Expedition 65 crew gears up for Cargo Dragon's arrival and two spacewalks

NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX will launch its 23rd commercial resupply services mission to the space station on Saturday, August 28, at 3:37 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew.

The International Space Station Expedition 65 crew members are gearing up for this weekend's arrival of SpaceX's Cargo Dragon spacecraft and a pair of Russian spacewalks which will start early next month.

NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX will launch its 23rd commercial resupply services mission to the space station on Saturday, August 28, at 3:37 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew.

The Cargo Dragon spacecraft will arrive on Sunday and dock autonomously at 11 a.m. to the forward-facing port of the station's Harmony module. NASA Flight Engineers and Expedition 65 crew members Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will monitor the arrival of the Cargo Dragon. NASA TV will broadcast both launch and docking of the spacecraft. 

On Aug. 28 at 3:37 a.m. ET, @SpaceX's cargo Dragon spacecraft will launch to the @Space_Station to deliver new science investigations, supplies and equipment for the international crew.📺 Prelaunch events start on Aug. 27. Here's how you can tune in: https://t.co/KeGd7YjkD8 pic.twitter.com/8KHOc6F39D

— NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) August 21, 2021

Next, the spacewalks planned for September 3 and September 9 will set up Russia's newest module called the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov have been preparing their Orlan spacesuits and Russian spacewalk hardware inside the Poisk module where they will begin both spacewalks.

Earlier this week, NASA announced that the six-hour and 50-minute excursion planned for Tuesday, August 24, was postponed due to a minor medical issue involving astronaut Mark Vande Hei who was set to begin spacewalk with astronaut Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The duo was preparing to exit the U.S. Quest airlock to prepare the International Space Station (ISS) for its third Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA).