SPACEX CREW CAPSULE DOCKS AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The day after a sky-lighting Florida launch, four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule chased down the International Space Station Thursday and glided in for a problem-free docking, kicking off a half-year stay aboard the orbital outpost. Crew-3 commander Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron and German astronaut Matthias Maurer began the close approach phase of a 22-hour rendezvous shortly after wakeup around 2 p.m. EST.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 12)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FIRES ROCKETS TO DODGE CHUNK OF DESTROYED CHINESE SATELLITE - The International Space Station performed a short engine burn on Wednesday to avoid potentially hitting a chunk of space junk. At 2315 Moscow Time (2015 UTC), the thrusters on Russia's Progress MS-18 transport cargo vehicle, which is docked to the ISS, fired for 361 seconds to perform the small nudge, Roscosmos said. The agency confirmed on Twitter it had successfully performed the shift, and that the ISS is now safe from a fragment of China’s Fengyun-1C weather satellite that was whizzing by.   More
(Source: TheRegister - Nov 11)

SPACEX LAUNCHES MOSTLY-ROOKIE CREW-3 MISSION TO ISS - SpaceX and NASA have successfully launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on the Crew-3 mission. The crew took flight onboard a Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon Endurance from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A Wednesday evening, November 10, at 9:03 PM EST (02:03 UTC on November 11). At the station, the four will spend approximately six months onboard as part of Expedition 66/67. They will take the places of the four Crew-2 astronauts, who safely returned to Earth on November 8.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 11)

JAPAN’S EPSILON LAUNCHES RAISE-2 AND EIGHT SECONDARY SATELLITES - Japan has finally launched its small satellite launcher Epsilon to deliver nine satellites to orbit. Notably, this includes the RAISE-2 technology demonstrator. Previously delayed due to weather and a scrub, the launch from Uchinoura Space Center occurred at 00:48 UTC on November 9. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) RAISE-2 was the primary payload aboard the Epsilon rocket for this launch. It was joined by eight small satellites – four microsatellites and four CubeSats – on its ride to space.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 10)

CHINESE ASTRONAUTS COMPLETE SPACE WALK OUTSIDE FUTURE SPACE STATION - Two Chinese astronauts completed a space walk on Monday outside the core module of a future space station, with 41-year-old Wang Yaping becoming the first Chinese woman to perform the manoeuvre, state media reported. Zhai Zhigang, 55, mission commander of Shenzhou-13, opened the hatch of the core cabin Tianhe at 18:51 p.m. (1051 GMT) on Sunday, and was joined by Wang for a space walk that lasted 6-1/2 hours.   More
(Source: Reuters - Nov 9)

SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE WITH CREW-2 ASTRONAUTS SPLASHES DOWN IN GULF OF MEXICO - After six months in space, SpaceX's Crew-2 astronauts returned to Earth late Monday (Nov. 8), splashing down off the Florida coast to end the private company's second long-duration mission. SpaceX's Crew-2 mission for NASA splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico just south of Pensacola, Florida, at 10:33 p.m. EST (0333 GMT on Nov. 9), with a recovery ship swiftly retrieving the spaceflyers' Crew Dragon capsule from the sea. Their return wrapped up a six-month trip to the International Space Station (ISS).   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 9)

ARIANE 5 FAIRING CLEARED FOR WEBB LAUNCH AFTER “PERFECT” PERFORMANCE ON LAST FLIGHT - The payload fairing on the most recent Ariane 5 launch last month worked perfectly, according to the European Space Agency, helping clear concerns about the shroud before liftoff of the James Webb Space Telescope on the next Ariane 5 flight in December. The nose cone structure, built by the Swiss company RUAG Space, is designed to protect sensitive satellites during their time on the launch pad before liftoff, and during the first few minutes of ascent through the atmosphere. Once in space, the rocket jettisons the no-longer-needed fairing in two pieces, like the halves of a clamshell.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 8)

HOW TO WATCH SPACEX'S CREW-2 ASTRONAUTS RETURN TO EARTH TODAY - The astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-2 mission are scheduled to leave the International Space Station on Monday afternoon (Nov. 8), and you can watch the action live online. After spending just shy of 200 days in space, NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with Akihiko Hoshide of Japan and the European Space Agency's (ESA) Thomas Pesquet, will say goodbye to their crewmates on the orbital outpost Sunday and board their Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, for the trip back to Earth. Splashdown set for Monday night at 10:33 p.m. EST (0333 GMT).   More
(Source: Space.com - Nov 8)

THESE ARE THE FIRST IMAGES FROM LANDSAT 9 - The latest photos from space provide unparalleled views of how world’s surface is changing. Landsat 9, an Earth observation satellite that NASA launched Sept. 7, released the first photos of planet Earth captured on Oct. 31, NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS) announced Friday (Nov. 5).   More
(Source: Quartz - Nov 8)

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