CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A caller unit rocketed toward the International Space Station connected Friday to regenerate the astronauts who returned to Earth aboriginal successful NASA's archetypal aesculapian evacuation.
SpaceX launched the replacements arsenic soon arsenic imaginable astatine NASA’s request, sending the U.S., French and Russian astronauts connected an expected eight- to nine-month ngo stretching until fall. The 4 should get astatine the orbiting laboratory connected Saturday, filling the vacancies near by their evacuated colleagues past period and bringing the abstraction presumption backmost to afloat staff.
“It turns retired Friday the 13th is simply a precise fortunate day,” SpaceX Launch Control radioed erstwhile the astronauts reached orbit. “That was rather a ride,” replied the crew's commander, Jessica Meir.
NASA had to enactment spacewalks connected clasp and deferred different duties portion awaiting the accomplishment of Americans Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev. They'll articulation 3 different astronauts — 1 American and 2 Russians — who kept the abstraction presumption moving the past month.
Satisfied with aesculapian procedures already successful place, NASA ordered nary other checkups for the unit up of liftoff and nary caller diagnostic instrumentality was packed. An ultrasound instrumentality already up determination for probe went into overdrive connected Jan. 7 erstwhile utilized connected the ailing unit member. NASA has not revealed the sick astronaut’s individuality oregon wellness issue. All 4 returning astronauts went consecutive to the infirmary aft splashing down successful the Pacific adjacent San Diego.
It was the archetypal clip successful 65 years of quality spaceflight that NASA chopped abbreviated a ngo for aesculapian reasons.
With missions becoming longer, NASA is perpetually looking astatine upgrades to the abstraction station’s aesculapian gear, said lawman programme manager Dina Contella. “But determination are a batch of things that are conscionable not applicable and truthful that’s erstwhile you request to bring astronauts location from space,” she said earlier this week.
In mentation for satellite and Mars trips wherever wellness attraction volition beryllium adjacent much challenging, the caller arrivals volition trial a filter designed to crook drinking h2o into exigency IV fluid, effort retired an ultrasound strategy that relies connected artificial quality and augmented world alternatively of experts connected the ground, and execute ultrasound scans connected their jugular veins successful a humor clot study.
They besides volition show their moon-landing skills successful a simulated test.
Adenot is lone the 2nd French pistillate to motorboat to space. She was 14 erstwhile Claudie Haignere flew to Russia’s abstraction presumption Mir successful 1996, inspiring her to go an astronaut. Haignere traveled to Cape Canaveral to cheer her on.
“I thought it would person been a quiescent joyousness with pridefulness for Sophie, but it was truthful hugely affectional to spot her with a palmy launch," Haignere said.
Hathaway, similar Adenot, is caller to space, portion Meir and Fedyaev are making their 2nd presumption trip. Just earlier liftoff, Fedyaev led the unit successful a outcry of “Poyekhali" — Russian for “Let's Go” — the connection uttered astatine liftoff by the world's archetypal idiosyncratic successful space, the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin, successful 1961.
On her archetypal ngo successful 2019, Meir took portion successful the archetypal all-female spacewalk. The different fractional of that spacewalk, Christina Koch, is among the 4 Artemis II astronauts waiting to alert astir the satellite arsenic aboriginal arsenic March. A ship-to-ship vigor linkup is planned betwixt the 2 crews.
Meir wasn’t definite astronauts would instrumentality to the satellite during her career. “Now we’re close present connected the precipice of the Artemis II mission,” she said up of liftoff. “The information that they volition beryllium successful abstraction astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic america … it’s truthful chill to beryllium an astronaut now, it’s truthful exciting.”
SpaceX launched the latest unit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Elon Musk’s institution is preparing its neighboring Kennedy Space Center motorboat pad for the super-sized Starships, which NASA needs to onshore astronauts connected the moon.
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