William Harwood – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Moon mission fueling test concludes with no major problems

February 20, 2026 William Harwood

The practice countdown began Tuesday night, kicking off a carefully choreographed series of steps to ready the world’s most powerful operational rocket for what amounted to a simulated launch Thursday at 8:42 p.m. EST. Controllers then carried out additional tests to make sure the team can recycle, hold and restart an actual launch countdown as needed to handle unexpected problems.

Independent report sharply criticizes NASA management, Boeing for troubled Starliner flight

February 19, 2026 William Harwood

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said NASA will continue working with Boeing to make the Starliner a viable crew transport vehicle, adding that “sustained crew and cargo access to low Earth orbit will remain essential, and America benefits from competition and redundancy.”

Replacement crew docks at space station, boosts crew back to seven

February 15, 2026 William Harwood

The Crew Dragon docked at the space-facing port of the lab’s forward Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. EST, 34 hours after launch Friday from the Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA waves off February launch for Artemis II moon mission; now targeting early March

February 3, 2026 William Harwood

Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, in pre-flight medical quarantine at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, had hope to fly to Florida Tuesday to begin final preparations for launch. Instead, they will remain in Houston and rejoin family, friends and co-workers.

Countdown underway for critical moon rocket fueling test Monday

February 1, 2026 William Harwood

The countdown began Saturday evening and will continue through the start of a simulated launch window opening at 9 p.m. EST Monday. The test started two days late because of predicted arctic weather along Florida’s Space Coast.

Crew 11 safely splashes down after shortened mission

January 15, 2026 William Harwood

Four space station crewmates undocked and plunged back to Earth Thursday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast six days after NASA ordered them home early because of a medical issue.

Crew-11 to cut mission short and return to Earth due to medical issue

January 9, 2026 William Harwood

In keeping with the agency’s strict medical privacy policy, NASA officials have not identified the astronaut in question or provided any details about the nature of the medical issue.

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.