November 2021 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX crew capsule docks at International Space Station

November 12, 2021 William Harwood

The day after a sky-lighting Florida launch, four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule chased down the International Space Station Thursday and glided in for a problem-free docking, kicking off a half-year stay aboard the orbital outpost.

SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket for Starlink launch

November 11, 2021 Stephen Clark

Just ten hours after launching a crew capsule from a nearby pad, SpaceX ignited the main engines on a reused Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday morning for a brief test-firing ahead of a planned liftoff Friday to begin a new phase of deploying the company’s Starlink satellite internet network.

SpaceX debuts new Dragon capsule in launch to the International Space Station

November 11, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched four astronauts toward the International Space Station on a brand new Dragon spacecraft Wednesday night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, continuing the company’s swift acceleration of crew missions just two days after another capsule returned to Earth.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab scrubs launch attempt in New Zealand

November 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab scrubbed a launch attempt Thursday in New Zealand to allow time to study an “out of family” ground sensor reading and complete recovery preparations for the Electron rocket’s first stage booster.

Raja Chari is the first rookie astronaut in 48 years to command a NASA mission

November 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

Raja Chari, a veteran U.S. Air Force test pilot and combat veteran awaiting launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, is the first rookie astronaut to command a NASA space mission since the final crew blasted off to the Skylab space station in 1973.

Live coverage: SpaceX crew capsule docks at International Space Station

November 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s third operational crew mission to the International Space Station launched at 9:03 p.m. EST Wednesday (0203 GMT Thursday) on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer took off to begin a nearly six-month expedition on the International Space Station, where they docked at 6:32 p.m. EST (2332 GMT) Thursday.

China’s first female spacewalker helps outfit space station robotic arm

November 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping, the first Chinese woman to perform a spacewalk, stepped outside China’s space station Sunday for an excursion lasting more than six hours to ready the orbiting lab’s robotic arm for operations.

SpaceX crew capsule brings astronauts home after nearly 200 days in orbit

November 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

Two NASA astronauts and mission specialists from Japan and France closed out a 199-day flight Monday on a SpaceX crew capsule, departing the International Space Station and riding their Dragon spacecraft through a scorching re-entry and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dragon to perform first 360-degree flyaround of space station since shuttle

November 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

Four astronauts closing out an expedition of nearly 200 days in orbit floated into their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at the International Space Station Monday, a couple of hours before the ship was scheduled to undock and fly a 360-degree loop around the complex on the way back to Earth.

Live coverage: Dragon crew capsule splashes down in Gulf of Mexico

November 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

Four astronauts departed the International Space Station Monday after nearly 200 days in orbit, heading for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. The capsule undocked from the station at 2:05 p.m. EST (1905 GMT), and splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 10:33 p.m. EST (0333 GMT).