New blog from André: ‘A thorough safety check of ISS’

In his latest blog entry ESA astronaut André Kuipers describes how the ISS crew is preparing for the arrival of the Dragon spacecraft (now scheduled for launch on 19 May). André also explains the need for the all-important health and safety checks of the Station.

“Don and I trained intensively for the arrival of the SpaceX’s commercial space ferry Dragon. This will be the first time that Dragon docks with the Space Station. This is a new and exciting occasion for SpaceX, NASA and the crew. We practice grabbing the ferry: Don flies the ISS robot arm while I send commands to Dragon to keep it from moving (free drift). At other times we practice the second part of the procedure: docking. I move Dragon to the ISS with the robotic arm and Don operates the docking mechanism.”

Read more in André’s latest blog entry: A thorough safety check of ISS