Refresh 2024-01-17T13:08:18.542Z SpaceX ready to launch private Ax-3 astronaut mission today Closeup of the Ax-3 Dragon capsule on the pad ahead of its planned Jan. 17, 2024 liftoff. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX is poised for its next crewed liftoff. The company remains on target to launch the private Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday (Jan. 17) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as planned. “We’re happy to say that we’re on track — we’re ready,” Benji Reed, senior director of human spaceflight programs at SpaceX, said during a call with reporters on…
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GiGi, Axiom’s spacesuit-clad Build-A-Bear zero-g indicator, returning to orbit on Ax-3
As it turns out, when you build a bear to fly into space, one mission is not enough. “GiGi,” the Build-A-Bear doll outfitted in a miniature version of Axiom Space’s next-generation lunar spacesuit, will be returning to Earth orbit on Ax-3, Axiom’s third crewed mission to the International Space Station set to launch this month. The doll — and the partnership that led to its creation — debuted on Ax-2 in 2023. “We love to foster creativity and create special moments at Build-A-Bear, so we are pleased to continue our…
Read MoreInternational Space Station astronauts hang stockings and light a menorah for the holidays (images, video)
The crew of the space station celebrated a multidenominational Christmas this year, hanging stockings for Santa alongside a menorah “lit” with pretty felt flames. The menorah was brought aboard the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli and adorned with a felt flame each night when Hanukkah, the Jewish festival, ran earlier this December. Felt was chosen as a material for the menorah due to understandable restrictions concerning lighting fires on spacecraft and space stations. “My husband and little girls helped make a felt menorah, with lights for each…
Read MoreAstronauts in space beam holiday wishes to Earth for Christmas (video)
Astronauts on the International Space Station are sending holiday cheer to Earth with a festive video just in time for Christmas. Clad in red and green Santa hats, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara joined the station’s Expedition 70 commander Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency and Satoshi Furukawa of Japan to share what it’s like to spend the holidays off Earth. Related: The Christmas Night Sky 2023: What to see in the holiday sky “For me personally, the holidays have evolved in a very beautiful way over…
Read MoreWatch live as private Cygnus cargo craft leaves the ISS on Dec. 22
A robotic cargo ship will depart from the space station on Friday (Dec. 22), and you can watch the action for free. Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus NG-19 spacecraft should undock from the International Space Station (ISS) at 8:05 a.m. EST (1305 GMT) on Friday. You can watch coverage here at Space.com, via NASA Television, starting at 7:45 a.m. EST (1245 GMT). Cygnus has spent 4.5 months at the orbiting complex, following an Aug. 4 arrival that brought up 8,200 pounds (3,800 kilograms) of hardware, supplies, science, commercial products and other…
Read MoreAstronaut shows off vintage Nobel Prize in space — and talks ‘quantum dots’ ISS experiment (video)
Nobel Prize-winning work is flying in space as we speak. The International Space Station (ISS) is hosting a quantum experiment based on a discovery made by new Nobel laureate Moungi Bawendi, a French-born American/Tunisian chemist. Bawendi, who won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, called the ISS on Monday (Dec. 11) alongside fellow physics Nobel laureate Ferenc Krausz. Bawendi told students beforehand that science is a process of experiments that create unpredictable and yet interesting results. “Everything you discover is a little bit new,” he said. “You might have an…
Read MoreWatch ISS astronaut speak with Nobel Prize winners on Dec. 11
Some of this year’s Nobel Prize winners will make a call to space on Monday (Dec. 11), and you can watch online for free. Two European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts — one of them here on Earth and the other aboard the International Space Station (ISS) — will speak with recent Nobel laureates during the event. You can watch live here at Space.com, via ESA Web Two, at 9:10 a.m. EST (1410 GMT) on Monday. The conversation will include ISS Expedition 70 commander Andreas Mogensen, astronaut Marcus Wandt (who is…
Read MoreNASA marks 25th anniversary of ISS with call to crew on space station
Twenty-five years ago, Bob Cabana was at the aft flight deck controls of the space shuttle Endeavour when he fired the orbiter’s thrusters to connect a U.S.-built node with a Russian module in Earth orbit. The burst closed the short distance between “Unity” and “Zarya,” giving birth to the International Space Station (ISS). “I cannot believe it was 25 years ago today that we grappled Zarya and joined it with the Unity node,” said Cabana, now NASA‘s outgoing associate administrator, in a call to the space station’s 70th expedition crew…
Read MoreCosmonauts dock Russian Progress cargo ship to ISS on remote control after autopilot glitch
Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) took manual control of an incoming cargo ship carrying tons of supplies after its automated rendezvous system suffered a glitch. The unpiloted cargo ship, called Progress 86, docked to the station’s Russian-built Poisk module under remote control by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who tracked its approach from inside the ISS. Kononenko took control of the cargo ship remotely using a system called TORU, while the Progress 86 craft was flying around the station at a range of about 150…
Read MoreISS astronauts watch Russian cargo ship burn up in Earth’s atmosphere (photos)
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station got a front-row seat to some rare atmospheric “fireworks.” On Wednesday (Nov. 29), the Russian Progress MS-23 cargo spacecraft departed from the International Space Station (ISS) with a load of refuse no longer needed on the orbital outpost. Specifically, the spacecraft was carrying “old equipment and household waste, or everything the experts have decided to toss from the station,” Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko told Russian media outlet TASS. Just four hours after Progress MS-23 undocked, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli was able to locate the…
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