Mission Reports

Station trio set for return to Earth

A veteran cosmonaut, a German volcanologist and a Navy test pilot-turned-astronaut whose mastery of social media earned him — and NASA — a global following, bid their space station crewmates farewell and sealed the hatch of their Soyuz ferry craft, setting the stage for undocking and a fiery trip back to Earth to close out a 165-day stay aboard the International Space Station.

Antares Launcher

Orbital looking for Cygnus launch slots next year

Facing pressure to find a ride into space for its commercial Cygnus cargo craft in the wake of a catastrophic rocket failure, Orbital Sciences Corp. says it has found openings in the mission manifests of the world’s busiest launch operators to accommodate resupply flights to the International Space Station next year.