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Expedition 73 aboard the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) continues to carry out its scheduled science and upkeep actions on humanity’s premier orbiting outpost, now greater than a quarter-century previous. The Station has a brand new commander and a brand new set of crew members on the U.S. facet of the complicated, as 4 astronauts departed this week to conclude their tour of responsibility on board ISS.
The Crew-11 mission efficiently launched on Friday, Aug. 1, at 11:43 AM EDT (15:43 UTC) and docked simply over 14 hours in a while Saturday, Aug. 2, at 06:26 UTC. Crew Dragon Endeavour set a brand new report for the shortest time from launch to docking; earlier Crew Dragon missions to ISS usually took round 19 hours to dock with the Station after launch.
After Endeavour docked to the zenith port on the Station’s Concord node module, the ISS briefly hosted 11 crew members. Crew-11’s astronauts settled into life aboard the orbiting outpost whereas additionally being assisted by Crew-10’s members, who had been “handing the baton” to Crew-11’s Zena Cardman, Michael Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov.
Sergey Ryzhikov (L) and Takuya Onishi (R) shaking fingers through the ISS change of command ceremony. (Credit score: NASA)
In the course of the joint operations interval, Station commander Takuya Onishi handed off his command duty to Roscosmos’ Sergey Ryzhikov. Ryzhikov will command ISS and the Expedition 73 crew till December, when he and his Soyuz MS-27 crewmates go away the Station and return to Earth, whereas Onishi returns to Earth after turning into the third Japanese to command ISS.
Crew-10’s Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and Kirill Peskov boarded Crew Dragon Endurance and undocked from the Station on Friday, Aug. 8 at 22:15 UTC earlier than splashing down off the southern California coast on Saturday, Aug. 9 at 8:33 AM PDT (15:33 UTC). They returned to Earth with crucial science samples aboard the Polar cellular chilly storage locker.
Throughout their keep on ISS, Crew-10’s astronauts labored on many experiments, together with research on bodily and psychological change in astronauts throughout spaceflight and blood circulation from the mind to the guts in microgravity. ISS crews keep on the Station for as much as six months or so at a time, enabling a big database of how astronauts adapt to spaceflight.
Takuya Onishi within the Kibo module with the JEM Inner Ball Digicam 2. (Credit score: NASA)
Their science program additionally included research on future lunar navigation methods, numerous plant and seed experiments, investigations into how cells sense gravity, crystallization analysis, and exams on robots that would free astronauts from performing sure duties, amongst different initiatives.
Crew-11 additionally has an intensive science program to stay up for. Highlights of Crew-11’s science program embrace a research on producing stem cells in microgravity, work on a possible different to antibiotics, an experiment to provide vitamins that may stay viable for years within the house atmosphere, and a Japanese plant cell division experiment utilizing tobacco cells and inexperienced algae.
Crew-11’s astronauts additionally could also be tasked with a spacewalk on the U.S. phase that Crew-10 didn’t do. Crew-10 astronauts McClain and Ayers carried out EVA-93. On Might 1, they labored on putting in a modification equipment for brand new photo voltaic arrays in addition to an antenna relocation. The modification equipment set up was not accomplished and was put aside for the subsequent spacewalk, EVA-94.
Astronaut Anne McClain throughout EVA-93. (Credit score: NASA)
Nevertheless, EVA-94 has not but been carried out, and can be left for a future crew, very presumably for the Crew-11 astronauts. At any time when this spacewalk takes place, the astronauts can be tasked with finishing the photo voltaic array treatment equipment set up on the P4 truss on the 2A location, in addition to a number of different duties.
Apart from the change of command, the crew handover, and the return of Crew-10 to Earth which have already occurred, the CRS-33 cargo resupply mission can be scheduled for this month. CRS-33, utilizing Cargo Dragon C211 on its third flight, is at the moment set to launch on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 3:57 AM EDT (07:57 UTC) from Area Launch Complicated-40 on the Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station.
Different cargo missions to the Station are solely just a little bit additional down the road. Progress MS-32 is scheduled to fly from Web site 31/6 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 11 at 13:49 UTC, whereas the NG-23 Cygnus cargo mission is ready to fly on a Falcon 9 from Florida no sooner than this September. The NG-22 mission was alleged to fly earlier this yr however was canceled after the Cygnus spacecraft suffered an accident throughout transport to Florida.
Cutaway illustration of the HTV-X. (Credit score: JAXA)
Japan’s HTV-X is scheduled to make its first flight to ISS no sooner than this October. The HTV-X is a follow-on spacecraft to the sooner Kounotori car, which helped provide the Station from 2009 to 2020, and can be capable to carry pressurized and unpressurized cargo to ISS like Kounotori did. Like Kounotori, HTV-X is disposed of with a harmful reentry in Earth’s ambiance.
HTV-X was designed to cut back mass and prices whereas growing the quantity of payload it might carry to the Station. The spacecraft can even be capable to generate extra energy than Kounotori and can assist late cargo loading. HTV-X can be launched by the H3-24L variant with 4 strap-on strong rocket boosters, and will probably be berthed to the Station utilizing its Canadian-built robotic arm.
One other new cargo spacecraft, Sierra Area’s DreamChaser Tenacity, was alleged to fly to the Station, however Tenacity continues to be in work and should not fly this yr. When the DreamChaser turns into operational, it should add an intact down mass cargo functionality that at the moment solely Cargo Dragon gives.
Axiom Area’s Payload, Energy, and Thermal Module shell at Thales Alenia. (Credit score: Axiom Area)
The present Expedition 73 put up Crew-10 complement, with the Crew-11 astronauts, together with Soyuz MS-27’s Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky, and NASA’s Jonny Kim, can be engaged on their scientific and upkeep duties whereas additionally aiding with cargo loading and unloading from the upcoming visiting automobiles.
Whereas Expedition 73 continues, selections are being made on the bottom in regards to the coming finances for the Station in addition to development on its potential successors. VAST’s Haven Demo, designed to check key programs aboard its coming house station, is scheduled to fly later this yr, whereas Thales Alenia in Europe has accomplished the shell of Axiom Area’s first house station module.
(Lead picture: Contained in the ISS Cupola. Credit score: NASA))
