International Space Station
Japanese cargo launch reset for Tuesday after fire
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the prime contractor for Japan’s H-2B rocket, said Friday that engineers concluded a fire on the launch pad during a countdown earlier this month was most likely sparked by static electricity and stimulated by oxygen. The H-2B rocket launch has been rescheduled for Tuesday to start a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Soyuz spacecraft, humanoid robot return to Earth after 16-day test flight
An unpiloted Russian Soyuz spacecraft, carrying a humanoid robot instead of cosmonauts, parachuted to a rare nighttime landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan Friday (U.S. time) to wrap up a test flight to the International Space Station that paved the way for crewed launches using upgraded Soyuz boosters next year.
Live coverage: Soyuz test flight concludes with landing in Kazakhstan
Russia’s unpiloted Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft departed the International Space Station at 2:14 p.m. EDT (1814 GMT) and landed in Kazakhstan at 5:32 p.m. EDT (2132 GMT) Friday to conclude a nearly 16-day test flight. The spacecraft carried Russia’s Skybot F-850 robot back to Earth after completing a series of tests with Russian cosmonauts on the station.