Dec 6 2017

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY M17-144 NASA Television Coverage Set for Space Station Crew Landing, Launch Three crew members on the International Space Station are scheduled to end their mission and return to Earth on Thursday, Dec. 14, just days before another three space travelers begin their mission. Live coverage will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will undock their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft from the space station at 12:16 a.m. EST Thursday and land in Kazakhstan at 3:38 a.m. (2:38 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

Their return will conclude 139 days in space since their launch on July 28. During that time, they have supported hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard humanity’s only microgravity laboratory.

Coverage of Expedition 53 departure and landing activities is as follows (all times EST):

Wednesday, Dec. 13

• 7:40 a.m. – Change of command ceremony with Bresnik handing over station command to Roscosmos’ Alexander Misurkin
• 8:30 p.m. – Farewell and hatch closure coverage (hatch closure at 9 p.m.)
• 11:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage (undocking scheduled for 12:16 a.m. Thursday)

Thursday, Dec. 14

• 2:15 a.m. – Deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn at 1:44 a.m. and landing at 3:38 a.m.)
• 6 a.m. – Video file of hatch closure, undocking and landing activities
• 7 p.m. – Video file of landing and post-landing activities and interview with Bresnik in Kazakhstan

At the time of undocking, Expedition 54 will begin aboard the station under the command of Misurkin. Along with his crewmates Mark Vende Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA, the three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of three new crew members five days later.

On Sunday, Dec. 17, Scott Tingle of NASA, Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch at 2:21 a.m. (1:21 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Coverage of Expedition 54 launch and docking activities is as follows:

Sunday, Dec. 17

• 1:15 a.m. – Soyuz MS-07 launch coverage (launch at 2:21 a.m.)

Tuesday, Dec. 19

• 3 a.m. – Docking coverage (docking scheduled for 3:42 a.m.)
• 5 a.m. – Hatch opening and welcome coverage

NASA TV will air a full complement of video of the crew’s pre-launch activities in Baikonur in the days preceding launch.

The six crew members of Expedition 54 will continue work on the hundreds of experiments conducted off the Earth, for the Earth. This crew continues the long-term increase in U.S. crew size from three to four, allowing NASA to maximize time dedicated to research on the space station.

MEDIA ADVISORY M17-145 NASA Television to Air Launch of Next Space Station Resupply Mission

NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is now targeting its 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for no earlier than 11:46 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 12.

Mission coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website Monday, Dec. 11 with two news briefings.

Packed with almost 4,800 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

NASA TV mission coverage is as follows:

Monday, Dec. 11

• 11 a.m. – Prelaunch news conference with representatives from NASA’s International Space Station Program, SpaceX, and the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base
• 3:30 p.m. – “What’s on Board” science briefing, highlighting research testing: fiber optic filaments, how plants respond to microgravity, the accuracy of a biosensor used for diabetes management, a drug delivery system for combatting muscle atrophy and instruments to measure the Sun’s energy input to Earth and orbital debris.

Tuesday, Dec. 12

• 11:15 a.m. – Launch commentary coverage begins
• 1:15 p.m. – Post-launch news conference with representatives from NASA’s International Space Station Program and SpaceX

Friday, Dec. 15

• 4:30 a.m. – Dragon rendezvous at the space station and capture
• 7 a.m. – Installation coverage

About 10 minutes after launch on Dec. 12, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit and deploy its solar arrays. A carefully choreographed series of thruster firings are scheduled to bring the spacecraft to rendezvous with the space station. NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba will capture Dragon using the space station’s robotic arm. Ground controllers will then send commands to robotically install the spacecraft on the station’s Harmony module.

The Dragon spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station, returning to Earth on Jan. 13 with results of previous experiments.