NASA Continues Commercial Crew Rotation with Liftoff of Crew-2
By Bob Granath
A SpaceX Falcon 9 streaked into the early morning sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center launching four astronauts to the International Space Station. The Crew-2 mission is the first to fly two astronauts from other nations as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket took place at 5:49 a.m. EDT April 23, 2021. Commander Shane Kimbrough and pilot Megan McArthur were aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Aki Hoshide and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France.
The Crew-2 mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, or CCP, that has worked with several American aerospace industry companies to facilitate the development of U.S. human spaceflight systems since 2010. The CCP goal is safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and foster commercial access to other potential low-Earth orbit destinations. Commercial transportation to and from the station is providing expanded utility, additional research time and broader opportunities for discovery aboard the orbital outpost.
During a pre-launch new briefing, Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk praised the efforts that have led to humans, again, launching from American soil.
“I could not be more proud of the Commercial Crew Program and the SpaceX team and NASA team,” he said. “They have enabled reliable transportation to and from the space station. A lot has happened in less than a year (launching) Demo-2, Crew-1 and, now, Crew -2.”
The Crew-2 Dragon spacecraft is due to dock with the space station on April 24. The newly launched astronauts will join Crew-1 astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker of NASA along with Soichi Noguchi of JAXA. Also aboard is Soyuz MS-18’s Mark Vande Hei of NASA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov who launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 8, 2021.
Mission teams are targeting the return of the Crew-1 astronauts on May 1 with splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
Growing International Cooperation
During a prelaunch news conference on March 1, 2021, Kimbrough spoke of the value of cooperation with other nations in spaceflight endeavors.
“It makes us stronger and we’re excited to have a very diverse crew,” he said. “We’re looking forward to that experience in the International Space Station and how that will support Artemis.”
Through the Artemis exploration program, NASA is planning to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. The effort is designed to use innovative new technologies and systems to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. NASA will be collaborating with commercial and international partners to establish sustainable missions using what was learned on and around the Moon to send astronauts to Mars.
The Astronauts of Crew-2
Crew 2 is Kimbrough’s third space spaceflight. Born in Killeen, Texas, and raised in Atlanta, he is a retired U.S. Army colonel who earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and a master’s in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
McArthur was born in Honolulu, but considers California to be her home state. She is making her second trip to space. She holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles and a doctorate in oceanography from the University of California in San Diego. She was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and was a member of the STS-125 crew in 2009. That flight was the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.
Kimbrough was selected as an astronaut in 2004 and launched aboard Space Shuttle to the space station on the STS-126 mission in 2008. He flew aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-02 mission to the space station for Expedition 49 and 50 in 2016. He has spent a total of 189 days in space, and performed six spacewalks.
McArthur is married to fellow astronaut Bob Behnken who served as a member of the Demo-2 crew in 2020.
“My husband has been very supportive as I get ready to go on this mission,” she said. “He’s given me some pointers on things to look out for. It’s been great having his advice along the way.”
Read more about the Demo 2 mission.
McArthur pointed out that NASA now considers it a priority to keep astronauts in touch with their families while spending months in space in space.
“The long duration missions to the International Space Station will have a weekly conference with family,” she said. “I will also have the use the (IP) phone just about at any time. I’m also looking forward to surprising my mom with a call from space and calling friends when I have the opportunity.”
An IP or VoIP phone system is a technology to make phone calls through an internet connection instead of a regular landline or a mobile network. The system converts analog voice signals into digital signals over a broadband connection. A VoIP server connects calls to other telephone networks.
Like Kimbrough, Hoshide has the distinction of flying his third different spacecraft. He was part of the STS-124 crew aboard Space Shuttle to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” to the International Space Station in 2008. He launched aboard Soyuz TMA-03M in 2012 for a 124-day stay aboard the station.
“I’m looking forward to flying on the Crew Dragon, to see what it’s like to compare its differences and similarities with the shuttle and Soyuz,” Hoshide said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun up there and I’m very excited and ready to go.”
Hoshide was born in 1968 in Tokyo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Keio University in 1992 and a master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Houston in 1997. He joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (now JAXA) in 1992 and was selected as an astronaut 1999.
Like Hoshide, Pesquet also is a mission specialist for Crew-2, working with the commander and pilot to monitor the vehicle during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Born in Rouen, France, he considers Dieppe his hometown. In 2001, he received a master’s degree from the École nationale supérieure de l’aéronautique et de l’espace (National Higher French Institute of Aeronautics and Space) in Toulouse, majoring in space systems and space vehicle mechanics. Pesquet was selected as an astronaut by ESA in 2009 and was part of the Soyuz MS-03 spending 196 days in space during 2017.
“You trust the system that NASA and SpaceX have put in place,” said Pesquet looking forward to spending time in space. “Everybody is contributing and everyone is doing their part of their job and we’ve put a lot of trust into that.”
Crew Dragon and Falcon 9
The SpaceX Crew Dragon is an autonomous spacecraft designed to deliver a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth orbit. The capsule is the same one used on the Demo-2 mission launched on May 30, 2020. It is 27 feet high and 13 feet in diameter. For NASA trips to the International Space Station, the Crew Dragon carries from four to seven NASA-sponsored crew members and return astronauts with about 6,600 pounds of time-critical scientific research experiments and equipment.
The Crew Dragon is launched by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which the company began flying in 2010. The launch vehicle is 229 feet tall and is 12 feet in diameter. The first stage has nine engines generating 1,710,000 pounds of thrust. The second stage has one engine with 210,000 pounds of thrust. Propellant for both stages are RP-1, highly refined kerosene, and liquid oxygen. Like the Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first stage of the rocket is reusable.
The Crew-2 mission is planned to be a long-duration stay of about 160 days aboard the orbiting laboratory as part of space station’s Expedition 65. The astronauts and cosmonauts will spend their time conducting science research and maintenance leading to opportunities for discoveries before the four Crew-2 astronauts return to Earth during fall of 2021.
A scientific focus of Expedition 65 is continuing a series of Tissue Chips in Space. These investigations focus on tissue chips are small models of human organs containing multiple cell types that behave much the same as they do in the body.
An important goal for Crew-2 is updating the space station’s solar power system by installing the ISS Roll-out Solar Array or iROSA. These compact panels roll open like a huge yoga mat. The technology development dates back to 2009, benefiting from dozens of NASA Small Business Innovation Research awards and later ground demonstrations. In 2017, the basic design underwent testing on the space station to determine its strength and durability.
Another research investigation flying aboard Crew Dragon is Characterizing Human Immunodeficiency in Microgravity Environments, or CHIME. The study will focus on studies of possible causes for suppressed immune response in microgravity. This environment may cause changes to the human immune system, a possible concern for long-term space travel.
For 20 years, the astronauts aboard the International Space Station have conducted science in a way that cannot be done anywhere else. Orbiting about 250 miles above our planet, the space station has supported numerous discoveries, scientific publications, unique opportunities, and historic breakthroughs. This research not only helps us explore farther into space, it also benefits us back on Earth.
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International Crew Launched to Space Station
Check out this short video of the liftoff of astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, Aki Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon launched by the company’s Falcon 9 rockets on April 23, 2021. Video courtesy of NASA