LOS ANGELES听–听Two US astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut were safely on their way to the International听厂辫补肠别听厂迟补迟颈辞苍听(ISS) on Thursday, as their听厂辫补肠别齿听ship neared a planned rendezvous with the orbiting laboratory, NASA said.
The autonomously flying听厂辫补肠别齿听颁谤别飞听Dragon capsule was due to reach the听蝉辫补肠别听蝉迟补迟颈辞苍听and dock to the platform shortly after 1:15 a.m. EST (0615 GMT) on Friday, nearly 25 hours after launching from NASA’s Kennedy听厂辫补肠别听Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Control over the听蝉辫补肠别craft will be handed off from听厂辫补肠别齿听mission control near Los Angeles to NASA’s Johnson听厂辫补肠别听Center in Houston once the聽颁谤别飞听Dragon is ready to dock with the ISS.
The four-man team is expected to spend six months aboard the ISS conducting more than 200 experiments and technology demonstrations, ranging from research on human cell growth in听蝉辫补肠别听to controlling combustible materials in microgravity.
Some of the research will help pave the way for future long-duration human expeditions to the Moon and beyond under NASA’s Artemis program, its successor to Apollo, the US听蝉辫补肠别听agency said.
The mission, designated聽颁谤别飞听6, is the sixth long-duration ISS team听厂辫补肠别齿听has flown for NASA since the private听谤辞肠办别迟听venture founded by billionaire Elon Musk began sending American astronauts to orbit in May 2020. Musk is CEO of electric car maker Tesla聽and social media platform Twitter.
SUBMARINER AND ENGINEERS
The latest听肠谤别飞听was led by Stephen Bowen, 59, a onetime U.S. Navy submarine officer who has logged more than 40 days in orbit as a veteran of three听厂辫补肠别听Shuttle flights and seven听蝉辫补肠别walks. Fellow NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, 37, an electrical engineer, computer science expert and commercial aviator designated, was making his first听蝉辫补肠别flight.
The聽颁谤别飞听6 mission also was notable for its inclusion of UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, 41, only the second person from his country to fly to听蝉辫补肠别听and the first to launch from U.S. soil as part of a long-duration听蝉辫补肠别听蝉迟补迟颈辞苍听team.
Rounding out the four-man聽颁谤别飞听6 was Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, 42, who like Alneyadi is an engineer and听蝉辫补肠别flight rookie designated as a mission specialist for the team.
Fedyaev is the second cosmonaut to fly aboard an American听蝉辫补肠别craft under a renewed ride-sharing deal signed in July by NASA and the Russian听蝉辫补肠别听agency Roscosmos, despite heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The聽颁谤别飞听6 team will be welcomed aboard the听蝉辫补肠别听蝉迟补迟颈辞苍听by seven current ISS occupants – three NASA听肠谤别飞听members, including commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman to fly to听蝉辫补肠别, along with three Russians and a Japanese astronaut.
Those seven are expected to end their mission and depart the听蝉辫补肠别听蝉迟补迟颈辞苍听this month. Four will return in the听厂辫补肠别齿听Dragon they rode to orbit in October, and three others will ride home in a Russian Soyuz听蝉辫补肠别craft flown empty to the ISS last week to replace one that sprang a coolant leak while docked to the聽蝉迟补迟颈辞苍听in December.
The聽颁谤别飞听6 launch came 72 hours after an initial liftoff attempt was scrubbed in the final minutes of countdown early on Monday due to an irregular flow of engine-ignition fluid. NASA said the system worked perfectly after a clogged filter was replaced and the lines purged.
The launch ultimately unfolded with hardly a hiccup. But a faulty sensor was also detected on one of 36 switches connected to a dozen grappling hooks used to latch the nose of the听肠谤别飞听capsule to the ISS, but there is enough redundancy in that system that no problems with docking or closing the nose cone are anticipated, NASA and听厂辫补肠别齿听officials said.
The launch and rendezvous fell exactly on the four-year anniversary of听厂辫补肠别齿‘s first uncrewed “Demo-1” test flight of a Dragon听蝉辫补肠别craft to the ISS and back in 2019. – Reuters
