BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – SpaceX and NASA’s Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station will attempt to launch Sunday night after being scrubbed on Saturday.
The launch had originally been set for early Friday and was delayed to Saturday due to high winds forecast in the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent corridor, or trajectory, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39. Saturday’s launch was scrubbed for the same reason, officials said.
NASA and SpaceX said they will now try to launch Sunday at 10:53 p.m. with a 75% chance for favorable weather.
A backup opportunity is available at 10:31 p.m. Monday if needed. According to the 45th Weather Squadron, the chance for favorable weather at launch time would increase to 80% in the event of a 24-hour delay.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Jeanette Epps, mission specialist, will join Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, also a mission specialist, in the same SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule that was used for the Demo-2, Crew-2 and Crew-6 flights, as well as Axiom Mission 1.
The four will focus on more than 200 science experiments at the space station, including studies of motion sickness and human movement in microgravity, according to NASA.
Standing down from tonight’s launch of Crew-8 due to elevated winds in Dragon’s ascent corridor. Now targeting Sunday, March 3 for liftoff
Keeping tabs on uncertain weather, mission managers decided Saturday to press ahead with an attempt to launch three astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on a flight to the International Space Station.
Crew 8 commander Matthew Dominick, co-pilot Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin planned to strap into their Crew Dragon spacecraft around 9 p.m. EST to await launch from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 11:16 p.m. EST.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon Endeavor spacecraft stand poised atop pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center earlier this week awaiting launch on a mission to deliver three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station.
SpaceX
If all goes well, the rocket’s reusable first stage, making its maiden flight, will fly itself back to landing at the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after boosting the upper stage and Crew Dragon out of the lower atmosphere. The Crew Dragon is expected to be released to fly on its own 12 minutes after liftoff.
NASA and SpaceX originally targeted launch for early Friday, but high winds and rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean, where the crew might have to splash down in an abort, prompted a two-day delay. Offshore conditions were still marginal Saturday, sources said, but mission managers opted to press ahead with the countdown.
Assuming an on-time launch, the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” is expected to catch up with the space station Sunday, moving in from behind and below. After looping up to a point directly in front of the outpost, Endeavour will press in for an autonomous docking at the lab’s forward port at 2:15 p.m.
The Crew 8 astronauts during training in a Crew Dragon simulator (left to right): Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, co-pilot Michael Barratt, commander Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps. Barratt is making his third trip to space while his crewmates are making their first.
SpaceX/NASA
Standing by to welcome Crew 8 aboard will be Soyuz crewmates Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, who were launched to the station last September.
Also on board: Crew 7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japanese flier Satoshi Furukawa and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, launched from the Kennedy Space Center last August. Winding up a 198-day mission, they’re being replaced by Crew 8.
After Moghbeli and her crewmates depart on March 10, the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos plans to launch veteran cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, Belarus guest flier Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson on March 21 aboard the Soyuz MS-25/71S ferry ship.
The goal of the mission is to ferry Dyson to the station for a six-month stay and to deliver a fresh Soyuz for Kononenko and Chub, who are midway through a yearlong stay in space.
Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya will return to Earth April 2, along with NASA’s O’Hara, using the Soyuz MS-24/70S spacecraft that carried Kononenko, Chub and O’Hara to the station last September.
Dyson will return to Earth in September, joining Kononenko and Chub aboard the Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft delivered by Novitskiy. Including four earlier flights, Kononenko will have logged more than 1,100 days in orbit overall, setting a new world record for most time in space.
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.
Three NASA astronauts and their Russian cosmonaut crewmate flew to the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday to prepare for launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Friday, kicking off a planned six-month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station.
Flying in from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Crew 8 commander Matthew Dominick, co-pilot Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin landed at the Florida spaceport’s 3-mile-long runway at 1:45 p.m. EST. Barratt is a veteran of two previous space flights while his three crewmates are rookies.
The Crew 8 astronauts, moments after arrival at the Kennedy Space Center to prepare for launch to the International Space Station. Left to right: Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, NASA physician-astronaut Mike Barratt, commander Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps.
NASA
“Wow, it’s great to be at the Cape!” Dominick said from the runway. “I’m a kid in the candy store. … It’s an incredible time to be involved in spaceflight.”
As if to prove his point, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink internet satellites from the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station three hours after the station crew arrived in Florida, giving them a spectacular taste of things to come.
Shortly after the Crew 8 fliers arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX launched 24 Starlink internet satellites from the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
William Harwood/CBS News
A few hours later, NASA and SpaceX managers concluded a flight readiness review and tentatively cleared the crew for launch.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since we launched the first hardware for the International Space Station and that we’ve had crews up there for more than 23 years,” said Ken Bowersox, a former shuttle commander and now chief of NASA’s human spaceflight program. “Throughout that time, safely launching and returning our crew members has been a critical priority.
“Today’s review was very thorough. We talked about some of the technical items on the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft. We talked about the readiness of the crew and space station. At the end of the review, everybody pulled ‘go.’”
Dominick and company plan to strap in aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon — “Endeavour” — overnight Monday for a dress rehearsal countdown. A few hours later, SpaceX plans to test fire the Falcon 9’s first stage engines to clear the way for the reusable booster’s first flight.
Assuming the tests go well and the weather cooperates, the crew will strap in for real Thursday night and blast off from historic pad 39A at 12:04 a.m. Friday. That’s the moment Earth’s rotation will carry the pad into the plane of the space station’s orbit to enable a rendezvous.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” is attached to the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket in preparation for launch early Friday from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX
Once in space, Dominick and Barratt will monitor a series of autonomously executed thruster firings to catch up with the space station early Saturday, moving in from behind and below. After looping up to a point directly in front of the outpost, Endeavour will press in for docking at the lab’s forward port at 7 a.m.
Standing by to welcome them aboard will be Soyuz crewmates Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, who were launched to the station last September.
Also on board the space station: Crew 7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japanese flier Satoshi Furukawa and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, launched from the Kennedy Space Center last Aug. 25.
After a week-long handover period to help familiarize the Crew 8 fliers with the ins and outs of station operations, Moghbeli, Mogensen, Furukawa and Borisov will undock March 8 and return to Earth, splashing down off the coast of Florida to wrap up a 196-day mission.
“I truly can’t believe this adventure is almost over,” Moghbeli, a veteran Marine helicopter pilot, posted on social media. “This is what I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. I was afraid I might get here and be disappointed after having such high expectations my entire life but, if anything, this experience has surpassed all my expectations.”
I truly can’t believe this adventure is almost over. This is what I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. I was afraid I might get here and be disappointed after having such high expectations my entire life but, if anything, this experience has surpassed all my expectations.… pic.twitter.com/4blpTyeFSu
The Crew 8 launch and docking is the first in a multi-step procedure by NASA and the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos to replace the space station’s seven long-duration crew members with a fresh set of operators. Crew rotations are generally carried out twice each year.
With Crew 8 on board the ISS and Crew 7 back on Earth, Roscosmos plans to launch veteran cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, Belarus guest flier Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson on March 21 aboard the Soyuz MS-25/71S ferry ship.
The mission is known informally as a “taxi flight,” in which a short-duration crew delivers a fresh Soyuz to the station and then flies home aboard a Soyuz that is nearing the end of a six-month stay. But this time around, the taxi flight is needed to accommodate a yearlong stay in space by Kononenko and Chub.
Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya will return to Earth on April 2, along with NASA’s O’Hara, using the Soyuz MS-24/70S spacecraft that carried Kononenko, Chub and O’Hara to the station last September.
Kononenko and Chub will return to Earth with Dyson in September aboard the Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft delivered by Novitskiy.
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.
October 31, 2000, was humanity’s last day all humans were together on Earth.
Since that day, there has always been at least one person in space, marking a continuous human presence off our planet.
The International Space Station: A New Era
The event that initiated this ongoing human presence in space was the launch of Expedition 1 to the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS has since been home to astronauts from around the world. It serves as a research laboratory where scientific studies are conducted in microgravity.
Expedition 1 crew members, William Shepherd (USA), Yuri Gidzenko (Russia), and Sergei Krikalev (Russia), were the pioneers of this new era. They launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket and began what has become over two decades of continuous human occupation of the ISS.
The Significance of October 31, 2000: Humanity’s Last Day
This date is more than just a historical milestone. It signifies humanity’s leap into a future where living and working in space is a reality.
The ISS has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of space and science. Research conducted there has led to breakthroughs in medicine, environmental science, and materials engineering. The microgravity environment provides unique conditions for experiments impossible to replicate on Earth.
Future Missions
Living aboard the ISS has provided vital information about the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. This knowledge is crucial for planning future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Understanding how to maintain physical and mental health in space is key to the success of these ambitious projects.
As we look to the future, the legacy of October 31, 2000, continues to influence space policy and aspirations.
With plans for lunar bases and Mars expeditions, the horizon of human space habitation is expanding. The ISS has laid the groundwork for these future endeavors, proving that humans can live and thrive in the harsh environment of space.
Lighting up the night sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaked into orbit in spectacular fashion Thursday, kicking off a 32-hour rendezvous with the International Space Station to deliver 6,500 pounds of research gear, crew supplies and needed equipment.
Also on board: fresh fruit, cheese and pizza kits, and “some fun holiday treats for the crew, like chocolate, pumpkin spice cappuccino, rice cakes, turkey, duck, quail, seafood, cranberry sauce and mochi,” said Dana Weigel, deputy space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center carrying a Dragon supply ship on a 32-hour flight to the International Space Station. Nov. 9, 2023.
William Harwood/CBS News
Liftoff from historic Pad 39 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida came at 8:28 p.m. EDT, roughly the moment Earth’s rotation carried the seaside firing stand directly into the plane of the space station’s orbit. That’s a requirement for rendezvous missions with targets moving at more than 17,000 mph.
The climb to space went smoothly, and the Dragon was released to fly on its own about 12 minutes after liftoff. If all goes well, the spacecraft will catch up with the space station Saturday morning and move in for docking at the lab’s forward port.
The launching marked SpaceX’s 29th Cargo Dragon flight to the space station, and the second mission for capsule C-211. The first stage booster, also making its second flight, flew itself back to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to chalk up SpaceX’s 39th Florida touchdown, and its 243rd overall.
But the primary goal of the flight is to deliver research gear and equipment to the space station.
Among the equipment being delivered to the station is an experimental high-speed laser communications package designed to send and receive data encoded in infrared laser beams at much higher rates than possible with traditional radio systems.
The cargo Dragon is carrying 6,500 pounds of equipment and supplies, including research gear, experiment hardware and fresh food for the space station crew.
NASA
“This is using optical communication to use lower power and smaller hardware for sending data packages back from the space station to Earth that are even larger and faster than our capabilities today,” said Meghan Everett, a senior scientist with the space station program.
“This optical communication could hugely benefit the research that we are already doing on the space station by allowing our scientists to see the data faster, turn results around faster and even help our medical community by sending down medical packets of data.”
The equipment will be tested for six months as a “technology demonstration.” If it works as expected, it may be used as an operational communications link.
Another externally mounted instrument being delivered is the Atmospheric Waves Experiment, or AWE. It will capture 68,000 infrared images per day to study gravity waves at the boundary between the discernible atmosphere and space — waves powered by the up-and-down interplay between gravity and buoyancy.
As the waves interact with the ionosphere, “they affect communications, navigation and tracking systems,” said Jeff Forbes, deputy principal investigator at the University of Colorado.
“AWE will make an important, first pioneering step to measure the waves entering space from the atmosphere. And we hope to be able to link these observations with the weather at higher altitudes in the ionosphere.”
And an experiment carried out inside the station will use 40 rodents to “better understand the combined effects of spaceflight, nutrition and environmental stressors on (female) reproductive health and bone health,” Everett said.
“There was some previous research that suggested there were changes in hormone receptors and endocrine function that negatively impacted female reproductive health,” she said. “So we’re hoping the results of this study can be used to inform female astronaut health during long-duration spaceflight and even female reproductive health here on Earth.”
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
In a world first, embryos have been sent to space so that scientists can study how zero-gravity affects a growing fetus.
The mouse embryos were sent to the International Space Station to be raised by astronauts, with the scientists discovering that the embryos were able to successfully develop, according to a paper in the journal iScience.
This has huge implications for the future of human space travel and how reproduction and gestation are affected by zero-g, and marks “the world’s first experiment that cultured early-stage mammalian embryos under complete microgravity of ISS,” the authors of the paper said in a statement.
The development of mouse embryos to blastocysts under microgravity on the ISS. Scientists have found that these embryos developed nearly as successfully as those on Earth. Teruhiko Wakayama/University of Yamanashi/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108177
The researchers, from University of Yamanashi’s Advanced Biotechnology Centre and the Japan Aerospace Space Agency (JAXA), sent the frozen mouse embryos to the ISS—orbiting at a distance of around 400 miles above the surface—via a rocket in August 2021. Astronauts aboard the ISS then thawed the embryos, which were initially at the two-cell stage and grew them for four days, around a quarter of the 20-day gestation period for a mouse, at both artificial 1-g and zero-g.
They found that they developed normally into blastocysts, which are embryos that have differentiated into two cell types: the inner cell mass (ICM) or embryoblast, and an outer layer of trophoblast cells. The researchers then compared the development of the embryos with those cultured on Earth, finding that while those grown in space had a slightly lower survival rate, but were still successful at developing.
“The embryos cultured under microgravity conditions developed into blastocysts with normal cell numbers, ICM, trophectoderm, and gene expression profiles similar to those cultured under artificial-1 g control on the International Space Station and ground-1 g control, which clearly demonstrated that gravity had no significant effect on the blastocyst formation and initial differentiation of mammalian embryos,” the authors wrote in the paper.
It has long been wondered if the microgravity of space will impact the gestation of a fetus, which is a pressing question if humans are to further step toward the stars.
“There is a possibility of pregnancy during a future trip to Mars because it will take more than 6 months to travel there,” lead author Teruhiko Wakayama of the University of Yamanashi in Japan, told New Scientist. “We are conducting research to ensure we will be able to safely have children if that time comes.”
This study did not explore how the embryos developed post-blastocyst stage, however, which may come with a whole new swath of issues.
Graphical abstract of the paper showing the embryos’ journey. Teruhiko Wakayama/University of Yamanashi/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108177
Wakayama previously found in 2009 that microgravity affected a fertilized egg’s ability to implant in the uterus but did not affect the fertilization itself. Additionally, other experiments with pregnant rodents in space found that lack of gravity affected vestibular development during gestation—affecting the offspring’s balance and equilibrium—as well as impacts on fetal musculoskeletal development.
The authors say that much more research is required into how zero-g and space environments can impact the growth of fetuses.
Images from the paper. (D) Thawing by astronaut under microgravity. (E–G) Blastocysts collected from the ETC cultured on ground control (E), artificial-1G on the ISS (F), and microgravity on the ISS (G). Teruhiko Wakayama/University of Yamanashi/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108177
“Based on these reports and our results, perhaps mammalian space reproduction is possible, although it may be somewhat affected. Unfortunately, the number of blastocysts obtained from the ISS experiment was not abundant; and we have not been able to confirm the impact on offspring because we have not produced offspring from embryos developed in space,” the authors wrote in the paper.
“The study of mammalian reproduction in space is essential to start the space age, making it necessary to study and clarify the effect of space environment before the ISS is no longer operational.”
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about embryonic development? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
China launched a fresh three-man crew to the Tiangong space station Thursday morning to replace three other “taikonauts” who are wrapping up a six-month stay in orbit.
Strapped into their Shenzhou 17 ferry ship atop a Long March 2F rocket, commander Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, 850 miles west of Beijing, at 11:14 a.m. local time.
A drone looks down on the Shenzhou 17 spacecraft as its Long March 2F rocket climbs away from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
CCTV
After a problem-free climb to orbit, the spacecraft was released to fly on its own, clearing the way for a series of rendezvous rocket firings to catch up with the “Heavenly Palace” — Tiangong — space station. Docking was expected about six-and-a-half hours after liftoff.
“The Long March 2 rocket has sent Shenzhou 17 manned spacecraft to the preset orbit,” a senior official told the Chinese flight controllers. “The solar panels have been unfolded successfully and are functioning well. I declare the launch of the Shenzhou 17 mission a complete success!”
Standing by to welcome the new crew aboard were Shenzhou 16 commander Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, who were launched to the lab on May 30. After a brief “handover” to familiarize their replacements with the intricacies of station operation, Jing and his crewmates plan to return to Earth early next week.
As they depart, the crew plans to carry out a photo survey of Tiangong, providing the first high-resolution images of the complex in orbit against the backdrop of Earth.
The latest launch — China’s sixth piloted flight to the space station and its fourth since around-the-clock staffing began in June 2022 — was carried live on Chinese television, providing spectacular shots of the rocket’s climb to space, and interior views of the taikonauts as they monitored cockpit displays.
The Shenzhou 17 crew (left to right): Jiang Xinlin, commander Tang Hongbo and Tang Shengjie.
China Manned Space Agency
Tang Hongbo first flew in space in 2021 as a member of the Shenzhou 12 crew, spending 92 days aboard the station. His crewmates for his second flight are space rookies.
“This is the second manned spaceflight mission for the China space station’s application and development phase,” he said through an interpreter during a pre-flight news conference.
“Last time, for the Shenzhou 12 mission, I participated in the construction of the space station. This time, we will conduct a number of scientific (experiments) and technical development.”
They will also carry out at least one spacewalk to inspect, and possibly repair, small space debris impacts in the station’s solar arrays.
“Space debris is increasing,” said Lin Xigiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency. “Impacts of small space objects on long duration operational spacecraft are inevitable.
“The space station solar panel (has) been hit several times by tiny objects in space, causing minor damage. It was, of course, taken into account in the design. At present, all functions and performance indicators of the space station meet the requirements.”
A multi-camera view showing the Long March 2F’s second stage engines, the Shenzhou 17 crew monitoring cockpit displays (upper right) and the Shenzhou 16 crew (lower right) watching live launch coverage aboard the Tiangong space station.
CCTV
But given China plans to operate its space station for at least 10 years and possibly longer, Lin said the Shenzhou 17 crew “will conduct experimental maintenance by EVA (spacewalk). It is a very challenging job.”
The Chinese space station is made up of three large modules connected in a T-shaped configuration. The Tianhe core module, launched in April 2021, is the centerpiece of the complex, providing crew quarters, life support systems, communications, spacecraft controls, an airlock and multiple docking ports.
Two other large modules — Wentian and Mengtian — were attached to Tianhe in 2022.
The 450-ton International Space Station is made up of more than a dozen pressurized modules provided by the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency and Japan. Construction began in 1998 and the lab has been permanently staffed by rotating astronaut-cosmonaut crews since 2000.
The Tiangong station has a mass of about 100 tons and is roughly one-third the size of the ISS. It has been permanently staffed since June 2022 with the arrival of the Shenzhou 14 crew. While smaller than the ISS, the Chinese lab is newer and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, computers and instrumentation.
And the Chinese, like their ISS counterparts, are encouraging foreign nationals to fly on their station.
“We would like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to the whole world, and welcome all countries and regions committed to the peaceful use of outer space to cooperate with us and participate in China’s space station flight missions,” Lin said.
The ISS will be de-orbited in 2030, leaving Tiangong the only government-operated space station in low-Earth orbit. NASA is counting on commercial space stations operated by private companies to provide research opportunities in Earth orbit while the U.S. agency pursues a return to the moon later this decade.
China plans to launch its own taikonauts to the moon starting in 2030, fueling the latest chapter in an ongoing superpower space race.
“We are now solidly promoting our development and construction work to ensure that the goal of landing Chinese people on the moon by 2030 will be realized as scheduled,” Lin said, speaking through an interpreter.
“With the progress of the lunar landing mission, and when the relevant conditions are met we will … formally invite international astronauts to participate in the lunar landing mission and explore the universe together.”
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station, talks to CBS News’ Mark Strassmann about following her 6th-grade space dreams.
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China launched a fresh three-man crew to the Tiangong space station Tuesday evening (U.S. time) to replace three fellow “taikonauts” wrapping up a six-month stay in space. It is the second such crew handover since the Chinese established a permanent presence aboard the lab last June.
With veteran commander Jing Haipeng, 56, at the controls, flanked by Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, the first non-military taikonaut, or astronaut, the Shenzhou-16 crew blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center atop a Long March 2F rocket at 9:31 p.m. EDT (9:31 a.m. Tuesday local time).
A Chinese Long March 2F rocket climbs away from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, carrying three taikonauts — astronauts — on a six-hour flight to the Tiangong space station.
CCTV
Jing is the first Chinese flier to make four trips to space while Gui, a professor at Beijing University with a doctorate in astronautics, is the first civilian taikonaut to reach orbit and the first to visit the Chinese space station.
The launching, China’s fifth piloted flight to Tiangong and its third since around-the-clock staffing began last June, was carried live on Chinese television, providing spectacular shots of the rocket’s climb to space and interior views of the taikonauts as they calmly monitored cockpit displays.
The 191-foot-tall Long March 2F rocket, equipped with four strap-on boosters for extra power, reached its planned preliminary orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff and promptly released the Shenzhou-16 ferry ship to fly on its own.
The capsule’s two solar panels then unfolded, clearing the way for a series of rendezvous rocket firings to catch up with the Tiangong station. Docking was expected about six hours after launch.
The launching boosted the total number of humans in orbit to a record 17, with three taikonauts already aboard Tiangong awaiting their replacements and 11 crew members aboard the International Space Station, operated by the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and Canada.
Four of the ISS fliers, members of a commercial crew made up of retired astronaut Peggy Whitson, adventurer John Shoffner and Saudi astronauts Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, plan to undock and return to Earth Tuesday with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just after 11 p.m. EDT. By then, the Shenzhou-16 taikonauts are expected to be on board Tiangong, joining Shenzhou-15 commander Fei Juniong, Deng Qinming and Zhang Lu, who were launched to the outpost on November 29.
The taikonauts monitor cockpit displays inside the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft during the 10-minute climb to orbit. Left to right: Zhu Yangzhu, veteran commander Jing Haipeng and Gui Haichao, the first non-military taikonaut to fly in space.
CCTV
After a brief handover period to familiarize their replacements with the intricacies of life aboard the space station, Fei and his crewmates will undock and return to landing in Inner Mongolia to close out a six-month stay in space.
Like NASA and its partners in the ISS program, China aims to keep its space station permanently crewed by rotating teams of taikonauts. The Shenzhou-16 crew is the third crew in that sequence.
The Chinese space station is made up of three large modules connected in a T-shaped configuration. The Tianhe core module, launched in April 2021, is the centerpiece of the complex, providing crew quarters, life support systems, communications, spacecraft controls, an airlock and multiple docking ports.
The 450-ton International Space Station is made up of 13 pressurized modules provided by the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency and Japan. Construction began in 1998 and the lab has been permanently staffed by overlapping astronaut-cosmonaut crews since 2000.
The Tiangong station has a mass of about 100 tons and is roughly one-third the size of the ISS. It has been permanently staffed since June 2022 with the arrival of the Shenzhou-14 crew. While smaller than the ISS, the Chinese lab is newer and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, computers and instrumentation.
The ISS will be de-orbited in 2030, leaving Tiangong the only government-operated space station in low-Earth orbit. NASA is counting on commercial space stations operated by private companies to provide research opportunities in Earth orbit while the U.S. agency pursues a return to the moon later this decade.
China plans to launch its own taikonauts to the moon starting in 2030, fueling the latest chapter in an ongoing superpower space race.
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying four private astronauts docked with the International Space Station on Monday. The group includes the first Saudi woman in space.
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A legendary astronaut, two Saudis and a wealthy adventurer blasted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Sunday for a trip to the International Space Station, the second “private astronaut mission” aimed at opening the high frontier to commercial development.
The nine Merlin engines powering the Falcon 9’s first stage roared to life at 5:37 p.m. EDT, quickly throttled up to 1.2 million pounds of thrust and smoothly pushed the rocket away from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Arcing away on a northeasterly trajectory, the slender rocket put on a spectacular weekend sky show, thrilling thousands of area residents and tourists lining nearby roads and beaches.
Ax-2 launches on a private mission to the ISS.
SpaceX
Monitoring the automated ascent from their seats in the Crew Dragon “Freedom” capsule were commander Peggy Whitson and co-pilot John Shoffner, flanked on the left and right by first-time Saudi fliers Ali Alqarni, a veteran F-16 fighter pilot, and biomedical researcher Rayyanah Barnawi.
Whitson, now retired from NASA, is America’s most experienced astronaut, with 665 days in space and 10 spacewalks to her credit during three earlier missions. Shoffner, a retired fiber optics entrepreneur, is a veteran private pilot, high-performance race car driver and skydiver.
Shoffner paid Axiom an undisclosed amount for his seat aboard the Crew Dragon while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covered the costs of its two astronauts. Whitson, now director of human spaceflight for Axiom Space, flew as part of the company charter.
The Ax-2 crew (left to right): co-pilot John Shoffner, Saudi astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, commander Peggy Whitson and Saudi astronaut Ali Alqarni. (Credit: Axiom Space)
Axiom Space
“I wanted to be able to fly in space again,” Whitson said after her final NASA mission, “but the realistic part of Peggy said, no, you’re not likely to be able to. And so, it’s just a thrill and a half to have this opportunity to fly for Axiom.”
After boosting the rocket out of the thick lower atmosphere, the flight plan called for the reusable first stage to fall away and head for landing back at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station while the Falcon 9’s second stage continued the push to orbit.
In past Crew Dragon flights, booster stages landed on offshore barges and were towed back to shore for refurbishment and reuse. But past experience showed actual performance was better than expected, leaving enough propellant on board to reverse course and return to the launch site.
One minute after the first stage touchdown — nine minutes after liftoff — the Crew Dragon capsule was expected to reach orbit.
If all goes well, the crew will monitor an automated rendezvous with the space station, catching up with the lab complex Monday morning and moving in for docking at the forward Harmony module’s space-facing port at 9:16 a.m.
They’ll be welcomed aboard by Expedition 69 commander Sergey Prokopyev and his two Soyuz MS-23 crewmates, Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, along with NASA Crew 6 fliers Steve Bowen, Woody Hoburg, cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi.
Alneyadi, the second UAE flier to reach space, is the first Arab astronaut to serve as a long-duration crew member aboard the ISS. With the arrival of Alqarni and Barnawi, three of the station’s 11 crew members will represent the Middle East.
“I think it is a great opportunity that the three of us can be aboard the International Space Station,” Alqarni said. “(That) will hold a big message that we can be sending out to inspire people. And that means for us, as the Arab world, we are holding hands, we are working together for the betterment of humanity.”
The Ax-2 flight is the second private astronaut mission, or PAM, to the International Space Station chartered by Axiom. NASA plans to sanction up to two PAM missions each year to encourage private-sector development in low-Earth orbit.
Axiom Space is using the missions to gain the expertise needed to begin building a stand-alone commercial space station that can be used by government and private-sector astronauts and researchers after the International Space Station is retired at the end of the decade.
In the near term, the missions also provide a way for serious, technically competent private citizens and governments without access to space to visit the ISS for research and public outreach — goals encouraged by NASA.
Alqarni and Barnawi are the second and third Saudis to fly in space after Sultan Salman Al-Saud flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1985. They will be the first Saudis to visit the space station and Barnawi will become the first Saudi woman to fly in space.
During an eight-day stay, Whitson, Shoffner, Alqarni and Barnawi plan to carry out 20 research projects, 14 of them developed by Saudi scientists, that range from human physiology, cell biology and technology development.
“Research has been my passion in life,” Barnawi said at a pre-launch news conference. “This is a great opportunity for me to represent the country, to represent their dreams. … This is a dream come true for everyone.”
Along with a full slate of experiments, the crew will participate in live broadcasts to school kids across Saudi Arabia as part of a STEM initiative to build interest in science and technology.
“This is a huge, huge event in Saudi Arabia,” said Derek Hassmann, Axiom chief of mission integration and operations. “During the time they’re docked to ISS, there is a whole series of media events scheduled.
“One of the focuses of many of these events is interacting with school-aged children in Saudi Arabia. And that was one of the reasons, just the timing of the school year, that we’re very interested in getting this flight done in May. They have a whole series of post-flight events planned as well.”
Barnawi said, “We are here as STEM educators for the kids to be (attracted) to math and science, technology, to know that they can do more.”
Whitson and her crewmates plan to undock from the station on May 30. After a fiery plunge back into the lower atmosphere, the Crew Dragon will make a parachute descent to splashdown off the coast of Florida where SpaceX recovery crews will be standing by.
“I’m honored to be heading back to the ISS for the fourth time, leading this talented Ax-2 crew on their first mission,” Whitson said in an Axiom statement. “This is a strong and cohesive team determined to conduct meaningful scientific research in space and inspire a new generation about the benefits of microgravity.”
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
Mysterious streaks of light were seen in the sky in the Sacramento area Friday night, shocking St. Patrick’s Day revelers who then posted videos on social media of the surprising sight.
Jaime Hernandez was at the King Cong Brewing Company in Sacramento for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration when some among the group noticed the lights. Hernandez quickly began filming. It was over in about 40 seconds, he said Saturday.
“Mainly, we were in shock, but amazed that we got to witness it,” Hernandez said in an email. “None of us had ever seen anything like it.”
The brewery owner posted Hernandez’s video to Instagram, asking if anyone could solve the mystery.
Jonathan McDowell says he can. McDowell is an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. McDowell said Saturday in an interview with The Associated Press that he’s 99.9% confident the streaks of light were from burning space debris.
This image from video provided by Jaime Hernandez shows streaks of light travelling across the sky over the Sacramento, Calif., area on Friday night, March 17, 2023.
Jaime Hernandez / AP
McDowell said that a Japanese communications package that relayed information from the International Space Station to a communications satellite and then back to Earth became obsolete in 2017 when the satellite was retired. The equipment, weighing 683 pounds, was jettisoned from the space station in 2020 because it was taking up valuable space and would burn up completely upon reentry, McDowell added.
The flaming bits of wreckage created a “spectacular light show in the sky,” McDowell said. He estimated the debris was about 40 miles high, going thousands of miles per hour.
Raj Dixit, the Vice President of the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society, told CBS Sacramento that the old Japanese communication satellite is known as ICS. He said while that satellite was originally launched back in 2009, it took more than a decade to get back down to Earth.
Dixit says there’s some space junk decades older that is still floating around, but most of it is in an orbit that’s so stable, it’s not coming down for many, many years. Meanwhile, put all the extra-terrestrial rumors to rest.
“I think aliens would be smart enough not to explode in the atmosphere. You would hope that if they could get across the universe, they wouldn’t blow up as soon as they got here,” said Dixit. “As much as we like to fantasize about UFOs or alien invasions or Armageddon asteroids, the truth is a little bit more mundane but interesting,” Dixit said.
The U.S. Space Force confirmed the re-entry path over California for the Inter-Orbit Communication System, and the timing is consistent with what people saw in the sky, he added. The Space Force could not immediately be reached Saturday with questions.
According to NASA’s website, Department of Defense sensors are tracking roughly 27,000 pieces of space junk and most are larger than a softball.
Monday’s scheduled SpaceX launch to send a four-man crew to the International Space Station was canceled at the last minute due to a problem with the ignition fuel. The next launch attempt is set for early Thursday.
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In a frustrating disappointment, the launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying a four-man crew bound for the International Space Station was called off with just two minutes to go because of trouble with a system used to ignite the Falcon 9’s first stage engines.
Crew-6 commander Stephen Bowen, Warren “Woody” Hoburg, cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and Emerati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, the first Arab assigned to a long-duration station flight, took the scrub in stride and patiently waited inside the spacecraft while the rocket’s propellants were drained away.
The next launch opportunity comes at 1:22 a.m. EST Tuesday, but it wasn’t immediately known what caused a problem with the engine igniter fluid or how long it might take to resolve the issue. The fluid is a chemical known as triethylaluminum triethylboron, or “TEA TEB.”
If the crew fails to get off the ground Tuesday, the next opportunity will come on March 2.
It was the first last-minute launch scrub of a Crew Dragon due to a technical problem since the ferry ships started carrying astronauts to the space station in 2020, ending NASA’s sole reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to take astronauts to and from the lab complex.
Along with disappointing the crew, the last-minute scrub also ended a chance for SpaceX to launch three Falcon 9s in just 13 hours, with afternoon launches planned in Florida and California to put two batches of Starlink internet satellites into orbit. It wasn’t immediately known if those flights would remain on schedule.
But flight safety is the top priority, and SpaceX will no doubt fix the ignitor issue after engineers have a chance to track down what went wrong. The only question is how long it might take.
Whenever they take off, Bowen and company will be welcomed aboard the station by Crew-5 commander Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina, the first Russian to launch aboard a Crew Dragon. They arrived at the station last October and plan to return to Earth around March 6 to close out a 151-day mission.
Also welcoming the Crew-6 fliers will be Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. They launched to the lab last September and originally planned to fly home in March.
But their Soyuz MS-22 ferry ship was crippled December 14 when a presumed micrometeoroid ruptured a coolant line. After an analysis, Russian engineers concluded the spacecraft could not safely be used again because of the possibility sensitive systems could overheat.
Instead, a replacement Soyuz — MS-23 — was launched last Thursday, carrying equipment and supplies instead of a crew. The spacecraft docked with the station Saturday night, providing Prokopyev and his crewmates with a safe ride home.
But to get the crew rotation schedule back on track, the trio will have to spend an additional six months in space, coming home this fall after a full year in orbit. They’ll share the station with Crew 6 for most of that time.
Alneyadi, a father of six, is the second Emerati to fly in space but the first named to a full-duration six-month stay aboard the station. During his expedition, two Saudi fliers will visit the lab complex for about a week as part of a commercial mission managed by Houston-based Axiom Space.
“I think it’s going to be really interesting,” Alneyadi said after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center last week. “It’s for the sake of science, for the sake of spreading the knowledge about how important it is to fly (in space) and to push the boundaries of exploration, not only in the leading countries.
“Our region is also thirsty to learn more. And I think we will be ambassadors in these missions. Hopefully, we can come back with knowledge and share whatever we learn with everybody.”
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
John Dickerson speaks with Assistant Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo about U.S. sanctions on Russia, discusses Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s visit to the Ohio train derailment site, and reports on a Soyuz launch to the International Space Station.
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A new Soyuz capsule is heading for the International Space Station, which is orbiting 250 miles above the Earth’s surface. It’s part of a rescue mission after a previous capsule suffered a coolant leak. CBS News space consultant Bill Harwood joins John Dickerson to discuss the mission’s next steps.
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Two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an Emirati flew to the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday to begin preparations for launch early Monday on a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to replace four crew members aboard the International Space Station who are wrapping up a five-month stay.
Launch had been planned for Sunday, but NASA and SpaceX managers ordered a 24-hour slip during a flight readiness review Tuesday to allow more time to close out a handful of open technical issues. Launch now is targeted for 1:45 a.m. EST Monday.
The Crew-6 Dragon spacecraft arriving at SpaceX’s hangar at pad 39A for launch processing.
NASA
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program, said he expects the open items to be cleared by the end of the week.
“When we looked at the work remaining to go on the vehicle, getting Dragon and Falcon 9 ready to go, we were a little bit behind on that work and so we need a little bit more time to do that,” he told reporters after the review concluded.
“We’re taking our time each step of the way getting Dragon ready to go, doing the proper analysis, getting Falcon 9 ready to go, and making sure we’ll go fly when we’re ready.”
Earlier Tuesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian engineers hauled a Soyuz rocket and crew ferry ship to the pad, setting the stage for launch to the lab complex Thursday evening.
Three station crew members — Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio — had planned to return to Earth next month to wrap up their own six-month station visit. But their Soyuz MS-22 ferry ship was disabled by a presumed micrometeoroid impact that ruptured a critical coolant line on December 14.
The Russians are launching an unpiloted replacement Soyuz, MS-23, at 7:24 p.m. Thursday to give Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio a fresh Soyuz that will carry them back to Earth in September after nearly a full year in space. They’ll be replaced by the original MS-23 crew, who will fly up on the next Soyuz in the sequence.
Assuming an on-time launch Thursday, the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft is expected to carry out an automated rendezvous with the space station, docking at the lab’s upper Poisk module around 8 p.m. Saturday.
The Crew-6 astronauts pose for photos after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center for launch. Left to right: Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, Crew Dragon pilot Woody Hoburg and NASA commander Stephen Bowen.
NASA
At the same time, SpaceX and NASA will be gearing up to launch the Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket at pad 39A early Monday.
The ship’s crew — commander Stephen Bowen, pilot Warren “Woody” Hoburg, cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and United Arab Emirates flier Sultan Alneyadi — landed at the spaceport’s 3-mile-long Launch and Landing Facility runway a few minutes before 12:30 p.m. Tuesday to begin final preparations.
“I’ve had the privilege over the past couple of years of training with an incredible crew,” Bowen, a former submariner and veteran of three shuttle flights, told reporters at the runway. “They are just the most amazing people. And it’s just an incredible honor to be here. We’re really looking forward to our mission.”
If all goes well, SpaceX will haul the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon out of the company hangar and up to the top of pad 39A on Wednesday. Bowen and company plan to don their pressure suits and strap for a dress-rehearsal countdown late Thursday, culminating in a simulated launch early Friday.
A few hours later, after the crew departs, SpaceX engineers plan to test fire the Falcon 9’s first stage engines, setting the stage for launch Monday. If no problems arise, the Crew Dragon will catch up with the space station early Tuesday, docking to the Harmony module’s upper port at 2:29 a.m.
Standing by to welcome them aboard will be the crew Bowen and company are replacing — Crew-5 commander Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina — along with Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio.
Prokopyev and his crewmates were launched to the station last September and originally planned to spend six months aboard the lab. But the suspected micrometeoroid impact in December resulted in a massive coolant leak.
After a detailed analysis, Russian engineers concluded the spacecraft could not be relied on to safely carry its three crew members back to Earth without overheating. Instead, engineers worked to ready the Soyuz MS-23 for launch ahead of schedule to replace the damaged MS-22 ferry ship.
In an unlikely coincidence, a Russian Progress cargo ship docked at the station suddenly lost its coolant February 11, two months after the Soyuz incident. The Progress undocked last Friday and plunged back into the atmosphere Saturday, breaking up as expected over the southern Pacific Ocean.
Analysis of post-undocking video and photography showed what the Russians concluded may have been another impact, similar to but larger than the one that damaged the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, or possibly the site of a leak caused by some earlier problem after launch.
In any case, the replacement Soyuz will dock at the same port vacated by the damaged Progress. At that point, all the station crew members once again will have independent lifeboats — Crew Dragon and Soyuz — for use in the event of an emergency that might require an immediate evacuation.
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
Two astronauts making their first spacewalk ventured outside the International Space Station on Friday amid heightened awareness of the threat posed by micrometeoroids and space debris in the wake of an impact that damaged a Russian crew ferry ship last month.
While the odds of a life-threatening impact during a spacewalk are low — on the order of 1-in-23,600 — the threat is “something that I think very much about in preparation for any EVA,” said Keith Johnson, a NASA mission control spacewalk officer.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, left, and NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, right, check safety tethers outside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock compartment before heading to the right side of the lab’s power truss for work to assemble a mounting bracket for a new solar array.
NASA
“The suit is designed to accommodate … certain size puncture holes and yet still keep the crew members alive,” he added. But “there’s always risk.”
Floating in the Quest airlock, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA’s Nicole Mann switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:14 a.m. EST to kick off a planned six-and-a-half-hour excursion. They made their way outside a few minutes later.
They planned to spend the day working on the right side of the space station’s power truss completing assembly of a Tinkertoy-like solar array support bracket and building a second bracket from scratch.
Spacewalkers already have attached three ISS roll-out solar arrays, known as IROSAs, on brackets assembled on the left side of the power truss and one more IROSA on the right. Two additional roll-out arrays will be launched later this year for installation on the brackets Wakata and Mann are assembling.
The goal is to augment the electrical output of the space station’s original set of solar arrays, which have degraded over their years in the harsh space environment. When the IROSA upgrade is complete, the lab will be back to full power.
NASA
Friday’s spacewalk came a little more than a month after a micrometeoroid impact ruptured a coolant line on a Russian Soyuz crew ferry ship December 14, rendering it unusable for a planned crew return in March.
Instead, the Russians will launch a fresh Soyuz without a crew on February 20 to take the place of the damaged spacecraft. The crew of the damaged MS-22 ferry ship — two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut — now will spend an additional six months in space before coming home in September.
The impact served as a reminder that astronauts and cosmonauts conducting spacewalks in the vacuum of low-Earth orbit, an environment populated by countless undetectable particles whizzing about at extreme velocities, face a small but very real threat.
NASA experts carry out a probabilistic risk assessment for micrometeoroids and space debris impacts before every spacewalk based on the latest assessment of the environment, where the astronauts will be working and a variety of other factors, including the timing of known meteor showers.
The view from Koichi Wakata’s helmet camera showing crewmate Nicole against the backdrop of planet Earth.
NASA
For the most recent spacewalk last month, the calculated odds of a spacesuit penetration during a six-and-a-half-hour EVA were in the neighborhood of 1-in-3,800. The odds of a “critical” penetration were on the order of 1-in-21,300. The numbers for Friday’s spacewalk were similar, an official said.
In this case, “critical” means a penetration larger than 4 millimeters across resulting in an uncontrollable loss of oxygen. The micrometeoroid that damaged the Soyuz spacecraft was about 1 millimeter across.
Safety tethers and procedures are in place to enable a speedy return to the safety of the space station airlock in case of a life-threatening problem. The goal is to get back inside in 30 minutes or less.
As for impacts, the multi-layer spacesuit is designed to help ensure a smaller particle will break up during impact, before it can penetrate the innermost layer and allow air to escape.
But there are many unknowns in the calculation and despite extensive training and contingency plans, “it’s just like anytime you get in an automobile, there is always risk,” Johnson said.
“But we need to be willing to figure out the safest way to do it, get ready for all that could go wrong and that’s how we do it to put our crew members in that position.”
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
