Night photograph of the International Space Station as it orbited over the South Atlantic Ocean.
When the war in Ukraine put the Russians and the Americans on opposite paths, the historic agreement of both countries working on the International Space Station was put at risk. There were threats from the Putin government to abandon the project, but a truce eventually arrived.
Today the United States and Russia have agreed to cross flights between the Russian space agency Roscomos and American NASA, which assumes sending Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard three American Crew Dragon spaceshipsas reported on Friday 22 by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko.
“The agreement provides for three integrated flights: aboard the fifth, sixth and ninth Dragon”, said the Russian cosmonaut, quoted by the Interfax agency.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule attached takes off on April 8, 2022 at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (AP Photo / Chris O’Meara)
when are the flights
Private company SpaceX and NASA plan to send their fifth manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next 29 Septemberthe US space agency reported Thursday.
The mission that will handle the fifth crew rotation in the orbiting laboratory was initially supposed to take off in early September, but NASA and SpaceX have set this new tentative date for engineers and technicians to secure part of the Falcon 9 rocket that recently has been damaged.
From a Kennedy Space Center platform in Florida (USA), The Dragon Endurance capsule will take off mounted on a reusable Falcon 9 rocketif no major setbacks occur.
The crew of the Dragon Endurance spacecraft returned to Earth on May 6, 2022 after spending 177 days on the International Space Station. (United States) EFE / EPA / NASA / Aubrey Gemignani
Inside the Dragon Endurance, which will make its second trip to the ISS with this mission, will be NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, as well as Koichi Wakata, of Japan’s JAXA, and cosmonaut Anna Kikina, of the Russian Roscosmos.
As explained by NASA, the launch of the mission It will be done after the Russian Soyuz spacecraft separates from the ISS and begins its return to Earthwhich will be held from 16 to 30 September.
“A launch in late September will allow SpaceX to complete hardware processing,” NASA said in a statement, adding that mission teams will continue to revise the launch date based on the spacecraft’s arrival schedule.
As reported today, mission leaders are making improvements to the capsule, including new parachutes, a new heat shield and renewed panels. This mission will take off on a new Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX engineers are currently “removing and replacing the rocket’s interstage and some of the onboard instrumentation after the hardware was damaged,” as explained by NASA, adding that the integrity of the rest of the Falcon 9 is ensured.
The damage occurred while the rocket was being transported from the SpaceX manufacturing facility in Hawthorne, California, to the company’s test facility in McGregor, Texas.
The Falcon 9 will have to undergo further testing before gaining flight certification, according to NASA.
The mission that will handle the fifth crew rotation in the orbiting laboratory was initially supposed to take off in early September, but NASA and SpaceX have set this new tentative date for engineers and technicians to secure part of the Falcon 9 rocket that recently has been damaged.
The second cross flight will take place in the spring of 2023, according to NASA, thanks to whichl Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fediaev will fly in a Crew Dragon, while American astronaut Loral O’Hara will board the Russian Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft.
Source: Clarin
