The Next Mission for Starliner

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Starliner capsule outside the ISS in July 2024. (Boeing)

The good news is that Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft will be returning to the International Space Station (ISS). However, the not so good news is that NASA may not trust it enough to carry humans – what it was designed to do – so it will probably be carrying cargo on its next mission instead.

Overall, this is good news in that Boeing is not throwing in the towel. We need a backup to SpaceX’s Dragon, and Boeing’s spacecraft is the best bet at the moment.

The Starliner is designed to carry seven crew members or a mix of crew and cargo. That means it can carry quite a bit of cargo if that is all it is doing on its next trip.

NASA is still sorting things out, but this cargo mission, if it occurs, is expected to take place next year.

Russian Delivery Heading to ISS

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Launch of the Progress 92 cargo craft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA)

Russia launched another cargo mission to the International Space Station ((SS) yesterday. A Soyuz rocket launched the Progress 92 spacecraft towards the space station at 3:32 pm ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft will dock with the ISS tomorrow afternoon, ensuring critical supplies are available to the crew member.

In the meantime, you can watch a Fourth of July message from NASA’s Expedition 73 Flight Engineers Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, and Jonny Kim.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone.

Space Quote: Maybe We Will See Another Astronaut in the Senate

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA Astronaut Terry Virts. (NASA)

It is a disaster. You know, NASA’s budget overall is cut by a quarter — this is proposed — and the science budget is cut by half. Here in Houston — you know, I’m from Houston — it’s going to be a disaster. Thousands and thousands of people are going to lose their jobs. They’re already having profoundly negative effects on the space station’s science ability — the ability to do science on the International Space Station that I helped build and commanded. They are going to cut important space probes. I saw there’s going to be 41 space missions that are canceled. There’s over a dozen space missions that are currently in operation, things like New Horizons, Juno and others that are costing pennies on the dollar. These things are super cheap. We’ve already paid all the expense. We should just keep them operating, and they’re going to cancel those. It’s just a disaster.

-Statement by former NASA astronaut Terry Virts, who last week announced his plans to run the U.S. Senate in Texas to replace incumbent Senator John Cornyn. He made this statement after being asked “What is your take on the White House’s proposed NASA budget?” during an interview with Space.com.

Watching NASA on Netflix

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: NASA

I’m glad to hear that NASA is working with Netflix to expand the amount of space stories available to the public.

This summer Netflix will make NASA+ live programming available to its customers, meaning more of the public can watch interviews with astronauts, the launch of space missions, and the happenings aboard the International Space Station (ISS). NASA also has plenty of entertaining videos about astronomy, various space missions, and more.

For example, Netflix customers will have access to content such as the launch of Russia’s Progress 92 Cargo Craft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS on July 3rd, as well as the docking of this cargo craft with the ISS on July 5th . Or how about NASA videos, such as “Other Worlds: Europa“?

Of course, all of this is already available to the public for free on NASA’s website, but maybe this can draw in those eager viewers searching around for something to watch and not already aware of the website.

Any attempts to bring more attention to NASA’s amazing science and ongoing discoveries is good publicity as well as great programming.

Space Quote: ISS is Closed to Visitors at the Moment

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Falcon 9 rocket on the lauch pad with Axiom Space’s Axiom Mission 4. (SpaceX)

“NASA and Axiom Space are postponing the launch of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station. As part of an ongoing investigation, NASA is working with Roscosmos to understand a new pressure signature, after the recent post-repair effort in the aft most segment of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module.”

–Statement by NASA regarding an leak in the Russian section of the International Space Station (ISS) that has yet to be resolved. This may slow down some of the space tourism to the site, such as the already delayed Axiom Mission, but it is more important to get this right rather than risk additional lives on the station. Axiom Space stated that the launch of the mission will be no earlier than June 19.