International Space Station Expedition 67 began on 30 March 2022 with the departure of Soyuz MS-19, with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov & Pyotr Dubrov & astronaut Mark Vande Hei. Vande Hei set a new American spaceflight endurance record: three hundred fifty-five days, ten days shy of a year. Dmitry Rogozin, the demogogic (& now erstwhile) Director General of Roscosmos, had earlier in March threatened to strand Vande Hei in space in retaliation for international sanctions against Russia in response to the unprovoked & atrocious invasion of Ukraine, but the professionals at Roscosmos continued to work with N.A.S.A. to bring Vande Hei home on schedule.
Expedition 67 (30 March-29 September 2002)
30 March-27 April
Commander: Thomas Marshburn (American, N.A.S.A.)
Flight Engineer: Oleg Artemyev (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Denis Matveev (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Sergey Korsakov (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Raja Chari (American, N.A.S.A.)
F.E.: Kayla Barron (American, N.A.S.A.)
F.E.: Matthias Maurer (German, E.S.A.)
27 April-5 May
F.E.: Kjell Lindgren (American, N.A.S.A.)
F.E.: Bob Hines (American, N.A.S.A.)
F.E.: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italian, E.S.A.)
F.E.: Jessica Watkins (American, N.A.S.A.)
5 May-21 September
CDR: Oleg Artemyev (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Denis Matveev (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Sergey Korsakov (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Kjell Lindgren (American, N.A.S.A.)
F.E.: Bob Hines (American, N.A.S.A.)
F.E.: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italian, E.S.A.)
F.E.: Jessica Watkins (American, N.A.S.A.)
21-29 September
F.E.: Sergey Prokopyev (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Dmitry Petelin (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Francisco Rubio (American, N.A.S.A.)
Cosmonauts Artemyev, Matveev, & Korsakov arrived almost two weeks earlier, the first Soyuz flight to the I.S.S., in over twenty-one years of continuous operation, to carry three Roscosmos cosmonauts. All previous Soyuz flight to the I.S.S. had carried at least one N.A.S.A. astronaut, international astronaut (European, Japanese, etc.), or civilian space tourist. The unusual all-Roscosmos crew was decided long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a result of Russian reluctance to fly cosmonauts on Crew Dragon & anger at N.A.S.A.'s ceasing to buy seats for astronauts on Soyuz.
Soyuz MS-21 (Korolyov)
Launch: 18 March 2022
CDR: Oleg Artemyev (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Denis Matveev (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Sergey Korsakov (Russian, Roscosmos)
Landing: 30 March 2022
CDR: Anton Shkaplerov (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Pyotr Dubrov (Russian, Roscosmos)
F.E.: Mark Vande Hei (American, N.A.S.A.)
Meanwhile, the United States Orbital Segment played host to Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), the first all-private mission to the I.S.S. Former N.A.S.A. astronaut Mike López-Alegría, a veteran of both Space Shuttle & Soyuz flights, now a private astronaut for Axiom Space, led three space tourists aboard the SpaceX-owned Crew Dragon Endeavour, the capsule's third flight.
Axiom Ax-1 (Endeavour)
Launch: 8 April 2022
Commander: Mike López-Alegría (American, private)
Pilot: Larry Connor (American, private)
Mission Specialist 1: Eytan Stibbe (Israeli, private)
Mission Specialist 2: Mark Pathy (Canadian, private)
Landing: 25 April 2022
CDR: Mike López-Alegría (American, private)
Pilot: Larry Connor (American, private)
M.S.1: Eytan Stibbe (Israeli, private)
M.S.2: Mark Pathy (Canadian, private)
SpaceX Crew-4 (Freedom)
Launch: 27 April 2022
CDR: Kjell Lindgren (American, N.A.S.A.)
Pilot: Bob Hines (American, N.A.S.A.)
M.S.1: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italian, E.S.A.)
M.S.2: Jessica Watkins (American, N.A.S.A.)
SpaceX Crew-3 (Endurance)
Splashdown: 5 May 2022
CDR: Raja Chari (American, N.A.S.A.)
Pilot: Thomas Marshburn (American, N.A.S.A.)
M.S.1: Matthias Maurer (German, E.S.A.)
M.S.2: Kayla Barron (American, N.A.S.A.)
Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2
19-25 May 2022
An uncrewed & unnamed Boeing CST-100 Starliner lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) atop an Atlas V rocket. This second uncrewed test flight was necessary after the first Orbital Test Flight (20-22 December 2019) failed to dock with the International Space Station (I.S.S.). Starliner Spcecraft 2 lifted off on 19 May & achieved hard dock with the I.S.S. on 21 May. Astronauts unloaded hundreds of pounds of cargo & loaded hundreds of pounds of equipment for refurbishment back on Earth. Spacecraft 2 undocked from the I.S.S., re-entered the atmosphere, & landed at the White Sands Missile Range on 25 May.
Orbital Flight Test 2 achieved all its critical mission objectives & the follow-on Crewed Flight Test is planned for April 2023.
April 2023 (planned)
CDR: Barry Wilmore (American, N.A.S.A.)
Pilot: Sunita Williams (American, N.A.S.A.)
No comments:
Post a Comment