Carbon-measuring instrument to be sent to ISS

Carbon-measuring instrument to be sent to ISS

When SpaceX’s CRS-17 Dragon spacecraft launches toward the International Space Station at the end of April, it is expected to be carrying with it a new carbon-observing instrument.

Called Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3, or OCO-3, the instrument is a follow-on to the still-active OCO-2 mission, according to NASA. Once at the ISS, it will be attached to the exposed platform on the Japanese Kibo module.

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Power cables routed during 3rd spacewalk of 2019

Power cables routed during 3rd spacewalk of 2019

During a 6.5-hour spacewalk, two International Space Station astronauts finished battery work and routed cables across the outpost.

NASA’s Anne McClain and the Canadian Space Agency’s David Saint-Jacques performed the spacewalk, exiting the Quest airlock at 11:31 UTC April 8, 2019.

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Progress MS-11 launches toward ISS on 2-orbit trek

Progress MS-11 launches toward ISS on 2-orbit trek

Russia launched a Soyuz rocket with the latest Progress resupply freighter bound for the International Space Station, docking nearly 3.5 hours later.

Progress MS-11 launched atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from site 31 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Liftoff took place at 11:01 UTC April 4, 2019, setting the stage for the spacecraft to rendezvous with the outpost just over three hours later.

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Astronauts wrap 2nd spacewalk of 2019

Astronauts wrap 2nd spacewalk of 2019

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch ventured outside the International Space Station to continue work to replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries on the P4 truss segment.

The March 29, 2019, extravehicular activity was the second of three planed in less than a month and focused on installing three battery adapter plates and new lithium-ion units.

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Astronauts install new batteries outside the ISS

Astronauts install new batteries outside the ISS

Two NASA astronauts ventured outside the 20-year-old International Space Station to replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries with fresh lithium-ion units.

Floating outside the Quest airlock to perform the 6.5-hour-long U.S. EVA-52 was NASA’s Anne McClain and Nick Hague, both Expedition 59 flight engineers.

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Soyuz MS-12 reaches ISS, Expedition 59 begins

Soyuz MS-12 reaches ISS, Expedition 59 begins

After a successful launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft rendezvoused and docked with the International Space Station some six hours later.

Aboard Soyuz MS-12 was Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin and NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch. The spacecraft’s arrival at the Earth-facing port of the Rassvet module at 01:01 UTC March 15 doubled the outpost’s crew size and set the stage for a busy next couple of weeks of spacewalks and science.

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Historic Crew Dragon flight concludes with Atlantic splashdown

Historic Crew Dragon flight concludes with Atlantic splashdown

The historic Crew Dragon Demo-1 mission has come to a conclusion with a successful splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean not far from where its mission began six days ago.

Following a five-day mission attached to the International Space Station, the unpiloted Crew Dragon autonomously undocked at 07:32 UTC March 8, 2019, and began moving to a safe distance. The spacecraft left the vicinity of the outpost about 20 minutes later.

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ISS astronauts assemble tools for robotic refueling demo

ISS astronauts assemble tools for robotic refueling demo

If humans are ever to settle the Solar System sustainably, a number of technologies will need to be perfected, including in-space refueling.

As such, NASA created the Robotic Refueling Mission, or RRM, a series of experiments designed to understand and perfect technologies for robotic propellant transfer and help extend the life of spacecraft.

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'New era in spaceflight': Crew Dragon docks with ISS

'New era in spaceflight': Crew Dragon docks with ISS

For the first time since the end of the Space Shuttle program, a U.S. spacecraft designed to fly humans has docked with the International Space Station.

At 10:51 UTC March 3, SpaceX’s unpiloted Crew Dragon Demo-1 spacecraft made contact with the docking adapter at the forward end of the International Space Station.

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