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ISS First: All 8 Docking Ports Occupied (www.nasa.gov)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/spaceflight@sh.itjust.works
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For the first time in International Space Station history, all eight docking ports aboard the orbital outpost are occupied following the reinstallation of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Unity module.

This milestone follows the reattachment of the Cygnus XL spacecraft ... which was removed last week by the robotics officer at the agency’s Mission Control Center in Houston using the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm ... to provide appropriate clearance for the arriving crewed Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft on Nov. 27.

I heard NASA talking about this Cygnus XL operation at some online press conference a month or two ago. Pretty sure they said that the Cygnus XL wasn't actually in the way of the Soyuz, but they were moving it out of the way just to give more margin of clearance.

NG-23 is the first flight of a Cygnus XL vehicle. It was originally berthed on 2025-09-18 after a slight delay in orbit.

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[–] 10 points 11 months ago

now thats some spaceporn!

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    [–] [S] 5 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    the reattachment of the Cygnus XL spacecraft

    Was just wondering whether this was visible on either of the official live streams. There does seem to be something moving, for a period that seems to be somewhere around 15:36 - 15:41 UTC, on this one. (But you can only rewatch the last 12 hours of the stream, so you've only got about 4 hours left.)

    Maybe I should become more familiar with the ISS In Real Time website or any other resources that might have details of what goes on up there.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago

    That looks right. You can see the grapple fixture, the main engine that was bugging out on the way up, and the round solar array as the arm backs away.

    This screenshot shows all of that, plus a bonus shot of the inflatable BEAM module in the background.

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    • [–] 4 points 11 months ago*

    I don't think we'll ever see more vehicle types at once at the ISS. This is 6, counting Crew Dragon, Cargo Dragon, HTV-X, Cygnus XL, Soyuz, and Progress. You can't beat that without more docking ports. The first Axiom module might effectively replace a CBM with an IDA while it's berthed, but I think the plan is for that module to split off once the first Axiom hab module shows up with more ports.

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    6 comments in c/space@mander.xyz view that post
    [–] 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    I usually don't pay that much close attention to space news, other than acknowledging things are happening.

    Is this huge news? With the chinese space station, ISS, and this much docking going on, does it mean that we're getting very active as a species in space and actually progressing? Or is it just basic stuff going on up there, and a few thing happened coincidentally at the same time?

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  • [–] 13 points 11 months ago

    its kinda like we have hit a milestone and the space station is finally being used to its fullest ability

    still have miles to go before we have an active presence in space. This is like some Romans making it to Scotland for the first time and realizing they were not prepared for that shit

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  • [–] 8 points 11 months ago

    It's mostly good timing that there is a Russian crew handover, meaning there are 2x Soyuz capsules, and 3 different cargo vehicles on the US/International side. The only real newcomer involved that hasn't been doing this for years is the Japanese HTV-X cargo vehicle, but Japan previously had the HTV cargo vehicle service ISS.

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    • [–] 8 points 11 months ago

    Book early so as not to be disappointed.

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    [–] 3 points 11 months ago*

    Cygnus will remain attached to the orbiting laboratory until no earlier than March 2026, when it is scheduled to safely depart and dispose of up to 11,000 pounds of trash and unneeded cargo when it harmlessly burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.

    Literally:

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    [–] -1 points 11 months ago

    Docking ports 😉

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