Page 6 - Astronauts

3 astronauts return to Earth after a year, Rubio sets US space record

A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after being stuck in space for just over a year. American Frank Rubio set a record for the longest US spaceflight a result of the extended stay. The trio landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan, descending in a Soyuz capsule that was rushed up as a replacement after their original ride was hit by space junk and lost all its coolant while docked to the International Space Station. What should have been a 180-day mission turned into a 371-day stay. Rubio spent more than two weeks longer in space than Mark Vande Hei, who held NASA's previous endurance record for a single spaceflight. Russia holds the world record of 437 days, set in the mid-1990s. The Soyuz capsule that brought Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back was a replacement launched in February. Russian engineers suspect a piece of space junk pierced the radiator of their original capsule late last year, midway through what shoul

India, US begin talks to send Indian astronaut to the ISS next year

India and the US on Friday said they have started talks to put in place a strategic framework for human space flight by year-end as they plan to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station in 2024. US President Joe Biden also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 at the south polar region of the Moon and the success of Aditya-L1 solar mission. "Determined to deepen our partnership in outer space exploration, ISRO and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have commenced discussions on modalities, capacity building, and training for mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024, and are continuing efforts to finalise a strategic framework for human space flight cooperation by the end of 2023," said a joint statement issued after the 52-minute talks between the two leaders. During Modi's visit to the US in June, Biden had announced India and the US were collaborating to send an astrona

4 astronauts return to Earth in SpaceX capsule to wrap up 6-month mission

Four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast. Returning were NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Woody Hoburg, Russia's Andrei Fedyaev and the United Arab Emirates' Sultan al-Neyadi, t he first person from the Arab world to spend an extended time in orbit. Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air since arriving in March. Their homecoming was delayed a day because of poor weather at the splashdown locations. SpaceX launched their replacements over a week ago. Another crew switch will occur later this month with the long-awaited homecoming of two Russians and one American who have been up there an entire year. Their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule leaked all of its coolant and a new craft had to be launched. Between crew swaps, the space station is home to se

India, US plan to send Indian astronaut to ISS in 2024: President Biden

India and the US are collaborating to send an Indian astronaut to the international space station in 2024, US President Joe Biden said here on Thursday after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing the media after bilateral talks with Modi, Biden said India and the US were collaborating in nearly every human endeavour in delivering progress across the board. "From designing new ways to diagnosing and treating new illnesses like cancer and diabetes to collaboration on human space flight, including on sending an Indian astronaut to the international space station in 2024," Biden said with Modi by his side. Modi also said that India has decided to sign the Artemis Accords and taken a great leap forward. "We have decided to join the Artemis Accords. We have taken a giant leap in our space cooperation. In short, I would say even the sky is not the limit for cooperation with the US, Modi said. Grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (OST), the Artemis Accords are a ..

3 Chinese astronauts return home safely after six-month stint in space

Three Chinese astronauts on Sunday returned safely to Earth on board the Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship after completing their six-month mission to build China's space station. Shenzhou-15's return capsule carrying astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 6:33 am (Beijing Time), China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said here. The three completed their six-month space station mission, it announced. The astronauts were in good shape, and the Shenzhou-15 manned mission was a success, the agency announced. The three were replaced by three other astronauts, including China's first civilian who successfully flew to the space station on May 30. The new set of astronauts will stay in the space station for five months. Once ready, China will be the only country to own a space station as the International Space Station (ISS) of Russia is a collaborative project of several countries. The ISS

China successfully launches new manned spaceship with 1st civilian on board

China on Tuesday successfully sent three astronauts including its first civilian into orbit as it launched the Shenzhou-16 manned mission to its space station for its second crew rotation, signalling another leap forward for the country's ambitious space programme. The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 9:31 AM (Beijing Time), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). About 10 minutes after the launch, Shenzhou-16 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The crew members are in good shape and the launch is a complete success, the CMSA declared. Hours later the spaceship successfully docked with the space station's core module about 400km above the ground, the CMSA said. After that, it conducted a fast-automated rendezvous and docked with the radial port of its core module Tianhe. The astronaut trio aboard Shenzhou-16 will then enter the Tianhe module and the three ..

China to send astronauts to Moon by 2030 as space race intensifies

China on Monday announced plans to send a manned mission to the moon by 2030 for lunar scientific exploration, amid its deepening space race with the West. The announcement was made by Lin Xiqiang, Deputy Director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), as China is preparing to send a third set of astronauts to its space station on Tuesday. Li told the media at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Inner Mongolia ahead of the launch of the spacecraft that takes the three astronauts to the space station called Tiangong that China has recently initiated under the lunar landing phase of its manned lunar exploration programme. The overall goal is to achieve China's first manned landing on the moon by 2030 and carry out lunar scientific exploration and related technological experiments, he was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency. China's manned lunar mission came as the US space agency NASA aims to send a second manned mission to the moon by 2025 to explore the south

Meet GiGi- The teddy bear sent to space on SpaceX's chartered flight

Along with the other four astronauts, the GiGi teddy bear was sent to the space station by Axiom Space's Ax-2 Mission

UAE's Sultan Al-Neyadi becomes first Arab astronaut to complete spacewalk

UAE astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi has become the first Arab to undertake a spacewalk during Expedition 69 venturing out of the International Space Station (ISS) and completing his spacewalk. The historic spacewalk lasted 7.01 hours in the vacuum of space on the starboard side of the ISS's truss structure, accomplishing two key objectives. One of the objectives of the Extravehicular Activity (EVA), undertaken by Al-Neyadi along with NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen, was to work on a series of preparatory tasks which involved routing power cables, which was successfully concluded. These cable works were completed as a precursor to the installation of the Space Station's fourth roll-out solar array, known as the International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA), which is scheduled to be delivered on the upcoming SpaceX Dragon cargo mission. The next objective was to retrieve a crucial Radio Frequency Group (RFG) unit. This communications antenna, or RFG will stay bolted on the .

First crewed flight of Boeing 1st Starliner postponed to July: NASA

NASA wants a bit more time to analyse data about Starliner's various components, such as its parachute system, before putting astronauts on the vehicle, Stich said

Last-minute problem keeps SpaceX rocket, astronauts grounded: Report

Last-minute technical trouble forced SpaceX to call off Monday's attempt to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. The countdown was halted with just two minutes remaining until lift-off from Kennedy Space Centre. With just a split second to blast off, there was no time to deal with the problem, which involved the engine ignition system. SpaceX did not immediately say when it would try again. The next attempt could come as early as Tuesday, although poor weather was forecast. Strapped into the capsule atop the Falcon rocket were two NASA astronauts, one Russian cosmonaut and one astronaut from the United Arab Emirates. When informed by SpaceX that the fuel would start to be drained from the rocket, commander Stephen Bowen replied: We'll be sitting here waiting. It was expected to take nearly an hour. Bowen and his crew including the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates assigned to a months long mission, Sultan al-Neyadi will replace another

Russia to evacuate astronauts from ISS in coming weeks amid emergency

Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin together with NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio will return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-23 in the next weeks

Nasa astronauts successfully install new roll-out solar array on ISS

NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio have successfully installed Roll-Out Solar Array on the starboard truss structure of the space station

Chinese astronauts meet colleagues in space; makes country's first

Three Chinese astronauts aboard a spacecraft that docked with China's under-construction space station met with their colleagues on Wednesday, making it the country's first gathering of six astronauts in space. China on Tuesday successfully launched the spacecraft carrying three astronauts, Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, to its space station. The Shenzhou-15 spaceship, atop the Long March-2F Y15 carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Tuesday night, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The three space station occupants greeted the new three-member crew with warm hugs and then they took a group picture after the successful docking, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The space reunion kicked off the first in-orbit crew rotation in China's space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The six astronauts are scheduled to live and work together for about five days to complete planned

NASA's Artemis mission on way to Moon after launch by giant new rocket

A space capsule hurtled toward the moon on Wednesday for the first time in 50 years, following a thunderous launch of NASA's mightiest rocket in a dress rehearsal for astronaut flights. No one was on board this debut flight, just three test dummies. The capsule is headed for a wide orbit around the moon and then a return to Earth with a Pacific splashdown in about three weeks. After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket roared skyward, rising from Kennedy Space Center on 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust and hitting 100 mph (160 kph) within seconds. The Orion capsule was perched on top and, less than two hours into the flight, busted out of Earth's orbit toward the moon. It was pretty overwhelming, said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. We're going out to explore the heavens, and this is the next step." The moonshot follows nearly three months of vexing fuel leaks that kept the rocket bouncing between its hangar and the pad. .

NASA, Axiom Space signs pact for sending private astronauts to ISS in 2023

NASA and American space infrastructure developer Axiom Space have signed a pact for the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, to take place in the second quarter of 2023

James Webb telescope captures images of universe: How astronomy will change

Unveiled by US president Joe Biden, the stunning image of SMACS 0723, a cluster of thousands of galaxies, was released on July 11

James Webb Space Telescope can help astronomers in search for alien life

Many astronomers believe there's a good chance that life exists on planets orbiting other stars, and it's possible that's where life will first be found

3 Chinese astronauts return after spending record 6 mnths on space station

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on Saturday after spending six months aboard China's new space station, doubling the previous stay of the country's longest single flight in space.

NASA astronauts set for spacewalk to replace faulty space station antenna

NASA TV planned live coverage of the 6-1/2-hour spacewalk, scheduled to begin at 7:10 AM Eastern time (1210 GMT) on Thursday