NASA to Leave One Astronaut on The Space Station

For the last nine months, NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan lived and worked on the International Space Station. Morgan’s time on the ISS will come to an end when he, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, and Oleg Skripochka of the Russian space agency Roscosmos return to Earth on Friday, April 17.

Morgan’s 272-day mission began back on July 20, 2019, when he along with Luca Parmitano of ESA and Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, launched into space aboard the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft. His tenure on the ISS spanned Expeditions 60, 61, and 62. During the 272 days in space, he has orbited the Earth over 4,300 times and covered 115.3 million miles.

During Morgan’s first spaceflight, he contributed to many experiments. The experiments include biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development. Morgan also participated in seven spacewalks, accumulating 45 hours and 48 minutes during the walks. Four of the spacewalks focused on the critical task of improving and extending the life of the station’s Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Soyuz and station hatches will be closed at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, and the trio will undock from the aft port of the station’s Zvezda service module at 9:53 p.m. A deorbit burn at 12:22 a.m. Friday, April 17, will put the Soyuz on course for a parachute-assisted landing at 1:17 a.m. (11:17 a.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan.

Meir and Skripochka launched on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft on Sept. 25, 2019 and will return to earth after 205 days in space. During her Meir’s spaceflight, she along with crewmate Christina Koch conducted the first three all-woman spacewalks. Skripochka wrapping up his third spaceflight for a whopping cumulative 536 days in orbit.

NASA will provide live coverage of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft’s undocking and station departure. You can tune in to NASA TV at 6 p.m. EDT Thursday, April 16. You can also watch on the NASA.gov website. The coverage of the deorbit burn and landing will begin at midnight, Friday, April 17.

Before the three astronauts return to Earth, a change of command will occur. The change in command will see Skripochka hand off to newly arrived astronaut Chris Cassidy of NASA. NASA plans to air live Wednesday, April 15 at 4:55 p.m.

Expedition 63 will begin aboard the station with the departure of the Soyuz spacecraft.
Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner comprise a three-person crew until the SpaceX Crew Dragon arrives with NASA’s Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley aboard. The SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 flight test ushers in a new age of space travel for the United States. The Demo-2 mission shall be the first astronauts to launch from American soil to the space station since 2011 and the first private space company to transport astronauts into orbit.

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NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP)

Until the NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is completed, Roscosmos remains the sole option for transporting astronauts to and from the ISS.  At all times, at least one of the Soyuz spacecraft is docked at the International Space Station serves as an emergency lifeboat or escape pot should evacuation be needed.  Typically two Soyuz capsules are docked at the ISS which allows up to six astronauts to remain on the International Space Station. The limit of six astronauts is established by the number of seats available for evacuation.NASA Shifted from the Space Shuttle

The 2003 Columbia accident resulted from the loss of insulating foam from the External Tank, which hit the Orbiter’s left wing during launch and created a hole in the protective tiles required for a safe reentry.  When The Space Shuttle Columbia entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the left-wing leading-edge thermal protection was compromised and unable to prevent heating due to the hole from the foam. The shuttle ultimately lost of control and was lost killing the crew.

 All flights were put on hold for more than 2 years as NASA implemented numerous safety improvements, like redesigning the External Tank with an improved bipod fitting that minimized potential foam debris from the tank. Additional other improvements included Solid Rocket Booster Bolt Catcher,  the newly added impact sensors on wing’s leading edge, and additional tools to inspect the vehicle for any possible damage while in orbit. Knowing the limitations of the Space Shuttle and the ultimate completions of the ISS, NASA started to think about how to best move forward since the Space Shuttle was nearing 30 years old.

1. A successful human space transportation system would strengthen the ISS Program.  The ISS for safety reasons could not leave more astronauts at the space station than Soyuz seats.  The Shuttle was not designed for long duration stays in space and complex missions lasted 14 days.  For longer duration stays, NASA needed a new option.
2. NASA outsourcing development and transportation of crew to and from LEO would allow NASA to focus on beyond LEO exploration as well as potentially reduce the cost of human access to space.
3. NASA envisioned commercial human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) creating a robust, vibrant, profit-making commercial enterprise with many providers and a wide range of private and public users and likely would significantly contribute to the US National economy.

Ultimately, the Space Shuttle costs per flight were roughly 1.7 Billion USD (adjusted for inflation and original development costs) NASA needed a new option for getting crew to and from the Space Station until it could complete the NASA Commercial Crew Program

Soyuz, the *only* option at the time to the Space Shuttle

Over the past two decades, more than 80 flights have transported over 200 astronauts to the International Space Station on either a NASA Space Shuttle or a Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos) Soyuz spacecraft.

Since the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, the Soyuz launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site has served as the sole means of transporting astronauts to and from the ISS. These seats were purchased by NASA in place of transporting astronauts to and from the Space Station previously done with the Space Shuttle.  (Read more about another spacecraft that could have been used to dock with the Space Station- Click here to learn about Shenzhou)

NASA has purchased, flown or plan to fly 71 astronauts since 2006.  Two additional Soyuz flights are planned for 2020, each with one USOS crew-member aboard.  (USOS is United States On-Orbit Segment of the ISS and is operated by NASA and its international partners—the Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.)

The total cost to NASA for the transport to and from the ISS and emergency escape services total roughly $3.9 billion.  On average the cost per seat has been $55 million for missions from 2006 through 2020.  The costs have been rising steady.  Original seats purchased for less than $30 million each. The price increased up to about $55 million per seat by 2013.  Most Recently, seats are costing 86 million dollars.   For comparison Boeing has quoted $90 million and SpaceX has quoted $55 for ongoing crew transportation through 2024.[These per seat numbers do not include up front development costs]

(Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap). awarded by NASA in September 2014, are firm-fixed-price contracts worth $6.9 billion with Boeing and SpaceX  to complete development of their commercial crew transportation systems and carry astronauts to and from the ISS on a total of 12 missions through the ISS’s planned retirement in 2024.)  (see also 7 Spacecraft Critical for the ISS Survival)

In order to operate the ISS and conduct research, NASA and its partners have generally maintained a rotating crew of three to four astronauts on the USOS side.  Less astronauts translate into higher percentage of operations and upkeep time spent as there is still the same amount of work to be done.  This translates into less time available to conduct experiments and science. For example, two astronauts are required to conduct space walks.  If one astronaut only was available on the ISS, spacewalks could not be conducted.  Since Roscosmos has generally maintained two to three cosmonauts in the Russian segment, NASA has engaged in cross-training in the event that the USOS crew is reduced to one resulting from continuing delays on the commercial crew program.

USOS crew typically stay aboard the ISS for 5-month rotations as extended time in microgravity can have adverse impacts on humans.  Although NASA typically limits the negative health impact extended stays in microgravity two astronauts have remained on the International Space Station for a year to study the long term health effects of extended space exposures. These extended stay missions allow NASA to collect data that can be used for the upcoming return to the Moon and eventually traveling to Mars.

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