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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
SpaceX Crew-9 members (from left) Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov from Roscosmos and Commander Nick Hague from NASA pose for an official crew portrait at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.NASA/Josh Valcarel NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are preparing to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.
The flight is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The duo will lift off aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which previously flew NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4, Axiom Mission 2 and Axiom Mission 3, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Once aboard the space station, Hague and Gorbunov will become members of the Expedition 72 crew and perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities. The pair will join NASA astronauts Don Petitt, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.
Wilmore and Williams, who launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, will fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025.
Launch preparations are underway, and teams are working to integrate the spacecraft and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, including checkouts of a second flight rocket booster for the mission. The integrated spacecraft and rocket will then be rolled to the pad and raised to the vertical position for a dry dress rehearsal with the crew and an integrated static fire test prior to launch.
The Crew
Nick Hague will serve as crew commander for Crew-9, making this his third launch and second mission to the space station. During his first launch in October 2018, Hague and his crewmate, Roscosmos’ Alexey Ovchinin, experienced a rocket booster failure, resulting in an in-flight, post-launch abort, ballistic re-entry, and safe landing in their Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft. Five months later, Hague launched aboard Soyuz MS-12 and served as a flight engineer aboard the space station during Expeditions 59 and 60. Hague has spent 203 days in space and conducted three spacewalks to upgrade space station power systems and install a docking adapter for commercial spacecraft.
Born in Belleville, Kansas, Hague earned a bachelor’s degree in Astronautical Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and a master’s degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hague was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2013. An active-duty colonel in the U.S. Space Force, Hague completed a developmental rotation at the Defense Department and served as the Space Force’s director of test and evaluation from 2020 to 2022. In August 2022, Hague resumed duties at NASA, working on the Boeing Starliner Program until this flight assignment.
Follow @astrohague on X and Instagram.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will embark on his first trip to the space station as a mission specialist for Crew-9. Born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia, he studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute. Gorbunov graduated from the military department with a specialty in operating and repairing aircraft, helicopters, and aircraft engines. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corp. Energia and supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gorbunov will serve as a flight engineer during Expedition 71/72 aboard the space station.
Mission Overview
After liftoff, Dragon will accelerate to approximately 17,500 mph to dock with the space station.
Once in orbit, flight control teams from NASA’s Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, will monitor a series of automatic maneuvers that will guide Dragon to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can take control and pilot manually if necessary.
After docking, Expedition 71 will welcome Hague and Gorbunov inside the station and conduct several days of handover activities with the departing astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. After a handover period, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Crew-8 will undock from the space station and splash down off the coast of Florida.
Crew-9 will conduct new scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. Experiments include the impact of flame behavior on Earth, studying cells and platelets during long-duration spaceflight, and a B vitamin that could reduce Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome. They’ll also work on experiments that benefit life on Earth, like studying the physics of supernova explosions and monitoring the effects of different moister treatments on plants grown aboard the station. These are just a few of over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations taking place during their mission.
While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Crew-9 will welcome two Dragon spacecraft, including NASA’s SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10, and two Roscosmos-led cargo deliveries on Progress 90 and 91.
In February, Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore, and Williams will climb aboard Dragon and autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. After splashdown off Florida’s coast, a SpaceX recovery vessel will pick up the spacecraft and crew, who then will be helicoptered back to shore.
Commercial crew missions enable NASA to maximize use of the space station, where astronauts have lived and worked continuously for more than 23 years testing technologies, performing research, and developing the skills needed to operate future commercial destinations in low Earth orbit, and explore farther from Earth. Research conducted on the space station provides benefits for people on Earth and paves the way for future long-duration trips to the Moon and beyond through NASA’s Artemis missions.
Get breaking news, images, and features from the space station on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Learn more about the space station, its research, and crew, at https://www.nasa.gov/station.
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By NASA
Rob Gutro has never been one to stay idle. From his start working at a paper factory as a teenager, Rob navigated his way to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he serves as the deputy news chief in the Office of Communications until he retires in October 2024.
Rob Gutro serves as deputy news chief at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.Photo courtesy of Rob Gutro In this role, Rob manages all the media products, like news stories and videos, that come out of Goddard. He also edits content, creates detailed reports, and coordinates media requests, leaning on decades of experience in communications to help the Goddard newsroom run smoothly.
But his path to NASA was neither paved nor linear. It took a strong will and unflagging passion to overcome obstacles along the way and rise to his current role.
Weathering the Journey
Rob began working at a young age, first at a paper factory, then a bank, and then a law office. But none of these jobs were ever his end goal.
“I loved music as a teenager and always wanted to work on the radio,” Rob says. So he got a degree in radio and television from Northeast Broadcasting School in Boston. “I went straight into radio broadcasting and continued that part-time for 20 years.”
He started out hosting a weekend radio show, but didn’t intend for it to be a career for financial reasons. So he completed another degree, this time in English and business at Suffolk University in Boston.
“I knew that to do the type of broadcasting I wanted to do, I needed to learn how to write so I could explain things via stories and reporting,” Rob says. “And I was particularly fascinated by the weather, so I wanted to be able to communicate broadly about that.”
He then worked for the USDA as a writer and editor for a year before joining NOAA as a writer in the 1990s. The highlight of his NOAA career was a work detail he did for the National Hurricane Center during hurricane season in 1993. He enjoyed it so much he eventually decided to go back to school again, earning a degree in meteorology from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. “I call it my third degree burn,” he jokes.
During the program, he refined his broadcasting skills and immersed himself in the science behind the weather and forecasting. He was focusing on what he loved, though it wasn’t an easy journey.
“When I went back to school for meteorology I was working two jobs and making minimum wage, living off of ramen noodles and tuna fish every day because that was all I could afford,” Rob says. “But I was determined!”
Upon graduation, he began working for a private weather company doing marketing and writing. Rob balanced multiple jobs, including a part-time radio gig, while continually applying to The Weather Channel. After eight years of applications, he was finally hired as a radio broadcast meteorologist! “I loved being on the air with The Weather Channel and doing radio broadcasts,” Rob says.
“I think the key to everything is persistence and patience,” Rob says. “My advice to everybody is no matter what your goal is, keep pursuing it because eventually it will happen!”
Navigating NASA
Rob’s desire to understand climate change and return to Maryland brought him to NASA. He became an Earth science writer at NASA Goddard in 2000. By 2005, he was the manager of the Earth science news team, and in 2009 he began working with the James Webb Space Telescope team and also obtained his current role of deputy news chief.
Rob and Lynn to the rescue! One of the highlights of Rob’s career at NASA was working with Lynn Jenner for more than 20 years. Together, the duo –– photographed here at a work party –– managed web pages about hurricanes and fires.Courtesy of Rob Gutro “My degrees have served me well at NASA because I work with the media, I write, and I have to understand science,” Rob says.
His favorite NASA project was the now-retired NASA hurricane page, which he wrote content for and kept updated every single day for the 15 years it was active. The media frequently used NASA imagery shared on the hurricane page, and people worldwide used the information to make decisions about their safety during hurricanes.
“I’ll never forget one experience, where a woman in the Philippines asked if she should evacuate her mother from a nursing home on the island of Visayas,” Rob says. “I said yes, because the island was going to be inundated by an eight-foot storm surge.” So she did, and two weeks later she emailed Rob again saying the entire nursing home was flooded to the roof — her mother would have likely drowned if she’d stayed.
On to the Next Chapter
As busy as his work life has been — Rob had three jobs at any given time until he was 40 years old — his off duty hours haven’t been idle either. In January 2025, he’s publishing his twelfth book, and has another six already mostly written.
“I’m retiring from NASA soon and will focus on my books, continuing the fundraising lectures for animal rescues that I’ve done for the last decade, and teaching paranormal courses in night school for two adult education programs,” Rob says. “And my husband and I have three dogs to keep us busy — they are the joy of my life!”
Rob’s three dogs, as pictured on a 2023 Christmas card. Photo courtesy of Rob Gutro Reflecting on his career, Rob singles out blogging as one of the most effective tools he’s used over the years.
“Whether you want to write a book or science articles, one of the easiest ways to begin is by starting a blog and writing about things you like,” he says. That’s one key to his productivity, as he says, “Whatever you write can always be repurposed, and if you’re constantly leaning into things you’re passionate about, you’ll eventually end up exactly where you’re meant to be.”
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
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By European Space Agency
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson smiles for a portrait in the vestibule between the Kibo laboratory module and the Harmony module aboard space station.NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is returning home after a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. While on orbit, Dyson conducted an array of experiments and technology demonstrations that contribute to advancements for humanity on Earth and the agency’s trajectory to the Moon and Mars.
Here is a look at some of the science Dyson conducted during her mission:
Heart-Shaped Bioprints
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson operates the BioFabrication Facility for the Redwire Cardiac Bioprinting Investigation, which 3D prints cardiovascular tissue samples. In microgravity, bio inks used for 3D printing are less likely to settle and retain their shape better than on Earth. Cardiovascular disease is currently the number one cause of death in the United States, and findings from this space station investigation could one day lead to 3D-printed organs such as hearts for patients awaiting transplants.
Wicking in Weightlessness
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson handles hardware for the Wicking in Gel-Coated Tubes (Gaucho Lung) experiment. This study uses a tube lined with various gel thicknesses to simulate the human respiratory system. A fluid mass known as a liquid plug is then observed as it either blocks or flows through the tube. Data regarding the movement and trailing of the liquid plug allows researchers to design better drug delivery methods to address respiratory ailments.
Programming for Future Missions
NASA NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson runs student-designed software on the free-flying Astrobee robot. This technology demonstration is part of Zero Robotics, a worldwide competition that engages middle school students in writing computer code to address unique specifications. Winning participants get to run their software on an actual Astrobee aboard the space station. This educational opportunity helps inspire the next generation of technology innovators.
Robo-Extensions
NASA As we venture to the Moon and Mars, astronauts may rely more on robots to ensure safety and preserve resources. Through the Surface Avatar study, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson controls a robot on Earth’s surface from a computer aboard station. This technology demonstration aims to toggle between manipulating multiple robots and “diving inside” a specific bot to control as an avatar. This two-way demonstration also evaluates how robot operators respond their robotic counterparts’ efficiency and general output. Applications for Earth use include exploration of inhospitable zones and search and rescue missions after disasters.
Capturing Earth’s Essence
NASA For Crew Earth Observations, astronauts take pictures of Earth from space for research purposes. NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) and Tracy C. Dyson (right) contribute by aiming handheld cameras from the space station’s cupola to photograph our planet. Images help inform climate and environmental trends worldwide and provide real-time natural disaster assessments. More than four million photographs have been taken of Earth by astronauts from space.
Multi-faceted Crystallization Processor
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson holds a cassette for Pharmaceutical In-Space Laboratory – 04 (ADSEP-PIL-04), an experiment to crystallize the model proteins lysozyme and insulin. Up to three cassettes with samples can be processed simultaneously in the Advanced Space Experiment Processor (ADSEP), each at an independent temperature. Because lysozyme and insulin have well-documented crystal structures, they can be used to evaluate the hardware’s performance in space. Successful crystallization with ADSEP could lead to production and manufacturing of versatile crystals with pharmaceutical applications.
Cryo Care
NASA NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick preserve research samples in freezers aboard the space station. Cryopreservation is essential for maintaining the integrity of samples for a variety of experiments, especially within the field of biology. The orbiting laboratory has multiple freezer options with varying subzero temperatures. Upon return, frozen samples are delivered back to their research teams for further analysis.
Welcoming New Science
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is pictured between the Unity module and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft in preparation for depressurization and departure from the International Space Station. On long-duration missions, visiting vehicles provide necessities for crew daily living as well as new science experiments and supplies for ongoing research. This vehicle brought experiments to test water recovery technology, produce stem cells in microgravity, study the effects of spaceflight on microorganism DNA, and conduct science demonstrations for students.
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International Space Station Research Communications Team
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
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