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Kelly, Kornienko braced for marathon mission
Shuttle veteran Scott Kelly first heard about NASA's plans to send an astronaut to the International Space Station for nearly a full year shortly after he completed his third space flight in 2011, a 159-day stay aboard the orbital lab complex.
Soyuz lands in Kazakhstan, returning international crew home
Three space station fliers -- the outgoing NASA commander and two Russian cosmonauts -- undocked and returned to Earth Wednesday, ending a 167-day stay in space with a communications blackout that left the crew out of contact with flight controllers during much of the trip home.
Astronauts install antennas for commercial crew capsules
Astronauts Terry Virts and space station commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore ventured back outside Sunday for their third spacewalk in eight days to complete initial preparations for upcoming dockings by commercially developed Boeing and SpaceX crew ferry ships.
NASA approves Sunday spacewalk
International Space Station managers Friday cleared astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Terry Virts to proceed with a third spacewalk Sunday, as originally planned, after concluding a small amount of water in Virts' space helmet after an EVA Wednesday was an understood condition and not a threat to crew safety.
Successful spacewalk ends with water leak
Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Terry Virts floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday for the second of three spacewalks to help ready the complex for dockings by commercial crew capsules. Back inside the station's airlock, Virts reported a small amount of water in his space helmet, but officials said he was not in any danger.
Astronauts prep space station for commercial capsules
Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Terry Virts floated outside the International Space Station Saturday and installed wiring needed for two new docking mechanisms that will be attached later this year for use by Boeing and SpaceX crew capsules.
Astronauts, spacesuits ready for spacewalk Saturday
NASA space station managers decided Thursday to delay the first two of three planned spacewalks by one day to give flight controllers and engineers a chance to catch their collective breath after exhaustive troubleshooting to verify the health of critical internal spacesuit components.
Boeing, SpaceX on track for commercial crew flights to station in 2017
NASA expects to spend some $5 billion underwriting development of commercial spacecraft built by Boeing and SpaceX to carry astronauts to and from the space station, ending reliance on the Russians for crew flights and lowering the average cost per seat to around $58 million.
VideoAstronauts return to US side of space station after leak scare
Concern about a possible ammonia coolant leak Wednesday prompted astronauts on the International Space Station to evacuate the U.S. segment of the complex and shelter in the Russian portion of the outpost while flight controllers scrambled to untangle initially confusing telemetry.
SpaceX launch scrubbed by steering system problem
Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo ship loaded with more than 5,100 pounds of equipment and supplies bound for the International Space Station was called off Tuesday less than two minutes before liftoff because of apparent problems with the second stage engine steering system.