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)
Tag: ISS
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)
NASA Secures Partner Cooperation on ISS Through 2028
Florida Today reports that the International Space Station “will remain in operation through 2028 with the full cooperation of all partners, NASA announced last week.” The United States, Japan, Canada, and countries from the European Space Agency “have committed to extending their participation aboard the space station until 2030.” Additionally, Russia has said it will remain committed to station operations through at least 2028. Last year, NASA “announced the lifespan extension of the space station until 2030, at which point it is planned to be retired.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
Russia Agrees to Stay Aboard ISS through 2028
SPACE reports that Russia has agreed to remain onboard the ISS through 2028, which is a clarification from last year’s announcement of a departure sometime after 2024 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The vague pronouncement has now been firmed up considerably, with the other major ISS partners – the space agencies of Europe, Canada and Japan – having “signed on through 2030, the update added, joining NASA in committing to the orbiting lab through the envisioned end of its operational life.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Canada Commits to 2030 ISS Extension
Space News reported that the Canadian government “formally committed March 24 to an extension of the International Space Station to 2030, joining other Western partners but not Russia.” As part of last week’s meeting between US President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, Canada confirmed it would participate in the ISS through 2030 “as part of a renewed commitment to space exploration that includes contributions to the NASA-led lunar Gateway.” The US announced that it intended to make the same commitment in 2021.
Full Story (Space News)
SpaceX’s Dragon Cargo Mission Successfully Docks to ISS
Aviation Week reports that SpaceX’s “resupply mission to the International Space Station autonomously docked to the ISS early March 16, delivering a 6,300-lb. cargo of crew supplies, equipment, and scientific research and technology development projects.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
SpaceX Launches Cargo Dragon Ship to ISS
CBS News reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “boosted a Dragon cargo ship into orbit Tuesday evening, carrying 6,300 pounds of research gear, crew supplies, spare parts and other hardware on a two-day flight to the International Space Station.” The Falcon 9 “roared to life at 8:30 p.m. EDT and raced away from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop 1.7 million pounds of thrust, and a torrent of fiery exhaust visible for scores of miles around.” The booster rocket “shot off on a northeasterly trajectory paralleling the East Coast of the United States, dimming to an ember-like speck, as it accelerated away from Florida and out of the lower atmosphere.”
Full Story (CBS News)
Video
CRS-27 Mission
On Tuesday, March 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Dragon’s 27th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-27) to the ISS from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)