Tag: Humans in Space

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit, Crewmates Arrive at Space Station

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The Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 72 crew members: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, onboard, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls NASA astronaut Don Pettit, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, bringing its number of residents to 12 for the 13-day handover period. After a two-orbit, three-hour journey to the station, the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft automatically docked to the orbiting laboratory’s…

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Starship Super Heavy Breezes Through Wind Tunnel Testing at NASA Ames

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A 1.2% scale model of the Super Heavy rocket that will launch the Starship human landing system to the Moon for future crewed Artemis missions was recently tested at NASA’s Ames Research Center’s transonic wind tunnel, providing valuable information on vehicle stability when re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. NASA Four grid fins on the Super Heavy rocket help stabilize and control the rocket as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere after launching Starship to a lunar trajectory. Engineers tested the effects of various aerodynamic conditions on several grid fin configurations during wind tunnel testing.…

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NASA Astronauts to Discuss Mission from Space Station

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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams prepare orbital hardware for installation inside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Media are invited to hear from NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams during an Earth to space call at 2:15 p.m. EDT, Friday, Sept. 13. The pair will participate in a news conference aboard the International Space Station in low Earth orbit. Coverage of the event will stream on NASA+, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social…

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NASA Sets Coverage for Crew Launch; Trio to Join Expedition 71

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The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station with (pictured left to right) NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. Credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center NASA astronaut Don Pettit will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft, accompanied by cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, to the International Space Station where they will join the Expedition 71 crew in advancing scientific research. Pettit, Ovchinin, and Vagner will lift off at 12:23 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept.…

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NASA Sets Coverage for Starliner News Conference, Return to Earth

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The American flag pictured inside the window of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA NASA will provide live coverage of the upcoming activities for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft departure from the International Space Station and return to Earth. The uncrewed spacecraft will depart from the orbiting laboratory for a landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Starliner is scheduled to autonomously undock from the space station at approximately 6:04 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 6, to begin the journey home, weather conditions permitting. NASA and Boeing…

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NASA Assigns Astronaut Jonny Kim to First Space Station Mission

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Official portrait of NASA astronaut Jonny Kim in an EMU suit. Credit: NASA During his first mission to the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will serve as a flight engineer and member of the upcoming Expedition 72/73 crew. Kim will launch on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft in March 2025, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. The trio will spend approximately eight months at the space station. While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Kim will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare the crew…

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NASA, Boeing Optimizing Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay for Future SLS Stage Production

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NASA is preparing space at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for upcoming assembly activities of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage for future Artemis missions, beginning with Artemis III. Teams are currently outfitting the assembly building’s High Bay 2 for future vertical assembly of the rocket stage that will help power NASA’s Artemis campaign to the Moon. During Apollo, High Bay 2, one of four high bays inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, was used to stack the Saturn V rocket. During the Space Shuttle Program, the…

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NASA Funds Studies to Support Crew Performance on Long-Duration Missions

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The crew of the Human Exploration Research Analog’s Campaign 7 Mission 1 clasp hands above their simulated space habitat’s elevator shaft. Credit: NASA NASA is funding 11 new studies to better understand how to best support the health and performance of crew members during long-duration spaceflight missions. The awardees will complete the studies on Earth without the need for samples and data from astronauts. Together, the studies will help measure physiological and psychological responses to physical and mental challenges that astronauts may encounter during spaceflight. The projects will address numerous spaceflight risks related…

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Leadership to Discuss NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test

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Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. (Credit: NASA) NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and leadership will hold an internal Agency Test Flight Readiness Review on Saturday, Aug. 24, for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. About an hour later, NASA will host a live news conference at 1 p.m. EDT from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Watch the media event on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app,…

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NextSTEP R: Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies

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Artists’ rendering of an imagined lunar architecture. Not intended to represent any elements under consideration by NASA. NASA Solicitation Number: NNH16ZCQ001K-Appendix-R August 16, 2024 – Draft Solicitation Released Solicitation Overview The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intends to release a solicitation under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (Next STEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to seek industry-led concept definition and maturation studies that address lunar surface logistics and uncrewed surface mobility capabilities. NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture defines the elements needed for long-term, human-led scientific discovery in deep…

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