NASA astronaut Josh Cassada was having a bad Monday morning.
Work on the international space station (ISS) has its unglamorous moments, including mandatory restroom stops to collect samples for human health studies. But just before this “miserable process” began, Cassada said on Wednesday (March 1), her colleague Nicole Mann told her to look out the cupola window next door.
glorious green auroras covered the Earth below. Cassada quickly grabbed a camera on Monday (February 27) to to take a picture which has accumulated since 3.3 million views on Twitter (opens in a new tab).
“We absorbed it all,” Cassada recalled during a live press conference with SpaceX ISS Crew-5 astronauts. “I just felt a little guilty that we weren’t able…to describe what we received. It was truly remarkable.”
Early Thursday morning (March 2), another group of astronauts are expected to be on their way to join Cassada and her ISS teammates: SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission is scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:34 a.m. EST (0534GMT). You can watch it live here on Space.com.
Related: Live updates on SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission for NASA
More: Meet the astronauts of SpaceX Crew-6
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Starship swaps have been on Cassada’s mind lately, in fact, as he had to bring a key to his crew. Dragona capsule named Endurance, to accommodate an additional crew member in January.
Endurance needed to accommodate a potential fifth passenger in an emergency – NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. Its homecoming, the Russian Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, was paralyzed by a leak which spilled all of its coolant into space on December 14, 2022.
If an emergency evacuation from the ISS were necessary, Russia determined, two of MS-22’s three crew members could safely return home to the Soyuz; uncomfortable as they would be, the heat would not be a safety issue. But Rubio would have to find a way to squeeze into Endurance under the four seats already occupied by Cassada and his Crew-5 colleagues.
“Frank and I worked together to install it,” Cassada told Space.com. “It was really cool to work.”
Related: How many astronauts can fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule?
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Cassada helped Rubio recover a seat cushion from the Soyuz, with some straps from a docked SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft; both were needed to secure Rubio to the ground. During installation, they spoke with Japanese Akihiko Hoshide, a Crew-2 astronaut who performed the entire procedure on the ground as part of a practice ride.
“We were able to work very closely with him. There were some differences as we put the keys in place,” Cassada continued. “We had a lot of clearance issues that weren’t apparent and bothersome. We worked on them and got Frank a great little seat.”
On the ground, Rubio’s view would be mostly limited to feet and spacesuits, but Cassada said the perch “looked pretty cozy nonetheless.” The real benefit when landing would be a bit of calm, Cassada added. “He doesn’t have to hear us talking. He doesn’t have a headset…so he’s not going to hear us talking up there in that seat.”
Fortunately, a fresh, unmanned Soyuz arrived safely on Saturday, February 26, and Rubio’s seat covering is now in place in the new spacecraft, alongside the coverings of his Russian colleagues. (The ISS mission of Rubio and his Soyuz MS-22 crewmates will be delayed until September to complete a crew rotation, which requires sending another Soyuz aloft from Russia with three people on board. .)
As the end of Crew-5 neared, Cassada and her teammates reflected on lighter moments of representing their country in space.
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Japan’s Koichi Wakata told Space.com he was delighted to host two new astronauts representing his country, who will probably join moon missions with NASA led Artemis program“They’re joining us to expand the human frontier in space, so I really expect them to work hard,” he joked.
Russian Anna Kikina has shared her recipe for keeping long hair clean and fluffy in space: Take an hour of her free time, lather up, then run her hair through water three times. “Rinse, rinse, rinse after shampooing.”
Most importantly, the four Crew-5 astronauts spoke of their desire to return home, be with friends and family, and find fresh air. “I’m so thrilled to feel the wind in my face, smell the grass in the air, and taste all the delicious food on Earth,” said Nicole Mann, NASA’s Crew-5 commander.
Crew-5 launched to the ISS on October 5, 2022. The mission is expected to return to Earth approximately five days after Crew-6 arrives at the station.
Elizabeth Howell is co-author of “Why am I taller (opens in a new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book on space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in a new tab). Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) Or Facebook (opens in a new tab).