Astronauts

9-hour spacewalk: Chinese astronauts top US record, making space history

Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong broke the 23-year-old record for the longest spacewalk, completing a historic 9-hour extravehicular activity aboard the Tiangong space station

NASA astronaut shares SpaceX Dragon Undocking video from space station

SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule undocked from the ISS on December 16, 2024, and headed to earth with 2700 kg of waste

NASA finds seven new dark comets that might have brought life to Earth

Astronomers unveiled the discovery of seven new 'dark comets' that they believe could be the mechanism by which water enters the inner solar system

Nasa delays moon mission again, over 50 years after Apollo landings

NASA announced more delays Thursday in sending astronauts back to the moon more than 50 years after Apollo. Administrator Bill Nelson said the next mission in the Artemis program -- flying four astronauts around the moon and back is now targeted for April 2026. It had been on the books for September 2025, after slipping from this year. The investigation into heat shield damage from the capsule's initial test flight two years ago took time, officials said, and other spacecraft improvements are still needed. This bumps the third Artemis mission a moon landing by two other astronauts to at least 2027. NASA had been aiming for 2026. NASA's Artemis program, a follow-up to the Apollo moonshots of the late 1960s and early 1970s, has completed only one mission. An empty Orion capsule circled the moon in 2022 after blasting off on NASA's new Space Launch System rocket. Although the launch and lunar laps went well, the capsule returned with an excessively charred and eroded bottom heat .

Indian astronauts selected for Isro-Nasa mission complete initial training

Two Indian astronauts chosen for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) have completed the initial phase of training, the ISRO has said. Accorsing to ISRO, towards the goal of accomplishing a joint ISRO-NASA effort to the International Space Station, the two Gaganyatris (Prime-Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Backup-Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair) assigned for Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) commenced their training in the USA from first week of August,2024. The initial phase of training has been completed successfully by the Gaganyatris. During this phase of training, the Gaganyatris have completed initial orientations for mission-related ground facility tours, initial overview of mission launch phases, SpaceX suit fit checks, and selected space food options, it said. Furthermore, the training also included familiarization sessions with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and various onboard systems of the International Space Station, including photogra

Nasa astronauts decline to reveal which one of them got sick after mission

Three NASA astronauts whose prolonged space station mission ended with a trip to the hospital last month have declined to say which one of them was sick. Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps Friday publicly discussed their spaceflight for the first time since returning from the International Space Station on Oct 25. They spent nearly eight months in orbit, longer than expected because of all the trouble with Boeing's Starliner crew capsule and rough weather, including Hurricane Milton. Soon after their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast, the three were taken to a hospital in nearby Pensacola along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who launched with them back in March. One of the Americans ended up spending the night there for an undisclosed medical issue. NASA declined to say who was hospitalised or why, citing medical privacy. When asked at Friday's news conference which one had been sick, the astronauts ...

US elections: Sunita Williams, fellow astronauts to cast vote in space

US elections 2024: Nasa has established a process to allow astronauts to vote while in orbit, ensuring they are not left out of this democratic exercise

NASA astronaut remains at hospital after returning from extended space stay

A NASA astronaut was taken to the hospital for an undisclosed medical issue after returning from a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing's capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton, the space agency said on Friday. A SpaceX capsule carrying three Americans and one Russian parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week. Soon after splashdown, NASA said one of its astronauts had a medical issue" and the crew was flown to a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, as a precaution. The astronaut, who was not identified, was in stable condition and remained at the hospital as a "precautionary measure, the space agency said in a statement. The others returned to Houston. It can take days or even weeks for astronauts to readjust to gravity after living in weightlessness for several months. The astronauts should have been back two months ago. But their homecoming was stalled by problems with Boe

Four astronauts return after being delayed by Boeing's capsule trouble

Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing's capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton. A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week. The three Americans and one Russian should have been back two months ago. But their homecoming was stalled by problems with Boeing's new Starliner astronaut capsule, which came back empty in September because of safety concerns. Then Hurricane Milton interfered, followed by another two weeks of high wind and rough seas. SpaceX launched the four NASA's Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Russia's Alexander Grebenkin in March. Barratt, the only space veteran going into the mission, acknowledged the support teams back home that had to replan, retool and kind of redo everything right along with us ... and helped us to roll with all those ...

'Nothing short of astronomical:' Scary hurricane Milton captured from space

Astronomers onboard the International Space Station (ISS) caught a breathtaking video of the monstrous hurricane Milton as it approached Florida

Stuck Nasa astronauts welcome SpaceX capsule that will bring them home

The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday's arrival of a SpaceX capsule. SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with a downsized crew of two astronauts and two empty seats reserved for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return next year. The Dragon capsule docked in darkness high over Botswana as the two craft soared 420 kilometres above Earth. NASA switched Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX following concerns over the safety of their Boeing Starliner capsule. It was the first Starliner test flight with a crew, and NASA decided the thruster failures and helium leaks that cropped up after liftoff were too serious and poorly understood to risk the test pilots' return. So Starliner returned to Earth empty earlier this month. The Dragon carrying NASA's Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency's Alexander Gorbunov will remain at the space station until February, turning what should have been a weeklong trip

SpaceX launches rescue mission for 2 Nasa astronauts stuck in space

SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year. The capsule rocketed into orbit to fetch the test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month because of safety concerns. The switch in rides left it to NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Alexander Gorbunov to retrieve Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Since NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams won't return until late February. Officials said there wasn't a way to bring them back earlier on SpaceX without interrupting other scheduled missions. By the time they return, the pair will have logged more than eight months in space. They expected to be gone just a week when they signed up for Boeing's first astronaut flight that launched in June. NASA ultimately decided that ..

NASA prepares to launch rescue mission for stuck Boeing astronauts

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are slated to take off inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon

NASA, SpaceX to launch new crewed mission next week to ISS for 203 days

Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov plan to launch on the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission to ISS next week. Check details

Stuck astronauts make 1st comments after Boeing capsule leaves without them

Stuck-in-space astronauts Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams said Friday they appreciated all the prayers and well wishes from strangers back home. It was their first public comments since last week's return of the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the International Space Station in June. They remained behind after NASA determined the problem-plagued capsule posed too much risk for them to ride back in. Wilmore and Williams are now full-fledged station crew members, chipping in on routine maintenance and experiments. They along with seven others on board welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American earlier this week, temporarily raising the station population to 12, a near record. The two Starliner test pilots both retired Navy captains and longtime NASA astronauts will stay at the orbiting laboratory until late February. They have to wait for a SpaceX capsule to bring them back. That spacecraft is due to launch later this month with a ..

Polaris Dawn mission: SpaceX launches four private astronauts into space

The crew consists of billionaire Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, and two SpaceX employees, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returns to earth with no one onboard

After months of turmoil over its safety, Boeing's new astronaut capsule departed the International Space Station on Friday without its crew and headed back to Earth. NASA's two test pilots stayed behind at the space station their home until next year as the Starliner capsule undocked 260 miles (420 kilometres) over China, springs gently pushing it away from the orbiting laboratory. The return flight was expected to take six hours, with a nighttime touchdown in the New Mexico desert. "She's on her way home," astronaut Sunita Williams radioed after Starliner exited Williams and Butch Wilmore should have flown Starliner back to Earth in June, a week after launching in it. But thruster failures and helium leaks marred their ride to the space station. NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to return the duo on Starliner. So the fully automated capsule left with their empty seats and blue spacesuits along with some old station equipment. SpaceX will bring the duo back in late Februar

Boeing to fly empty capsule back to Earth soon, 2 astronauts to stay behind

Boeing encountered serious flaws with Starliner long before its June 5 liftoff on the long-delayed astronaut demo

Sunita Williams assures mother of safe return amid extended space mission

Originally planned as a week-long mission, Sunita Williams' stay has been extended by several months due to repeated helium leaks and other technical challenges

Nasa's decision to not use Boeing capsule to rescue astronauts adds to woes

NASA's announcement on Saturday that it won't use a troubled Boeing capsule to return two stranded astronauts to Earth is a yet another setback for the struggling company, although the financial damage is likely to be less than the reputational harm. Once a symbol of American engineering and technological prowess, Boeing has seen its reputation battered since two 737 Max airliners crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. The safety of its products came under renewed scrutiny after a panel blew out of a Max during a flight this January. And now NASA has decided that it is safer to keep the astronauts in space until February rather than risk using the Boeing Starliner capsule that delivered them to the international space station. The capsule has been plagued by problems with its propulsion system. NASA administrator Bill Nelson said the decision to send the Boeing capsule back to Earth empty "is a result of a commitment to safety. Boeing had insisted Starliner was safe based on