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SpaceX ready for launch of first all-commercial crew to space station
SpaceX and a Houston company are gearing up to launch four private citizens Friday on the first NASA-sanctioned, fully commercial flight to the International Space Station, a key step in a government push to encourage private-sector development on the high frontier.

NASA astronaut back on Earth after record-setting flight
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei joined two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth Wednesday, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a U.S.-record 355-day stay in space.

NASA astronaut, two cosmonauts set for Wednesday return to Earth
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, launched by Russia to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft last April, returns this week to a world torn by war in Ukraine and escalating superpower tension as he closes out a 355-day stay in orbit, the longest single flight by a U.S. astronaut.

Astronauts complete spacewalk for space station maintenance and upgrades
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
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.

NASA: Space station operations continue smoothly despite Ukraine invasion
Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine and worsening relations, joint operation of the International Space Station continues normally with plans in place to bring NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei back to Earth as planned aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft at the end of the month, a senior NASA manager said Monday.

War of words between Russian space chief and retired astronaut
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.
VideoEngineers pleased with Webb’s progress as mirror alignment gets underway
The first images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope were unveiled Friday, a "selfie" showing the observatory's 21.3-foot-wide primary mirror and a mosaic showing multiple images of a nondescript star being used to align the 18 segments making up the main mirror.

Webb reaches orbital destination a million miles from Earth
The James Webb Space Telescope slipped into orbit around a point in space nearly a million miles from Earth Monday where it can capture light from the first stars and galaxies to form in the aftermath of the Big Bang.

Webb closes in on destination with critical mirror alignment on tap
Thirty days outbound from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope will slip into its parking orbit a million miles away Monday, an ideal spot to scan the heavens in search of faint infrared light from the first generation of stars and galaxies.