Johnson Space Center – Spaceflight Now

NASA’s space station program manager retiring from agency

June 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

Kirk Shireman, NASA’s program manager for the International Space Station, is retiring from the space agency later this month to take a position in private industry.

Dragon crew begins augmented version of NASA’s standard pre-launch quarantine

May 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has added extra safeguards to the agency’s standard pre-launch quarantine protocol to protect astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley from the coronavirus and other contagions in the final two weeks before their scheduled May 27 launch on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Video: Demo-2 crew training reel

May 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

This video reel offers insights into the training of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley for their launch on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Dragon astronauts wrap up training, prepare to enter quarantine

May 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley completed their final training sessions in Houston this week before their scheduled May 27 liftoff on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center, the first launch of humans from the Florida spaceport since 2011.

SpaceX aces last Dragon parachute test before crew launch

May 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX completed Friday the last drop test of the Dragon crew capsule’s parachutes before the first launch of astronauts on the human-rated ship May 27, while technicians at Cape Canaveral have mated the spacecraft’s crew module with its unpressurized trunk section.

Video: Astronauts participate in Crew Dragon launch day dress rehearsal

April 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, assigned to fly SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on its first piloted mission into orbit, participated in a dress rehearsal of their suit-up procedures and a trip to launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 17, 2020.

Photos: Astronauts train to ride a Dragon into space

April 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, two veteran space shuttle fliers, are gearing up to fly a privately-developed SpaceX Dragon capsule into orbit this year. These photos chronicle their recent training.

Crew training continues for SpaceX’s first launch with astronauts

April 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

During a visit to Cape Canaveral this week, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken strapped in to the SpaceX crew capsule they will ride into orbit as soon as mid-to-late May. Next week, the astronauts will be in Houston to continue training for an extended stay on the International Space Station that could last two-to-three months.

Pandemic prompts few changes to busy month on space station

April 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

U.S. and Russian vehicles ferrying crews and cargo will continue traveling to and from the International Space Station this month, sustaining the orbiting lab in its 20th year of continuous human occupation amid an escalating pandemic on Earth.

Christina Koch having no problems re-adapting to Earth after record space flight

February 12, 2020 William Harwood

Astronaut Christina Koch, six days after returning from a record 11-month stay aboard the International Space Station, said Wednesday she’s re-adapting to gravity with no major problems, enjoying family life, an initial trip to the beach, playing with her dog “LBD” and a kitchen packed with chips and salsa, a favorite food in short supply aboard the station.