Spacecraft

The Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket in its Crew-9 mission (Image NASA TV)

A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its Crew-9 or SpaceX Crew-9 mission. After almost exactly twelve minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the 9th crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew.

The Soyuz MS-25 capsule after landing (Image NASA TV)

A little while ago, cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft, which landed in Kazakhstan. Kononenko and Chub completed a one-year mission on the International Space Station while Caldwell-Dyson spent almost exactly 6 months on the Station.

The Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft ends its Polaris Dawn mission splashing down (Image courtesy SpaceX)

A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft concluded its Polaris Dawn mission splashing down without problems. Onboard were Jared Isaacman, Sarah Gillis, Anna Menon, and Scott Poteet, who finished this completely private space mission in the Gulf of Mexico. Shortly after the splashdown, the SpaceX ship went to retrieve the Crew Dragon and its crew to transport them to the coast.

The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz rocket (Image NASA TV)

A few hours ago, the Soyuz MS-26 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 Rassvet module. As is becoming increasingly common for crewed trips as well, the ultra-fast track was used which halves the journey duration.

The Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image courtesy SpaceX)

A little while ago, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on the Polaris Dawn mission. After just over twelve minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage. It will spend about five days in orbit on a completely private crewed space mission. For the first time, a spacewalk is planned during a private space mission.