Return of the SpaceX Crew-8 Delayed

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Yes, another delay due to weather. This time it’s the International Space Station crew returning to Earth. The SpaceX Crew-8 was supposed to return yesterday (after being delayed from October 7 because of Hurricane Milton), but it has been delayed until Friday due to ongoing weather issues in Florida. The returning crew consists of NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who have been on the station since March.

Scheduling anything in Florida during hurricane season is questionable, but at least the Europa Clipper mission was able to get into the air quickly after the latest hurricane.

Update: The return of Crew-8 has been delayed again until Monday, October 21.

Second Update: The return date has been moved once more to Wednesday, October 23.

How Do Astronauts Vote While in Orbit?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Jackie Ramirez from Pixabay

Earlier this week, NASA issued an article on how astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) can vote in the upcoming election. Yes, they need to make arrangements like anyone planning to be out of town, but we have a least two astronauts (from Boeing) who did not plan to be on the station during the election.

The process as explained by NASA (and shown below) is as follows:

Just like any other American away from home, astronauts may fill out a Federal Post Card Application to request an absentee ballot. After an astronaut fills out an electronic ballot aboard the orbiting laboratory, the document flows through NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to a ground antenna at the agency’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

From New Mexico, NASA transfers the ballot to the Mission Control Center at NASA Johnson and then on to the county clerk responsible for casting the ballot. To preserve the vote’s integrity, the ballot is encrypted and accessible only by the astronaut and the clerk.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 66 percent of voting-eligible population cast a ballot in the 2020 election.

If astronauts can find a way to vote, the rest of us here on Earth have no excuse to miss the election.

Please remember to vote.

Credit: NASA

NASA’s Crew-9 Mission on its Way to the ISS

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The launch earlier today of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying tNASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the ISS. (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Earlier today, NASA contractor SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-9 mission towards the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The two crew members should be aboard the station tomorrow to join the rest of the Expedition 72 crew, who arrived at the station as part of two earlier launches.

While some are calling this a “rescue mission,” it is really a planned mission with a truncated crew roster to accommodate the two Boeing Starliner astronauts on the return back to Earth. Nothing to see here folks.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it best:

This mission required a lot of operational and planning flexibility. I congratulate the entire team on a successful launch today, and godspeed to Nick and Aleksandr as they make their way to the space station…Our NASA wizards and our commercial and international partners have shown once again the success that comes from working together and adapting to changing circumstances without sacrificing the safe and professional operations of the International Space Station.

NASA has become quite flexible this year as it works with its commercial partners.

Audit Report: Keeping the ISS Afloat is Getting Harder Every Day

Posted on by onespaceman2000

NASA’s Office of Inspect General (OIG) issued an audit report this week, NASA’s Management of Risks to Sustaining ISS Operations through 2030 (IG-24-020), that highlighted the ongoing issues NASA faces to keep the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit as well as plan its decommissioning.

The OIG auditors specifically noted concerns regarding (1) repairing and maintaining the integrity of the station, (2) too little redundancy in the commercial partners carrying crews and supplies to the station, (3) continued risk of micro meteoroids and debris damaging the station, (4) lack of ready-to-use capsules to escape the station in an emergency, and (5) lack of Russian commitment to de-orbiting the station at the end of its life.

That’s a long list of concerns, none of which are surprising given the complexity of the space station and the ongoing environmental issue, be it commercial partners, exterior space, or Russian commitment. It is amazing that the station has had so few major issues to date.

These issues need to be resolved for the current station and be considered as part of any new stations (government-run or commercial), whether they are orbiting the Earth, the Moon, or even Mars.