Starliner, Cygnus and Crew 9 Oh My! ISS is Full.  

Starliner, Cygnus and Crew 9 Oh My! ISS is Full.  

July 31, 2024Posted inCrewed, Falcon 9, ISS, NASA, Space News, Starliner
Cygnus spacecraft for NG-21 resupply mission. Credit: NASA
Cygnus spacecraft for NG-21 resupply mission. Credit: NASA

The International Space Station (ISS) is an island of international cooperation and scientific research. As of July 2024, the ISS has been hosting a variety of spacecraft, including the Boeing Starliner, SpaceX Dragon Endeavour, Soyuz MS-25, and the Russian Progress 87 and 88 resupply ships. The current mix of 5 vehicles and 12 astronauts ensures that the ISS is a bustling beehive of activity, supporting a diverse range of scientific experiments and international visitors. But soon, in the days and weeks to come two more spacecraft and four more astronauts will join the activities. 

NG-21 Resupply Mission Honors Challenger Commander Dick Scobee

July 29, 2024Posted inISS, NASA, Space News
NG-21 Cygnus resupply module will be named in honor of Challenger Commander Dick Scobee Photo: NASA
NG-21 Cygnus resupply module will be named in honor of Challenger Commander Dick Scobee Photo: NASA

It is Northrop Grumman’s tradition to name each Cygnus spacecraft in honor of individuals who have made substantial contributions to human spaceflight. NG-21, the upcoming Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), is now officially named the S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee. Scobee is a former NASA astronaut whose contributions to aeronautics and space exploration have left a lasting legacy. The mission will launch no earlier than Saturday, August 3rd from Cape Canaveral.

Boeing And NASA Provide Starliner Update

Boeing And NASA Provide Starliner Update

July 25, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, Boeing, Crewed, ISS, NASA, Space News, SpaceX, Starliner
Starliner docked to the International Space Station photo: NASA
Starliner docked to the International Space Station
photo: NASA
No Return Date Set, Readiness Review May Come Late Next Week

NASA’s Steve Stich and Boeing’s Mark Nappi provided an update on the Boeing Starliner CFT flight today in a teleconference. They stated that while no return date has been set for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return aboard the spacecraft, the agency and Boeing are relatively close to a Readiness Review that must be conducted prior to Starliner undocking from ISS and returning to Earth. According to NASA, that review may come as soon as the end of next week — or August 2, 2024.

“I think we’re starting to close in on those final pieces of the flight rationale to make sure that we can come home safely,” said Steve Stich.

Starliner Team Completes Ground Hot Fire Testing at White Sands, No Date For Return Yet

Starliner Team Completes Ground Hot Fire Testing at White Sands, No Date For Return Yet

July 18, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, Boeing, ISS, NASA, Space News, Starliner
Starliner CST-100 prior to launch earlier this year Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
Starliner CST-100 prior to launch earlier this year
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now

In a statement released today, NASA stated that, “[Agency] and Boeing engineers are evaluating results from last week’s engine tests at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico as the team works through plans to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test from the International Space Station in the coming weeks.”

A Brief History Of Music In Space: A Sixty-Three Year Old Tradition

July 15, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, International, ISS, NASA
Col. Chris Hadfield aboard ISS with his guitar.
Col. Chris Hadfield aboard ISS with his guitar.
Photo: NASA

Crewed spaceflight is, of course, serious business. Even today, the cost of sending people is so high that mission planners try to maximize every hour that a given crew is in space. Still, astronauts and cosmonauts are human beings, and human beings require rest and breaks from constantly working despite the fact that they are in orbit or even on their way to and from the moon. With that in mind one of the most enduring traditions in space flight is that of the crews listening to music both in space and even in the final minutes of a countdown. It started in 1961, and continues to this day, and is something sure to continue long into the future.

Axiom Continues Making Steady Progress With Spacesuit Program, Collins Aerospace Drops Out

Axiom Continues Making Steady Progress With Spacesuit Program, Collins Aerospace Drops Out

June 28, 2024Posted inArtemis, Axiom Space, ISS, NASA, Space News
Artemis III partners – NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space – together conducted a successful pressurized simulation and the first test of its kind since the Apollo era. Courtesy of SpaceX via Axiom Space
Vital Program for Artemis and ISS Loses One of Two Vendors

Though they are often taken for granted, spacesuits are a vital part of US space efforts, both now with the International Space Station, and also later, when astronauts from Project Artemis undertake their EVA duties on the lunar surface. Without spacesuits, many of the necessary maintenance and upgrade duties on ISS cannot be performed, and obviously, without spacesuits, no one will be walking on the moon.

Drug Resistant “Superbug” Has Evolved On ISS

Drug Resistant “Superbug” Has Evolved On ISS

June 13, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, ISS, NASA, Space News
E. bugandensis

A National Institute of Health paper released in March has identified previously unseen and unknown variants of a bacterium known for being multi-drug resistant, have been isolated from the ISS.

Thirteen strains of Enterobacter bugandensis, have mutated and became genetically distinct compared to their Earth counterparts. The study also found that E. bugandensis coexisted with multiple other microorganisms, and in some cases could have helped those organisms survive. So far, NASA, Roscosmos, or any other international partners aboard the ISS have not reported infected astronauts or, worse, transmission of the species from the ISS to Earth.

Starliner Moves Back To Launch Pad, Is Go For Launch Saturday

Starliner Moves Back To Launch Pad, Is Go For Launch Saturday

May 30, 2024Posted inAtlas V, Aviation and Space News, Boeing, ISS, NASA, Space News, Starliner, United Launch Alliance
Starliner arriving at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Thursday morning. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Starliner arriving at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Thursday morning.
Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now

After three weeks of analysis and discussion between Boeing, NASA, and United Launch Alliance following the May 6, 2024 scrub, Boeing’s long road to lofting crew aboard Starliner to low-Earth orbit took a step towards launching this morning when it was moved to its launch pad. Liftoff of Atlas V and Starliner is scheduled for 12:25 PM EDT, Saturday, June 1st, from Space Launch Complex 41.

Atlas V Valve Issue Scrubs Starliner; Launch Date Now NET May 17

Atlas V Valve Issue Scrubs Starliner; Launch Date Now NET May 17

May 7, 2024Posted inAtlas V, Aviation and Space News, ISS, NASA, Space News, United Launch Alliance
Atlas V and Starliner sits on Launch Complex 41 Monday night.
Photo: United Launch Alliance

UPDATE: Several sources are now reporting that Starliner will have to be rolled back from the pad with a new launch date NET May 17th.

Cape Canaveral It was all going well until it wasn’t. That’s often the story with launch attempts: tens of thousands of things must work perfectly, perform as planned, and operate normally, and only one thing has to go wrong for the attempt to be called off.

NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara and International Crew Return to Earth

NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara and International Crew Return to Earth

April 7, 2024Posted inISS, NASA, Space News
The MS-24 Soyuz capsule returns to Earth on April 6, 2024. Astronaut Loral O'Hara and two cosmonauts were in good health.
The MS-24 Soyuz capsule returns to Earth on April 6, 2024. The three crew members were all reported as being in good health (Image credit: NASA/Roscosmos)

In the quiet, expansive steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, Expedition 70 to the ISS officially ended. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus, concluded their space mission with a parachute-assisted landing in the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 3:17 a.m. EDT on Saturday, April 6 (12:17 p.m. Kazakhstan time).