Space Life Blogs

NASA Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Michael Hopkins install temporary sleeping quarters inside the Columbus laboratory module from the European Space Agency. Three Expedition 64 crew members reviewed departure procedures today as they get ready to leave the International Space Station at the end of the week. Meanwhile, there was a harvest onboard the orbital lab today while three new crewmates get used to life in space. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins joined Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov Tuesday afternoon and looked over the steps they will take after they undock from the space station on Friday at 9:34 p.m. EDT. The trio reviewed the g-forces that occur when entering Earth’s atmosphere and experiencing gravity for the first time in 185 days. The former station residents will parachute to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft after leaving the Poisk module about three-and-a-half hours earlier. A small crop of Amara Mustard and Pak Choi plants was picked to...

The Milky Way extends above the Earth’s horizon in this long exposure photograph from the space station. The three newest International Space Station crew members are getting used to life in space after a near three-and-a-half hour ride to the orbital lab late last week. There will be 10 people in space until Friday night when another three-person crew returns to Earth. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov have completed their first weekend orbiting Earth on the space station. The trio is getting up to speed with station systems following its arrival on Friday at 7:05 a.m. EDT. The new Expedition 65 crew launched earlier that day from Kazakhstan at 3:42 a.m. aboard the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship. Meanwhile, another crew onboard the space station since October 14 is now focusing on its departure this Friday at 9:34 p.m. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins will parachute to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-17 crew ship alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Ser...

The newly-expanded 10-member station crew gathers in the Zvezda service module for a welcoming ceremony with family members and mission officials on Earth. Credit: NASA TV The hatches between the International Space Station and the newly arrived Soyuz spacecraft officially opened at 9:20 a.m. EDT as they flew 270 miles above the South Pacific. The arrival of three new crew members to the existing seven people already aboard for Expedition 64 temporarily increases the station’s population to 10. They have arrived on three different spacecraft. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos arrived on the Soyuz MS-18 after a two-orbit, three-hour flight following their launch from Kazakhstan at 3:42 a.m. NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins arrived on the station with Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft October 14, 2020. NASA astronauts Michael...

The Soyuz MS-18 crew ship is pictured on final approach to its docking port on the space station’s Rassvet module. The Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos docked to the International Space Station at 7:05 a.m. EDT while both spacecraft were flying about 262 miles above northern China. When the hatches between the two spacecraft are opened following standard pressurization and leak checks, NASA astronauts Kate Rubins , Michael Hopkins , Victor Glover , and Shannon Walker , Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi , and Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos will welcome the new crew members Watch the hatch opening on NASA TV, the agency’s website , and the NASA app beginning at 8:30 a.m. for hatch opening targeted for about 9 a.m. For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa...

The Soyuz MS-18 rocket blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying three Expedition 65 crew members to the space station. Nearly nine minutes after a successful launch at 3:42 a.m. EDT of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos safely reached orbit. They have begun a two-orbit, three-hour flight to reach the International Space Station and join the Expedition 64 crew. At the time of launch, the station was flying about 259 miles over   northern Uzbekistan, 335 miles behind the Soyuz as it left the launch pad. This is the second spaceflight for Vande Hei, the third for Novitskiy, and the first for Dubrov. They will dock the Soyuz to the station’s Rassvet module at 7:07 a.m. Coverage of the docking will begin on NASA TV and the agency’s website , and the NASA app at 6:15 a.m. About two hours after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open, an...

(From top to bottom) Expedition 65 crew members Pyotr Dubrov, Mark Vande Hei and Oleg Novitskiy wave bye before boarding their Soyuz MS-18 rocket for a liftoff to the space station. Live launch coverage is underway on NASA Television, the agency’s website , and the NASA app for the targeted lift off at 3:42 a.m. EDT (12:42 p.m. in Baikonur), of a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will begin a three-hour journey to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft. Their journey will be the second time a Soyuz crew has taken the fast-track, two-orbit rendezvous path to the space station. The new crew members will dock to the station’s Rassvet module at 7:07 a.m. They will temporarily increase the station’s population to 10 as they join the Expedition 64 Expedition 64 crew including NASA Flight Engineer Kate ...

Expedition 65 crew members (from left) Mark Vande Hei, Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov pose for a portrait at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia. A trio of space travelers, including NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei , is scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 3:42 a.m. EDT (12:42 p.m. Kazakhstan time) Friday, April 9. Beginning at 2:45 a.m., NASA Television, the agency’s website , and the NASA app will provide live coverage of the crew’s launch. Teams at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan are making final preparations for the liftoff of Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. The launch will send the crew members on a two-orbit, three-hour journey to the space station, where they will join the Expedition 64 crew, temporarily increasing the orbiting laboratory’s population to 10 people. They will join NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins , who arrived on t...