SpaceX CRS-17 – Spaceflight Now

Dragon capsule returns to Earth from space station with 2.1 tons of cargo

June 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

Closing out a 30-day mission, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule departed the International Space Station on Monday for a fiery trip back to Earth, culminating in re-entry back into the atmosphere and a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles.

Live coverage: Dragon cargo capsule returns to Earth

June 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

A commercial Dragon cargo capsule wrapped up a four-week stay at the International Space Station on Monday with a departure from the complex at 12:01 p.m. EDT (1601 GMT). The spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 5:48 p.m. EDT (2148 GMT) with several tons of research specimens and equipment.

X-ray communications experiment delivered to space station

May 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

A novel communications experiment developed by NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory has arrived at the International Space Station to prove data can be transmitted in space using X-ray signals, a breakthrough that could have uses in deep space exploration and military technology on Earth.

Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

May 7, 2019 Stephen Clark

Keith Gendreau, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, recently spoke with Spaceflight Now about a new experiment on the International Space Station to demonstrate X-ray communications in space for the first time.

SpaceX cargo ship reaches space station

May 6, 2019 William Harwood

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship caught up with the International Space Station early Monday and then stood by while Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, operating the lab’s robot arm, locked onto the spacecraft to wrap up a two-day rendezvous.

SpaceX launches space station resupply mission, lands rocket on drone ship

May 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

With a thundering, sky-lighting predawn blastoff from Cape Canaveral, a Falcon 9 rocket fired into orbit early Saturday with a Dragon cargo capsule in pursuit of the International Space Station. Minutes later, the rocket’s first stage booster fell from the sky and executed a pinpoint propulsive landing just offshore, setting the stage for another resupply mission for NASA this summer using the same vehicle.

Video: Falcon 9 launch as seen from KSC press site (members only)

May 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as seen from the Kennedy Space Center press site roughly 4 miles away.

Falcon 9 launch scrubbed by problem on landing ship

May 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

An electrical problem on SpaceX’s drone ship parked just off the coast of Cape Canaveral prompted SpaceX to scrub a Falcon 9 launch attempt early Friday, delaying the start of a resupply mission to the International Space Station by 24 hours.

SpaceX clears cargo mission for launch, confirms destruction of crew capsule

May 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

While recovery teams continue combing through the test site at Cape Canaveral where SpaceX’s first space-worthy Crew Dragon capsule was destroyed in an explosive accident last month, engineers a few miles away are pressing ahead with the company’s 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station set for launch early Friday.

Live coverage: SpaceX cargo ship captured by space station’s robotic arm

May 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

Two days after launching from Cape Canaveral with nearly 5,500 pounds of supplies and experiments, an automated SpaceX Dragon cargo craft approached the International Space Station Monday. The Dragon supply ship was grappled by the station’s robotic arm at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT).