NASA to Move Space Station Module: Watch Live Wednesday
NASA to Move Space Station Module: Watch Live Wednesday
by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor | May 26, 2015 07:40pm ET
NASA plans to move a piece of the International Space Station Wednesday (May 27) to make it easier for commercial crewed vehicles to dock there, and you can watch the off-Earth action live.
Flight controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will robotically move the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) supply depot from the orbiting lab's Unity module over to the Tranquility module. You can watch this process live here at Space.com beginning at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) Wednesday, courtesy of NASA TV.
"This move will clear the Unity port for its conversion into the spare berthing location for U.S. cargo spacecraft," NASA officials said in a statement, adding that the station's Harmony module will serve as the primary docking port for these private vehicles.
Two Expedition 43 astronauts aboard the space station will help the ground-based team with the move. Cmdr. Terry Virts and Scott Kelly (one of two crewmembers currently embarked on a one-year mission aboard the station) will watch the module being detached from Unity and reattached to Tranquility. On Thursday (May 28), they will reopen the PMM hatch.
More:
http://www.space.com/29490-international-space-station-module-relocation-webcast.html
