NASA is preparing the International Space Station for the return of American spaceships this week.
- International Docking Adapter to be installed at ISS
- Will ensure SpaceX and Boeing spacecraft can connect to ISS
- Astronauts will perform spacewalk Friday to install the adapter
An International Docking Adapter will be installed at the ISS.
That docking adapter will ensure both SpaceX and Boeing spacecraft can connect with the ISS when they launch astronauts from Florida in the next year or so.
Ground controllers on Wednesday will use the space station’s robotic Canada-Arm to pull the docking adapter out of the trunk of a Dragon cargo capsule. That capsule launched last month from the Space Coast.
The robotic arm will position the docking adapter to just three feet away from the space station.
Then on Friday, two NASA astronauts will conduct a spacewalk to install the docking adapter to the ISS.
“We’re excited to see this tangible change in the space station,” said Steve Stich with NASA Commercial Crew Program. “The space station has been changing the last year for our flights. And now once we have this new door on the front of the space station I think for us it really marks it’s time for us to get our hardware ready to go fly.”
NASA has contracted both Boeing and SpaceX to build spacecraft that will carry astronauts to and from the ISS, starting in late 2017 or early 2018.
Those astronauts will launch from Florida’s Space Coast.
Also on Wednesday, NASA will provide a brief on their next big unmanned mission.
They plan to launch a spacecraft that will travel to an asteroid, collect a sample of its minerals, and then return to Earth.
That mission will launch September 8, also from the Space Coast.
Watch a video detailing the upcoming installation below: