Q&A with Josef Aschbacher, director of ESA’s Earth observation programs (members only)

Three heavy-duty Antonov cargo planes flew components of Europe’s ExoMars orbiter and lander from Italy to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazkhastan last week, setting up for a March 14 launch toward the red planet.

A Russian cosmonaut, a German flight engineer and a NASA astronaut undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth overnight Wednesday, landing on the snowy steppe of Kazakhstan to wrap up a six-month mission.

SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship, loaded with nearly 5,500 pounds of cargo and experiments, aborted an approach to the International Space Station on Wednesday after encountering a problem in its GPS navigation system.