ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.
August 2, 2021
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is targeted for launch on Tuesday at 1:20 p.m. EDT atop the Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Meteorologists predict a 60% chance of favorable weather at the launch pad on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
For an on-time launch, Starliner would reach the International Space Station one day later and dock to the Harmony module’s forward-port at 1:37 p.m. All events will be broadcast live on NASA TV.
Image above: Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolls out to the launch pad on Monday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Image Credit: NASA.
All is well aboard the orbiting lab today as all seven Expedition 65 crew members focus on physics research, spacesuit maintenance and station upkeep. The orbital residents are also gearing up for the next U.S. cargo mission to resupply the station.
Flight Engineers Megan McArthur joined Thomas Pesquet for several runs of the InSpace-4 nanoparticle study throughout Monday. The duo from NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) took turns working inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox for the space-manufacturing investigation. InSpace-4 seeks to develop advanced materials in microgravity to improve and strengthen spacecraft and Earthbound systems.
Both astronauts also trained on a computer for the rendezvous and capture of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter planned for Aug. 12 at 6:10 a.m. NASA TV will cover Cygnus’ station arrival including its launch scheduled on Aug. 10 at 5:56 p.m.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA
Pesquet moved on and assisted Commander Akihiko Hoshide inside the Quest airlock and serviced a pair U.S. spacesuits ahead of an upcoming spacewalk for more roll-out solar array work. NASA Flight Engineers Shane Kimbrough and Mark Vande Hei worked on a variety of science, communications hardware and life support throughout Monday.
Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov have been unpacking and configuring new hardware delivered aboard Nauka after it docked to the Zvezda service module’s Earth-facing port last week. Novitskiy also activated a long-running Russian Earth observation experiment while Dubrov photographed the condition of Zvezda’s treadmill and downlinked the files.
Related article:
NASA Updates Coverage, Invites Public to Virtually Join Starliner Launch
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-updates-coverage-invites-public-to-virtually-join-starliner-launch
Related links:
NASA Television: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html
Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony
Microgravity Science Glovebox: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=341
InSpace-4: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7669
Zvezda service module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/zvezda-service-module.html
Earth observation experiment: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/study/09.html
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.
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