William Harwood – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to space station delayed to Friday by offshore weather

April 21, 2021

Launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station has been delayed 24 hours to Friday because of bad weather in the Atlantic Ocean where the crew could be forced to ditch in an emergency, NASA announced Wednesday.

Russian capsule brings home three space fliers

April 17, 2021

Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth early Saturday, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan amid preparations in Florida for launch of another station-bound crew Thursday aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Space station crew set for landing in Kazakhstan

April 16, 2021

Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut wrapping up a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station readied their Soyuz ferry ship for a fiery plunge back to Earth early Saturday amid preparations in Florida for launch of another station-bound crew Thursday aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Soyuz crew welcomed aboard International Space Station

April 9, 2021

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two cosmonauts blasted off from Kazakhstan Friday and docked with the International Space Station after a two-orbit chase, the first step in a record crew rotation requiring two launches and two landings with four different spacecraft in just three weeks.

NASA astronaut, two cosmonauts set for launch to space station

April 8, 2021

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two Russian cosmonauts will ride a Soyuz ferry ship to the International Space Station early Friday, the first step in a record crew rotation requiring two launches and two landings with four different spacecraft in just three weeks.

Final two passengers named for first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth

March 30, 2021

The billionaire financing the SpaceX flight that will carry the first non-professional “everyday people” into orbit in September, announced the final two members of his four-person crew Tuesday, adding an artist-educator and an aerospace worker selected in a charity-themed competition.

Biden to nominate former Sen. Bill Nelson as NASA administrator

March 19, 2021

Former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a longtime space advocate whose district included the Kennedy Space Center and who flew aboard the shuttle Columbia in 1986 as a congressional observer, is President Biden’s choice to serve as NASA’s next administrator, the White House announced Friday.

Spacewalkers vent coolant lines and mate cables outside space station

March 13, 2021

Struggling with balky electrical connectors, spacewalker Mike Hopkins managed to plug in and secure three of four thick power and data cables Saturday that are needed by a European experiment platform, leaving one cable for additional troubleshooting.

NASA astronaut joins Russian Soyuz crew for April flight to space station

March 9, 2021

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, veteran of a 168-day stay in space in 2017-18, will join two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft April 9 for a flight back to the International Space Station in a deal brokered through Houston-based Axiom Space, NASA and the Russian space agency announced Tuesday.

Rubins and Noguchi assemble solar array support fixtures outside space station

March 5, 2021

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi, a Japanese astronaut who last walked in space more than 15 years ago, ventured outside the International Space Station Friday and completed assembly of two solar array support fixtures, part of a $100 million power system upgrade.