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Four new crew members are preparing to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASAs SpaceX Crew-8 mission.

NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida to perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities aboard the microgravity laboratory.

The flight is the eighth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to station, and the ninth human spaceflight as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program. The cadre will fly aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, which previously flew NASAs SpaceX Demo Mission-2, Crew-2 and Crew-6, in addition to Axiom Mission 1, the first commercial astronaut mission to the space station.

As teams progress through Dragon milestones for Crew-8, they also are preparing a first-flight Falcon 9 booster for the mission. Once all rocket and spacecraft system checkouts are complete and all components are certified for flight, teams will mate Dragon to the Falcon 9 rocket in SpaceXs hangar at the launch site. The integrated spacecraft and rocket will then be rolled to the pad and raised to vertical for a dry dress rehearsal with the crew and an integrated static fire test prior to launch.

Matthew Dominick will serve as commander for Crew-8, his first spaceflight, after being selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2017. He is from Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and earned a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the University of San Diego, California, and a masters in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is an active-duty U.S. Navy astronaut. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, and then served as a test pilot specializing in testing aircraft carriers landings and catapult launches. Follow @dominickmatthew on X.

Michael Barratt is the Crew-8 pilot, making his third visit to the space station. In 2009, Barratt served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 19/20 as the station transitioned its standard crew complement from three to six and performed two spacewalks. He flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 2011 on STS-133, which delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module and fourth Express Logistics Carrier. He has spent a total of 212 days in space. Born in Vancouver, Washington, he considers Camas, Washington, to be his hometown. Barratt earned a bachelors in zoology from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Northwestern University in Chicago. He completed residencies in internal and aerospace medicine at Northwestern along with a masters degree at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. After nine years as a NASA flight surgeon and project physician, Barratt joined the astronaut corps in 2000. During Expedition 70/71 on the International Space Station, he will serve as a mission specialist.

Jeanette Epps was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2009 and is a mission specialist aboard Crew-8, her first spaceflight, working with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. She is from Syracuse, New York, and earned a bachelors in physics from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, and a masters in science and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park. Prior to joining NASA, she worked at Ford Motor Co. and the Central Intelligence Agency. She was selected as an astronaut in July 2009 and has served on the Generic Joint Operation Panel working on space station crew efficiency, as a crew support astronaut for two expeditions, and as lead capsule communicator at NASA Johnson. Epps previously was assigned to NASAs Boeing Starliner-1 mission. NASA reassigned Epps to allow Boeing time to complete development of Starliner while also continuing plans for astronauts to gain spaceflight experience for future mission needs. Follow @Astro_Jeanette on X.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who graduated from Irkutsk High Military Aviation School, Irkutsk, Russia, majoring in engineering, maintenance, and repair of aircraft radio navigation systems, also is flying on his first mission. He graduated from Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics with a degree in radio communications, broadcasting, and television. Grebenkin will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 70/71 aboard the International Space Station.

Lifting off from Launch Pad 39A on a Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon will accelerate to approximately 17,500 mph, to dock with the space station.

Once in orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, will monitor a series of automatic maneuvers that will guide Dragon to the forward-facing port of the stations Harmony module. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can take control and pilot manually, if necessary.

After docking, Crew-8 will be welcomed inside the station by the seven-member crew of Expedition 70 and conduct several days of handover activities with the departing astronauts of NASAs SpaceX Crew-7 mission. After a handover period, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andy Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Crew-7 will undock from the space station and splash down off the coast of Florida.

Crew-8 will conduct new scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. Experiments include using stem cells to create organoid models to study degenerative diseases, studying the effects of microgravity and UV radiation on plants at a cellular level, and testing whether wearing pressure cuffs on the legs could prevent fluid shifts and reduce health problems in astronauts. These are just a few of the more than 200 scientificexperiments and technologydemonstrations taking place during their mission.

While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Crew-8 will see the arrival of both the SpaceX Dragon and the Roscosmos Progress cargo spacecraft. Crew-8 also is expected to welcome the agencys Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts and the first cargo flight of Sierra Spaces Dream Chaser. A Soyuz spacecraft with three new crew members, including NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, will also launch during their stay, and the Soyuz carrying NASA astronaut Loral OHara will return to Earth.

After completing a short handover with Crew-9 at the completion of the mission, Dragon with the four crew members aboard will autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earths atmosphere. After splashdown off Floridas coast, a SpaceX recovery vessel will pick up the spacecraft and crew, who then will be helicoptered back to shore.

Commercial crew missions enable NASA to maximize use of the space station, where astronauts have lived and worked continuously for more than 23 years testing technologies, performing research, and developing the skills needed to operate future commercial destinations in low Earth orbit, and explore farther from Earth. Research conducted on the space station provides benefits for people on Earth and paves the way for future long-duration trips to the Moon and beyond through NASAs Artemis missions.

Get breaking news, images, and features from the space station onInstagram,Facebook, andX.

Learn more about the space station, its research, and crew, at: https://www.nasa.gov/station

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What You Need to Know about NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 Mission - NASA

eating staph infections can be tricky in the best of times. But what happens if you get infected while in space?

Thats the scenario Kelly Rice, associate professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, hopes to help understand. Rices experiment will be launched today, Jan. 30, to the International Space Station on a SpaceX rocket.

Staph, orStaphylococcus aureus, is a type of bacteria found in the nose or on the skin of up to 30% of humans, but under certain conditions, it can thwart a human bodys physical and immune defenses and cause severe infection. Staph infections can be particularly troublesome for people in close quarters, such as astronauts.

A previous study done by Rice and her colleagues found that the bacteria had the potential to be more dangerous to astronauts while in microgravity.

The current experiment will include growing the bacteria in enclosed canisters to better understand how microgravity affects expression of disease-spreading properties, how the bacteria grows and other factors.

We are grateful to NASA for the opportunity to study this bacteria, and the information gained may apply to other bacteria as well, Rice said. We hope that these results will help guide strategies to maintain astronaut health during long-term space flight missions.

This study was funded by a grant from the NASA Biological Sciences Divisions Space Biology Program.

Meredith Bauer January 30, 2024

Link:

SpaceX launches UF/IFAS microbiology experiment to ISS - University of Florida

SpaceXs Starship rocket has been selected to launch Starlab, the commercial space station venture between Voyager Space and Airbus.

Standing nearly 400 feet tall, Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, with two reusable components, the Super Heavy Booster and Starship spacecraft.

Its what will be needed to launch the commercial space station in a single mission, according to a Starlab official.

SpaceXs history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab, Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Space, said in a statement. SpaceX is the unmatched leader for high-cadence launches, and we are proud Starlab will be launched to orbit in a single flight by Starship.

Starlab, which will permanently host four crewmembers, is scheduled to launch prior to the International Space Stations (ISS) decommissioning before the end of the decade, heralding the U.S. transitioning to commercially owned and operated low-Earth orbit (LEO) destinations.

As a continuously crewed, free-flying space station, Starlab will serve a global customer base of space agencies, researchers, and companies, ensuring a continued human presence in LEO and a seamless transition of microgravity research from the [ISS] into the new commercial space station era, Voyager Space said.

NASA has committed to utilizing and operating ISS through 2030.

Starlabs single-launch solution continues to demonstrate not only what is possible but how the future of commercial space is happening now, said Tom Ochinero, senior vice president of commercial business at SpaceX.

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SpaceX's Starship Selected to Launch Starlab Space Station - FLYING

SpaceX is preparing to launch a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft on its flagship Falcon 9 rocket for the first time next week.

The launch of the NG-20 resupply mission is targeted for no earlier than Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 12:07 p.m. EST (1707 GMT). As its name implies, this is the twentieth cargo flight that Northrop Grumman has sent to the International Space Station (ISS), but the first time that the company's Cygnus cargo craft has been sent to the orbital lab atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

During a pre-flight teleconference on Friday (Jan. 26), William Gerstenmaier, vice president of Build and Flight Reliability at SpaceX, said that the Falcon 9's payload fairing, the shell that surrounds and protects a spacecraft during ascent while atop a rocket, had to be modified to add a hatch measuring 5 feet by 4 feet (1.5m by 1.2m). The hatch gives ground crews the ability to add extra "late-load" cargo before launch including special treats like ice cream for the astronauts aboard the space station, Gerstenmaier said.

Gerstenmaier added that the complication of addition of the hatch contributed to the decision to delay the launch one day to Jan. 30. That's because the area inside that hatch must be environmentally controlled, since any contamination on Cygnus's docking hardware could affect how well it berths at the ISS.

"So that's a pretty intense activity," Gerstenmaier said. "This will be the first time we've done that. It's taken a lot of modifications on our part to get this hardware ready to go fly."

Related: A robot surgeon is headed to the ISS to dissect simulated astronaut tissue

Aboard the latest Cygnus freighter will be fresh foods and supplies for the astronauts currently aboard the space station and a slew of sophisticated science experiments, including the first robotic surgeon to make it up to the ISS.

Cyrus Dhalla, vice president and general manager of tactical space systems at Northrop Grumman, explained that Cygnus will stay docked at the International Space Station for roughly six months, during which it might be called upon to boost the space station back up to its optimal altitude. That's because the station slowly falls towards Earth over time due to atmospheric drag.

When it's time at the ISS is complete, Cygnus will depart carrying trash and other waste to be disposed of in a fiery reentry in Earth's atmosphere, which is "another really important function of the platform," Dhalla added.

Previous Cygnus cargo missions flew atop Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket, but the current version of that vehicle is being phased out due to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Supply chains for Antares, which relied on Ukrainian-built first stages and Russian rocket engines, have been disrupted by the invasion. Antares 230 made its last flight in August 2023.

Read more here:

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket modified for Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo launch on Jan. 30 - Space.com

Northrop Grummans Cygnus spacecraft, loaded with more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, launched to the ISS on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, marking the 20th resupply mission by Northrop Grumman for NASA. Credit: SpaceX

A fresh supply of more than 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo is on its way to the International Space Station on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft after launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 12:07 p.m. EST Tuesday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

About 15 minutes after launch, Cygnus reached its preliminary orbit. About two hours after launch, the spacecraft successfully deployed its two solar arrays.

A successful liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as Northrop Grummans Cygnus spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, heads to the International Space Station for the 20th Northrop Grumman resupply mission on Tuesday, January 30, 2024. The spacecraft is expected to reach the space station on Thursday, February 1, 2024, bringing 8,200 pounds of science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew. Credit: Kim Shiflett

Cygnus is scheduled to arrive at the space station around 4:15 a.m. Thursday, February 1.

NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and agencys website will provide live coverage of the spacecrafts approach and arrival beginning at 2:45 a.m.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will capture Cygnus using the stations Canadarm2 robotic arm, and NASA astronaut Loral OHara will be acting as a backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity modules Earth-facing port.

This is Northrop Grummans 20th contracted resupply mission for NASA.

Northrop Grummans Cygnus spacecraft, atop a SpaceX 9 Falcon rocket, soars from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, for the 20th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply mission for NASA. The spacecraft will bring 8,200 pounds of science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station including tests of a 3D metal printer, semiconductor manufacturing, and thermal protection systems. The Cygnus spacecraft is expected to reach the space station on Thursday, February 1, 2024, where it will remain until its expected departure in May. Credit: SpaceX

Northrop Grummans Cygnus spacecraft is an unmanned cargo spacecraft designed to transport supplies, equipment, and scientific experiments to the International Space Station (ISS). Developed as part of NASAs Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, Cygnus plays a crucial role in maintaining the ISSs operations and advancing space research.

The spacecraft consists of two primary components: the Service Module, which contains the spacecrafts avionics, propulsion, and power systems, and the Pressurized Cargo Module, where the cargo is stored. Once Cygnus completes its mission and is unberthed from the ISS, it safely burns up upon re-entering the Earths atmosphere. This design makes Cygnus an efficient means of not only delivering supplies but also disposing of the stations waste.

Over the years, Cygnus has been instrumental in numerous resupply missions, contributing significantly to the ongoing success and sustainability of the ISS and its missions.

Read more:

Cygnus Soars on SpaceX Rocket to Resupply International Space Station - SciTechDaily