Some July Must-See NASA TV
***Editor's note, July 7.***
Due to forecast extreme weather off the coast of Florida, SpaceX CRS-22 undocking is no longer planned for Wednesday, July 7. NASA and SpaceX flight control teams continue to monitor the weather and splashdown locations and are prepared to support undocking of the Dragon cargo spacecraft once conditions are safe to do so. Certain parameters like wind speeds and wave heights must be within certain limits to ensure the safety of the recovery teams, the science, and the spacecraft. The next opportunity for undocking is July 8 at 9:35 a.m. CDT, with NASA TV coverage scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Additional opportunities are available on July 9 and 10. NASA will provide an update on July 7 about the date for undocking following a weather briefing.
*Updated July 6 to reflect new NASA's SpaceX Dragon undocking date.*
July is already buzzing with must-see activities you can watch on NASA TV, from coverage of the undocking of the SpaceX CRS-22 cargo craft from the International Space Station on July 7 to launch coverage of the “Nauka” Multipurpose Laboratory Module from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 15. Here’s what you need to know to tune in for it all on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app.
Wednesday, July 7, 9:45 a.m. CDT
Live coverage of the departure NASA’s SpaceX Dragon cargo freighter, loaded with approximately 5,000 pounds of scientific experiments and other cargo from the space station, will depart Wednesday, July 7, bound for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean Thursday, July 8, completing the company’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will command Dragon to undock from the space-facing port on the station’s Harmony module at 10 a.m., with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough monitoring aboard the station. The cargo craft will physically separate from the station five minutes later before firing its thrusters to move a safe distance away prior to a deorbit burn that will begin its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Dragon is expected to make its parachute-assisted splashdown around 11 a.m. Thursday, July 8. NASA will not provide coverage of the splashdown.
Dragon launched June 3 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, arriving at the station a little less than 16 hours later. The spacecraft delivered more than 7,300 pounds of research investigations, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware to the orbiting outpost. Dragon’s external cargo “trunk” carried six new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs), two of which Expedition 65 crew members Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet, an ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut, installed during three spacewalks June 16, 20, and 25.
Learn more about the investigations Dragon will return to Earth HERE.
The SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship is pictured approaching the International Space Station June 5, 2021, carrying over 7,300 pounds of new science, supplies and solar arrays to replenish Expedition 65. Credits: NASA
Thursday, July 15, 11:45 a.m. CDT
Tune in to launch coverage of the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (More details to come.)
Learn more about how the cosmonauts aboard are preparing for Nauka’s arrival on “Space to Ground,” below.