ISS crew size returns to 6

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ISS crew size returns to 6

The population of the International Space Station returned to six people as the crew of Soyuz MS-06 docked with and entered the outpost. The spacecraft hard-mated with its docking port at about 10:55 p.m. EDT Sept. 12 (02:55 GMT Sept. 13), 2017.

About 2 hours later, at 1:08 a.m. EDT (05:08 GMT), the hatches between the Soyuz and space station were opened allowing Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba to float inside.

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SpaceX’s CRS-12 Dragon capsule arrives at space station

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SpaceX’s CRS-12 Dragon capsule arrives at space station

Some 36 hours after leaving Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s CRS-12 Dragon capsule rendezvoused with and was berthed to the International Space Station. The cargo spacecraft is carrying more than 2,900 kilograms of supplies and science experiments.

Once the capsule was within about 10 meters beneath the Destiny laboratory module, Expedition 52 crew members Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency and Jack Fischer of NASA used the robotic Canadarm2 to pluck the spacecraft from space.

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Station boosts orbit ahead of spacewalk, visiting vehicle swaps

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Station boosts orbit ahead of spacewalk, visiting vehicle swaps

The International Space Station got its orbit reboosted on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. The slight raising of its orbit set up the next crew swap planned for the beginning of September.

Recently arrived Progress MS-06 used its onboard engines to increase the speed of the outpost, thus raising its orbit. The spacecraft is currently docked to the Zvezda service module located at the aft end of the station.

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ISS crew size increases to 6 with Soyuz MS-05 docking

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ISS crew size increases to 6 with Soyuz MS-05 docking

After a six-hour, four-orbit trek to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS), the three-man crew of the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft joined Expedition 52, increasing the outpost’s population to six people.

Docking took place at 5:54 p.m. EDT (21:54 GMT) July 28, 2017, while the spacecraft and station were flying over Germany.

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Progress MS-06 docks with ISS

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Progress MS-06 docks with ISS

Pulling into port at 7:37 a.m. EDT (11:37 GMT) June 16, 2017, the autonomous Russian Progress MS-06 cargo spacecraft glided in for a docking at the aft port of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module.

The two vehicles were traveling some 400 kilometers over the Philippine Sea at the time of docking.

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OA-7 Cygnus re-enters atmosphere after 2-month mission

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OA-7 Cygnus re-enters atmosphere after 2-month mission

Burning up in a blaze of glory, Orbital ATK‘s OA-7 Cygnus cargo ship re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean June 11, 2017, ending its nearly two-month-long flight.

The spacecraft, which spent some six weeks attached to the International Space Station, delivered more than 3,300 kilograms of supplies to the outpost and, after unberthing last week, performed a fire experiment.

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Soyuz MS-03 crew returns to Earth after nearly 200 days in space

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Soyuz MS-03 crew returns to Earth after nearly 200 days in space

Landing on the Kazakh Steppe, two members of the International Space Station’s Expedition 51 crew returned to Earth on June 2, 2017, after spending 196 days in orbit. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet landed in their Soyuz MS-03 capsule about an hour before sunset local time at 8:10 p.m. (10:10 a.m. EDT / 14:10 GMT).

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S.S. John Glenn OA-7 Cygnus berthed to ISS

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S.S. John Glenn OA-7 Cygnus berthed to ISS

After a four-day cruise to the International Space Station, Orbital ATK’s OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft, named S.S. John Glenn, was captured and berthed to the outpost.

Capture of the 6.4-meter long spacecraft by the station’s robotic Canadarm2 came at 6:05 a.m. EDT (10:05 GMT) April 22, 2017. Expedition 51 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency as well as Commander Peggy Whitson of NASA were at the Robotics Work Station in the Cupola window controlling the arm.

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