In the upcoming days, an exciting event is scheduled to occur in the space exploration. A team of four astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) are preparing for a brief but crucial mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
This mission involves NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin (Roscosmos cosmonaut). Their objective is to move the Crew Dragon spacecraft to a new docking port. This maneuver is necessary to clear the way for the arrival of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which is set to fly its inaugural flight with crews. The starliner is expected to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 6, Monday and arrives at the ISS on May 8, Wednesday. And the relocation maneuver will take place on May 9, Thursday which will take about 45 minutes to complete.
This maneuver is a coordinated effort, involving teams from NASA’s Johnson Space Center and SpaceX. Although the Crew Dragon’s movement will appear slow observers, it’s worth noting that the both spacecraft and ISS are traveling at speeds exceeding 17,000 miles per hour as they orbit Earth. This will be the fourth time a Dragon spacecraft has been relocated while it carries crews in it.
As mentioned earlier, the Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft flying for the first time with crews, this mission is getting significant attention from the space enthusiasts, thus marking a pivotal moment for Boeing’s spacecraft development. Once it reaches the ISS, it will autonomously dock to the forward-facing port of the Harmony module, delivering NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS.
For those interested in witnessing this space operation, NASA will broadcast live coverage of the Crew Dragon’s relocation on various platforms, including NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app and NASA youtube channel.
The coverage scheduled as below.
07:30 A.M (ET) – Starting of the live coverage.
07:45 A.M (ET) – Undocking of the Crew Dragon from the forward-facing port of the Harmony module.
08:28 A.M (ET) – Autonomous docking of the Crew Dragon with the module’s space-facing port.
Image Courtesy: SpaceX