There are currently no places to park at the International Space Station for the launch of NASA’s next commercial crew program, but we’ll be clearing next week and making the release of Crew-11 possible on July 31st.
Updates from NASA and SpaceX officials say the private Axiom Space AX-4 mission, which arrived at the space station two weeks ago, was able to depart on Monday.
Only two people from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship are at once at the station. Currently there is the latest dragon named Grace, which was used when the AX-4 arrived at the station a day later when it was released by the Kennedy Space Center on June 25th, and the Crew Dragon Endurance, which was used by Crew-10, which was released by KSC in March.
Once the AX-4 departs, SpaceX can send lunch from KSC’s launch pad 39-A to its sixth crew, Dragon Endeavor Flying, which can be sent at 12:09pm on the last day of the month.
“We’ve been working hard to get the most out of our business,” said Sarah Walker, director of SpaceX’s Dragon Mission Management.
He first flew the DEMO-2 mission in May 2020, becoming NASA astronauts Bob Benken and Doug Hurley, and after retiring from the Space Shuttle program in 2011, he marked the return of the US-based launch for astronauts. They then flew Crew 2, Axiom-1, Crew-6, and Crew 8 missions.
“The dragon’s spaceship started with Bob and Doug and managed to fly 18 crew members, already representing eight countries, into space,” Walker said.
SpaceX has five human-rated spaceships, with the crew Dragon Grace just debuting in the AX-4 last month, while Endeavor is the leader of the fleet. In total, the company’s five-man crew dragons were flew 18 times on board with 70 humans.
NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said the team must sign off to exceed the original limit of five flights per spacecraft via 360 different design units of the Dragon, but some dragon parts are certified to fly up to 15 missions.
“We had to make an effort to recertify the dragon. We had to work with SpaceX to reach six flights,” he said. “The dragon has many upgrades. We are trying to improve our attitude towards the safety of our crew.”
That includes improved Drougue parachutes and new heat shields.
The launch on July 31st means very long transport to the station. This is a 39-hour trip that will dock on early August 2nd. If the launch target for July 31st is not met, you will have the option to fly from August 1st to 3rd and August 5th to 7th.
“As always, NASA and SpaceX will work closely together to make sure all the teams and hardware are ready to fly,” Walker said. “So before booting we have multiple reviews and tests before us, each of which gives us the opportunity to talk to each other, review data, hear the hardware and reduce the risk of a safe flight.”
The four members of the crew 10 prepare to return to Japan with the crew’s Dragon Endurance. They didn’t leave earlier than August 5th, landing in the Pacific Ocean for only the third time, after the FRAM2 landing and AX-4 landing soon appeared earlier this year.
“We are also very excited for the first time that our crew, a commercial crew, has returned to the West Coast,” Stitch said.
For the crew, we will send NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Finke, as well as Jakusa (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronauts Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
Cardman and Fincke flights come after they allocated flights that they previously allocated due to Boeing’s Starliner issue.
“We’ve been training together since almost September last year,” Cardman said. “We were all in a unique position to actually train in our previous crew assignments, and what that meant for us was an incredible bond rooted in gratitude and resilience.”
Instead of the regular four astronauts, Cardman was to command a crew-9 flight that flew to the station last fall.
That’s because it was necessary to get the two NASA astronauts left at the station by Starliner during their first crew test flight last summer. NASA ultimately decided to send it home without a crew due to safety concerns, which caused a domino effect that eliminated the planned crew and other NASA astronauts.
The rookie cardman commands the mission, and Finke makes his fourth launch into space that was flew in both the Space Shuttle and the two Soyuz missions.
“I’m looking forward to riding the dragon,” Finke said.
Fincke was originally assigned to fly on the first Starliner test flight, but then hit what was supposed to be the first operational flight, the Starliner-1. However, when that flight occurs, it is in the air and relies on Boeing to fix Starliner safety issues. Crews may not occur until late 2026.
Russia’s Platonov was also his first flyer, with Yui taking the second space flight to the Soyuz before.
The quartet is expected to be at the station for at least six months, but it could potentially approach eight, Stitch said. They will be part of the Expedition 73 and 74 as the International Space Station, which will close nonstop from the second half of 2020.
“We’re marking a major milestone of 25 years of continuous human presence on the space station, which will be the crew on board to mark that milestone for us.”
He was baffled by the station’s contribution to NASA during its run, including work supporting NASA’s current primary objectives.
“We have really done an incredible amount of work that actually does everything that will help promote scientific knowledge, demonstrate new technologies and prepare us for human quests on the Moon and Mars,” he said. “Many of the technologies we have proven on the space station over the last 25 years are being used in these next step programs.”
Finke, a veteran who is a member of the 1996 NASA Astronaut class, is pleased to return to his fourth stay.
“I remember when the space station was just on the ground. I can’t say how amazing and proud I am that humans on this whole planet are working together,” he said.
