Space Station Live: January 4, 2016

Space station astronaut Reid Wiseman, preparing to return to Earth this weekend after 165 days in orbit, said commercial spaceflight represents the “next breakthrough” in aerospace technology, and that he hopes Virgin Galactic can ultimately turn that dream into reality despite the fatal crash of the company’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane.

Russia plans to stay part of the International Space Station partnership until 2024, then undock its modules to create a standalone base in orbit, the Russian space agency announced Tuesday.

Continuing a busy week of comings and goings at the International Space Station, a Russian Progress supply ship is set for liftoff at 0709 GMT (3:09 a.m. EDT) Wednesday from Kazakhstan with nearly 5,200 pounds of food, fuel and supplies for the six-person crew on the International Space Station.