Spacecraft

The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image NASA)

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A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its Crew-8 or SpaceX Crew-8 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 8th crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew. This is also the 5th mission for the Endeavour, a new record. The fact that the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage is new is almost more newsworthy.

The Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago, the Progress MS-26 spacecraft blasted off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After about nine minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and was placed on its route. The cargo spacecraft began its resupply mission to the International Space Station also called Progress 87 or 87P. In this mission, the route used is the one that requires about two days.

The Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft after the splashdown that ended its Ax-3 mission (Image courtesy Axiom Space)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft concluded its Ax-3 mission by splashing down without problems. On board were Michael López-Alegría, Walter Villadei, Alper Gezeravcı, and Marcus Wandt, who ended this completely private space mission in the Atlantic Ocean after leaving the International Space Station almost 48 hours earlier. Shortly after splashing down, SpaceX’s recovery ship went to retrieve the Freedom and its crew to transport them to the coast.

The Cygnus S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson cargo spacecraft captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm (Image NASA TV)

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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, launched last Tuesday, January 30, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Astronaut Loral O’Hara, assisted by his colleague Jasmin Moghbeli, will soon begin the slow maneuver to move the Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Unity module after about two hours.