JAXA – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Watch a live view of the Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad

April 15, 2021 Stephen Clark

Bad weather offshore has forced SpaceX and NASA to delay Thursday’s planned launch of the Crew Dragon by a day. Better conditions are expected on Friday for a 5:49 a.m. EDT (0949 GMT) liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour meets Falcon 9 rocket for launch next week

April 14, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX trucked its Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft — refurbished with a new heat shield and structural enhancements — across the Cape Canaveral spaceport this week for attachment to a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of a planned liftoff next Thursday with four astronauts heading to the International Space Station.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule swaps docking ports on space station

April 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

In the home stretch of nearly a half-year on the International Space Station, four astronauts suited up and rode their SpaceX-owned Crew Dragon “Resilience” spaceship to a new docking port outside the orbiting research lab Monday, a first-of-its kind maneuver for the new generation of commercial crew spaceships.

Live coverage: SpaceX crew capsule moves to new space station docking port

April 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

Four astronauts strapped into their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Monday and rode along for an automated maneuver to relocate the capsule to a different docking port outside the International Space Station. The relocation maneuver, which concluded with a link-up with the new docking port 7:08 a.m. EDT (1108 GMT), was the first of its kind for a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Station astronauts prep for relocation of SpaceX crew capsule

April 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

Commander Mike Hopkins and his three crewmates will board their Crew Dragon “Resilience” capsule Monday for a first-time maneuver to relocate the SpaceX-owned spaceship to a new docking port outside the International Space Station.

Busy month of crew rotations on tap at International Space Station

April 1, 2021 Stephen Clark

Seven astronauts and cosmonauts are gearing up for launches April 9 and April 22 to the International Space Station, replacing seven outgoing crew members set to land in Kazakhstan and off the coast of Florida on April 17 and April 28.

Garbage pallet jettisoned from space station will stay in orbit two-to-four years

March 12, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA ground controllers sent commands to the International Space Station on Thursday for release of a 2.9-ton cargo pallet loaded with old batteries, the most massive object ever jettisoned from the orbiting outpost. The garbage carrier is expected to remain in orbit for two-to-four years before re-entering the atmosphere.

Next Crew Dragon launch set for April 22

March 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA and SpaceX have set April 22 as the target launch date for the next Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station. The four-person crew will be the first to ride a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster and a reused Dragon spacecraft, and a NASA official said this week that the launcher and capsule are in “really good shape” as refurbishment wraps up at Cape Canaveral.

Rubins and Noguchi assemble solar array support fixtures outside space station

March 5, 2021 William Harwood

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi, a Japanese astronaut who last walked in space more than 15 years ago, ventured outside the International Space Station Friday and completed assembly of two solar array support fixtures, part of a $100 million power system upgrade.

Crew Dragon breaks record for longest flight by human-rated U.S. spacecraft

February 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that carried four astronauts to the International Space Station in November broke the record Sunday for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crew vehicle, surpassing the 84-day mark set by an Apollo capsule on the final flight to the Skylab space station in 1974.