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Atlas 5 rocket aims for Tuesday morning launch of supplies to space station
Air Force meteorologists on this Good Friday have released their initial forecast for Tuesday's launch of a cargo ship to the International Space Station, predicting favorable conditions to fly the Atlas 5 booster on a commercial mission.
Science: Cygnus to make science-enabling delivery to the space station
Loaded with investigations into chemotherapy drugs with reduced side effects and radiation detectors for homeland security, a plant-growing chamber to promote future food harvesting in space and a technology demonstration for sample-return capsules, a commercial Cygnus cargo vessel will be sent to the International Space Station next week.
Photos: Soyuz MS-02 spaceship lands in Kazakhstan
Carrying three space station crew members back home after 173 days in orbit, the Russian Soyuz MS-02 landing craft touched down in Kazakhstan on Monday after a parachute-assisted descent through clear skies.
Video: Expedition 50 landing
Remarkable video shot near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, shows the Soyuz capsule descending under parachute for an on-target landing. The touchdown safely capped the three-man Expedition 50 crew's 173-day mission to the International Space Station.
VideoLive coverage: Three-man crew closes out 173-day space mission
Outgoing space station commander Shane Kimbrough and two Russian crewmates returned to Earth on Monday, riding a Soyuz capsule in a bubble of hot plasma to a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan. The trio undocked from the space station at 0757 GMT (3:57 a.m. EDT) and landed on the Kazakh steppe at 1120 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT) Monday.
NASA, Roscosmos open to extending station operations to 2028
Top officials from NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, could decide soon to commit to keeping the International Space Station staffed and flying through at least 2028, four years after the research lab's current retirement date.
Videos: Cygnus prepped for mission to space laboratory
This is video footage documenting preparations for the commercial Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter to perform the OA-7 mission to the International Space Station. Activities occurred at the Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility and the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The craft will be boosted into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on April 18 at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).
Whitson’s station expedition extended three months
NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, have agreed to extend astronaut Peggy Whitson's stay aboard the International Space Station by three months to enable uninterrupted research aboard the orbital laboratory during a period when Russia is temporarily reducing its crew complement, the U.S. space agency said Wednesday.
Photos: Cygnus spacecraft readied for launch to International Space Station
These photographs span activities in March as the news media got an up-close viewing of the Orbital ATK commercial Cygnus cargo ship, its placement aboard a mobile transporter and delivery of the craft to the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket assembly building for hoisting and mating. Liftoff is scheduled for April 18.
Spacewalkers improvise after fabric shield floats away
Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson, setting a new record as the world's most experienced female spacewalker, floated outside the International Space Station Thursday and continued work to set up a second docking port for U.S. crew ferry ships. They also installed an upgraded computer relay box and protective shielding before calling it a day.