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NASA and SpaceX undergo final preps for Crew-5 mission

We are approaching the final countdown to the Crew-5 Mission to the International Space Station at 12 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

We are approaching the final countdown to the Crew-5 Mission to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.

The mission will launch at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Commander Nicole Mann will board the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance, atop the Falcon 9 rocket, with Pilot Josh Cassada and Mission Specialists Koichi Wakata and Anna Kikina.

This mission is also 0ne for the history books because this launch will be the first time a Russian cosmonaut will ride on a NASA SpaceX flight. Plus, Crew-5 will have the first female commander on a NASA SpaceX mission.

Crew-5, SpaceX, and NASA
completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities on October 2.

An automated docking at the International Space Station’s (ISS) Harmony module would occur about 29 hours later at 4:57 p.m. EDT (2057 GMT) Thursday.

Benji Reed, SpaceX’s senior director of human spaceflight programs, said Monday night that none of the technical issues appear to be showstoppers standing in the way of the Crew-5 launch, according to Space Flight Now.

There has been an issue with the SpaceX drone ship, “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean. The drone ship is having communication issues, causing difficulty operating the high-power system needed to drive the vessel toward the landing site. The ship uses station-keeping engines to hold a position at the landing zone.

Teams also planned to swap out a thrust vector control actuator overnight Tuesday in the steering system on one of the first stage engines on the Falcon 9. The actuator showed an unexpected reading during a static fire test on the launch pad Sunday.

And if that is not enough, technicians are working to resolve a potential leak in a quick-disconnect fitting associated with a portable fire extinguisher inside SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft. 

Sunset shot of Falcon 9 and Dragon at Launch Complex 39A on October 1, 2022.

A Busy week of Falcon 9 launches

Tomorrow’s Falcon 9 launch is one of three launches scheduled this week. Another Falcon 9 rocket is awaiting liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday Afternoon at 4:10m p.m. PDT with SpaceX’s next batch of 52 Starlink internet satellites.

A few miles south of pad 39A, teams at pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are preparing a Falcon 9 rocket for launch Thursday evening with two Intelsat geostationary communications satellites.

 NASA TV will have continuous coverage of the launch, docking, and crew greeting, beginning Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. EDT on the agency’s app and website.

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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