Space Stations

The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft docking with the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than six hours reached the International Space Station with three astronauts on board. In the period preceding a launch, it’s normal for astronauts and cosmonauts to remain in quarantine. In this case it was also extended to the personnel who managed the launch, with limits to the people who could have been in Baikonur.

Artist's concept of the Dragon XL cargo spacecraft after separating from the Falcon Heavy rocket's second stage (Image courtesy SpaceX)

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NASA has announced that it has selected SpaceX as the first supplier in the Gateway Logistics Services contract to transport cargo, experiments and other supplies to the Lunar Gateway, part of the Artemis program that aims to bring astronauts back to the Moon. At least two missions will be carried out with the Dragon XL cargo spacecraft, a new variant of the Dragon 2 cargo optimized to carry over 5 metric tons of cargo to the Moon’s orbit. The timeline for these missions isn’t clear due to the NASA’s changes of plans, as recently the agency decided to skip the use of the Lunar Gateway for the mission that’s supposed to take place by 2024 and use it in the following years.

The Cygnus "Robert Lawrence" cargo spacecraft captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm (Image NASA TV)

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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, launched last Saturday, February 15, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Astronaut Andrew Morgan, assisted by his colleague Jessica Meir, will soon begin the slow maneuver to move the Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Unity module after about two hours.