CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Mission managers say SpaceX Crew-13, which includes Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Josh Kutryk, is so far ready to fly on Thursday, Oct. 1.
A large Canadian contingent on hand to support Kutryk is excited to see the astronaut reach space after nine years at the agency, and a lifetime of interest in space that he strove for as an RCAF test pilot prior to his selection by Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 2017 — the second attempt around for Kutryk, who made the final four in the previous, 2009 astronaut selection.
In recent months, Canadian interest in space has certainly accelerated with discussions and funding around matters ranging from sovereign space, to defence funding, to the moon and Artemis 2. And this is in an environment where, especially in the U.S. and Europe, greater focus on defence — and emerging tech such as orbital data centres — is fuelling fundraising and space technology investments.
“There’s a renewed interest and focus throughout Canada — and I’d like to think throughout the world — about human space exploration, and Canada continues to be proud to contribute to the International Space Station Program,” Mathieu Caron, CSA’s director of astronauts, life sciences and space medicine, said at the prelaunch press conference at the Kennedy Space Center, which SpaceQ attended locally by teleconference.
Caron was asked by an American reporter how Canada and the U.S. are working together on the ISS amid trade tensions between the countries. He noted the countries’ devotion to the orbiting complex remains constant after more than 25 years of consecutive operations. “We have not seen any difference. So that commitment was true 27 years ago, and it’s still true to this day. So I’m happy to report that we’re happy to continue to work with them.”
Items to watch during launch
Troubleshooting, however, continues on a few technical items for Crew-13 as well as the weather. If the crew launches on time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 a.m. EDT, they will do a record-setting docking for Crew Dragon at the International Space Station in a mere eight hours, arriving at about 7 p.m.
Mission managers are monitoring several factors for Crew-13, which also includes NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins (commander) and Luke Delaney (pilot), as well as Roscosmos mission specialist Sergey Teteryatnikov.
Weather: Weather is about 55% go on Thursday, with Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron expressing concerns about thick cloud layers and precipitation during the launch period, which is an instantaneous window. The ascent corridor is expected to stay go.
Leaky prop-isolation valve: SpaceX troubleshot the leaky valve on the pad, electing to cut out the affected area and weld in a replacement. “They were very deliberate in how they worked through that overall replacement, and the post-repair integrity check,” Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s low Earth orbit program, told reporters. SpaceX vice-president William Gerstenmaier — who had a long career at NASA before, including managing commercial crew — made repeated comments about the care the company took in ensuring everything would be up to spec for human spaceflight safety standards. “We tested everything. We make sure everything is right,” he said at one point during the press conference.
Comms issue during dry dress rehearsal: SpaceX saw a loss of communication with the Super Draco microcontroller that could have caused issues with propellant flow, but SpaceX was able to safely reset the issue — and to discuss what to do if the problem occurs again during launch. Gerstenmaier emphasized once again that if this happens, there are procedures being put in place and that NASA is very much involved in the discussions.
Canadarm2’s mobile transporter
While the arm remains in excellent shape after a replacement of an ageing “elbow” joint just before Canada Day, the mobile transporter for Canadian robotics is experiencing intermittent communications issues. This will not present a problem in the short term, but NASA is continuing troubleshooting.
The transporter is currently at an unusual location for docking dubbed Work Site 6, where SpaceX ensured station operations could continue despite GPS coverage issues; usually, the robotics are put elsewhere when spacecraft arrive and depart, to avoid interference.
“We had the problem with the GPS system, with the mobile transporter blocking some things,” Gerstenmaier said. “It was kind of unique in the fact that we had a Dragon on board space station, so we could actually use that Dragon to look at the relative GPS signals between the space station and that Dragon on-orbit to confirm that’s all going to work smoothly, and move forward. So we did analysis, but we actually also got to back it up with tests.”
This should not present a problem for launch, as the current configuration is stable. But going forward, NASA is trying to understand the nature of the problem, Weigel said in response to a SpaceQ question during the press conference.
“We have two different command paths to the mobile transporter, Channel A and Channel B,” Weigel explained. “We’ve done a lot of checkouts on channel B and that’s healthy, so I don’t have any issues with that one. These issues that we’re seeing on Channel A seem to be limited to some of the more complex or multi-step commands.
“So the trouble we ran into,” she continued, “we were trying to send an automatic command to demate umbilicals. That’s one of the first things you do when you move it, you demate the two umbilicals, then you unlatch mechanical latches, then we drive it. And so a lot of the commands work on Channel A, but these more complex commands aren’t working. And so we’re really still trying to understand what that is and what box or component could be causing a problem.”
Weigel said for the forthcoming SpaceX-35 cargo launch, the mobile transporter will move the arm to the extreme end of the truss to prepare to install the last set of the new iROSA (ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays) to augment station power.
Troubleshooting on the robotics is continuing, but the intention is not to move anything until Crew-13 arrives and Crew-12 departs the orbiting complex, which could all be accomplished as soon as Oct. 4. Going forward, one of the possible solutions would be just to replace the affected box in a spacewalk.
Kutryk’s third child—in space
NASA and CSA also talked about the procedures that will be in place when Kutryk’s wife has her third child, which is expected to happen in about the middle of the astronaut’s space mission. (As one can imagine, it’s a very rare event, having only happened with NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik in 2009, and Michael Fincke in 2004 prior to Kutryk.)
The ISS astronauts were recently given WhatsApp capabilities, and the goal is to prioritize video and Teams connections for Kutryk to have communication with the ground. The CSA will also provide psychological and family support, and if possible Kutryk will also take some kind of time off around the time of his child’s birth. “It adds an additional challenge, a unique situation, but we’re all very excited about it—and so is Josh’s family,” Caron said.