Blogs

The seven Expedition 68 crew members split their day between spacesuits and space science. A spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station’s power system is planned soon as advanced microgravity research is ongoing aboard the orbital lab. Astronauts Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) partnered together inside …

Payloads: Combustion Integrated Rack/Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (CIR/SoFIE): The crew replaced the 21% O2/79% N2 manifold bottle with a new bottle containing 85% O2/15% N2. This was performed in support of the upcoming SoFIE Growth and Extinction Limit (SoFIE-GEL) experiment. SoFIE-GEL studies burning in microgravity, measuring the amount of heating in a fuel sample …

NASA and Roscosmos are adjusting the International Space Station flight plan after completing an investigation into a coolant leak on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the station. NASA hosted a joint media briefing Wednesday about the Roscosmos-led investigation to update the public on the Soyuz status and the forward strategy. As a part of the work, Roscosmos engineers …

Payloads: Confocal Space Microscope (COSMIC): The crew performed the necessary steps to replace the Light Emitting Diode (LED) fluorescent source in the COSMIC facility. The Confocal Space Microscope (Confocal Microscope) is a JAXA facility that provides fluorescence images of biological samples aboard the ISS. Confocal microscopy uses spatial filtering techniques to eliminate out-of-focus light or …

SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down at 5:19 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 11, off the coast of Tampa, Florida, marking the return of the company’s 26th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The spacecraft carried approximately 4,400 pounds of valuable scientific experiments and other cargo back to Earth. Some …

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 5:47 p.m. EDT on Jan. 10, 2023. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to …

Four Expedition 68 astronauts are enjoying Tuesday off after spending the weekend packing a U.S. cargo craft and readying it for departure on Monday. The International Space Station’s three cosmonauts spent their day concentrating on cardiac research while servicing a variety of orbital lab systems. The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship is orbiting Earth following its …

After receiving commands from flight controllers on the ground, the uncrewed SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked from the zenith port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 5:05 p.m. At the time of undocking, the station was flying about 259 miles over the Pacific Ocean. The Dragon spacecraft successfully departed the space station after arriving …

Live coverage of the departure of SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station is underway on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. After receiving a command from ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, Dragon will undock at 5:05 p.m. from the zenith port of the station’s Harmony module …

SpaceX-26 Undock and Return: Cargo Dragon SpaceX-26 (SpX-26) undocked from the ISS today at 4:05 PM CT to return cargo and payloads to the ground concluding the 43-day mission aboard the ISS. SpX-26 will complete departure phasing throughout the next day, jettison the Trunk for destructive re-entry, deorbit, and then splash down off the coast …