Blogs about Space Stations
A little while ago, SpaceX’s Dragon 2 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its CRS-31 mission. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and his colleague Nick Hague monitored the operation but the cargo spacecraft, which blasted off almost 13 hours earlier, completed the maneuvers automatically without any problem.
A confirmation has arrived that three Chinese taikonauts from the Shenzhou 19 mission reached the Chinese space station Tiangong with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about 6.5 hours earlier atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They form the 8th crew of the Chinese space station and will remain there for about six months, the standard duration for a mission.
A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft docked with the Harmony module of the International Space Station completing the first part of its Crew-9 or SpaceX Crew-9 mission that began with its launch about 28 hours earlier. After checking that the pressure gets properly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov to enter the Station and start their mission, which will last about five months.
A few hours ago, the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than three hours reached the International Space Station with three new crew members on board. It docked with the Station’s Rassvet module. As is becoming increasingly common for crewed trips as well, the ultra-fast track was used which halves the journey duration.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, launched last Sunday, August 4, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Astronaut Matthew Dominick, assisted by his colleague Jeanette Epps, will soon begin the slow maneuver to move the Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Unity module after about two hours.
The Cygnus cargo spacecraft arrived on schedule despite some issues with a thruster burn that was scheduled to occur about 45 minutes after separation from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket’s last stage. Initial reports indicated that the onboard computer had canceled the burn due to low pressure within the engine systems. Northrop Grumman engineers were able to compensate for the issue with a new burn schedule after reviewing pressure data and determining that it was still acceptable for the thrusters to work.
