A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the companys Dragon spacecraft on top is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-6 objective, Friday, Launch 24, 2023, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs SpaceX Crew-6 mission is the sixth team rotation objective of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agencys Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev are set up to introduce at 1:45 a.m. EST on February 27, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space. The MS-23 introduced passengerless and is carrying crew arrangements to replenish the occupants aboard the orbital outpost.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the companys Dragon spacecraft on top is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-6 mission, Friday, Launch 24, 2023, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs SpaceX Crew-6 mission is the sixth crew rotation objective of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the companys Commercial Crew Program.
One spacecraft is skyrocketing toward the International Space Station (ISS) as another spaceship targets its launch to the orbiting lab early next week. The 7 Expedition 68 members living in space are tailoring up for the new spaceship arrivals and preparing for the departure of 4 crewmates, all while continuing a host of microgravity research study.
A vacant Soyuz MS-23 team ship from Roscosmos is orbiting Earth today following its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:24 p.m. EST on Thursday. It will approach the spaceport station and immediately dock to the Poisk module at 8:01 p.m. on Saturday, Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, both cosmonauts from Roscosmos, will be on-duty during the crews sleep shift keeping track of the Soyuz MS-23s arrival.
The MS-23 introduced passengerless and is bring team arrangements to replenish the inhabitants aboard the orbital station. The MS-23 will return Prokopyev, Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio back to Earth later on this year. The Soyuz MS-22 team ship that brought the trio to the ISS on September 21, 2022, experienced a coolant leakage on December 14 and will depart for Earth uncrewed in late March.
The Soyuz MS-21 crew ship is visualized docked to the International Space Stations Prichal docking module which is itself connected to the Nauka multipurpose lab module. The station was orbiting 259 miles above northwest Sudan at the time this photo was taken on September 21, 2022. Credit: NASA
Back on Earth, the Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX with the Crew Dragon Endeavour atop counts down to its lift-off at 1:45 a.m. EST on Monday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Bowen, a veteran of 3 previous spaceflights, will lead the trio of newbie space leaflets to an automatic docking on the Harmony modules space-facing port at 2:38 a.m. on Tuesday.
In the meantime, 4 spaceport station team members are preparing yourself to end their objective numerous days after their SpaceX Crew-6 replacements get here. NASA Flight Engineers Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada joined astronaut Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Roscosmos to examine out their Crew Dragon pressure fits on Friday. The quartet took off toward the station aboard the Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft on October 5 as the Crew-5 objective and docked on October 6.
A range of clinical and technical activities continued onboard the station as the crew checked out space biology and robotics on Friday. Cassada wore a headset filled with sensing units recording his brain activity for the Cerebral Autoregulation research study. Kikina and Petelin evaluated the lower body unfavorable pressure suit that offsets microgravity-caused head and eye pressure. Rubio practiced on a computer the abilities needed to run the Canadarm2 robotic arm.