Tag: NASA
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From Star City to Cape Canaveral, how a cosmonaut trains for a SpaceX flight
Although US astronauts are able to launch from Florida, some American astronauts still launch aboard Soyuz. Tracy Caldwell Dyson, an American, is aboard the ISS as of this writing, arriving after a liftoff from Kazakhstan on Soyuz MS-25. NASA and Roscosmos recently reached an agreement for a ride share, allowing one open seat for astronauts…
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NASA pushes Crew-9 launch to September amid uncertainty of Starliner’s return timeline
The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station poses during training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility. Image: SpaceX NASA is delaying the launch of the next space station crew as it continues to work through thruster issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. In a blog post, the agency said the launch of the…
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Axiom Space’s fourth private astronaut crew named, begins training in Houston
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is pictured docked to the space-facing port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Dragon Freedom carried four Axiom Mission-2 astronauts to the orbital lab on May 22, 2023, including Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Image: NASA The full crew of…
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Cygnus completes two-day journey to the International Space Station
The Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft, named the S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, completed installation onto the International Space Station at 5:33 a.m. EDT (0933 UTC) on Aug. 6, 2024. The NG-21 mission launched from Florida at 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 UTC) on Aug. 4. Image: NASA Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft completed a roughly 40-hour journey…
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NASA likely to significantly delay the launch of Crew 9 due to Starliner issues
NASA is planning to significantly delay the launch of the Crew 9 mission to the International Space Station due to ongoing concerns about the Starliner spacecraft currently attached to the station. While the space agency has not said anything publicly, sources say NASA should announce the decision this week. Officials are contemplating moving the Crew-9…
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Using data from DART’s impact, scientists investigate characteristics of Dimorphos and Didymos
In September 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission successfully slammed into the side of asteroid moonlet Dimorphos. Initial data from the event indicated that DART had successfully altered the orbit of Dimorphos and achieved its primary mission goal — to assess how much a spacecraft could deflect an asteroid through a transfer of…
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NASA and SpaceX launch a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station
A shock collar forms around SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it ascended from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday, August 4, 2024. The NG-21 mission launched a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to begin a roughly 40-hour journey to the ISS. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update 9:02 p.m. EDT: The Cygnus spacecraft…
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Rocket Report: Falcon 9 is back; Starship could be recovered off Australia
Welcome to Edition 7.05 of the Rocket Report! The Federal Aviation Administration grounded SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for 15 days after a rare failure of its upper stage earlier this month. The FAA gave the green light for Falcon 9 to return to flight July 25, and within a couple of days, SpaceX successfully launched…
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NASA says it is “evaluating all options” for the safe return of Starliner crew
It has now been eight weeks since Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft launched into orbit on an Atlas V rocket, bound for the International Space Station. At the time NASA officials said the two crew members, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, could return to Earth as soon as June 14, just eight days later. Yes, there had…
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Boeing’s Starliner has cost at least twice as much as SpaceX’s Crew Dragon
Boeing announced another financial charge Wednesday for its troubled Starliner commercial crew program, bringing the company’s total losses on Starliner to $1.6 billion. In its quarterly earnings report, Boeing registered a $125 million loss on the Starliner program, blaming delays on the spacecraft’s still-ongoing Crew Flight Test, the program’s first mission to carry astronauts into…