Space Life Blogs

From left, are the SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. Four SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts are making final preparations ahead of their return to Earth this weekend. Some of the Expedition 65 crew members staying behind on the International Space Station are relaxing today while others are focusing on science and lab maintenance. Mission managers have decided to send Crew Dragon Resilience and its four astronauts back to Earth on Sunday. Resilience will undock from the Harmony module ’s space-facing international docking adapter during an automated maneuver on Saturday at 8:35 p.m. EDT . It will splashdown about six-and-a-half hours later in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. Hatch closure of the Resilience will be on Saturday at 6:20 p.m. with NASA TV beginning its broadcast at 6 p.m. Live continuous coverage of the undocking and splashdown activities starts at 8:15 p.m. Resilience Commander Michael Hopkins and Pilot Vic

The 11-member crew aboard the station is actually a combination of three different crews. The four Space Crew-2 astronauts are in the back row. The three-person crew of the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship is in the middle row. In the front row, is the SpaceX Crew-1 foursome. NASA and SpaceX have decided to move Crew-1’s undocking and splashdown from Friday, April 30, and Saturday, May 1, respectively, following a review of the forecast weather conditions in the splashdown zones off the coast of Florida, which continue to predict wind speeds above the return criteria. Mission teams from NASA and SpaceX will meet again on Friday to further review opportunities for the safe return of Crew-1. Crew Dragon is in great health on the space station, and teams will continue to look for the optimal conditions for both splashdown and recovery. Commander Akihiko Hoshide is leading the Expedition 65 crew and will stay in space until October with his Crew-2 crewmates Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and

The 11-member crew aboard the station is actually a combination of three different crews: the Soyuz MS-18 crew in the back row, SpaceX Crew-2 in the middle row, and the four SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts in the far left and right corners. A trash-packed Russian cargo craft departed the International Space Station on Tuesday night. Four astronauts are also nearing the end of their mission amidst a variety of human research taking place on the orbiting lab today. After being docked to the station for just over a year, Russia’s ISS Progress 75 (75P) resupply ship undocked from the Zvezda service module ’s aft port filled with trash and discarded gear. The 75P back away from Zvezda during the automated maneuver that began at 7:11 p.m. EDT. It will orbit Earth on its own until Wednesday night before burning up safely above the southern Pacific Ocean. Four SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts are targeting Saturday for their return to Earth and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. NAS

The SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts (from left) Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi are pictured shortly after commenting on their mission before returning to Earth this weekend. Credit: NASA TV The International Space Station has a new commander today as four astronauts prepare for their return to Earth this Saturday. The orbital residents will also send off a Russian cargo craft on Tuesday evening, completing its year-long stay at the orbital lab. The four SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts have a new splashdown date after mission managers waved off Wednesday’s planned departure due to weather conditions at the landing site. The quartet of Michael Hopkins , Victor Glover , Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi , is now targeting a splashdown off the coast of Florida for Saturday at 11:36 a.m. EDT . NASA TV will begin its continuous live coverage at 3:30 p.m. Friday starting with hatch closure of the Crew Dragon Resilience set for 3:30 p.m. Resilience with its four-person

The Space Crew-1 astronauts (from left) Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi, gathered for a news conference on Monday ahead their planned homecoming this week. Credit: NASA TV Four astronauts aboard the International Space Station are preparing to return to Earth in a few days. The Expedition 65 orbital residents are also conducting space science while preparing to send off a Russian cargo craft. There are two four-member SpaceX crews aboard the station today including a three-member Soyuz crew. The four SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts are turning their attention to returning to Earth this week after being in space since Nov. 16. Crew-1 commander Michael Hopkins joined Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi for a conference with mission managers on the ground today. The quartet is working on the proper time to undock the Crew Dragon Resilience from the station and splashdown off the coast of Florida this week. The stat

The four new SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts joined the Expedition 65 crew today bringing the station population to 11. Credit: NASA TV NASA astronauts  Shane Kimbrough  and  Megan McArthur , along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut  Akihiko Hoshide , and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut  Thomas Pesquet   aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon have arrived at the  International Space Station . Crew-2 joins Expedition 65 crew of crew of  Shannon Walker ,  Michael Hopkins ,   Victor Glover , and  Mark Vande Hei  of NASA, as well as  Soichi Noguchi  of JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonauts  Oleg Novitskiy  and  Pyotr Dubrov . The crew members first opened the hatch between the space station and the pressurized mating adapter at 7:05 a.m. EDT then opened the hatch to Crew Dragon. NASA TV will continue to provide live coverage through the welcoming ceremony with leadership from NASA, ESA and JAXA to greet the crew on station. The welcome ceremony is targeted to begin about 7:45 a.m. with

The SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches its space station docking port with the Kibo laboratory module in the foreground. Credit: NASA TV NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur , along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide , and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet arrived at the International Space Station Saturday, as the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to the complex at 5:08 a.m. EDT while the spacecraft were flying 264 miles above the Indian Ocean. Following Crew Dragon’s link up to the Harmony module, the astronauts aboard the Endeavour and the space station will begin conducting standard leak checks and pressurization between the spacecraft in preparation for hatch opening scheduled for 7:15 a.m. Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet will join the Expedition 65 crew of Shannon Walker , Michael Hopkins ,  Victor Glover , and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, as well as Soichi Noguchi of JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg N

From left are the SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts Thomas Pesquet, Megan McArthur, Shane Kimbrough and Akihiko Hoshide during training in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX NASA Television and the agency’s  website  are providing live continuous coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission carrying NASA astronauts  Shane Kimbrough  and  Megan McArthur , along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut  Akihiko Hoshide , and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet  on their way to the  International Space Station . The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, began the final phase of its approach to the station at 3:31 a.m. EDT Saturday and is scheduled to dock at about 5:10 a.m. Crew Dragon is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew aboard the spacecraft and the space station will monitor the performance of the spacecraft as it approaches and docks to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module. When the hatches open about 7:15 a.m. Saturday, April 24, the Cr

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour sits atop the Falcon 9 rocket during a sunset at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky Five Expedition 65 astronauts are off-duty today relaxing one day before four Commercial Crew astronauts launch toward the International Space Station . The orbiting lab’s two cosmonauts focused on Russian science and life support maintenance tasks throughout Thursday. NASA Commander Shannon Walker and Flight Engineers Michael Hopkins , Victor Glover and Mark Vande Hei of NASA including Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) took it easy on the station today. The quintet is relaxing before gearing up for six days of crew swap activities. They will get back to work on Friday with more space research and preparations for the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts early Saturday. Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov stayed busy on Thursday in the station’s Russian segment. The duo partnered up for a study to

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Endeavour atop stands at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad in Florida. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani The seven Expedition 65 crew members will wait an extra day to greet the four SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts after their launch slipped due to high winds. The International Space Station residents will stay focused on their human research activities to improve life on Earth and in space. NASA and SpaceX managers pushed back the launch of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission to Friday at 5:49 a.m. EDT. Unfavorable weather conditions were predicted along the flight path after Thursday’s launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur , along with Mission Specialists Akihiko Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet , are now due to arrive at the orbital lab on Saturday at 5:10 a.m. The quartet will dock the Crew Dragon Endeavour to the Harmony module ’s forward-facing international docking adapter. NASA TV begins i

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Endeavour atop stands at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad in Florida. Science is in full swing aboard the International Space Station today as the Expedition 65 crew studies how microgravity affects the human body. Back on Earth, four Commercial Crew astronauts are less than two days away from launching to the orbiting lab from Florida. Blood samples, muscle scans and exercise were the subjects of Tuesday’s space research to learn how the human body adapts to weightlessness. To start the day, Flight Engineers Michael Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi collected their blood samples and stowed them in a science freezer for later analysis. Hopkins then joined Flight Engineer Victor Glover for muscle scans using an ultrasound device to understand how space impacts muscle tone, stiffness and elasticity . NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei , who is in his second week aboard the station, attached sensors to his chest and worked out on a stationary b

The four SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts are pictured during a dress rehearsal at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dragon vehicle is atop the Falcon 9 rocket at the launch pad. The next crew to launch to the International Space Station is counting down to liftoff this Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They will be greeted less than 24 hours later by the seven Expedition 65 crew members residing aboard the orbiting lab. The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour sits atop the Falcon 9 rocket at the launch pad ready to carry four Commercial Crew astronauts to the space station. The SpaceX Crew-2 quartet is comprised of Commander Shane Kimbrough and Pilot Megan McArthur , both NASA astronauts, and Mission Specialists Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency. They are set to launch on Thursday at 6:11 a.m. EDT and dock to the Harmony module ’s forward-facing international docking adapter at 5:30 a.m.

The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft just before landing in Kazakhstan on April 17th, 2021. Credit: NASA TV NASA astronaut  Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos landed on Earth at 12:55 a.m. EDT Saturday, April 17 in Kazakhstan. The trio departed the  International Space Station  in their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft at 9:34 p.m. After post-landing medical checks, the crew will split up with Rubins returning to her home in Houston, while the cosmonauts fly back to their training base in Star City, Russia. Remaining aboard the station is the seven-person crew of Expedition 65, with new station commander Shannon Walker  of NASA, NASA astronauts  Victor Glover ,  Michael Hopkins , and  Mark Vande Hei , Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut  Soichi Noguchi , and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. Later this month, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 members – NASA astronauts  Shane Kimbrough  and  Megan McArthur , JAXA astronaut  Akihiko Hoshide , and E

The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft is seen as it lands in Kazakhstan with Expedition 63 crew. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Denis Derevtsov) NASA Television and the agency’s  website  are now broadcasting live coverage of the return to Earth of NASA astronaut  Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft carrying the trio will make its deorbit burn to set the spaceship on its re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere for a landing in Kazakhstan at 12:56 a.m. (10:56 a.m. Kazakhstan time) Saturday, April 17. During the 185-day mission, Rubins spent hundreds of hours working on new space station experiments, building on investigations she conducted during her first mission, including heart research and multiple microbiology studies. She advanced her work in DNA sequencing , which could allow astronauts to diagnose an illness in space or identify microbes growing at the space station. Rubins collected hundreds of micro

The three-member Expedition 64 crew from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). From left are, Kate Rubins of NASA,Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos. NASA is providing live coverage on NASA TV and its  website  of the undocking and departure from the  International Space Station  of the Soyuz spacecraft that will return NASA astronaut  Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos to Earth. The three crew members are concluding a 185-day mission spanning 2,960 orbits of Earth and 78.4 million miles. Rubins is completing her second flight, with 300 cumulative days in space. Ryzhikov is completing his second spaceflight, with 358 cumulative days. This was Kud-Sverchkov’s first spaceflight. During their mission, Rubins and her crewmates welcomed NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts aboard the first long-duration commercial crew spaceflight. Rubins completed two spacewalks alongside NASA astronaut

The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft moments after undocking from the station on April 16th, 2021. Credit: NASA TV The Soyuz spacecraft undocked from the  International Space Station  at 9:34 p.m. EDT, carrying three people back to Earth. NASA Television will air  live coverage  beginning at 11:30 p.m. for the deorbit burn and the spacecraft’s parachute-assisted landing at 12:56 a.m. (10:56 a.m. Kazakhstan time) Saturday, April 17. Rubins, Ryzhikov, and Kud-Sverchkov’s mission began Oct. 14, 2020, when their spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Their spacecraft docked to the Earth-facing port of the Rassvet module after a two-orbit, three-hour flight. Expedition 65 officially began at the time of undocking with NASA astronaut Shannon Walker serving as station commander. Walker will lead the crew until the departure of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience on Wednesday, April 28, when command of the station will be handed over to JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide . Learn more ab

The hatch closing between the Soyuz MS-17 and station in preparation for the undocking of Expedition 64 crew. Credit: NASA TV At 6:24 p.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the Soyuz spacecraft and the  International Space Station  in preparation for undocking. NASA astronaut  Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos are scheduled to undock their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft at 9:34 p.m. NASA Television will air  live coverage  of the undocking beginning at 9:15 p.m., with coverage of the Soyuz deorbit burn and landing beginning at 11:30 p.m. Their landing in Kazakhstan is targeted for approximately 12:56 a.m. (10:56 a.m. Kazakhstan time) Saturday, April 17. At the time of undocking, Expedition 65 will formally begin aboard the station, with new station commander Shannon Walker of NASA, NASA astronauts  Victor Glover ,  Michael Hopkins , and  Mark Vande Hei , Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut  Soichi Noguchi , and cosmonauts Oleg Novits

Expedition 64 crew members (from left) NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov pose for a crew portrait. NASA is providing  live coverage  on NASA TV and its  website  as NASA astronaut  Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos prepare to conclude their mission aboard the  International Space Station  and return to Earth. The trio will and close the hatch to their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft at 6:10 p.m. EDT to begin the journey back to Earth. They will undock from the space-facing port of the station’s Poisk module at 9:34 p.m., heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 12:56 a.m. (10:56 a.m. Kazakhstan time) Saturday, April 17, on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan. Coverage of the farewells and hatch closure will be followed by undocking coverage at 9:15 p.m., with coverage of the Soyuz deorbit burn and landing beginning at 11:30 p.m. Learn more about station

(From left) The Expedition 64 crew is returning to Earth today as the SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts prepare for an April 22 launch to the station from Florida. Three Expedition 64 crew members are preparing to return to Earth today completing a 185-day research mission on the International Space Station . Meanwhile, four new SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center preparing for a launch next week to the orbiting lab. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov will say goodbye to their station crewmates today. They will enter the Soyuz MS-17 crew ship and close the hatch for the final time at 6:10 p.m. EDT . The trio will then undock from the Poisk module at 9:34 p.m. and parachute to Earth about three-and-a-half hours later inside the Soyuz crew ship. NASA TV will broadcast all the homecoming activities live beginning at 5:45 p.m. today. Four Commercial Crew astronauts left Houston today and arrived in

NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, seen here signing the Unity module’s vestibule that leads to the Cygnus space freighter, will command the station till her departure at the end of April. NASA astronaut Shannon Walker of Houston will assume command of the International Space Station today from Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov . Walker will lead the Expedition 65 crew for almost two weeks until she returns to Earth with her crewmates aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. NASA TV is broadcasting the traditional change of command ceremony beginning at 3:45 p.m. EDT today. Ryzhikov will depart the orbiting lab on Friday with his Expedition 64 crewmates Kate Rubins of NASA and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos. The trio will undock from the Poisk module inside the Soyuz MS-17 crew ship at 9:34 p.m. and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan about three-and-a-half hours later. The seven-member Expedition 65 crew will be waiting for the arrival of four new Commercial Crew members d

NASA astronaut Shannon Walker will assume command of the station from Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov on Thursday afternoon. Ten people occupy the International Space Station today but that will change on Friday when three Expedition 64 crew members return to Earth. Soon after that, four new Commercial Crew members will launch to the orbital lab when it will temporarily host 11 crew members. Houston native and NASA astronaut Shannon Walker is preparing to take command of the space station on Thursday when Commander Sergey Ryzhikov hands over control before departing the next day. NASA TV will broadcast the traditional change of command ceremony from Expedition 64 to Expedition 65 live beginning at 3:45 p.m. EDT. Expedition 65 officially begins when Ryzhikov undocks inside the Soyuz MS-17 crew ship with Flight Engineers Kate Rubins of NASA and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos. The automated undocking command will come at 9:34 p.m. on Friday when the Soyuz spacecraft will s