On September 1, 2016 American astronauts Jeffrey Williams and Kathleen Rubins performed the spacewalk for retracting a spare cooling radiator, installing two high-definition TV cameras and inspecting a massive solar array rotation mechanism that has experience subtle vibrations in recent months. The EVA lasted 6 hours and 48 minutes. It was the 5th spacewalk for Jeffrey Williams and the 2nd spacewalk for Kathleen Rubins.
On August 26, 2016 at 15:47 UTC the "Dragon” capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at several hundred kilometers from Long Beach, California, USA. The Dragon delivered to Earth 1547 kilograms of cargo. It was the "SpaceX CRS-9” mission. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It was the 9th flight of Dragon to the ISS with docking.
On August 26, 2016 the station's robotic arm removed the “Dragon” SpX-9 (CRS-9 flight) unmanned supply spacecraft from a berthing port on the Harmony module of the International Space Station. Controlled by ground controllers and then American astronaut Kathleen Rubins and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, the robotic arm let go of the "Dragon” resupply vehicle at 10:11 UTC.
On August 19, 2016 American astronauts Jeffrey Williams and Kathleen Rubins performed the spacewalk to attach docking adapter to space station for commercial vehicles. Attached to the station’s no-longer-needed shuttle port at the front of the station, the Boeing-built International Docking Adapter will allow spacecraft from Boeing and SpaceX companies to bring crews to the ISS, ending NASA’s sole reliance on Russian Soyuz ferry spaceships. The new docking mechanism was carried up to the station aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship in June. The EVA lasted 5 hours and 58 minutes. It was the fourth spacewalk for Jeffrey Williams and the first one for Kathleen Rubins.
On July 20, 2016 at 14:03 UTC the private U.S. unmanned supply spacecraft, the "Dragon” SpX-9 (CRS-9 flight), was successfully docked to the International Space Station. The linkup operation was carried out with the help of the giant 17-meter Canadarm. The capture with Canadarm-2 was performed by American astronaut Jeffrey Williams at 10:56 UTC. The Dragon spacecraft was maneuvered into position and attached to a berthing port on the space station's Harmony module.
On July 19, 2016 at 00:20 UTC the Russian “Progress MS-03” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was docked to the Russian “Pirs” module. The spacecraft delivered about 2500 kilograms of cargo for the six-member ISS crew.
On July 18, 2016 at 04:45 UTC the "Falcon 9” rocket-carrier was launched from the Cape Canaveral US Air Force Station in Florida. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. US private company SpaceX launched its "Dragon” (CRS-9 flight) unmanned spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It is the 10th successful flight of a “Dragon” spacecraft and the 9th successful flight of a “Dragon” to the ISS.
On July 16, 2016 at 21:41 UTC (on July 17, 2016 at 00:41 Moscow time) the “Progress MS-03” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the “Soyuz-U” rocket-carrier.
On July 9, 2016 at 04:06 UTC the Russian "Soyuz MS” new spacecraft docked with the Russian “Rassvet” (MIM-1) module of the International Space Station. The spacecraft delivered three new members of Expedition 48 to the ISS, Russian cosmonaut Anatoliy Ivanishin, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi (大西 卓哉) and American astronaut Kathleen Rubins. The new comers joined current ISS expedition members – Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka as well as American astronaut Jeffrey Williams to form Expedition 48 crew of 6 members.
On July 7, 2016 at 01:36 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft is piloted by 3 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Anatoliy Ivanishin (center); Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi (大西 卓哉) (right) and American astronaut Kathleen Rubins (left).
Photo by Russian Cosmonaut Training Center.
The space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station on July 9, 2016. Ivanishin, Onishi and Rubins will join current ISS expedition members Ovchinin, Skripochka and Williams.