Human Spaceflight – Spaceflight Now

Russian cosmonauts complete long spacewalk

August 17, 2017

Two Russian cosmonauts floated outside the International Space Station Thursday for a planned six-hour spacewalk to manually launch five small satellites, to test a variety of spacesuit upgrades, to retrieve an external experiment and to carry out routine inspections and maintenance.

Station crew captures Dragon supply ship, gets early start on unpacking

August 16, 2017

Two days after departing from a launch pad on Florida’s Space Coast, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday with more than 6,400 pounds of experiments and supplies after concluding an automated laser-guided approach.

Space station crew looks forward to eclipse

August 11, 2017

The International Space Station’s crew will enjoy views of the Aug. 21 solar eclipse during three successive orbits, giving the astronauts a unique opportunity to take in the celestial show from 250 miles up as the moon’s shadow races across from the Pacific Ocean and the continental United States before moving out over the Atlantic.

Replays of new station crew’s liftoff and docking

July 30, 2017

Watch replays of the launch and docking of the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft Friday with three new crew members for the International Space Station.

Soyuz rockets into space with three bound for station

July 28, 2017

A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from Kazakhstan Friday, boosting a three-man crew into orbit for a six-hour flight to the International Space Station.

Live coverage: Veteran three-man crew docks with space station

July 28, 2017

Three fresh crew members lifted off at 1541 GMT (11:41 a.m. EDT) Friday on a six-hour trip to the International Space Station, riding a Soyuz spaceship from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio hails from Russia, the United States and Italy and boosted the station’s crew back to a full complement of six. Docking occurred at 2154 GMT (5:54 p.m. EDT).

Soyuz crew set for Friday launch to space station

July 27, 2017

Launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Friday carrying three fresh crew members to the International Space Station will boost the lab’s crew back to six and, most important from NASA’s perspective, dramatically boost research with four crew members — three NASA astronauts and a veteran European flier — available to operate experiments in the American segment of the laboratory.

Launcher for next space station crew in position for liftoff Friday

July 26, 2017

A Russian Soyuz rocket made a railroad journey Wednesday to its launch pad in Kazakhstan, two days before blastoff with a crew of three spaceflight veterans from the United States, Italy and Russia heading for the International Space Station.

Propulsive landings nixed from SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship

July 19, 2017

SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon capsules will not return astronauts to Earth for powered landings as originally envisioned, company boss Elon Musk said Wednesday, a design change that raises questions about the space transport firm’s plans to send commercial landers to the surface of Mars.

Live coverage: SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship ends month-long mission

July 3, 2017

A Dragon supply ship owned and operated by SpaceX departed the International Space Station early Monday and returned to Earth for a predawn splashdown in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles with scientific specimens and other equipment. Astronaut Jack Fischer released the Dragon cargo capsule from the station’s robotic arm at 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT), and splashdown occurred around 8:12 a.m. EDT (1212 GMT).