International Space Station – Page 80

SpaceX readies rocket for tests at historic pad 39A

February 8, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX engineers are preparing to mount a Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Center’s historic launch pad 39A for the first time this week as the company declares the modified facility ready to support a new era of commercial space missions.

NASA okays commercial airlock for space station

February 6, 2017 Stephen Clark

A commercial airlock built in partnership by NanoRacks and Boeing will be connected to the International Space Station in 2019, the companies announced Monday, after the proposed project won preliminary approval from NASA managers.

Japanese cargo ship ends mission after space debris experiment flounders

February 6, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan’s HTV supply ship fell to Earth on Sunday more than a week after leaving the International Space Station, burning up in the atmosphere after officials gave up on an experiment looking into ways to remove space junk from orbit.

ULA’s navy delivers rocket that will launch supplies to the space station

February 5, 2017 Justin Ray

The ocean-sailing ship that transports rocket stages from United Launch Alliance’s factory to U.S. launch sites completed its latest voyage overnight, pulling into port to deliver the Atlas 5 that will send a cargo freighter to the International Space Station in March.

Astronauts will ride on Starliner capsules in ‘Boeing Blue’ spacesuits

February 1, 2017 Stephen Clark

Boeing has unveiled a new lightweight spacesuit, fitted with zippers, breathable stitching and plenty of Velcro, to protect NASA astronauts on trips to the International Space Station aboard the company’s CST-100 Starliner capsule.

Station cargo flight leapfrogs commercial satellite launch on SpaceX manifest

January 29, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX said Sunday that the first Falcon 9 rocket launch from pad 39A, a former shuttle-era complex at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is scheduled to send a Dragon supply ship to the International Space Station in mid-February, deferring a mission with an EchoStar communications satellite that was set to take off this month.

Japanese cargo craft departs space station

January 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan’s sixth HTV supply ship departed the International Space Station on Friday and headed for a destructive re-entry over the South Pacific with trash and disused batteries from the research lab, but engineers will first use the spacecraft for a pioneering experiment to investigate a new way to remove space junk from orbit.

Launch failure probe prompts engine swap on Soyuz crew’s rocket

January 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

Russian engineers will replace rocket engines on two Soyuz rockets assigned to send a batch of supplies and the next crew to the International Space Station after an investigation revealed foreign objects or a manufacturing defect led to the crash of a Progress cargo craft on launch in December, according to Russian media reports and a statement from the Russian space agency.

Spacewalkers continue station battery refresh with EVA

January 6, 2017 William Harwood

Two spacewalking astronauts working outside the International Space Station Friday completed work to replace aging batteries in one of the lab’s eight main solar power circuits. A second spacewalk next week, along with additional work with the station’s robot arm, will upgrade a second power channel.

Spending Christmas in space

December 24, 2016 Justin Ray

A Christmas Eve reading from the book of Genesis by the Apollo 8 astronauts — commander Frank Borman, lunar module pilot Bill Anders and command module pilot Jim Lovell — from lunar orbit in 1968.