Space to Ground: Set for Launch: May 31, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

What is said in the film

Welcome to space to ground, I’m jaden jennings. This week, preparations for the crewed flight test of starliner continue, food and supplies on the progess 88 spacecraft are making their way to the space station, and thermal-assisted burning in microgravity is evaluted. Nasa’s boeing crew flight test mission is now targeted to launch saturday, june 1, at 12:35 eastern time from space launch complex-41 at cape canaveral space force station in florida. This mission will cary nasa astronauts butch wilmore & suni williams to the international space station, the first mission for any astronaut aboard starliner on an atlas 5 rocket. In total, this will be both wilmore and williams third trip into space.

The cft starliner mission is a vital step in showcasing the spacecraft’s capabilites and will help to certify it as a long-standing spacecraft for long duration space missions. The progress 88 roscosmos cargo spacecraft carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the expedition 71 crew is on its way to the space station. The spacecraft successfully lifted off on thursday, may 30 at 5:43 a. m. Eastern on a soyuz rocket from the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan.

Completing its two-day in-orbit journey, the spacecraft is expected to dock to the space-facing port of the space station poisk module at 7:47 a. m. , saturday, june 1. We are heating things up with the material ignition and suppression test on station or sofie-mist for short! Sofie-mist examines burning in microgravity under varying conditions including air flow speed, oxygen concentration, pressure, and level of external radiation.

A critical part of designs for future space missions is assessing the flammability of materials and the equipment and procedures to detect and suppress a fire. This is essential for crew safety. Results of this experiment could improve understanding of early fire growth behavior, inform selection of safer materials for future spacecraft, and determine the best methods for extinguishing fires in space. You can keep up with the science and current crew on board station by following us on social media @nasa_astronauts, @astro_jeanette, and @iss_research. And that’s space to ground for now.

Thank you so much for watching.

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