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Unity in Orbit: Astronauts Soar with Pride Aboard Station
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By NASA
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. Cygnus will deliver science experiments, crew supplies, and station hardware (Credits: NASA). Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This launch is the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency and will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting early August to launch the Cygnus spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Following launch, the space station’s Canadarm2 will grapple Cygnus and the spacecraft will attach to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading.
Credentialing to cover prelaunch and launch activities is open to U.S. media. The application deadline for U.S. citizens is 11:59 p.m. EDT, Friday, July 19. All accreditation requests must be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Credentialed media will receive a confirmation email upon approval. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation, or to request special logistical support, email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, please contact NASA’s Kennedy Space Center newsroom at: 321-867-2468.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitor entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.
Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations. Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver scientific research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA’s ability to conduct new investigations aboard humanity’s laboratory in space.
In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Cygnus will deliver research, including supplies for a new STEMonstration and several test articles to observe water flow in microgravity. Other investigations aboard include vascularized liver tissue and a bioreactor to demonstrate the production of blood and immune stem cells. Researchers will learn more about biomanufacturing in microgravity to create higher quality treatments for people on Earth.
NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative also is sending two CubeSats to deploy from the orbiting laboratory, CySat-1 from Iowa State Universityand DORA from Arizona State University, making up ELaNa 52 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites).
Crews have occupied the space station continuously since November 2000. In that time, 280 people from 21 countries have visited the orbital outpost. The space station is a springboard to NASA’s next great leap in exploration, including future missions to the Moon under Artemis, and ultimately, human exploration of Mars.
Learn more about NASA’s commercial resupply missions at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
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Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Stephanie Plucinsky / Steven Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-876-2468
stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov / steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
Ellen Klicka
Northrop Grumman, Cygnus
703-402-4404
ellen.klicka@ngc.com
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By NASA
NASA logo Leadership from NASA’s International Space Station and Commercial Crew Programs, as well as Boeing, will participate in a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Friday, June 28.
NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate Starliner’s propulsion system performance before returning from the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Crew Flight Test. The agency also will discuss recent station operations.
Audio of the call will stream live on the agency’s website:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
Participants include:
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program Emily Nelson, chief flight director, NASA’s Johnson Space Center Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing Media interested in participating must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than one hour prior to the start of the call at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off at 10:52 a.m., June 5, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on an end-to-end test of the Starliner system. The crew docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 1:34 p.m., June 6.
In its 24th year of continuously crewed operations, the space station is a unique scientific platform where crew members conduct experiments across multiple disciplines of research, including Earth and space science, biology, human physiology, physical sciences, and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth. Crews living aboard station are the hands of thousands of researchers on the ground, having conducted more than 3,300 experiments in microgravity. Station is the cornerstone of space commerce, from commercial crew and cargo partnerships to commercial research and national lab research, and lessons learned aboard the International Space Station are helping to pass the torch to future commercial stations.
For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
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Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Danielle Sempsrott / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
Leah Cheshier / Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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By NASA
Katie Burlingame is an ETHOS (Environmental and Thermal Operating Systems) flight controller and instructor in the Flight Operations Directorate supporting the International Space Station. Burlingame trains astronauts and flight controllers on the International Space Station’s environmental control systems, internal thermal control systems, and emergency response. Burlingame shares about their path to NASA, what Pride Month means to them, and more. Read on to learn more!
Where are you from?
My dad was in the Coast Guard, so I lived in a few different places growing up, mostly along the East Coast and Southeast. I lived near Orlando, Florida in high school, so that’s usually what I’ll go with for a short answer.
Tell us about your role at NASA.
I execute and plan operations in the Mission Control Center. I train flight controllers and astronauts, specifically for the International Space Station’s environmental control systems, internal thermal control systems, and emergency response.
Katie Burlingame demonstrates how to use new emergency response hardware during Starliner-1 crew training. How would you describe your job to family or friends who may not be familiar with NASA?
For anyone who has seen Apollo 13, I usually say I’m one of the people who figures out what to do in response to “Houston, we have a problem.” Environmental control systems are basically what makes sure there is clean air to breathe and water to drink. Internal thermal control systems are the water lines running throughout the space station that keeps all the computers and other hardware cool.
As far as training goes, the biggest part is training on emergency response, so what to do if there is a fire on the space station or if you start losing air overboard due to a hole in the structure. We have life-size replicas of the space station and simulators that can replicate all its data. This allows us to create opportunities for crew and new flight controllers to practice responding in the situations they could experience aboard the station – sometimes I even get to use a smoke machine!
How long have you been working for NASA?
I have been with the agency for 11 years.
What advice would you give to young individuals aspiring to work in the space industry or at NASA?
Follow the things that you find most interesting. We need people with all kinds of skills in the space industry, so don’t feel like you have to stick to the most traditional path.
What was your path to NASA?
In college, I worked in a lab that built small satellites, which led me to opportunities to participate in the reduced gravity aircraft program and internships at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. I got a master’s degree in biomedical engineering and was originally planning to work on medical devices after college. While at my first job, the industry I was in was experiencing a wave of layoffs, so when I heard about an opportunity back at Johnson, I decided to apply and have been here ever since.
Katie Burlingame discusses ammonia measurement hardware with Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina during NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 emergency training in the SVMF (Space Vehicle Mockup Facility). Is there someone in the space, aerospace, or science industry that has motivated or inspired you to work for the space program? Or someone you discovered while working for NASA who inspires you?
I’m inspired by the teammates I get to work with every day. Seeing the different skills that people bring to the table, how they handle difficult situations, and come up with creative solutions impresses me and motivates me to keep growing and learning.
What does diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you? How does it guide you in your work at NASA?
To me, diversity has a lot of aspects because it encompasses all of the things that contribute to someone’s unique experience and perspective. Spaceflight is hard, and solving tough problems requires creative and integrated solutions, which requires teams with a diversity of thought, skills, perspectives, and experiences.
It means ensuring that NASA is comprised of a workforce that reflects the full spectrum of the country we represent, and then making sure that everyone has the resources they need to thrive and are part of a community that welcomes and respects their full selves. I try to keep this as a guiding priority throughout my work, in day-to-day things like the language and assumptions I make when talking with people and in looking for and advocating for larger systemic ways to make improvements. Having a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace is the just and fair thing to do, but it also helps us do the best work to accomplish NASA’s missions.
Katie Burlingame with other ETHOS (Environmental and Thermal Operating Systems) instructors outside the International Space Station mockups in the SVMF. What is your favorite NASA memory?
I had the opportunity to work on several aspects of the first U.S. crewed vehicle missions. Working with NASA, commercial partners, and the international partner teams to figure out how to best execute training and emergency response was an interesting technical problem and it is great to see all of the things we worked on being used regularly now.
What do you love sharing about station? What’s important to get across to general audiences to help them understand the benefits to life on Earth?
There have been people continuously on the International Space Station for more than 23 years! That’s amazing as a technical achievement, but also an example of successful and sustained international partnership.
What does Pride Month mean to you?
Pride Month is a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community and the progress that has been made. It’s also a call to action for allies and community members to protect and support LGBTQIA+ community members and their rights, especially the most marginalized.
What does it mean to embrace LGBTQIA+ pride?
To me, embracing pride is embracing the understanding that we are each worthy of honor and respect as we are and creating an environment where others can do the same.
Katie Burlingame out for a bike ride west of Houston. Who are some of your LGBTQIA+ role models?
My role models are all of the advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights, past and present, and everyone who shows up in small and big ways as themselves.
What are your hobbies/things you enjoy outside of work?
I like going to see plays and musicals and exploring Houston’s restaurants, coffee shops, and bookstores. When the Houston heat isn’t too bad, I like exploring parks, riding my bike, and doing triathlons (very slowly).
Day launch or night launch?
Night launch!
Favorite space movie?
I don’t have a strong favorite space movie, but my current favorite space books are “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir and “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” by Becky Chambers.
NASA “worm” or “meatball” logo?
Meatball.
Every day, we’re conducting exciting research aboard our orbiting laboratory that will help us explore further into space and bring benefits back to people on Earth. You can keep up with the latest news, videos, and pictures about space station science on the Station Research & Technology news page. It’s a curated hub of space station research digital media from Johnson and other centers and space agencies.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter to get the updates delivered directly to you.
Follow updates on social media at @ISS_Research on Twitter, and on the space station accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
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