Human Spaceflight – Page 70

Shenzhou 11 glides to orbital link-up with Chinese space lab

October 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

Two days after blasting off on a Long March rocket, a Shenzhou spaceship carrying two Chinese astronauts linked up with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab nearly 250 miles above Earth Tuesday to begin a one-month stay inside the mini-station.

Live coverage: Cygnus supply ship captured by space station robot arm

October 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

After waiting for a Soyuz crew ferry craft to launch and dock, a commercial Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station with a fresh delivery of more than 5,100 pounds of provisions and experiments Sunday. The rendezvous culminated in the spaceship’s grapple by the space station’s robotic arm at 7:28 a.m. EDT (1128 GMT).

Chinese astronauts launch on month-long space mission

October 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

Two Chinese military pilots rode a Long March 2F rocket into orbit Sunday, heading for the Tiangong 2 research lab to conduct experiments and practice procedures to be used on China’s future space station.

Key events during Shenzhou 11’s ascent to orbit

October 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

It will take less than 10 minutes for a Long March 2F rocket to send two astronauts inside the Shenzhou 11 space capsule on course toward a docking with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab.

Live coverage: Chinese space capsule docks with Tiangong 2

October 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

Soaring more than 200 miles above Earth, a Chinese spacecraft with two astronauts on-board closed in for docking with the Tiangong 2 space lab just before 1930 GMT (3:30 p.m. EDT).

Chinese spacecraft poised for launch with two astronauts

October 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

China is gearing up to launch two astronauts on a month-long expedition to the country’s new orbiting space lab module Sunday.

NASA has no plans to buy more Soyuz seats, and it may be too late anyway

October 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA is sure enough that Boeing and SpaceX can safely launch astronauts to the International Space Station by early 2019 to hold off paying Russia to keep flying U.S. crews to the research complex, and one official says a deadline to order parts for new Russian Soyuz crew capsules may have already passed.

Critical Antares rocket launch set for Friday night

October 10, 2016 Stephen Clark

The debut launch of an upgraded version of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket has slipped to Friday after ground teams resolved a minor vehicle issue and made emergency preparations for Hurricane Matthew, which bypassed the Antares launch site on Virginia’s Eastern Shore this weekend.

Managers set Oct. 13 for first Antares launch in two years

October 4, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA and Orbital ATK officials have set Oct. 13 as the target date for the first Antares launch in nearly two years, giving approval for ground crews to load final cargo into the mission’s Cygnus supply carrier heading for the International Space Station.

Russian space station crews to be smaller next year

September 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

Russia’s space agency has decided to cut the size of its crew complement on the International Space Station beginning in March 2017 to reduce operating costs until a new Russian science lab is activated on the complex in early 2018, officials confirmed this week.