NASA planning to buy 2 more seats aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft

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NASA planning to buy 2 more seats aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft

While the first Commercial Crew flights are just around the corner, NASA is looking to buy a little more buffer time in order to ensure uninterrupted access to the International Space Station.

First reported by NASASpaceflight, a procurement document published on Feb. 13, 2019, shows the U.S. space agency is looking to buy two more seats aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft. These seats would presumably be on Soyuz MS-15 and Soyuz MS-16 in the fall of 2019 and spring of 2020 respectively.

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Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon vertical at Launch Complex 39A

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Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon vertical at Launch Complex 39A

The year 2019 is already off to a fast start with multiple deep space encounters performed by several robotic spacecraft. Closer to home, however, another vehicle is being prepped for its first orbital flight: SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. However, schedule unknowns still remain.

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Astronaut Peggy Whitson retires from NASA

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Astronaut Peggy Whitson retires from NASA

Peggy Whitson retired from NASA on June 15, 2018, after 32 years with the space agency—22 as an astronaut. Between 2002 and 2017, she participated in three long-duration International Space Station expeditions, accumulating 665 days orbit—a record for any U.S. space flyer.

Whitson, now 58, concluded her most recent mission in September 2017. Her nine-month stay aboard the ISS as part of Expedition 50, 51 and 52 was the longest for any woman and included multiple spacewalks.

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NASA upgrading ground stations used for emergency ISS communications

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NASA upgrading ground stations used for emergency ISS communications

NASA is currently upgrading ground stations utilized in the backup system for communicating with the International Space Station, the U.S. space agency said in an April 24, 2018, news release.

The primary means of communicating with the ISS is NASA’s Space Network, which mainly relies on a constellation of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites in geostationary orbit. As a backup, the agency also maintains a system of ground stations that transmit and receive very high frequency radio waves.

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