Page 3 - Astronauts

Nasa's stuck astronauts welcome newly arrived replacements to space station

Just over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts. The four newcomers representing the US, Japan and Russia will spend the next few days learning the station's ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Indian-American Sunita Williams. Then the two will strap into their own SpaceX capsule later this week to close out an unexpected extended mission that began last June. Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week when they launched on Boeing's first astronaut flight. They hit the nine-month mark earlier this month. The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift. Their ride arrived in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back. But more delays resulted when their replacements' brand new capsule needed extens

SpaceX, Nasa launch mission to bring back Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore

Mission also launched four crew members to ISS: Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov

Nasa's 2 stranded astronauts nearing return after 9 months in space

NASA's two stuck astronauts are just a few weeks away from finally returning to Earth after nine months in space. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have to wait until their replacements arrive at the International Space Station next week before they can check out later this month. They'll be joined on their SpaceX ride home by two astronauts who launched by themselves in September alongside two empty seats. During a news conference Tuesday, Wilmore said that while politics is part of life, it did not play into his and Williams' return, moved up a couple weeks thanks to a change in SpaceX capsules. President Donald Trump and SpaceX's Elon Musk said at the end of January that they wanted to accelerate the astronauts' return, blaming the previous administration. But Williams, in response to a question, did take issue with Musk's recent call to dump the space station in two years, rather than waiting until NASA's projected deorbit in 2031. She noted all the scientific research being ...

Explained: Musk argues with European astronaut over Sunita Williams' return

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were initially sent to the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June 2024 on a short eight-day mission. However, their return has been repeatedly pushed back

Stranded in space: Updates on Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore's Earth return

Nasa recently confirmed the news that astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who are stranded in space for nine months are likely to return to Earth in mid-March

Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore may return to Earth sooner under new plan

NASA's two stuck astronauts may come back to Earth a little sooner than planned. The space agency announced Tuesday that SpaceX will switch capsules for upcoming astronaut flights in order to bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home in mid-March instead of late March or April. That will shave at least a couple weeks off their prolonged stay at the International Space Station, which hit the eight-month mark last week. Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges, NASA's commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said in a statement. The test pilots should have returned in June on Boeing's Starliner capsule after what should have been a weeklong flight demo. But the capsule had so much trouble getting to the space station that NASA decided to bring it back empty and reassigned the pair to SpaceX. Then SpaceX delayed the launch of their replacements on a brand new capsule that needed more prepping, which added more time to Wilmore and Williams' mission. With even more work s

NASA astronaut shares breathtaking picture of Burj Khalifa from space

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who is now on the International Space Station (ISS) mission, posted a breathtaking image of a nighttime Dubai with the Burj Khalifa shining like a diamond

Meet crew members of Axiom-4 mission: Shubhanshu, Sławosz, Tibor and Peggy

The Axiom-4 crew includes members from India, Poland, and Hungary, marking each nation's 1st mission to the space station and 2nd government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over 40 years

Meet Shubhanshu Shukla: India's first astronaut on a private space mission

IAF's Shubhanshu Shukla will be India's first astronaut on a private ISS mission, flying aboard SpaceX's Dragon under Axiom Mission 4. Here's all you need to know

Donald Trump, Elon Musk put out confusing statements on stuck US astronauts

It's unclear exactly what Trump and Musk mean considering the capsule that NASA has tasked with returning the astronauts is already up in space

9-hour spacewalk: Chinese astronauts top US record, making space history

Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong broke the 23-year-old record for the longest spacewalk, completing a historic 9-hour extravehicular activity aboard the Tiangong space station

NASA astronaut shares SpaceX Dragon Undocking video from space station

SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule undocked from the ISS on December 16, 2024, and headed to earth with 2700 kg of waste

NASA finds seven new dark comets that might have brought life to Earth

Astronomers unveiled the discovery of seven new 'dark comets' that they believe could be the mechanism by which water enters the inner solar system

Nasa delays moon mission again, over 50 years after Apollo landings

NASA announced more delays Thursday in sending astronauts back to the moon more than 50 years after Apollo. Administrator Bill Nelson said the next mission in the Artemis program -- flying four astronauts around the moon and back is now targeted for April 2026. It had been on the books for September 2025, after slipping from this year. The investigation into heat shield damage from the capsule's initial test flight two years ago took time, officials said, and other spacecraft improvements are still needed. This bumps the third Artemis mission a moon landing by two other astronauts to at least 2027. NASA had been aiming for 2026. NASA's Artemis program, a follow-up to the Apollo moonshots of the late 1960s and early 1970s, has completed only one mission. An empty Orion capsule circled the moon in 2022 after blasting off on NASA's new Space Launch System rocket. Although the launch and lunar laps went well, the capsule returned with an excessively charred and eroded bottom heat .

Indian astronauts selected for Isro-Nasa mission complete initial training

Two Indian astronauts chosen for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) have completed the initial phase of training, the ISRO has said. Accorsing to ISRO, towards the goal of accomplishing a joint ISRO-NASA effort to the International Space Station, the two Gaganyatris (Prime-Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Backup-Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair) assigned for Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) commenced their training in the USA from first week of August,2024. The initial phase of training has been completed successfully by the Gaganyatris. During this phase of training, the Gaganyatris have completed initial orientations for mission-related ground facility tours, initial overview of mission launch phases, SpaceX suit fit checks, and selected space food options, it said. Furthermore, the training also included familiarization sessions with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and various onboard systems of the International Space Station, including photogra

Nasa astronauts decline to reveal which one of them got sick after mission

Three NASA astronauts whose prolonged space station mission ended with a trip to the hospital last month have declined to say which one of them was sick. Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps Friday publicly discussed their spaceflight for the first time since returning from the International Space Station on Oct 25. They spent nearly eight months in orbit, longer than expected because of all the trouble with Boeing's Starliner crew capsule and rough weather, including Hurricane Milton. Soon after their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast, the three were taken to a hospital in nearby Pensacola along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who launched with them back in March. One of the Americans ended up spending the night there for an undisclosed medical issue. NASA declined to say who was hospitalised or why, citing medical privacy. When asked at Friday's news conference which one had been sick, the astronauts ...

US elections: Sunita Williams, fellow astronauts to cast vote in space

US elections 2024: Nasa has established a process to allow astronauts to vote while in orbit, ensuring they are not left out of this democratic exercise

NASA astronaut remains at hospital after returning from extended space stay

A NASA astronaut was taken to the hospital for an undisclosed medical issue after returning from a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing's capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton, the space agency said on Friday. A SpaceX capsule carrying three Americans and one Russian parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week. Soon after splashdown, NASA said one of its astronauts had a medical issue" and the crew was flown to a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, as a precaution. The astronaut, who was not identified, was in stable condition and remained at the hospital as a "precautionary measure, the space agency said in a statement. The others returned to Houston. It can take days or even weeks for astronauts to readjust to gravity after living in weightlessness for several months. The astronauts should have been back two months ago. But their homecoming was stalled by problems with Boe

Four astronauts return after being delayed by Boeing's capsule trouble

Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing's capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton. A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week. The three Americans and one Russian should have been back two months ago. But their homecoming was stalled by problems with Boeing's new Starliner astronaut capsule, which came back empty in September because of safety concerns. Then Hurricane Milton interfered, followed by another two weeks of high wind and rough seas. SpaceX launched the four NASA's Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Russia's Alexander Grebenkin in March. Barratt, the only space veteran going into the mission, acknowledged the support teams back home that had to replan, retool and kind of redo everything right along with us ... and helped us to roll with all those ...

'Nothing short of astronomical:' Scary hurricane Milton captured from space

Astronomers onboard the International Space Station (ISS) caught a breathtaking video of the monstrous hurricane Milton as it approached Florida