A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts will arrive at the International Space Station early Sunday (Aug. 27) and you can watch it all live online in a free livestream. The Crew Dragon capsule Endurance is scheduled to reach the International Space Station (ISS) at 8:39 a.m. EDT (1239 GMT), where it will dock itself to a space-facing port on the outpost’s U.S.-built Harmony module. The docking will mark the end of a nearly 30-hour journey for the capsule’s four-person crew, which launched in the wee hours of Saturday from…
Read More‘Sasha’ the sloth breaks speed records as SpaceX Crew-7 zero-g indicator (photos)
A new record may have just been set for the fastest-moving sloth in the world. And not just any sloth — a three-toed sloth. “It is a three-toed sloth, not a two-toed sloth, because apparently that would be too fast for me,” said Crew-7 pilot Andreas “Andy” Mogensen, a Danish astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA), from on board SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft “Endurance,” which was launched from Florida early Saturday morning (Aug. 26). Now on his way to a six-month stay on the International Space Station, Mogensen, together with…
Read MoreNASA and Forest Service offer seedlings to grow Artemis ‘moon trees’
NASA is seeking education and community organizations to help grow a practical forest of trees with a unique pedigree — the moon. Inspired by an Apollo program astronaut’s initiative, the space agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service are looking to plant seedlings that were grown from seeds flown around the moon on NASA’s Artemis 1 mission in 2022. More than 1,000 seeds of five different species of tree were flown as part of the official flight kit on the 26-day uncrewed test flight. The Artemis program has…
Read MoreNASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Launches to International Space Station
An international crew of four representing four countries is in orbit following a successful launch to the International Space Station at 3:27 a.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 26, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission is the seventh commercial crew rotation mission for NASA.
Read MoreUS Department of Justice sues SpaceX for hiring discrimination
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is suing SpaceX, alleging that the company discriminated against job applicants who are refugees or asylum recipients. The lawsuit claims that, from September 2018 to May 2022 (and possibly longer than that), SpaceX discouraged refugees and asylees from applying for jobs and discriminated against those who did apply, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. “Our investigation found that SpaceX failed to fairly consider or hire asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on their…
Read MorePrivate Ax-2 astronaut releasing free educational videos filmed in space on Aug. 28
Kids (and kids at heart) can ride along with a recent mission to the space station with a new educational series debuting Monday (Aug. 28) featuring two private astronauts. “Habitat Space” is an educational series featuring Ax-2 private astronaut John Shoffner, a rookie learning about the International Space Station in May 2023 with his record-breaking commander Peggy Whitson, formerly an astronaut with NASA. The series makes its online debut at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT on Tuesday, Aug. 29) and you can register for free on Eventbrite. The event will…
Read MoreSee Saturn at its biggest and brightest of 2023 this weekend
Saturn makes for an excellent skywatching target this weekend, thanks to its current position in the solar system. The ringed gas giant will reach opposition, meaning it will be situated directly opposite from the sun with Earth in the middle. Around the same time, Saturn will reach perigee, its closest approach to Earth, according to In-The-Sky. The combination of these two celestial events means Saturn will appear at its biggest and brightest this weekend. The planet should remain visible through February 2024. For skywatchers in North America, look to the…
Read MoreHubble Sees a Sparkling Neighbor Galaxy
The galaxy ESO 300-16 looms over this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Read MoreSpaceX, NASA delay launch of Crew-7 astronauts to International Space Station
SpaceX’s next astronaut launch has been pushed back by at least 24 hours. The company was counting down to launch the four-person Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA in the early hours of Friday (Aug. 25) from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. But now, that’s not going to happen. “NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Friday, Aug. 25, launch opportunity for the agency’s Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station,” NASA officials said in an emailed statement Thursday night (Aug. 24). “Launch now is targeted at…
Read MoreWreckage of Russian warlord’s plane spotted from space (satellite photo)
A satellite has spotted the wreckage of the plane that went down in northwestern Russia on Wednesday (Aug. 23), apparently with Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin on board. The plane, an executive jet built by Brazilian company Embraer, was flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg when it went down. Prigozhin was on the passenger list, as were some other top-level members of the Wagner Group, the private military company that Prighozin led. There were no survivors, according to Russian officials. On Thursday (Aug. 24), a satellite operated by San Francisco-based company…
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