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
656 articles
Crew Dragon brings four astronauts back to nighttime splashdown
Four astronauts strapped into their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged to a fiery pre-dawn splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, closing out the first operational flight of SpaceX's futuristic touch-screen ferry ship.
VideoLive coverage: Four astronauts return home after 167 days in space
NASA commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Shannon Walker, and Japanese mission specialist Soichi Noguchi wrapped up a 167-day mission early Sunday with a splashdown at sea aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at around 2:56 a.m. EDT (0656 GMT).
VideoAstronauts describe thrilling ride to orbit on Falcon 9 rocket
When the countdown hit zero last Friday and the engines powering a previously flown Falcon 9 first stage roared to life for takeoff, the four astronauts strapped into a SpaceX Crew Dragon some 21 stories up started laughing.

Crew Dragon return postponed again by poor weather
The departure and return to Earth of a four-person space station crew on a SpaceX Dragon capsule has been postponed again by high winds in the splashdown zone in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA and SpaceX officials announced the Crew Dragon is now scheduled to undock from the International Space Station late Saturday for a predawn splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday.

Return of SpaceX crew capsule delayed by high winds
High winds predicted off the coast of Florida this week will keep SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft and its four-person crew in orbit until Saturday, three days after their previously scheduled return to Earth from the International Space Station.
VideoNASA’s Ingenuity helicopter aces first longer-range flight on Mars
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flew farther and faster Sunday than the rotorcraft's first two test flights in the Martian atmosphere, traveling the length of a football field while exceeding distances and speeds achieved during testing on Earth, officials said.

With SpaceX crew docking, it’s a full house on the International Space Station
A refurbished SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship linked up with the International Space Station early Saturday more than 260 miles above Earth, delivering four veteran astronauts to the orbiting research complex and temporarily raising the lab’s crew complement to 11.
VideoNASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight
The second flight of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter in the Martian atmosphere Thursday took the rotorcraft higher than its first hop. A third takeoff as soon as Sunday will take the helicopter more than 150 feet away from its makeshift airfield as engineers attempt more daring test flights.

SpaceX launches astronauts on recycled capsule and ‘flight-proven’ rocket
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ferried a multinational crew into orbit at the break of dawn Friday with a spectacular sky-lighting launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, dazzling early risers along the East Coast with a flawless start to a planned six-month expedition on the International Space Station.

Crew-2 mission timeline
This detailed mission timeline covers major vehicle and crew activities during the Crew-2 countdown and rendezvous with the International Space Station.