Page 4 - Astronauts

NASA prepares to launch rescue mission for stuck Boeing astronauts

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are slated to take off inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon

NASA, SpaceX to launch new crewed mission next week to ISS for 203 days

Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov plan to launch on the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission to ISS next week. Check details

Stuck astronauts make 1st comments after Boeing capsule leaves without them

Stuck-in-space astronauts Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams said Friday they appreciated all the prayers and well wishes from strangers back home. It was their first public comments since last week's return of the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the International Space Station in June. They remained behind after NASA determined the problem-plagued capsule posed too much risk for them to ride back in. Wilmore and Williams are now full-fledged station crew members, chipping in on routine maintenance and experiments. They along with seven others on board welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American earlier this week, temporarily raising the station population to 12, a near record. The two Starliner test pilots both retired Navy captains and longtime NASA astronauts will stay at the orbiting laboratory until late February. They have to wait for a SpaceX capsule to bring them back. That spacecraft is due to launch later this month with a ..

Polaris Dawn mission: SpaceX launches four private astronauts into space

The crew consists of billionaire Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, and two SpaceX employees, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returns to earth with no one onboard

After months of turmoil over its safety, Boeing's new astronaut capsule departed the International Space Station on Friday without its crew and headed back to Earth. NASA's two test pilots stayed behind at the space station their home until next year as the Starliner capsule undocked 260 miles (420 kilometres) over China, springs gently pushing it away from the orbiting laboratory. The return flight was expected to take six hours, with a nighttime touchdown in the New Mexico desert. "She's on her way home," astronaut Sunita Williams radioed after Starliner exited Williams and Butch Wilmore should have flown Starliner back to Earth in June, a week after launching in it. But thruster failures and helium leaks marred their ride to the space station. NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to return the duo on Starliner. So the fully automated capsule left with their empty seats and blue spacesuits along with some old station equipment. SpaceX will bring the duo back in late Februar

Boeing to fly empty capsule back to Earth soon, 2 astronauts to stay behind

Boeing encountered serious flaws with Starliner long before its June 5 liftoff on the long-delayed astronaut demo

Sunita Williams assures mother of safe return amid extended space mission

Originally planned as a week-long mission, Sunita Williams' stay has been extended by several months due to repeated helium leaks and other technical challenges

Nasa's decision to not use Boeing capsule to rescue astronauts adds to woes

NASA's announcement on Saturday that it won't use a troubled Boeing capsule to return two stranded astronauts to Earth is a yet another setback for the struggling company, although the financial damage is likely to be less than the reputational harm. Once a symbol of American engineering and technological prowess, Boeing has seen its reputation battered since two 737 Max airliners crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. The safety of its products came under renewed scrutiny after a panel blew out of a Max during a flight this January. And now NASA has decided that it is safer to keep the astronauts in space until February rather than risk using the Boeing Starliner capsule that delivered them to the international space station. The capsule has been plagued by problems with its propulsion system. NASA administrator Bill Nelson said the decision to send the Boeing capsule back to Earth empty "is a result of a commitment to safety. Boeing had insisted Starliner was safe based on

Veteran Navy pilots, now astronauts, to stay for more time at space station

The two astronauts who will spend extra time at the International Space Station are Navy test pilots who have ridden out long missions before. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been holed up at the space station with seven others since the beginning of June, awaiting a verdict on how and when they would return to Earth. NASA decided Saturday they won't be flying back in their troubled Boeing capsule, but will wait for a ride with SpaceX in late February, pushing their mission to more than eight months. Their original itinerary on the test flight was eight days. Butch Wilmore Wilmore, 61, grew up in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, playing football for his high school team and later Tennessee Technological University. He joined the Navy, becoming a test pilot and racking up more than 8,000 hours of flying time and 663 aircraft carrier landings. He flew combat missions during the first Gulf War in 1991 and was serving as a flight test instructor when NASA chose him as an ...

Indian likely to fly to ISS by April next year under Nasa-Isro program

An Indian astronaut is likely to fly to the International Space Station by April next year as part of the NASA-ISRO collaborative initiative, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. Two Indian astronaut-designates Group Captains Shubhanshu Shukla and Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair are undergoing training in the US for the Axiom Space Ax-4 mission. ISRO has assigned Shukla for the Ax-4 mission while Nair would be the backup candidate. "An Indian astronaut will travel to the ISS by April next year," Singh told a press conference here ahead of the first-ever National Space Day celebrations to mark the landing of Vikram lander on the Moon on August 23 last year. The theme for the National Space Day is 'Touching Lives while Touching the Moon: India's Space Saga'. On the occasion, ISRO will release on August 23 the scientific data collected by the Chandrayaan-3 mission that could be used by researchers. More than one thousand events have been organised across the .

Nasa astronauts could vapourize to death if they return on faulty Starliner

Former US military Space System Commander, Rudy Ridolfi, lays down three possible scenarios of the stranded astronauts' return to earth onboard Starliner. Here's all you need to know

NASA needs more time to decide length of Boeing astronaut ISS stay

NASA said last week that it was working with Elon Musk's SpaceX on plans to return two astronauts to Earth in February 2025

Sunita Williams faces radiation, muscle loss risk on extended ISS mission

Prolonged exposure to space radiation can lead to multiple health problems such as an increased risk of cancer, tissue damage, and complications in the nervous system

SpaceX's historic crewed Polaris Dawn mission launch date confirmed

Polaris Dawn is hoping to launch on August 26. The spacecraft will orbit the Earth at around 435 miles (700 kilometres), taking the crew farther from Earth than any mission since the Apollo era

Nasa begins final countdown of Sunita Williams & Butch Wilmore's return

The Boeing Starliner needs to be undocked from the International Space Station to accommodate the Crew-9 mission set to launch no earlier than August 18

Gaganyaan mission: Two Isro astronauts to begin Nasa training in August

The astronaut duo will start training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas in August this year; one of the two astronauts will join the upcoming Indo-US space mission to the ISS

Martian dream vs reality

The road to Mars is long and arduous. But with the visionary drive of Elon Musk, we might find ourselves among the stars one day

Sunita Williams sends her 1st message to Earth; know all about her mission

Astronaut Sunita Williams, along with her mission commander Butch Wilmore, face uncertainty as they remain stuck in space for over a month due to technical snag with the Boeing Starliner

Debris from Russian satellite forces Sunita Williams into emergency shelter

NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams had to take emergency shelter on the ISS after the breakup of a defunct Russian satellite in space created more than 100 trackable debris

Sunita Williams stuck on ISS for over 2 weeks: What is causing the delay?

Nasa has delayed the return of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft from the International Space Station as the space agency wants to conduct additional reviews of the spacecraft's technical issues