International Space Station

International Space Station

Expedition 31 crewmembers Don Pettit and André Kuipers were given an extra task on their timeline today – to fix a failed Global Positioning System (GPS) on the International Space Station. The repair was given certain priority as two operational GPS are required for next week’s scheduled arrival of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

The GPS failed last week and attempts to restore it from the ground were not succesful. Today Don and André’s timelines were rearranged to give them time to remove and replace hardware for the system. After completing the repair, just after 15:30 CEST this afternoon the Station crew received word from the ground that the GPS is now ‘working just fine’.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for launch on 19 May, 10:55 CEST (08:55 UT). Berthing of Dragon with the ISS is set for 22 May.