ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.
July 8, 2020
Russia’s Progress 74 (74P) cargo craft departed the International Space Station today leaving four spaceships from the U.S., Russia and Japan parked at the orbital lab. It will be replaced in two weeks when the Progress 76 arrives to replenish the crew.
The 74P undocked today at 2:23 p.m. EDT after seven months attached to the Pirs docking compartment. The trash-packed resupply ship will descend into Earth’s atmosphere above the South Pacific for a fiery but safe demise. The 76P will take its place when it launches on July 23 at 10:26 a.m. and docks just three-and-a-half hours later to Pirs.
ISS configuration July 8, 2020
Image above: July 8, 2020: International Space Station Configuration. Four spaceships are attached to the space station including the SpaceX Crew Dragon, the HTV-9 resupply ship from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Russia’s Progress 75 resupply ship and Soyuz MS-16 crew ship. Image Credit: NASA.
Four out of the five Expedition 63 crew members assessed comfort factors inside the docked SpaceX Crew Dragon today. This is a demonstration of the Crew Dragon’s habitability ahead of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission planned for later this year.
Progress cargo spacecraft undocking from ISS. Animation Credit: NASA
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, who piloted the Crew Dragon, will be joined by station Commander Chris Cassidy and Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin for the one-hour habitability test. The crew will arrange the cabin to suit the four space residents and report their comfort levels to engineers on the ground.
While they were setting up Crew Dragon for the test, the three NASA astronauts also had time for ultrasound eye scans, microfluid studies and orbital plumbing work. The two cosmonauts, including Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner, juggled a variety of Russian space research and tested Soyuz crew ship communications gear.
Related articles:
ISS orbit correction scheduled for July 11
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/iss-orbit-correction-scheduled-for-july.html
Unscheduled correction of the ISS orbit
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/unscheduled-correction-of-iss-orbit.html
Progress MS-14 will correct the orbit of the ISS
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/06/progress-ms-14-will-correct-orbit-of-iss.html
Related Roscosmos article:
«Прогресс МС-13» готовят к расстыковке
https://www.roscosmos.ru/28780/
Related links:
Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html
Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
Pirs docking compartment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs-docking-compartment
SpaceX Crew Dragon: https://go.nasa.gov/2MeYNmX
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
