Tag: Human Spaceflight

CAPE CANAVERAL — May the rocket’s Force be with you! An Atlas V rocket rolled out to its launch pad on Saturday (May 4), also Star Wars Day, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station days before its historic first mission with astronauts. Atop the United Launch Alliance booster was Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which will also make its debut flight with humans onboard after launching no earlier than Monday (May 6). The instantaneous launch window opens at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 GMT on Tuesday, May 7) and you can watch the…

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Virgin Galactic will fly again next month, if all goes according to plan. The company announced on Wednesday (May 1) that it’s targeting June 8 for its seventh commercial spaceflight, a suborbital jaunt called, fittingly enough, Galactic 07. It will be Virgin Galactic‘s second spaceflight of the year, after the Galactic 06 mission on Jan. 26, and its 12th overall to date. Related: Virgin Galactic launches researchers to suborbital space on 5th commercial flight (video) Virgin Galactic uses an air-launch system that consists of two vehicles: A carrier aircraft called…

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CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — The new Starliner spacecraft is “go” for its first-ever astronaut launch on Monday (May 6), Boeing and NASA officials announced today (May 3). Barring bad weather or any last-minute technical issues, Starliner was cleared to send two veteran NASA astronauts and former U.S. Navy test pilots to the International Space Station (ISS). On board this mission, known as Crew Flight Test (CFT), will be commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams. The duo are completing last-minute training items and quarantining here at NASA’s Kennedy Space…

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Two NASA astronauts are days away from partaking in a new spacecraft’s first-ever human launch — if schedules hold, that is. Boeing Starliner‘s debut crew, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, told reporters on Wednesday (May 1) that their test pilot experience with the U.S. Navy will help them assess the spacecraft during its debut crewed launch. Liftoff is currently set for Monday (May 6) at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 GMT May 7). The event will be livestreamed here at Space.com, via NASA Television. “It almost feels unreal,” Williams, who…

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Boeing’s new spaceship has been cleared for its first-ever crewed liftoff. Over the past two days, NASA and Boeing held a flight readiness review (FRR) for the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission, which will send agency astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to and from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule. The FRR found no serious issues, meaning CFT is go for launch on May 6 as previously planned, NASA announced today (April 25). “I can say with confidence that the teams have absolutely done their due…

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Muhammed Faris, who was the first cosmonaut from Syria and second Arab to fly into space, has died at the age of 72. Faris’ death on Friday (April 19) was reported by Syrian media. According to the reports, he died as a result of a long illness in Türkiye, where had been living as a refugee since 2012. Selected in 1985 as part of the Soviet Union’s Interkosmos program, Faris lifted off on his first and only spaceflight on July 22, 1987. Launching on board Soyuz TM-3 with cosmonauts Aleksandr…

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Dana Weigel, the first woman to helm the International Space Station program manager, says she’s excited to oversee so much commercial space activity on the orbiting complex. Weigel officially took helm of the International Space Station (ISS) program manager position on Sunday (April 7), succeeding Joel Montalbano. She was previously deputy ISS program manager and has 20 years of experience in numerous high-profile NASA roles. Working directly alongside Montalbano in management since 2021, she said, “I’ve gotten a lot of experience with the challenges that are there,” Weigel told Space.com…

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We wouldn’t be where we are today without the leaders of the past — so, to build our future, perhaps we should celebrate the innovators of our present.  The history of women’s contributions to the space industry is significantly shorter than it is for men,  simply because women were dealt a delayed start in the race. For example, NASA’s astronaut program began in 1959, but it wasn’t until 1978 when the agency’s lineup of astronaut candidates finally included women. Yet, thanks to many brave trailblazers who pushed against the unfair…

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