NASA – Spaceflight Now

NASA astronaut unfazed by frightening launch abort

October 16, 2018

Two minutes after launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket last week, NASA astronaut Nick Hague knew something had gone badly wrong.

Safety panel says much work left to do before commercial crew ships fly

October 13, 2018

NASA safety advisors on Thursday lauded hardware milestones on Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew capsules, but said multiple technical issues, including problems with parachutes, must be resolved before the human-rated ships are ready to carry astronauts, adding that both companies continue to pursue schedules that appear to be unachievable.

Soyuz failure probe narrows focus on collision at booster separation

October 13, 2018

Russian investigators believe a malfunction during separation of the Soyuz rocket’s four liquid-fueled first stage boosters two minutes after liftoff from Kazakhstan led to an emergency landing of a two-man crew heading for the International Space Station, officials said Friday.

Multiple replays of the Soyuz launch and abort

October 12, 2018

Replays from cameras at the Baikonur Cosmodrome capture the launch of a Soyuz booster from different angles.

Soyuz crew lands safely after emergency launch abort

October 11, 2018

A normally reliable Soyuz FG rocket malfunctioned two minutes after liftoff from Kazakhstan Thursday, forcing a Russian cosmonaut and his NASA crewmate to execute an emergency abort and a steep-but-safe return to Earth a few hundred miles from the launch site. Russian recovery crews reported the crew came through the ordeal in good shape.

Watch a replay of the Soyuz launch and abort

October 11, 2018

Watch as Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague launch aboard a Soyuz rocket bound for the International Space Station but a Soyuz booster failure cut short their ascent into orbit.

Live coverage: Soyuz crew safe after emergency landing

October 10, 2018

Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague landed safely downrange in Kazakhstan on Thursday after a Soyuz booster failure cut short their ascent into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome toward the International Space Station. The emergency landing was the first Soyuz in-flight abort since 1975.

Russians plan Thursday launch of two to space station

October 10, 2018

One week after a Russian Soyuz spacecraft departed the International Space Station and brought three crew members back to Earth, another Soyuz carrying a veteran cosmonaut and a first-time NASA flight engineer is ready for launch Thursday on a quick four-orbit flight to the orbiting lab complex.

Photos: Soyuz transferred to Baikonur launch pad

October 10, 2018

A Soyuz rocket poised to send two new crew members to the International Space Station rolled to its launch pad Tuesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Hubble Space Telescope in safe mode with gyro trouble

October 9, 2018

NASA has suspended science operations with the Hubble Space Telescope and put the observatory into protective “safe mode” while engineers troubleshoot problems with one of the spacecraft’s three remaining gyroscopes, used to help aim the telescope and keep it locked on target, officials said Monday.