Expedition 56 launched yesterday to the International Space Station.
Its mission patch:
(credit goes to Eli13)
Mission report:
The Jarvis rocket, with Antares-3 attached, lifted-off from KSC at 2PM EST, on July 4th, 2023. The autopilot performed well, and got the Antares spacecraft to a 220km x 215km orbit. After separating from the last stage of the Jarvis rocket, the spacecraft's solar panels and antenna deployed without any problems. After the crew configured the Antares for orbital ops, a plane alignment burn was made to bring relative inclination to 0.00. After 1 day, the Antares-3 reached the ISS. It began station-keeping, performing pre-docking checks, and also waiting for sunrise. When orbital sunrise came, the Antares started to approach the ISS, moving in to dock with it's PMA-2. Hard-dock was confirmed at 20:18 PM EST. The ISS then went back to it's normal attitude of +XVV (+x axis on Velocity Vector). Hatch opening was 3 hours after docking.
-Diogo
Screenshots here: http://unionspacecommand.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=11862841
Also, two EVA's are planned for Expedition 56's six month stay at the ISS.
EVA-1, planned for July 8th. (done)
This will be a two man EVA conducted to repair the solar array S4 which was determined to be damaged by tension within the solar array similar to the incident on STS-120's voyage to the ISS. The tear is about 2 Meters in length. It will be repaired similarly, using 5 cufflink apparatuses. After the estimated 8 hour spacewalk the astronauts will return to the International Space Station's safe interior atmosphere.
EVA-2, planned for August 4th.
There will be three main objectives on the second and final EVA of Expedition-56. The first task will be to refill the P5 Radiator with Ammonia. Next, they are to replace a failed gyroscope in the Z1 truss then go on to retrieve the final MISSE experiment, MISSE 20, which was brought on Antares-1. The astronauts will return to the interior of the International Space Station after the estimated 8 hour spacewalk, concluding the second and final planned EVA for Expedition-56.
Landing is currently planned for January 3rd, at the old ARD splashdown site, off the West Coast of the USA. Undocking is at 11 AM EST, same day.
Its mission patch:
(credit goes to Eli13)
Mission report:
The Jarvis rocket, with Antares-3 attached, lifted-off from KSC at 2PM EST, on July 4th, 2023. The autopilot performed well, and got the Antares spacecraft to a 220km x 215km orbit. After separating from the last stage of the Jarvis rocket, the spacecraft's solar panels and antenna deployed without any problems. After the crew configured the Antares for orbital ops, a plane alignment burn was made to bring relative inclination to 0.00. After 1 day, the Antares-3 reached the ISS. It began station-keeping, performing pre-docking checks, and also waiting for sunrise. When orbital sunrise came, the Antares started to approach the ISS, moving in to dock with it's PMA-2. Hard-dock was confirmed at 20:18 PM EST. The ISS then went back to it's normal attitude of +XVV (+x axis on Velocity Vector). Hatch opening was 3 hours after docking.
-Diogo
Screenshots here: http://unionspacecommand.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=11862841
Also, two EVA's are planned for Expedition 56's six month stay at the ISS.
EVA-1, planned for July 8th. (done)
This will be a two man EVA conducted to repair the solar array S4 which was determined to be damaged by tension within the solar array similar to the incident on STS-120's voyage to the ISS. The tear is about 2 Meters in length. It will be repaired similarly, using 5 cufflink apparatuses. After the estimated 8 hour spacewalk the astronauts will return to the International Space Station's safe interior atmosphere.
EVA-2, planned for August 4th.
There will be three main objectives on the second and final EVA of Expedition-56. The first task will be to refill the P5 Radiator with Ammonia. Next, they are to replace a failed gyroscope in the Z1 truss then go on to retrieve the final MISSE experiment, MISSE 20, which was brought on Antares-1. The astronauts will return to the interior of the International Space Station after the estimated 8 hour spacewalk, concluding the second and final planned EVA for Expedition-56.
Landing is currently planned for January 3rd, at the old ARD splashdown site, off the West Coast of the USA. Undocking is at 11 AM EST, same day.