Station Crew Back to Work After Soyuz Move

Following the relocation of a Soyuz spacecraft Monday, the Expedition 24 crew of the International Space Station focused on systems maintenance and science experiments Tuesday, as well as on orientation activities for the three newest crew members.Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Doug Wheelock, Mikhail Kornienko, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Shannon Walker got a late start on the day, as they adjust their sleep schedules back to normal following Monday’s relocation...

read more

Space shuttle missions likely to be postponed: NASA

The two final US space shuttle missions before the shuttle program is phased out will likely be postponed, a NASA spokesperson told AFP."It's not official yet but it's very likely," said Allard Beutel, media services chief at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida."The decision will be officially announced July 1st," he said.The US space shuttles are being retired after President Barack Obama opted not to fund a successor program, deciding instead to encourage private spacecraft development.The final...

read more

Would-be astronauts eye future

Young dreamers still arrive at Purdue University's "cradle of astronauts" with hopes of following in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong, Gus Grissom and David Wolf.Inspired by 30 years of breath-taking space shuttle launches and astronauts walking in space, students have been driven to join Purdue's elite group of 22 astronauts and thousands of lesser-known engineers who have played vital roles in shuttle missions.But those dreams could be dashed, or delayed, by the government's decision to permanently...

read more

Shuttle swan song delayed to 2011

Managers of NASA's space shuttle program are seeking a shift in the launch schedule that would delay the fleet's final launch until February 2011 at the earliest.The schedule shift would have the shuttle Discovery to lift off on Oct. 29 instead of Sept. 16, and schedule Endeavour's flight for no earlier than Feb. 28, 2011, rather than in November as previously scheduled. Managers asked for the shift this afternoon in a "Change of Launch" request issued to all invoved in those two flights, according...

read more

Veteran astronaut begs NASA to keep space shuttle

Veteran astronaut John Glenn today questioned the decision to retire the space shuttle fleet and rely on Russia to take astronauts to the International Space Station. "We have a vehicle here, why throw it away? It's working well," the first American to orbit Earth said.He said he was against paying the Russians $55.8m (about £38m) a person to fly to the station."Being, in effect, under control of Russia for our space programme just doesn't sit right with me and I don't think it sits well with the...

read more

Russian, US astronauts dock with ISS: official

A Russian space ship carrying a Russian cosmonaut and two US astronauts on Friday docked successfully with the International Space Station, mission control officials said.The Soyuz-FG rocket, which blasted off Wednesday for the ISS, carried Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and US astronauts Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock who opened the airlocks some two hours after docking.The Vesti-24 television channel showed the new arrivals heartily hugging the station's current crew and smiling.The...

read more

Houston's First Hometown Astronaut Joins "Expedition 24"

Two U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan.They're making the two-day journey to the International Space Station, where they'll become a part of what's called "Expedition 24", the latest group living and working aboard the station as it orbits 354 kilometers above Earth. The crew, shown here in Russia during training for their trip in space, includes Shannon Walker, Houston's first hometown astronaut.Walker's arrival will mark the first time the station's...

read more

NASA's Astronauts — Da! Good Job From Baikonur Cosmodrome

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new Expedition 24 flight engineers bound for the International Space Station lifted off at 5:35 p.m. EDT Tuesday.As the launch of the Soyuz TMA-19 lit up the pre-dawn skies around the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin began the two-day journey to catch up with the space station currently orbiting 220 statute miles above the Earth.The station’s newest flight engineers...

read more

New Soyuz Mission Launches June 15

Three astronauts are set for launch today to the International Space Station (ISS). Three crew, which will complete Expedition 24 aboard the orbital facility, will take off at 5:35 pm EDT (2135 GMT), from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. They will fly to orbit aboard the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft, which is operated by the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos). The three fliers come from both NASA and RosCosmos, and they are bound to bring the total number of inhabitants on the ISS back to...

read more

World Cup Mania Reaches Outer Space

World cup soccer mania has launched off planet Earth and reached astronauts living on the International Space Station.The three spaceflyers currently on the orbiting lab will join millions of soccer fans on Earth cheering on the teams competing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament, set to begin Friday in Johannesburg, South Africa."We get together every evening for dinner and sit around the TV," said American astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson of NASA, on the typical routine at the station. "I bet...

read more

NASA will launch your name and photo into outer space for free

NASA is collecting digital photos and names from the public to launch on the two final space shuttle missions.You may not be able to squeeze your whole body onto NASA's last two space shuttle missions in history, but your face can go – at no charge. All it takes is a digital photo and a few clicks of the mouse.NASA is collecting digital photos and names from the public to launch on the two final space shuttle missions scheduled before the famed reusable space planes retire for good. The photographs...

read more

NASA offers to take your face into space

Want to feel a part of the last space shuttle missions? NASA will give you an honorary presence on one of the final two flights to the International Space Station. Upload a head shot to their website, choose your mission, and they'll put your face in space.The method of transport for the images isn't clear, but judging from previous efforts, odds are they'll be digital. The Stardust mission carried a million names written to a microchip to comet Wild 2 and the Cassini orbiter took 616,400 signatures...

read more

NASA wants to send your face into space

MOST of us will never make it into space, but NASA has offered to send photos of intergalactic dreamers into orbit for free.People can upload a photo of their face, or provide their name, at faceinspace.nasa.gov.The data will be launched into space on one of the American space agency's two remaining space shuttle missions to the International Space Station later this year.Once the missions return, participants can print a commemorative Flight Certificate signed by the Mission Commander as a quirky...

read more

Falcon 9 rockets into space in dramatic maiden flight

Powered by 10 engines and the vision of an Internet entrepreneur, an untried Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Friday and successfully boosted a dummy payload into orbit on a maiden voyage intended to help pave the way for commercial missions to the International Space Station.In a major milestone for the commercial launch industry, the two-stage Falcon 9's nine first-stage Merlin engines, fueled by liquid oxygen and RP-1 kerosene rocket fuel, roared to life at 2:45 p.m. EDT.After computer checks to verify...

read more

Russian Spacecraft Lands Safely After Trip to Space Station

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft landed safely in Kazakhstan late Tuesday to return a cosmonaut and two astronauts back home from the International Space Station after nearly six months in space.The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft touched down on at about 11:25 a.m. EDT on the central steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and two crewmates – one each from the United States and Japan – onboard. It was 9:25 a.m. Wednesday local time at the landing site.Recovery crews reported that...

read more