News Archive
Browse every article published on Spaceflight Now, from launch reports and mission previews to spacecraft development coverage. Use the filters to narrow by topic or search by keyword.
Matching Articles
358 articles
Crew 11 safely splashes down after shortened mission
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
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
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
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.
Northrop Grumman cargo ship reaches space Station
The capture came after Northrop Grumman engineers adjusted the sensitivity of main engine fault detection software that prematurely triggered shut downs during two rendezvous thruster firings Tuesday.
SpaceX successfully launches Super Heavy-Starship on critical test flight
While re-entry heating damaged a protective "skirt" around the the engine bay of the upper stage Starship, along with partially melting a control flap near its hinge, the vehicle remained under control throughout and made it all the way to a powered splashdown in the Indian Ocean as planned.
Cargo ship docks with International Space Station
Launched Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the cargo Dragon closed out a 28-hour rendezvous with an ahead-of-schedule docking at the lab's forward port at 7:05 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft were passing 260 miles above the Ivory Coast of Africa.
Crew 10 returns to Earth with Pacific Ocean splashdown
Two NASA astronauts, a Japanese flier and a Russian cosmonaut plunged back to Earth Saturday, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego to wrap up a five-month mission.
Fresh crew docks at space station; Starliner astronauts expected to return to Earth Tuesday
Approaching from behind and below, the Crew Dragon, launched Friday evening from the Kennedy Space Center, passed 1,300 feet directly under the station before looping up to a point 720 feet directly ahead of the outpost. From there, it glided straight in for docking at the Harmony module's forward port at 12:04 a.m. EDT.
Starship upper stage lost in second mishap in a row
SpaceX launched its huge Starship rocket on the program's eighth test flight Thursday, but a malfunction of some sort triggered multiple upper stage engine shutdowns and for the second flight in a row, the vehicle failed to reach its planned sub-orbital altitude and broke apart in a shower of debris.