May 3, 2024

SpaceX Dragon’s Successful Cargo Delivery to Space Station Sets Up Friday’s Spacewalk

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is imagined docked to the space-facing port on the International Space Stations Harmony module. The stations three cosmonauts had their day complete of research, electronics maintenance, and cargo duties in the Roscosmos section of the orbiting lab.

The SpaceX Dragon freight craft approaches the International Space Station for an automated docking less than a day after launching from NASAs Kennedy Space Center loaded with over 7,000 pounds of science experiments, station hardware, and team supplies. The last rays of an orbital sunset brighten the cloud tops as both spacecraft were orbiting 259 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan. Credit: NASA
The team of Expedition 69 has actually started unpacking SpaceX Dragons cargo, including roll-out solar arrays for the International Space Station. After docking with the Harmony module, the cargo, consisting of over 7,000 pounds of clinical and hardware supplies, will be managed by flight engineers from NASA and UAE. Robotic arm Canadarm2 helps in prepping the solar varieties for setup in a scheduled spacewalk, with the team balancing both preparation and ongoing clinical activities.
Exploration 69 team members have actually opened the hatch to the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft and begun unloading several lots of cargo packed inside. Stowed inside the resupply ship is a set of roll-out solar selections that will quickly be gotten rid of for installation on the International Space Station (ISS) during the next spacewalk.
Dragon craft docked to the orbital outposts Harmony module at 5:54 a.m. EDT on Monday less than a day after introducing from NASAs Kennedy Space. Dragons hatch was opened less than 2 hours later on following the completion of basic air and pressure leaks. Not long after, Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, and Woody Hoburg, all from NASA, and Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) went into Dragon and started unloading some of the more than 7,000 pounds of science experiments, station hardware, and crew materials loaded inside.

Controllers on the ground will likewise command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to draw out a set of roll-out solar arrays stowed inside Dragons unpressurized trunk. The remotely-controlled Canadarm2 will carefully maneuver the solar varieties and momentarily stow them on a pallet connected to the stations starboard-side truss structure. The robotic transfer work prepares the solar arrays for setup and activation on the starboard truss structure during a spacewalk planned to start at 9:15 a.m. on Friday.
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is imagined docked to the space-facing port on the International Space Stations Harmony module. Dragon Freedom brought four Axiom Mission-2 astronauts to the orbital laboratory on May 22, 2023, consisting of Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Credit: NASA
Bowen and Hoburg will be the two spacewalkers setting up the stations fifth set of roll-out solar arrays on Friday. Rubio and Alneyadi, who will help the spacewalkers from inside the station, likewise participated in the tool work and procedure evaluations.
In the middle of Wednesdays spacewalk preparations, the 4 astronauts suit other duties consisting of running science experiments and keeping laboratory operations. Bowen established basic optometry gear discovered in a medical professionals office on Earth and imaged Hoburgs eyes for a human research study. Rubio continued unloading Dragon while Alneyadi carried out test runs of an Astrobee robotic free-flying assistant.
The stations 3 cosmonauts had their day complete of research study, electronic devices maintenance, and freight duties in the Roscosmos sector of the orbiting lab. Leader Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev took turns using a cap packed with sensing units that monitored their brain activity while practicing futuristic robotic and spacecraft piloting strategies on a computer system. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin worked throughout the day screening power and information cable televisions in the Zvezda service module before transferring freight from the ISS Progress 84 area freighter.

The SpaceX Dragon freight craft approaches the International Space Station for an automated docking less than a day after releasing from NASAs Kennedy Space Center filled with over 7,000 pounds of science experiments, station hardware, and team supplies. The team of Expedition 69 has actually begun unpacking SpaceX Dragons cargo, including roll-out solar arrays for the International Space Station. Soon after, Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, and Woody Hoburg, all from NASA, and Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) went into Dragon and began offloading some of the more than 7,000 pounds of science experiments, station hardware, and team supplies packed inside.