impacts on his bones, muscles and vestibular system.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Returning Crew-6 Astronauts Express Satisfaction with Scientific Opportunities Aboard ISS
Aviation Week reports that just over a week “after returning to Earth after a 186-day mission to the International Space Station, three of NASA’s four Crew-6 astronauts expressed satisfaction with their contributions to a work agenda that included 280 science investigations and technology demonstrations.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
NASA Leadership to Call Frank Rubio after Record-Breaking Mission
The AP reports that on Wednesday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy “will speak with agency astronaut Frank Rubio about his record-breaking mission aboard the International Space Station.” Rubio, who is “serving on a year-long mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, today surpassed NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s U.S. record of 355 days in space as the longest single spaceflight by an American.” When he “lands on Earth at the end of the month, Rubio will have 371 days in space.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus Capsule Demonstrates Reboost Ability Aboard ISS
Aviation Week reported that one week “after berthing to the International Space Station (ISS), Northrop Grumman’s 19th NASA-contracted Cygnus resupply capsule fired its delta velocity thruster for 22 min., 48 sec. early Aug. 11 to raise the station’s orbit.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon Docks at ISS
Spaceflight Now reports that a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship “loaded with 7,000 pounds of supplies and equipment, including two add-on roll-out solar blankets, caught up with the International Space Station early Tuesday and moved in for a problem-free docking.” The Dragon was launched Monday from the Kennedy Space Center. The space station “is equipped with four primary solar array wings, two on each side of the power truss.” Solar cells “degrade over time and NASA is adding six IROSAs, at a cost of $103 million, to the existing power system.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
ISS Welcomes Axiom Space Mission Including First Saudi Female Astronaut
The AP reports that the ISS welcomed the Axiom Space organized flight Monday, with the four passengers including two visitors from Saudi Arabia. The two Saudi visitors included the kingdom’s first female astronaut. The flight’s four passengers brought the space station’s total population to 11.
Full Story (Associated Press)
NASA Seeks Industry Input for Controlled ISS Deorbit
Aviation Week reports that NASA is “seeking industry input in developing a strategy for a commercial, controlled end-of-life deorbit of the International Space Station (ISS) into an unpopulated region of Earth.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)