Expedition 65 Commander Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will hand over command of the International Space Station today to ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet. Pesquet will command the station until he departs with Hoshide and NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough in mid-to-late November. The four crewmates have …
Payloads: Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF): The crew gained access to the ELF facility, removed and stowed processed samples, replaced four fixation fasteners, and then installed a new sample cartridge. ELF is an experimental facility designed to levitate, melt, and solidify materials by container-less processing techniques using the electrostatic levitation method. With this facility, thermophysical properties of high temperature melts can be …
SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft completed a successful parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida around 11 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 30. The capsule undocked from the station’s forward port of the Harmony module Thursday at 9:12 a.m., completing the voyage in approximately 14 hours. This marked the first time Cargo Dragon splashed down in …
Russia rolled out its Soyuz rocket in Kazakhstan early Friday morning that will launch three crewmates to the International Space Station next week. On the other side of the Earth, the SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle completed its mission Thursday night after splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. The next mission to the orbiting lab is …
On Sept. 29, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed a quick maneuver that positioned the spacecraft for a flyby of Venus next month.
SpaceX-23 Undock and Return: Cargo Dragon SpaceX-23 (SpX-23) undocked from the ISS today at 8:07 AM CT to return cargo and payloads to the ground concluding the 32-day mission aboard the ISS. SpX-23 will complete departure phasing throughout the day, jettison the Trunk for destructive re-entry, deorbit, and then splash down off the coast of …
A U.S. resupply ship departed the International Space Station on Thursday morning and will return to Earth in the evening. A Russian rocket is scheduled to roll out on Friday to prepare for next week’s launch with the crew members to the orbiting lab. NASA Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough was on duty monitoring the SpaceX …
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are now targeting Feb. 16, 2022, for the launch of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite T (GOES-T) mission. The launch was previously planned for Jan. 8, 2022. NASA, NOAA, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) coordinated the new target date to optimize launch schedules for missions flying from Space Launch Complex-41. …
With NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough monitoring aboard the International Space Station, a SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft undocked from the station’s forward port of the Harmony module at 9:12 a.m. EDT. Cargo Dragon will fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station prior to a deorbit burn later in the day that will …
NASA Television coverage is underway for departure of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station. The spacecraft is scheduled for automated release at 9:12 a.m. EDT. Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will command Dragon to undock from the forward port on the station’s Harmony module. After firing its thrusters to move …
