ESA

The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft departin hte International Space Station (Photo NASA)

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A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft ended its Crew-2, or SpaceX Crew-2, mission on behalf of NASA by splashing down without problems. Onboard were astronauts Thomas Pesquet, Megan McArthur, Shane Kimbrough, and Akihiko Hoshide, who reached the International Space Station on April 24, were part of the Expeditions 65 and 66. They finished SpaceX’s second regular crewed mission in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The Crew Dragon left the International Space Station about 8.5 hours earlier. Shortly after splashing down, the SpaceX ship called “Go Navigator” went to retrieve the Crew Dragon and its crew to transport them to the coast.

The satellites Star One D2 and Eutelsat Quantum blasting off atop an Ariane 5 rocket (Image courtesy Arianespace)

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A few hours ago, the telecommunications satellites Star One D2 and Eutelsat Quantum were launched from the Kourou spaceport, in French Guiana, to be sent into a geostationary orbit. Of the two satellites, Eutelsat Quantum was the very special one as it’s the first fully commercial satellite that can be reprogrammed in orbit to respond to changing broadcast needs and upgrade the security of encrypted communications. It has an expected useful life of 15 years.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its Crew-2 or SpaceX Crew-2 mission that began yesterday with its launch. After checking that the pressure is correctly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Thomas Pesquet, Megan McArthur, Shane Kimbrough, and Akihiko Hoshide to enter the Station.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in its Crew-2 o SpaceX Crew-2 mission. After about eleven minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the second crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew, the third one overall. This is also the second mission for the Endeavour, used also for the SpX-DM2 mission.

Chaotic terrain in Mars Pyrrhae Regio seen by Mars Express

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ESA has released new images captured by its Mars Express space probe’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) in Pyrrhae Regio, a region close to the Valles Marineris system on planet Mars. This is what is called chaotic terrain of the kind that forms when there’s underground ice that melts causing large amounts of water to be released. Such a process requires a significant amount of heat, which may have been provided by volcanic activity or a meteor impact. The current look is what is left after the water drained away, leaving in particular the geological formations called mesas.