Space Station

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule loaded with more than 5,800 pounds of supplies and experiments docked with the International Space Station Saturday, delivering a NASA instrument to study the mineral content of dust storms and several small CubeSats slated for deployment from the complex.

Dmitry Rogozin, the bellicose director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos who has railed against NASA and its western space allies over sanctions imposed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is stepping down under orders from President Vladimir Putin. NASA also announced Friday it has finalized a no-funds-exchanged agreement with Roscosmos to allow Russian cosmonauts to launch to the International Space Station on U.S. crew vehicles and U.S. astronauts to fly on Russian Soyuz capsules.

A commercial Cygnus supply ship from Northrop Grumman departed the International Space Station Tuesday, completing a four-month stay after delivering more than 8,000 pounds of cargo and boosting the research lab into a slightly higher orbit. The Cygnus spacecraft was expected to deploy a CubeSat before heading for a destructive re-entry.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft parachuted to a “picture perfect” landing in southern New Mexico Wednesday, capping a six-day test flight to the International Space Station that NASA’s commercial crew program manager said paves the way for the next Starliner mission to carry astronauts.

Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule closed out a six-day unpiloted test flight Wednesday with undocking from the International Space Station, followed by return to Earth about four hours later. Undocking occurred at 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT), and the capsule parachuted to a successful landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 6:49 p.m. EDT (4:49 p.m. MDT; 2249 GMT).

Astronauts on the International Space Station closed the hatch to Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft Tuesday, and ground teams used the lab’s robotic arm to inspect the capsule’s heat shield to clear the test vehicle for undocking Wednesday and return to Earth for a late afternoon landing in New Mexico.