The Dragon Freedom Capsule Has Arrived at the ISS...

NASA TV

Expedition 72 Welcomes Crew-9 Duo Aboard Station (News Release)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov entered the International Space Station after opening the hatch between the space station and its pressurized mating adapter at 7:04 p.m. EDT before opening the hatch to Dragon.

Hague and Gorbunov were welcomed by the space station’s Expedition 72 crew, including NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Don Pettit, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.

NASA’s live coverage continues through crew welcome remarks aboard the station on NASA+, YouTube and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Butch and Suni's Ride Home Is Now on Its Way to the ISS...

NASA / Keegan Barber

Liftoff! NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Launches to International Space Station (Press Release)

The two crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission launched at 1:17 p.m. EDT on Saturday, for a science expedition aboard the International Space Station. This is the first human spaceflight mission launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and the agency’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the space station.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon spacecraft into orbit carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The spacecraft will dock autonomously to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 29, where Hague and Gorbunov will join Expedition 72 for a five-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.

“This mission required a lot of operational and planning flexibility. I congratulate the entire team on a successful launch today, and godspeed to Nick and Aleksandr as they make their way to the space station,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Our NASA wizards and our commercial and international partners have shown once again the success that comes from working together and adapting to changing circumstances without sacrificing the safe and professional operations of the International Space Station.”

During Dragon’s flight, SpaceX will monitor a series of automatic spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA will provide live coverage of rendezvous, docking and hatch opening, beginning at 3:30 p.m., September 29, on NASA+ and the agency’s website. NASA will also broadcast the crew welcome ceremony once Hague and Gorbunov are aboard the orbital outpost. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The duo will join the space station’s Expedition 72 crew of NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Don Pettit, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. The number of crew aboard the space station will increase to 11 for a short time until Crew-8 members Barratt, Dominick, Epps and Grebenkin depart the space station in early October.

The crewmates will conduct more than 200 scientific investigations, including blood clotting studies, moisture effects on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts during their mission. Following their stay aboard the space station, Hague and Gorbunov will be joined by Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth in February 2025.

With this mission, NASA continues to maximize the use of the orbiting laboratory, where people have lived and worked continuously for more than 23 years, testing technologies, performing science and developing the skills needed to operate future commercial destinations in low-Earth orbit and explore farther from Earth. Research conducted at the space station benefits people on Earth and paves the way for future long-duration missions to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign, and beyond.

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SpaceX

A Processing Milestone Is Achieved at KSC for the First Crewed Lunar Landing Mission Since 1972...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Orion’s Artemis III European Service Module Joined with Crew Module Adapter (News Release)

Teams have joined the Artemis III European Service Module and crew module adapter for NASA’s Orion spacecraft inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, following the completion of the Integration Readiness Review on September 17.

The ESA (European Space Agency)-provided European Service Module is assembled by Airbus in Bremen, Germany, from parts made in 10 European countries and the United States. It acts as the driving force behind the Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration, providing essential propulsion, thermal control and electrical power. The module will also supply astronauts with vital resources like water and oxygen, ensuring that they’re well-supported during their journey to the Moon.

The crew module adapter bridges electrical, data and fluid systems between Orion’s crew and service modules with an umbilical connector, and also houses electronic equipment for communications, power and control.

The integrated European Service Module and crew module adapter, which together make the service module, will undergo final inspections before engineers move it to the clean room inside the spaceport’s O&C high bay for welding operations. Later in the production flow, the Artemis III crew module will be connected to the service module via the crew module adapter.

The European Service Module is managed by the Orion team at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The arrival of the Artemis III hardware to Kennedy marks the first time that two Orion service modules have been inside the O&C facility at the same time during the agency’s Artemis campaign. The Artemis II service module is already mated to the crew module, and engineers continue to process the integrated modules inside the facility ahead of the test flight.

Source: NASA.Gov

Photos of the Day: Starship Super Heavy Stands Ready for Its Fifth Flight in Mid-Autumn...

SpaceX

Just thought I'd share these four images that SpaceX released today showing Starship Super Heavy standing tall at Starbase in Texas.

Ship 30 and Booster 12 are set to embark on Integrated Flight Test 5 no earlier than November...pending approval, as usual, by the Federal Aviation Administration.


SpaceX


SpaceX


SpaceX

Blue Origin's Newest Rocket Achieves the Latest Milestone on Its Path to Launch This November...

Blue Origin

New Glenn Completes Second Stage Hotfire (News Release)

New Glenn’s second stage (GS2) successfully completed a risk-reduction hotfire test today, a milestone on our road to first flight, scheduled for launch in November, from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, FL. NG-1 will carry Blue Ring technology as its first manifested payload.

The hotfire lasted 15 seconds and marked the first time we operated the vehicle as an integrated system. The purpose of the hotfire test was to validate interactions between the subsystems on the second stage, its two BE-3U engines, and the ground control systems.

Additionally, we demonstrated its three key systems, including: the tank pressurization control system, which uses helium to pressurize the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks during flight; the thrust vector control system, which gimbals the engines and steers the rocket during flight; and validated the start-up and shut-down sequences for the BE-3U systems, which can be restarted up to three times during a mission.

In addition to testing our flight hardware, this hotfire test was also an opportunity for the launch operations team to practice launch day procedures on console and verify timing for a number of critical operations.

New Glenn’s second stage is designed for demanding, highly-energetic missions to low-Earth orbit (LEO), medium-Earth orbit (MEO), and geosynchronous orbit (GEO). The stage is roughly 88 feet (26.8 meters) tall with a diameter of 23 feet (7 meters). BE-3U’s elegant expander bleed design yields a robust engine architecture that balances thrust, specific impulse and cost.

Each of the two BE-3Us that will fly on NG-1 were originally designed to yield up to 160,000 lbf of vacuum thrust. The engine has outperformed throughout its test campaign and will fly at 173,000 lbf, making them some of the highest thrust-to-weight ratio hydrogen engines ever flown.

Our New Glenn vehicle stands more than 320 feet (98 meters) tall. Its first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, the most powerful liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled, oxygen-rich staged combustion engine ever flown. In addition to the BE-4 and BE-3U, Blue Origin manufactures BE-7 engines for our Blue Moon lunar landers and New Shepard’s BE-3PM engine.

Source: Blue Origin

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Another view here. A couple of firsts today on this 15-second hotfire: First time we’ve integrated and hotfired a New Glenn flight stage, and first time we’ve loaded a stage with flight propellants – liquid oxygen + liquid hydrogen, which burns as an almost transparent flame at… https://t.co/H0wLPiIdvN pic.twitter.com/zW2FAgcTe6

— Dave Limp (@davill) September 23, 2024

Water, smoke, and fire from three angles today. GS2 hotfire complete! https://t.co/DUeh6F8Jws pic.twitter.com/qUjxu52XGI

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) September 23, 2024

Just Like on Artemis 1, the Orion Stage Adapter Will Deploy Payloads Again on the Next SLS Flight...

NASA / Cory Huston

NASA to Fly International CubeSats Aboard Artemis II Test Flight (News Release)

NASA is working to fly five CubeSats from international space agencies on the Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.

In a ceremony at the German Space Agency DLR on September 18, Catherine Koerner, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems development, signed an agreement for Germany to fly TACHELES, a CubeSat that will collect measurements on the effects of the space environment on electrical components to inform technologies for lunar vehicles.

CubeSats are shoebox-sized payloads that have the potential to expand knowledge of the space environment. They will ride to space inside a ring that connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the upper stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. They will be deployed in high-Earth orbit after the upper stage detaches from Orion and the spacecraft is safely flying free on its own and a safe distance away from the stage.

By working with other countries to fly CubeSats, NASA is increasing access to space for the international community and enabling its partners to expand scientific and technological knowledge. Although mission success for CubeSats historically has mixed results given their small size and the relatively low cost to develop them, the collaborations provide opportunities for NASA and other countries to work together to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of Artemis.

NASA will share more details about the additional countries it is working with to fly CubeSats on Artemis II, all of which are countries that have signed the Artemis Accords, as the international agreements are put in place.

Source: NASA.Gov

A Device That Will Be Crucial to Artemis Astronauts Living on the Lunar Surface is Unveiled...

Sierra Space

Sierra Space Unveils Breakthrough Technology Designed to Extract Oxygen from Lunar Soil, Enabling Sustainable Human Presence on the Moon (Press Release)

LOUISVILLE, Colo. – Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defense tech prime that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth®, announced today the company’s proprietary Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor has successfully completed thermal vacuum testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, heralding the first time in history that oxygen has been extracted from simulated lunar soil, or regolith, using an automated, standalone system in a lunar environment. The technology, when scaled up, is designed to produce oxygen in bulk to support one of the primary objectives of NASA’s Artemis program: establishing the first long-term presence on the Moon.

“The Apollo program took us to the Moon to study and learn. Artemis is taking us back to the Moon, this time to stay,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “Our company is focused on building the infrastructure necessary to enable continuous human presence on the lunar surface. This sustainable future begins with developing the core technology and systems that create oxygen in that environment, using local natural resources.”

Sierra Space test engineers spent two weeks in August operating the company’s oxygen extraction system inside a thermal vacuum chamber at Johnson, working with lunar regolith simulant in an environment that the hardware would recognize as similar to the water-ice-laden south pole region of the Moon. Under lunar temperatures and pressures, the Sierra Space system executed all of the regolith handling steps and performed the carbothermal reduction reaction that extracts oxygen from minerals in the regolith simulant.

This disruptive innovation, a system developed at Sierra Space’s facilities in Madison, Wisconsin, represents a major leap forward in enabling long-term human habitation on the Moon and future space exploration endeavors. The company’s Destinations and In-Space Infrastructure team, known for their work in building the world’s first commercial LEO space station, is leveraging the company’s pioneering technologies in large expandable space modules, environmental control systems and in-space food growth systems, to build core infrastructure on the Moon.

“This latest testing validates that the technologies and techniques developed and employed in the Sierra Space oxygen extraction system would work on the lunar surface,” said Shawn Buckley, Vice President of Space Destinations Systems at Sierra Space. “These efforts confirmed that the hardware has advanced to Technology Readiness Level Six, or TRL-6, meaning it has the maturation to be incorporated into a flight mission to the Moon as a technology demonstrator.”

Temperatures in which the Sierra Space Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor were tested ranged from -45° Celsius to 1,800° Celsius. In addition to the challenges of functioning from sub-zero to hotter-than-lava temperatures, the hardware was required to move the simulated lunar regolith – a very abrasive and jagged material because it does not have the weathering processes found on Earth – through its system. The potentially damaging particles were handled effectively by the hardware and gasses were successfully sealed inside the reactor, thanks to Sierra Space’s use of a patent-pending valve design that previously demonstrated functionality to greater than 10,000 cycles.

The tests confirmed that Sierra Space’s system can successfully handle regolith that would be delivered from a lunar rover or robotic arm and automatically bring it into the reaction chamber, perform the carbothermal reduction reaction process to extract the oxygen from the minerals in the regolith, and remove the processed regolith from the system so the operation can be repeated.

“By harnessing the natural resources found on the Moon, we reduce our reliance on Earth-based supplies and open up new frontiers for space exploration and commercialization, Vice added. “With our breakthrough technology that can provide a reliable source of oxygen in-situ, Sierra Space is poised to play a potential role in NASA’s Artemis program and other initiatives aimed at establishing a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.”

Resources like oxygen are crucial building blocks; in addition to using oxygen for breathing, it can also be used as a propellant; a game changer for enabling economical space exploration for both a sustained lunar presence and lowering the cost of future Mars missions.

On a related note, Sierra Space is also participating in a groundbreaking research and development initiative for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) capability study. The company is focused on integrating oxygen extraction, electrical storage, chemical recycling and hydrogen-oxygen engine technology into a framework for a commercial lunar infrastructure.

Source: Sierra Space

The Resilience Capsule Heads Home After Completing a Private, History-making Spaceflight...

SpaceX

Polaris Dawn Crew Returns to Earth, Achieving Major Objectives During Their Five-Day Mission (Press Release)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – After nearly five days orbiting Earth, the astronauts of Polaris Dawn, flying aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, safely splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:36:54 a.m. EDT. The mission launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. EDT on September 10, 2024.

After SpaceX teams safely recovered Dragon, the crew flew to Kennedy Space Center to reunite with their families and complete initial medical checks ahead of flying to Houston, Texas, to complete more of the mission’s research studies.

The Polaris Dawn crew accomplished several historic milestones, including:

- Flying higher than any previous Dragon mission to date and reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown, all while moving through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt at an altitude of 1,408.1 kilometers (874.9 miles) from Earth’s surface – or more than three times farther than the International Space Station. This was the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program;

- Completing the first-ever commercial spacewalk while traveling at 17,500 miles per hour in an elliptical orbit of approximately 190 x 700 kilometers (435 miles) above Earth with new SpaceX-designed extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits – the development of which will define future long-duration and scalable missions in space;

- Partnering with 31 global institutions to conduct approximately 36 experiments for critical scientific research designed to advance our knowledge of human health both on Earth and during future long-duration spaceflights;

- Testing laser-based satellite communication using optical links between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites, revolutionizing the speed and quality of space communications;

- Reading Kisses From Space, a book written by Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon to share with both her own family and several brave patients of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®;

- Holding a special music moment to unite and inspire the world through the globally-understood medium of music, while also fundraising for St. Jude and El Sistema USA. During the mission, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis played the violin part from “Rey’s Theme” by composer John Williams and sent the recording back to Earth using Starlink. She was joined in her performance by professional and youth musicians from around the world through a series of pre-recorded orchestra sessions.

The youth musicians captured in the video are students in the international El Sistema network of organizations, including the El Sistema program in Venezuela, The Boston String Academy in the United States, NEOJIBA in Brazil, Dream Orchestra in Sweden, Brass for Africa in Uganda, and BLUME Haiti. The video of this historic performance is the first-of-its-kind downloaded from space enabled with Starlink high-speed internet in space.

Additional updates about the mission and crew post-return will continue to be available via the Polaris social media channels.

Source: Polaris Program

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SpaceX

The Very First EVA By Private Astronauts Is Conducted from SpaceX's Resilience Capsule...

SpaceX

Polaris Dawn Crew Tests New Suit and Completes First Commercial Spacewalk (Press Release)

LOS ANGELES, California – The Polaris Dawn crew, after launching into space earlier this week, completed the first commercial spacewalk at 4:58 am EDT today. Wearing newly-designed SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, the crew began their approximately two-hour operation at 3:12 a.m. EDT while traveling at 17,500 miles per hour in an elliptical orbit of 190 x 700 km above the Earth. This spacewalk represents an important milestone of the Polaris Program, a developmental program designed to further the advancement of human spaceflight.

The crew began preparations for the spacewalk shortly after liftoff, through a two-day pre-breathe process designed to prevent decompression sickness by slowly acclimatizing the crew to lower pressures while slowly increasing oxygen levels within the spacecraft’s cabin. Once complete, the crew began preparations for the spacewalk, which included donning their EVA suits, completing suit leak checks, and venting Dragon down to vacuum.

After opening the hatch, the Polaris Dawn crew became the first four astronauts to be exposed to the vacuum of space at the same time. Over the next approximately twenty minutes, Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis egressed the vehicle, completed a series of tests designed to evaluate the suit’s mobility, thermal systems and the Dragon mobility aid “Skywalker” before returning to the cabin and closing the hatch. Mission Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon supported Isaacman and Gillis throughout the entire operation monitoring vital support systems.

Once the hatch was closed, Dragon was re-pressurized, cabin oxygen and pressure levels confirmed, and the crew was able to remove their EVA suits, officially completing the suit testing alongside the first commercial spacewalk and the first EVA from a Dragon spacecraft. The crew was supported throughout the entire EVA by SpaceX teams in Hawthorne, California.

During the spacewalk, Isaacman reflected on the experience: “SpaceX, back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.”

Over the last two years, the Polaris Dawn crew worked alongside SpaceX engineers throughout the development of the EVA suit. The suits underwent hundreds of hours of testing, including in a pressure and vacuum chamber to validate the pre-breathe protocol as well as EVA suit performance. First unveiled in May 2024, the EVA suit evolved from SpaceX’s Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit.

The new EVA suit provides greater mobility, a state-of-the-art helmet heads-up display (HUD) and camera, new thermal management textiles, and materials borrowed from SpaceX vehicles – specifically, Falcon’s interstage and Dragon’s trunk. All of these enhancements to the EVA suit are part of a scalable design for the millions of spacesuits required to help make life multiplanetary.

“Today’s EVA was the first time four humans were exposed to the vacuum of space while completing the first-ever commercial astronaut spacewalk from a commercially-produced spacecraft in commercially-produced extravehicular activity suits,” said Stu Keech, Vice President of Dragon at SpaceX. “This incredible milestone is all thanks to the hard work of the crew and many SpaceX teams, all focused on a goal of making life multiplanetary.”

Source: Polaris Program

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SpaceX


SpaceX


SpaceX

SpaceX's Resilience Capsule Embarks on the Most Distant Crewed Spaceflight Since Apollo 17 in 1972...

SpaceX

Polaris Dawn Successfully Launches to Earth’s Orbit and Begins Five-Day Mission (Press Release)

Groundbreaking Mission Set to Achieve Many Milestones for Commercial Spaceflight

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – On September 10, the crew of Polaris Dawn began their historic mission aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to expand commercial space exploration at 5:23:49 AM EDT as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“Today’s successful launch of Polaris Dawn highlights that the future of human spaceflight is happening now,” said Jessica Jensen, Vice President of Customer Integration and Operations at SpaceX. “What the crew and Dragon aim to achieve over the next few days – from the first-ever commercial spacewalk in newly-designed EVA suits to traveling the farthest in Earth’s orbit since the Apollo program over 50 years ago to testing Starlink – all of this contributes to SpaceX’s aim to help humanity have greater access to space on our way to returning to the Moon, traveling to Mars, and beyond.”

Since the announcement of Polaris Dawn in February 2022, the crew completed more than two years of essential training activities, to prepare them for the landmark mission. This included centrifuge operations, hundreds of hours of Dragon simulations, skydiving, survival training, high-performance aircraft piloting, Zero-G flight training, altitude training, as well as classroom academics and medical testing. Additionally, and especially important for Polaris Dawn, the crew received extensive EVA training, both underwater and suspended operations, as well as the associated medical training.

The combined test, development and training program has prepared the crew for these important mission objectives:

- Flying higher than any previous Dragon mission to date and reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown while moving through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt at an orbital altitude of 190 x 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from Earth’s surface – or more than three times higher than the International Space Station. This will be the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission in Earth’s orbit in more than a half-century since the Apollo program;

- Attempting the first-ever commercial spacewalk. This will take place at an elliptical orbit of 190 x 700 kilometers (435 miles) above Earth in newly-developed SpaceX EVA spacesuits. During the spacewalk, the crew will conduct a series of tests that will provide necessary data that will allow SpaceX teams to produce and scale for future long-duration missions. The crew worked with SpaceX engineers throughout suit development, testing various iterations for mobility and performance (along with mobility aids and systems procedures), and conducted operations inside vacuum chambers to validate pre-breathe protocols and the readiness of the EVA suit;

- Testing laser-based satellite communication using optical links between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites, revolutionizing the speed and quality of space communications;

- Conducting nearly 40 experiments for critical scientific research designed to advance our knowledge of human health both on Earth and during future long-duration space flights.

After completing the up-to-five-day journey, the Polaris Dawn team will reenter Earth’s atmosphere to splash down off the coast of Florida.

Additional details will be revealed leading up to, during, and after the mission via the Polaris Dawn website and social media channels, including other first-of-their-kind events to be held and shared while in orbit.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® is the official charitable partner of Polaris Dawn and fundraising for St. Jude will be integrated into various aspects of the mission. DORITOS®, a PepsiCo Foods brand, is making a significant donation to St. Jude and will join this historic mission. IWC Schaffhausen will also support the mission through its specially-designed and donated Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” watch, which will be worn on the flight before being auctioned to benefit St. Jude.

Source: Polaris Program

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Polaris Program


SpaceX