William Harwood – Spaceflight Now

Soyuz safely lands in Kazakhstan

December 9, 2025 William Harwood

A NASA astronaut and two cosmonaut crewmates strapped into their Soyuz ferry ship Monday evening, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged to an on-target landing on the frigid steppe of Kazakhstan early Tuesday to wrap up an eight-month mission.

NASA astronaut, two cosmonauts take Thanksgiving Day ride to space station

November 27, 2025 William Harwood

Astronomer-turned-medical physicist and now NASA astronaut Chris Williams joined two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz ferry ship Thursday for a Thanksgiving Day flight to the International Space Station, kicking off a planned eight-month stay in orbit.

SpaceX launches joint NASA-European sea level monitor

November 17, 2025 William Harwood

SpaceX launched a joint NASA-European environmental research satellite early Monday, the second in an ongoing billion-dollar project to measure long-term changes in sea level, a key indicator of climate change.

Blue Origin launches twin Mars probes for NASA as New Glenn makes first landing

November 13, 2025 William Harwood

Blue Origin launched its second heavy-lift New Glenn rocket Thursday, putting two small NASA satellites onto a long, looping course to Mars to learn more about how the sun has slowly blown away the red planet’s once thick atmosphere.

Northrop Grumman cargo ship reaches space Station

September 18, 2025 William Harwood

The capture came after Northrop Grumman engineers adjusted the sensitivity of main engine fault detection software that prematurely triggered shut downs during two rendezvous thruster firings Tuesday.

SpaceX successfully launches Super Heavy-Starship on critical test flight

August 27, 2025 William Harwood

While re-entry heating damaged a protective “skirt” around the the engine bay of the upper stage Starship, along with partially melting a control flap near its hinge, the vehicle remained under control throughout and made it all the way to a powered splashdown in the Indian Ocean as planned.

Cargo ship docks with International Space Station

August 25, 2025 William Harwood

Launched Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the cargo Dragon closed out a 28-hour rendezvous with an ahead-of-schedule docking at the lab’s forward port at 7:05 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft were passing 260 miles above the Ivory Coast of Africa.

ULA launches Vulcan rocket on first Space Force mission

August 13, 2025 William Harwood

Equipped with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters for additional takeoff power, the 198-foot-tall Vulcan’s two methane-fueled BE-4 engines thundered to life at 8:56p.m. EDT, instantly propelling the rocket away from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Crew 10 returns to Earth with Pacific Ocean splashdown

August 9, 2025 William Harwood

Two NASA astronauts, a Japanese flier and a Russian cosmonaut plunged back to Earth Saturday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego to wrap up a five-month mission.

NASA probes to study how the solar wind triggers potentially dangerous ‘space weather’

July 23, 2025 William Harwood

SpaceX launched twin satellites for NASA Wednesday that will study how the electrically-charged solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, creating constantly changing and occasionally dangerous “space weather” affecting satellites, electrical grids and other critical systems.