ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.
July 21, 2021
SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon relocation
Crew Dragon Endeavour with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, have re-docked to the International Space Station.
Image above: The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour approaches the International Space Station on April 24, 2021. Image Credit: NASA.
Crew Dragon autonomously undocked from the forward port of the station’s Harmony module at 6:45 a.m. and relocated to the space-facing port at 7:35 a.m. completing the second space station port change for the crewed spacecraft.
Image above: The SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon is pictured after maneuvering to the Harmony module’s space-facing international docking adapter. Image Credit: NASA TV.
Next up for commercial crew, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station about one day following its launch at 2:53 p.m. Friday, July 30, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The uncrewed flight test, NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), will test the end-to-end capabilities of Starliner from launch to docking, atmospheric re-entry, and a desert landing in the western United States. The uncrewed mission will provide valuable data about Boeing’s crew transportation system, and help NASA certify Starliner and the Atlas V rocket for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner approaching ISS. Animation Credit: Boeing
Crew-2 astronauts are targeted to return to Earth in early-to-mid November following a short handover with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts targeted to launch on Sunday, Oct. 31.
Related article:
NASA Invites Public to Share Excitement of Northrop Grumman’s 16th Commercial Resupply Services Launch
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-invites-public-to-share-excitement-of-northrop-grumman-s-16th-commercial-resupply
Related links:
Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html
Commercial Crew: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2): https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-sets-coverage-invites-public-to-virtually-join-starliner-launch
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3: https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2021/06/14/nasa-spacex-update-crew-launch-and-return-dates/
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Norah Moran/NASA TV/SciNews.
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