NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, together with JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina will fly the Crew-5 mission.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 12-08-2021 02:20 PM
Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina is joining SpaceX's Crew-5. From Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin (via Twitter):
Anna Kikina, as part of the Roscosmos-NASA cross flights, will fly to the ISS in the fall of 2022 as part of the crew of an American commercial spacecraft. Accordingly, we will include the NASA astronaut in our crew on the Soyuz MS manned spacecraft.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-24-2022 06:07 PM
A claim surfaced this week that there was a hypergolic propellant leak aboard a recent Crew Dragon, which resulted in damage to the spacecraft's heat shield. Today, NASA released the following statement stating there was no leak and the issue was with a heat shield structure that failed during testing for Crew-5.
The data associated with Dragon's recent crew reentries was normal – the system performed as designed without dispute. There has not been a hypergol leak during the return of a crewed Dragon mission nor any contamination with the heat shield causing excessive wear. SpaceX and NASA perform a full engineering review of the heat shield's thermal protection system following each return, including prior to the launch of the Crew-4 mission currently at the International Space Station. The heat shield composite structure (structure below the tile) was re-flown per normal planning and refurbishment processes. The thermal protection system on the primary heat shield for Crew-4 was new, as it has been for all human spaceflight missions. SpaceX has only demonstrated reuse of selected PICA (Phenolic-Impregnated Carbon Ablator) tiles, which is a lightweight material designed to withstand high temperatures, as part of the heat shield on cargo flights.
NASA and SpaceX are currently in the process of determining hardware allocation for the agency's upcoming SpaceX Crew-5 mission, including the Dragon heat shield. SpaceX has a rigorous testing process to put every component and system through its paces to ensure safety and reliability. In early May, a new heat shield composite structure intended for flight on Crew-5 did not pass an acceptance test. The test did its job and found a manufacturing defect. NASA and SpaceX will use another heat shield for the flight that will undergo the same rigorous testing prior to flight.
Crew safety remains the top priority for both NASA and SpaceX and we continue to target September 2022 for launch of Crew-5.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 07-22-2022 10:24 AM
First look at Crew-5 in their SpaceX pressure suits:
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann
NASA astronaut Josh Cassada
JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata
Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina
astro-nut Member
Posts: 1028 From: Washington, IL Registered: Jan 2006
posted 10-01-2022 01:02 PM
Does anyone know what the weather looks like for a Wednesday (Oct. 5) launch for Crew 5 or is it too early to predict? Thank you.
MSS Member
Posts: 996 From: Europe Registered: May 2003
posted 10-02-2022 03:01 PM
Falcon 9 NASA Crew-5 L-3 Day Launch Forecast, launches at:
Oct 5 - 90%
Oct 6 - 90%
Oct 7 - 80%
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-05-2022 07:49 AM
NASA video
Our Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for liftoff at noon EDT (1600 UTC) Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-05-2022 07:56 AM
The Crew-5 Tesla Model X astronaut transfer vehicles have the custom license plate: "BLA5TOFF".
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3565 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 10-05-2022 08:23 PM
It's always a thrill to watch a crew launch live on TV. Today I saw something that I don't think I have ever seen before during a launch: just as the commentator announced that Falcon 9 was reducing thrust approaching Max Q, I clearly saw the exhaust reducing in intensity. This may have been noticeable on previous launches, but I didn't spot it.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-06-2022 02:39 PM
SpaceX video
Dragon will autonomously dock with the space station on Thursday, October 6, at approximately 4:57 p.m. ET, 20:57 UTC.
dom Member
Posts: 1032 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 10-06-2022 03:05 PM
Did everyone miss this, or is it kind of unimportant nowadays?
Nicole Mann has become the first Native American woman in space as she lifted off in command of a flight to the International Space Station...
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
The first Native American woman to fly in space...
dom Member
Posts: 1032 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 10-06-2022 06:10 PM
Apologies Robert. In the words of that great fictional astronaut Homer Simpson - D’oh!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-07-2023 05:15 PM
NASA and SpaceX teams are monitoring closely the weather for the return of Crew-5 from the International Space Station, currently targeted for no earlier than Thursday morning (March 9).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-08-2023 11:27 AM
NASA and SpaceX continue to evaluate the weather for the return of Crew-5. Teams conducted a weather briefing overnight and decided to waive off the initial undocking opportunity for early Thursday, March 9, due to high winds at the splashdown sites.
Teams are currently targeting undocking for no earlier than Thursday evening, pending weather.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-08-2023 02:55 PM
NASA video
NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Stephen Bowen, and Woody Hoburg, as well as JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Andrey Fedyaev, Sergey Prokopyev, Dimitri Petelin, and Anna Kikina gave remarks on March 8 aboard the International Space Station in anticipation of the upcoming departure of the Crew-5 mission.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-09-2023 08:55 AM
NASA and SpaceX are targeting Saturday (March 11) at 9:19 p.m. EST (0219 GMT March 12) for the Crew-5 splashdown at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
SpaceX's Dragon Endurance is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station on Saturday at 2:05 a.m. EST (0705 GMT), beginning Crew-5's journey home.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-11-2023 12:51 AM
SpaceX video
SpaceX and NASA are targeting Saturday, March 11 at 2:20 a.m. EDT (0720 GMT) for Dragon to autonomously undock from the International Space Station (ISS).
After performing a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison the trunk and re-enter Earth's atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Tampa, Florida approximately 19 hours later at 9:02 p.m. EDT (0202 GMT March 12).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-11-2023 07:04 PM
SpaceX video
Splashdown off the coast of Tampa, Florida is expected on Saturday (March 11) at 9:02 p.m. EDT (0202 GMT March 12).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 50091 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-11-2023 08:29 PM
Koichi Wakata is now the first Japanese astronaut to reach 500 days in space (spread over five missions).
Anna Kikina is the first Russian cosmonaut to purposely splash down from space. (Soyuz 23 splashed down inadvertently in a Kazakh lake.)
posted 10-06-2021 10:35 AM
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