NASA will host a media teleconference at 4:30 p.m. EDT today, Thursday, July 29, to discuss the status of International Space Station activities. Agency leadership from the International Space Station and Commercial Crew programs will provide an update following the docking of the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, known as Nauka, and in advance of NASAs Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the space station.
Following the modules arrival and docking to the International Space Station at 9:29 a.m. Thursday, Russian cosmonauts aboard the space station conducted leak checks between Nauka and the service module. At 12:45 p.m., the flight control team noticed the unplanned firing of Naukas thrusters, which caused the station to move out of orientation. The crew was never and is not in any danger. Ground teams quickly regained attitude control and the motion of the space station is stable.
To allow the space station team time to continue working checkouts of the Nauka module and confirm the station is ready for Starliners arrival, NASA and Boeing have delayed the launch of the OFT-2 mission, which had been targeted for Friday, July 30. The launch team is assessing the next available opportunity.
Audio of the teleconference will stream live online at:
Briefing participants are:
- Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate
- Steve Stich, manager, NASAs Commercial Crew Program
- Joel Montalbano, manager, NASAs International Space Station Program
