OrbitalHub

 


 

NASA dixit:

“Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA conducted a spacewalk Feb. 21 to begin rigging cables and other equipment as the precursor to the installation of new docking ports to which U.S. commercial crew vehicles will link up to in the years ahead. The docking ports, called International Docking Adapters, will be delivered to the station later this year on SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicles for attachment to Pressurized Mating Adapters 2 and 3. The spacewalk was the 185th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the second in Wilmore’s career and the first for Virts.”

“Working outside the International Space Station for the second time in four days, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA […] completed the deployment of the final cables to provide power and data for the new docking adapters that will begin arriving at the station later this year.”

“Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA conducted their third spacewalk […] to install antennas and communications gear that will be used to provide rendezvous and navigational information to visiting vehicles approaching the complex in the future, including the new U.S. commercial crew vehicles. Wilmore and Virts installed about 400 feet of cable along the truss of the station as part of the new Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) system.”

Credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“The unpiloted Russian ISS Progress 58 cargo ship launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Feb. 17 to deliver more than three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the residents aboard the International Space Station. Six hours after it launched, the Progress coasted in for an automatic docking to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module where it will remain until late August. The Progress was loaded with 1,940 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 3,333 pounds of spare parts and hardware for use on the orbital laboratory.”

Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

ESA dixit:

“Time-lapse movie showing the departure of ATV Georges Lemaître from the ISS on Saturday, 14 February 2015.”

Credit: NASA/ESA

NASA dixit:

“After spending a month at the International Space Station, the U.S. unpiloted SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft was unberthed from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module and released from the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm Feb. 10 by Expedition 42 Flight Engineers Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency and Terry Virts of NASA, headed for a deorbit and parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Loaded with almost two tons of vital scientific experiments and station hardware, Dragon was aiming for a splashdown about 259 statute miles southwest of Long Beach, California, to complete the fifth commercial resupply mission to the station for SpaceX under its contract with NASA. Dragon was launched to the station atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Jan. 10 and arrived at the station Jan. 12.”

Credit: NASA / SpaceX

 

NASA dixit:

“SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and its unpiloted Dragon cargo craft launched in pre-dawn darkness from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Jan. 10, bound on a two-day journey to deliver more than two tons of supplies and science experiments to the Expedition 42 crew aboard the International Space Station. About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon separated from the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket and deployed its solar arrays to begin the rendezvous to reach the station on Jan. 12, where it will be grappled by station Commander Barry Wilmore of NASA and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency using the station’s Canadian-built robotic arm from the orbiting laboratory’s cupola. […]

Two days after its launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, the unpiloted U.S. SpaceX Dragon cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station Jan. 12 with more than two tons of supplies and science experiments for the Expedition 42 crew. The station crew grappled the Dragon supply ship with the station’s robotic arm and ground controllers at Mission Control, Houston maneuvered Dragon to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Harmony module, where it was installed and bolted into place for a month-long stay.”

Credit: NASA / SpaceX

 


 

ESA dixit:

“The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. The spacecraft lifted off at 20:59 GMT on 23 November (21:59 CET; 02:59 local time 24 November) and reached orbit nine minutes later.

Their spacecraft docked as planned at 02:49 GMT (03:49 CET), and the hatch to their new home in space was opened at 05:00 GMT (06:00 CET).

For more information about Samantha’s Futura mission online, visit http://www.esa.int/Futura“

Credit: ESA/Roscosmos