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A Soyuz spacecraft takes off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on its way to the ISS. (Photo by NASA / Joel … [+]
American astronauts now fly to the International Space Station (ISS) from American soil, right?
So why is a NASA astronaut about to blast off the ISS from Russia at a cost of more than $ 90 million?
Despite the success of “Launch America” on May 30, 2020 when NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley traveled to and from the ISS on SpaceX hardware during the historic SpaceX Crew Demo-2 mission, the NASA astronaut Kate Rubin will leave Earth this week from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
As I reported in June, it is the final part of an existing contract between NASA and the Russian space agency to send an American astronaut to the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
When is the next rocket launch to the ISS?
Rubin will take off on Wednesday, October 14 at 1:45 a.m. EDT (10:45 a.m. Kazakhstan time) along with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov from Roscosmos. His two-orbit, three-hour journey will begin his six-month mission on the ISS.
Where to watch the rocket launch to the ISS
You can tune in to the launch online by visiting NASA TV on the space agency website or NASA TV on YouTube:
Why is NASA paying Russia $ 90 million to launch an astronaut when it now has SpaceX?
NASA has been signing contracts with Russia to buy seats on the Soyuz spacecraft since 2011, when the shuttle was grounded. This is his last currently hired seat, NASA confirmed to me last week. In fact, a contract modification in May 2020 acquired a seat at a cost of $ 90,252,905.69. The cost covers training and preparation for the launch, flight operations, landing and rescue services of the crew.
So does this mean that NASA had a Plan B while SpaceX was testing its Crew Dragon spacecraft last summer? “NASA continues to place great trust in our US crew business partners for regular crew rotation,” NASA said in an emailed statement.
Yet there is a refreshing lack of nationalism in what is, after all, a completely global endeavor. “As the United States commercial crew capability becomes operational, astronauts and cosmonauts should resume flight together in our respective spacecraft, consistent with past practice,” the NASA statement read.
Will Russian cosmonauts fly NASA’s SpaceX missions?
Almost certainly, because it is more secure. “A problem with an orbiting spacecraft may require the entire crew of that spacecraft to return to Earth,” the NASA statement says. “Flying mixed crews is mutually beneficial, as it would increase the likelihood that both astronauts and cosmonauts are on the space station for critical operations.”
NASA and Roscosmos are now discussing plans to ensure that at least one American and Russian crew member is aboard the ISS at any time.
So while the days of paying $ 90 million per seat for NASA are over, we can expect to see Russian cosmonauts on SpaceX missions and NASA astronauts on Soyuz missions.
“Going” beyond Earth …
What about the ‘space bathroom’?
While on the ISS, Rubin will participate in a myriad of science experiments, although one of his most important jobs and that of the crew will be testing NASA’s new “space bath.”
Brought to the ISS earlier this month on a cargo resupply mission, the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) is a compact toilet with a urine transfer system that further automates waste management and storage. Smaller than the previous toilet, the UWMS is designed for more crew members and for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
“Astronauts will be able to use the new space toilet,” a NASA spokesperson told me a few days ago. “The intention is to fully test it, and we need humans to do it.”
Members of the SpaceX Crew-1 crew (from left), NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike … [+]
When is SpaceX’s next mission to the ISS?
Rubin’s journey isn’t the last time a NASA astronaut will travel on Russian space hardware. On Wednesday, October 21, 2020, NASA Expedition 63 commander Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, who have been aboard the complex since April 9, 2020, will depart the ISS in a Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft and will land in Kazakhstan.
On a mission now delayed until early to mid-November, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, the first privately scheduled mission to the ISS, will carry NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Soichi. Noguchi to the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicle.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
