Space Stations

The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft blastinf off (Photo courtesy Xinhua/Tian Dingyu)

0

It was morning in Beijing when the Chinese Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft reached the Chinese space station’s Tianhe core module. It was launched about seven hours earlier on a Long March-7 Y5 rocket from the Wenchang base. This is the third space freighter launched to the new Chinese space station and carries propellant along with various types of supplies for the taikonauts, as the Chinese call their astronauts, who will arrive in June.

The Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft docking with the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

0

A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its Crew-4 or SpaceX Crew-4 mission that began almost 16 hours earlier with its launch. After checking that the pressure is correctly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Robert Hines, Samantha Cristoforetti, Jessica Watkins, and Kjell Lindgren to enter the Station.

The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docking with the International Space Station in its Ax-1 mission (Image NASA TV)

0

A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its private Axiom Mission 1 or simply Ax-1 mission that began with its launch yesterday. After they verify that the pressure has been correctly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Michael López-Alegría, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe, and Mark Pathy to enter the Station.

The Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft (at the center) docked with the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

0

A few hours ago, the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than three hours reached the International Space Station with three new crew members on board. It docked with the Station’s Prichal module. As is becoming increasingly common for crewed trips as well, the ultra-fast track was used which halves the journey duration.

The Cygnus S.S. Piers Sellers cargo spacecraft captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm (Image NASA TV)

0

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, launched last Saturday, February 19, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Astronaut Raja Chari, assisted by his colleague Kayla Barron, will soon begin the slow maneuver to move the Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Unity module after about two hours.