Новости МКС

[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 39 мин. назад

Zoom in on the most recent batch of deployed sats showing slow decay of @SpireGlobal Lemurs compared to TES-5 and the shield lost on EVA-41

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/04/21/crew-welcomes-new-members-and-waits-for-cargo-mission/

Crew Welcomes New Members and Waits for Cargo Mission
Posted on April 21, 2017 at 11:54 am by Mark Garcia.

Спойлер

There are three spaceships docked at the International Space Station including two Soyuz crew ships and one Progress cargo ship.

[свернуть]

The Expedition 51 crew is waiting for a space delivery mission after welcoming two new crewmates Thursday. Two astronauts are training for a resupply ship's arrival as two other crew members are getting used to their new home in space.

The Cygnus cargo craft will arrive at the International Space Station early Saturday after a four-day trip to deliver new science experiments and crew supplies. Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet with assistance from Commander Peggy Whitson will maneuver the Canadarm2 to reach out and capture Cygnus after its final approach. Finally, ground controllers will give the crew a break and remotely control the 57.7 foot robotic arm and install Cygnus to the Harmony module.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer is adapting to living in weightlessness for the first time, while his crewmate cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin is beginning his fifth mission in space. The pair joined Expedition 51 Thursday morning just six-hours, 10-minutes after blasting off from Kazakhstan in the Soyuz MS-04 spaceship. They will stay in space until September before returning back to Earth with record-setting astronaut Whitson.

This entry was posted in Expedition 51 and tagged cygnus, European Space Agency, NASA, Orbital ATK, Roscosmos, Soyuz on April 21, 2017 by Mark Garcia.

[tnt22]

О трансляции НАСА 2017-04-22
 
https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public
 

[tnt22]

Для справки
2 станции, 2 грузовика - 2 стыковки
На текущий момент грузовики опережают станции
Оранжево-желтая пара - Tiangong-2 и Tianzhou-1
Фиолетово-красная пара - МКС и Лебедь
 

[tnt22]

Kam B.‏ @Kam_Bahrami 6 мин. назад

Tonight in space! Our Robotics team will survey #OA7 @Space_Station dock port using @csa_asc Canadarm2. 2 of 3 on team in Canada 2night!

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/cygnus-oa7/cygnus-oa-7-inbound-for-iss-arrival/

Cygnus OA-7 Supply Ship on Course to Space Station for Saturday Arrival
April 21, 2017

...

Cygnus lowered its orbit to 387 by 402 Kilometers, flying roughly ten Kilometers lower than ISS to begin the process of catching up with the Station for Saturday's multi-hour rendezvous sequence. Approaching from behind and below, Cygnus will pass its Joint Targeting Reference Point just before 7 UTC, marking the start of integrated operations between Mission Control Dulles and MCC Houston which holds the overall authority over the day's operation while Dulles is in charge of advising on Cygnus status and sending commands to the spacecraft.


Cygnus Rendezvous Profile – Image: Orbital ATK

Once Cygnus is inside 28 Kilometers, the rendezvous will switch to relative navigation mode in which GPS information from ISS is sent to Cygnus and compared with the spacecraft's own GPS readings to provide an accurate representation of the geometry between the two orbiting craft with much higher precision than using absolute GPS.

Спойлер

Relative GPS data will guide Cygnus through three ADV (Approach Delta-V) maneuvers before the craft's optical navigation sensors take over for Proximity Operations.

The first ADV burn of the BT-4 main engine comes around 7:20 UTC to begin the transition from an orbit four Kilometers below that of ISS. A circularization burn (ADV2) occurs half and orbit later and Cygnus will continue approaching ISS from an orbit 1.4 Kilometers beneath that of the complex.

With Cygnus closing in on the Station, the U.S. Segment crew members will begin preparing for the craft's arrival at ISS. Setting up shop inside the Cupola will be ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet who will be the primary robotics operator on Saturday backed up by Peggy Whitson who will handle communications with Mission Control and operate the Hardware Command Panel that allows the ISS to directly send commands to the Cygnus through a space-to-space communications link.


Cupola Robotics Workstation – Photo: NASA

A poll will be completed at Mission Control ahead of the Approach Initiation Burn (ADV3) around 8:40 UTC that will put Cygnus from a position behind ISS on a path toward the R-Bar – an imaginary line connecting ISS and the Center of Earth. Once acquiring the R-Bar, around 350 meters directly below ISS, Cygnus will fire up its TRIDAR optical navigation System.

TRIDAR employs a laser-based 3D sensor to capture the three-dimensional signature of its target that is then put through a software algorithm comparing the data with the known shape of the target spacecraft to calculate the six-degree-of-freedom geometry between Cygnus and ISS.

Approach Burn 4 takes place when Cygnus arrives at the R-Bar to enable the spacecraft to make a straight-up approach to the Station. Reaching the 250-meter mark around 9 UTC, Cygnus will pause its approach for a checkout of its Proximity Navigation System before teams will be polled for a Go to resume the approach from 250 meters.


Image: Orbital ATK

Gently firing its thrusters, Cygnus will initiate a closing rate and enter the Keep Out Sphere, an imaginary 200-meter zone around ISS in which the highest safety standards have to be met by visiting vehicles. As Cygnus enters the KOS, the Station crew will be instructed to send abort commands in case the vehicle ventures outside its pyramidal approach corridor while ISS is out of contact with Houston.

At a range of 55 meters, good TriDAR navigation is verified and at 30 meters, Cygnus enters its next hold – expected to last ten minutes. When the hold is complete and all teams provide approval, Cygnus begins its final approach to the Capture Point – 10 meters from ISS, within the reach of Canadarm2. The transition to the capture point takes about 20 minutes and Cygnus is expected to enter its Capture Hold at 10 UTC (earliest Capture point arrival).

As soon as Cygnus arrives at the Capture Point, within the SSRMS capture volume, it will zero-out any relative motion between itself and ISS. Final reviews will be conducted on the ground before the GO is given for the capture, allowing the ISS crew to move through their last preparatory steps at their own pace. ISS will enter a fine attitude hold for the capture sequence while Cygnus will be commanded into free drift in the last moments before capture, disabling all thrusters before the robotic arm makes contact with the spacecraft.

The SSRMS Video & Data Grapple Fixture is located on the aft end of Cygnus. The crew will align the End Effector of Canadarm2 with the grapple fixture before starting the capture sequence, placing the End Effector over the grapple fixture and initiating snares to close in order to capture the spacecraft. Because there is some wiggle room in the timeline for Cygnus' rendezvous, an exact time for the capture can not be given.


Photo: NASA (File)

With Cygnus firmly grasped by the robotic arm, the crew will hand robotics off to the team on the ground for the berthing operation that begins with a series of safing steps on the Cygnus spacecraft before the arm will execute a set of maneuvers to bring the spacecraft into its pre-berthing position for a survey of the Common Berthing Mechanism to verify the redundant pressure seals are intact and there are no foreign objects that could interfere with the berthing.

ROBO controllers will rely on the Centerline Berthing Camera System to position Cygnus with millimeter-accuracy before capture latches are closed within the nadir Common Berthing Mechanism of the Unity module. Once first stage capture is achieved, the SSRMS will be transitioned into limp-mode to give Cygnus some wiggle room to be pulled into the CBM when bolts drive. Second stage capture is achieved by driving sixteen bolts in four sets of four, forming a firm structural connection between ISS and Cygnus and tightly pulling the double-redundant pressure seals within the berthing mechanism together.

After each of the bolts is loaded with a specific torque, Mission Control will clear the crew to press into the lengthy vestibule outfitting and hatch opening task. This procedure entails an hour-long pressure check on the vestibule between Cygnus and Unity before the first hatch is opened to give the crew access for the installation of data/power jumpers and ventilation ducts and the removal of the Controller Panel Assemblies that are responsible for driving the CBM bolts. After that, the crew will be ready to open the Cygnus hatch which may occur as early as Saturday evening depending on the overall progress of the day's events.

[свернуть]

...

[tnt22]

04/21/2017 17:30



04/21/2017 19:38

The orbital rendezvous of the commercially-operated Cygnus cargo ship with the International Space Station is set for early Saturday morning, completing a four-day trek to the laboratory from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

Спойлер

The trip took a bit longer than needed, giving space for the Soyuz crew launch and docking that successfully occurred on Thursday.

Orbital ATK's Cygnus, approaching the station from behind and below, it will use Global Positioning navigation and rendezvous laser sensors to arrive at a point within 40 feet of the lab complex. That's when the vessel will be grappled by the station's robotic arm, expected around 6:05 a.m. EDT (1005 GMT).

The astronauts are responsible for monitoring the Cygnus vehicle's approach, able to abort the rendezvous with the push of a button to make the craft retreat away if they spot something amiss. Expedition 51 flight engineer Thomas Pesquet, a Frenchman from the European Space Agency, will be prime from working the Canadarm2 to capture the ship, while commander Peggy Whitson of NASA serves as backup arm operator.

Ground controllers will remotely-operate the arm to maneuver and then seat the Cygnus into the berthing mechanism on the underside of the station's Unity module. Sixteen electrically-driven bolts will be engage to firmly attach the two craft together, allowing the hatchway to be opened to begin a three-month stay.

We will provide live updates on the Cygnus arrive and webcast the NASA TV video of the rendezvous starting at 4:30 a.m. EDT (0830 GMT) on this page.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 4 мин. назад

The crew just commanded #Cygnus to activate its navigation lights - testing the direct command link between ISS & the approaching spacecraft

[tnt22]

ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 8 мин. назад

#Cygnus has passed its Approach Initiation point - now on its way to intercept the R-Bar for a straight-up approach to ISS.

[tnt22]

ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 7 мин. назад

Mission Control confirms a good Approach Initiation Burn by the #Cygnus spacecraft.

[tnt22]

04/22/2017 11:33
Cygnus is just 2,933 feet (894 meters) from the station and continung to close for its 6:05 a.m. EDT (1005 GMT) arrival.

[tnt22]

04/22/2017 11:37
Now inside 2,000 feet.

[tnt22]

ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 2 мин. назад

Range 350 meters, #Cygnus completed the ADV-4 burn to begin its straight-up approach along the radial vector. http://spaceflight101.com/cygnus-oa7/live-mission-coverage/ ...
/QUOTE]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

04/22/2017 11:48 1,000 feet away

[tnt22]

04/22/2017 11:55
Cygnus reached its 820-foot (250-meter) waypoint from the station in this morning's rendezvous. All is reported nominal as this four-day trek from the launch pad nears the destination. The vessel is scheduled to hold at this position for 20 minutes for a review of onboard systems.

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

ISS Updates‏ @ISS101 27 сек. назад

#Cygnus has finished its transition to optical navigation. Crew confirms the vehicle is centered in its pyramidal approach corridor.

[tnt22]

04/22/2017 12:08
Flight director Jeffery Radigan in Houston has given approval for Cygnus to proceed fr om its current 820-foot holdpoint, entering the Keep Out Sphere around the station. The vessel will move to within 98 feet wh ere the next pre-planned pause will occur.