The Shenzhou 21 capsule after landing (Photo courtesy Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)

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A few hours ago, the three Chinese taikonauts from the Shenzhou 20 mission returned to Earth after spending 204 days on the Tiangong space station, where they arrived on April 24, 2024. The three taikonauts—Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie—had left the station about 3.5 hours earlier to land at a site called Dongfeng in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The three taikonauts returned aboard the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft because the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft suffered tiny fractures in a window following the impact of what was likely space debris and was deemed unsafe for human transportation.

The ESCAPADE twin probes blasting off atop a New Glenn rocket (Image courtesy Blue Origin)

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A few hours ago, NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) twin probes were launched atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket, which accomplished its mission, called NG-2. One goal for Blue Origin was to land the first stage, which was a successful one just over 9 minutes after launch. After approximately 33 minutes, the probes, named Blue and Gold, separated from the rocket’s second stage and began a long journey to Mars to study its magnetosphere and the Sun’s impact on the red planet.

Galaxy NGC 3621 with the location of supernova SN 2024ggi in the small circle

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An article published in the journal “Science Advances” reports the first reconstruction ever of the shape of a Type II supernova in its early stages. A team of researchers led by Professor Yi Yang of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, used observations conducted with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to study the supernova cataloged as SN 2024ggi on April 11, 2024, the day after the explosion began.

The Sentinel-1D satellite blasting off atop an Ariane 6 rocket (Photo courtesy ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE/Optique vidéo du CSG–P. Piron. ESA Standard Licence)

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A few hours ago, the Sentinel-1D satellite, part of the Copernicus / GMES, was launched from the Kourou spaceport, in French Guiana, atop an Ariane 6 rocket. After about 34 minutes, the satellite regularly separated from the rocket’s last stage and started sending signals. Its final orbit in low Earth orbit will be at an altitude of about 693 kilometers.

The Shenzhou 21 spacecraft blasting off atop a Long March-2F rocket (Photo courtesy Xinhua)

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A confirmation has arrived that three Chinese taikonauts from the Shenzhou 21 mission reached the Chinese space station Tiangong with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about 3.5 hours earlier atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They form the 10th crew of the Chinese space station and will remain there for about six months, the standard duration for a mission.