Space Station – Page 20 – Spaceflight Now

Astronauts complete spacewalk for space station maintenance and upgrades

March 23, 2022 William Harwood

Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday and installed refurbished ammonia jumpers in the lab’s cooling system to bring it back up to full efficiency, replaced a high-definition camera and made power and data connections on a European experiment platform.

Soyuz carries three cosmonauts to station as Nelson touts cooperation

March 18, 2022 William Harwood

Three cosmonauts blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Friday, caught up with the International Space Station after a two-orbit rendezvous and moved in for docking at a newly arrived Russian module. The cosmonauts are replacing three crew members — two Russians and an American — who are heading home at the end of the month to close out a record-setting flight.

Live coverage: Russian cosmonauts launch on Soyuz rocket

March 18, 2022 Stephen Clark

An all-Russian crew of three cosmonauts launched Friday at 11:55 a.m. EDT (1555 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, heading to orbit on a Soyuz rocket to begin a six-and-a-half month expedition on the International Space Station. The trio docked with the space station at 3:12 p.m. EDT (1912 GMT).

Three-man Russian crew ready for launch to International Space Station

March 17, 2022 Stephen Clark

Three cosmonauts set to kick off a six-and-a-half month expedition in orbit will launch Friday on Russia’s first mission to the International Space Station since the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Astronauts prep for new solar arrays on nearly seven-hour spacewalk

March 15, 2022 Stephen Clark

Astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari floated out of the International Space Station airlock for a spacewalk Tuesday, installing brackets and struts to support new solar arrays to upgrade the research lab’s power system on the same day that crewmate Mark Vande Hei marked his 341st day in orbit, a U.S. record for a single spaceflight.

Boeing Starliner test flight next on ULA’s launch schedule

March 11, 2022 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Space Force has postponed a multi-spacecraft mission that was booked to fly on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in April, moving a redo of a test flight for Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule to the front of the line on ULA’s launch schedule.

War of words between Russian space chief and retired astronaut

March 7, 2022 William Harwood

Retired NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a U.S.-record 340 days aboard the International Space Station, has taken to Twitter to pass along “real” news to his 5 million followers, many of them in Russia, about the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In the process, a war of words has broken out between the astronaut and Dmitry Rogozin, director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

NASA official says U.S.-Russian partnership continues on space station

February 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

Kathy Lueders, head of NASA’s human spaceflight operations division, said Monday that joint activities on the International Space Station are continuing amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, including preparations for the return of NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei to Earth on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft March 30.

Northrop Grumman delivers cargo and new reboost capability to space station

February 21, 2022 Stephen Clark

A commercial Cygnus cargo freighter from Northrop Grumman arrived at the International Space Station Monday, delivering more than 8,000 pounds of supplies and a new U.S. capability to reboost the altitude of the complex independent of Russian rocket thrusters.

Antares rocket launch kicks off space station resupply mission

February 19, 2022 Stephen Clark

Northrop Grumman launched a cargo flight from Virginia’s Eastern Shore Saturday using an Antares booster with a first stage designed and built in Ukraine, a successful start for a mission to deliver food, experiments, and supplies to the seven-person crew on the International Space Station.