SpaceX aims to send a new group of astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) soon. The ISS has been leaking air and lately it has got worse. In a recent meeting, Joel Montalbano, the manager of NASA’s ISS program, mentioned that the leak rate doubled from one to two pounds per day. The leak is in the space station’s Russian part. It has been closed off by shutting a door to the affected area.
The space trip to the ISS consists of three NASA astronauts and a Russian astronaut. They will take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They will travel on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. The weather may affect the launch time, so the mission could be delayed. If it launches on Saturday night, the Dragon is set to connect with the ISS on Sunday afternoon.
There is also concern about Russia possibly developing a nuclear weapon that could attack satellites. This is worrying, because it could damage the ISS or other space stations. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson voiced his concerns if the reports about this threat are true.
Boeing is also getting ready to send astronauts to the ISS. After a lot of delays, it is finally going to test a flight to the space station in late April. NASA is excited about this and looks forward to having two ways of sending crews to the space station. With two options, if one has a problem, the other can be used.
Vocabulary List:
- Astronauts (noun): A person who is trained to travel in a spacecraft.
- Leaking (adjective): Allowing something to pass through a hole or crack.
- Rate (noun): The speed at which something happens.
- Connect (verb): Link or join something.
- Delayed (verb): Make something happen at a later time than originally planned.
- Damaged (adjective): Harmed or injured.
