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NASA astronaut joins Russian Soyuz crew for April flight to space station
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, veteran of a 168-day stay in space in 2017-18, will join two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft April 9 for a flight back to the International Space Station in a deal brokered through Houston-based Axiom Space, NASA and the Russian space agency announced Tuesday.

Next Crew Dragon launch set for April 22
NASA and SpaceX have set April 22 as the target launch date for the next Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station. The four-person crew will be the first to ride a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster and a reused Dragon spacecraft, and a NASA official said this week that the launcher and capsule are in "really good shape" as refurbishment wraps up at Cape Canaveral.

Rubins and Noguchi assemble solar array support fixtures outside space station
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi, a Japanese astronaut who last walked in space more than 15 years ago, ventured outside the International Space Station Friday and completed assembly of two solar array support fixtures, part of a $100 million power system upgrade.

Component fatigue caused early shutdown of Merlin engine on last SpaceX launch
SpaceX has concluded fatigue on an engine cover caused one of the nine Merlin 1D first stage engines on the company's most recent launch to shut down early during ascent, leading to the loss of the booster during an offshore landing attempt in the Atlantic Ocean, an official said Monday.

Astronauts complete spacewalk to prep for station power system upgrades
Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station Sunday for the first in a series of spacewalks to upgrade the lab's aging solar power system, assembling a support fixture that eventually will hold a new solar blanket.

Photos: Antares rocket blasts off from Eastern Shore of Virginia
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket powered off its launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia, on Feb. 20 with a Cygnus supply ship heading for the International Space Station.

Cancer survivor named to SpaceX flight promoting St. Jude hospital
A 29-year-old cancer survivor, now a physician's assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, will blast off aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule later this year for a flight dedicated to raising money for the Memphis medical center. It will be the first orbital spaceflight with no professional astronauts on board.

Northrop Grumman supply carrier delivers to International Space Station
A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station on Monday with more than 8,000 pounds of cargo, including new astronaut sleeping quarters, parts for the station's toilet, and numerous biomedical and technology experiments.

Antares rocket launches heavy cargo load to International Space Station
An Antares launcher rocketed into orbit Saturday from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, deploying a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship carrying nearly 8,400 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station, the the most massive collection of payloads ever flown to the research outpost on a U.S. commercial freighter.

Launch of Starliner test flight slips to no earlier April 2
The launch of the next test flight of Boeing's Starliner crew capsule has been delayed to no earlier than April 2 after workers replaced spacecraft avionics units damaged in a power surge during testing.