3-man crew returns safely to Earth from International Space Station

Published May 14, 2013

Associated Press

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  This image provided by NASA shows astronaut Chris Hadfield recording the first music video from space.AP

MOSCOW –  A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man crew from the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn, and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:31 a.m. local time Tuesday following a 146-day mission to the International Space Station.

Live footage on NASA TV showed the Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descending by parachute onto the sun-drenched steppes under clear skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

Rescue teams moved quickly to help the crew in their bulky spacesuits get out through the narrow exit hatch of the capsule. They were then put into reclining chairs to start adjusting to Earth's gravity.

The three astronauts smiled as they chatted with space agency officials and doctors who were checking their condition.  Hadfield, who served as the space station's commander, gave a thumbs-up sign.

A three-man U.S.-Russian crew is staying on the space station and will be joined in two weeks by the next trio of astronauts.

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3-man crew returns safely to Earth from International Space Station

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  May 14, 2013: Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), left, Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), center, and NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn sit in chairs outside the Soyuz Capsule just minutes after they landed in a remote area outside the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.NASA/AP

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  This image provided by NASA shows astronaut Chris Hadfield recording the first music video from space.AP

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MOSCOW –  A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man crew returning from a five-month mission to the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn, and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:31 a.m. local time Tuesday.

Live footage on NASA TV showed the Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descending by parachute onto the sun-drenched steppes under clear skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

Rescue teams moved quickly to help the crew in their bulky spacesuits exit through the narrow hatch of the capsule. They were then put into reclining chairs to start adjusting to Earth's gravity after 146 days in space.

The three astronauts smiled as they chatted with space agency officials and doctors who were checking their condition.  Hadfield, who served as the space station's commander, gave a thumbs-up sign. They then made quick phone calls to family members and friends.

NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said by telephone from the landing site that the three returning astronauts were doing very well.

Hadfield, 53, an engineer and former test pilot from Milton, Ontario, was Canada's first professional astronaut to live aboard the space station and became the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday.

"It's just been an extremely fulfilling and amazing experience end to end," Hadfield told Mission Control on Monday. "From this Canadian to all the rest of them, I offer an enormous debt of thanks." He was referring to all those in the Canadian Space Agency who helped make his flight possible.

Hadfield bowed out of orbit by posting a music video on YouTube on Sunday -- his own custom version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."  It's believed to be the first music video made in space, according to NASA.

"With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World," Hadfield said via Twitter.

Hadfield sang often in orbit, using a guitar already aboard the complex, and even took part in a live, Canadian coast-to-coast concert in February that included the Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson and a youth choir.

The five-minute video posted Sunday drew a salute from Bowie's official Facebook page: "It's possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created."

A three-man U.S.-Russian crew is staying on the space station and will be joined in two weeks by the next trio of astronauts.

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Spacewalking repair halts station leak - for now

Published May 11, 2013

Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –  Two astronauts are taking a hastily planned spacewalk to find and, possibly, fix a serious leak at the International Space Station.

Flakes of frozen ammonia coolant were spotted Thursday drifting from the long frame that holds the solar panels on the left side. Less than 48 hours later, Thomas Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy emerged from the orbiting lab Saturday to hunt for the leak. They're prepared to replace a pump, if necessary.

The two have been at this troublesome spot before, during a shuttle visit in 2009.

NASA says the leak, while significant, poses no safety threat. But managers want to deal with the trouble now.

NASA has never staged such a fast, impromptu spacewalk for a station crew. Even during the shuttle days, unplanned spacewalks were rare.

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Astronaut spies 'bullet hole' in space station

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  Chris Hadfield snapped this shot of a "bullet hole" created by a micrometeoroid or piece of space junk in one of the space station's solar arrays.Chris Hadfield (via Twitter as @Cmdr_Hadfield)

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have dodged a cosmic bullet ... literally.

A small piece of space junk or naturally occurring celestial debris created the tiny hole in one of the space station's wing-like solar arrays at some point in the outpost's 14-year history in orbit. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield spotted the puncture and posted a photo of it on Twitter on Monday.

"Bullet hole — a small stone from the universe went through our solar array," Hadfield wrote, suspecting the hole was caused by a tiny space rock called a micrometeoroid. "Glad it missed the hull." [Chris Hadfield's Video Guide to Life in Space]

'A 2-mm size particle is expected to hit somewhere every 6 months or so.'

- William Jeffs, a NASA spokesman

NASA experts estimate that millions of micrometeorites and bits of man-made debris orbit the Earth in the range of operational satellites and the space station. These shards of satellites, rockets and rocky debris are traveling at an average speed of 22,000 mph. The space station, for comparison, orbits the Earth at a speed of about 17,500 mph.

"The 'bullet' that created the hole in the solar array was probably due to a 1 mm to 2 mm diameter MMOD [micrometeoroids and orbital debris] impact, assuming the hole was on the order of 0.25 inches in diameter," William Jeffs, a NASA spokesperson told SPACE.com in an email. "A 2-mm size MMOD particle is expected to hit somewhere on [the International Space Station] every 6 months or so."

If the piece of space debris were to collide with the hull, the space station's shielding would probably protect the crew from being adversely impacted, Jeffs added.

NASA scientists regularly track pieces of space debris larger than 4 inches across in order to avoid potentially destructive collisions. Radar systems track these larger pieces of space junk to alert space station operators and satellite controllers to any threats.

"Collision with these particles can cause serious damage or catastrophic failure to spacecraft or satellites and is a life-threatening risk to astronauts conducting extra-vehicular activities in space," NASA officials from the agency's Johnson Space Center wrote on the White Sands Test Facility website.

The International Space Station can maneuver out of the way of larger meteoroids and bits of debris if their orbits are tracked well ahead of time.

Particles smaller than 4 inches and larger than 0.4 inches pose a unique problem for tracking efforts, however.

"Fortunately, small particles less than 1 cm pose less of a catastrophic threat, but they do cause surface abrasions and microscopic holes to spacecraft and satellites," NASA officials said. "The greatest challenge is medium-size particles (objects with a diameter between 1 cm to 10 cm), because they are not easily tracked and are large enough to cause catastrophic damage to spacecraft and satellites."

In total, NASA estimates that about 95 percent of all objects in orbit around the Earth are debris and not active satellites.

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Russian spaceship docks with orbiting International Space Station

Published March 28, 2013

Associated Press

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  The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with a Soyuz TMA-04M spaceship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. The Russian rocket is carrying U.S. astronaut Joseph Acaba along with Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)AP2012

A Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts has successfully docked with the International Space Station, bringing the size of the crew at the orbiting lab to six.

Chris Cassidy of the United States and Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin traveled six hours in the capsule before linking up with the space station's Russian Rassvet research module. It was the first time a space crew has taken such a direct route.

The incoming crew will spend five months in space before returning to Earth.

Their mission began with a late-night launch from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan.

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New space station crew to launch and dock today in cosmic first

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  At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy (right), Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov (center) and Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin clasp hands for photographers prior to the sNASA

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  Large gantry mechanisms on either side of the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft are raised into position to secure the rocket at the launch pad on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Liftoff is set for March 28 EDT (March 2NASA/Carla Cioffi

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Three men are poised to make history when they blast off on a rocket ride Thursday, March 28, that will reach the International Space Station faster than any astronauts to fly there before.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Pavel Vinogradov are due to arrive at the orbiting laboratory just six hours after they launch at 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT). The liftoff will begin a months-long mission in orbit for the three men.

The trio will blast off from the Central Asian spaceport of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The mission's Soyuz rocket rolled out to the launch pad on Tuesday, March 26, to prepare for today's liftoff.

You can watch the launch live here on SPACE.com's NASA TV feed beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT).

'It's shaping up to be a really exciting expedition — we've got a lot going on.'

- NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy

In the nearly 13 years since crews first began launching to the International Space Station, it has taken Russian Soyuz capsules and U.S. space shuttles about two days to reach the orbiting lab after liftoff. Now, NASA and Russia's Federal Space Agency are testing out a new, accelerated schedule. [Soyuz's 1-Day Trip to Space Station Explained (Infographic)]

The quick journey, which takes just four orbits of Earth, has been carried out by recent unmanned cargo spacecraft visiting the space station, but never by a crew.

"The four-orbit rendezvous has the advantage of a very short period of time from launch to docking," Mike Suffredini, NASA's International Space Station program manager, said of the mission. "It reduces the amount of time the crew has to spend in a small environment before they get to ISS."

Cassidy, Misurkin and Vinogradov are planning to join the station's Expedition 35 mission for a roughly six-month stay. The current residents of the outpost are commander Chris Hadfield of Canada, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn.

"It's shaping up to be a really exciting expedition — we've got a lot going on," Cassidy, 43, said. "We're very excited to join our friends and colleagues Roman, Chris and Tom on the space station."

The crew's time will be filled with science experiments, space station upkeep, and visits from visiting robotic cargo delivery spacecraft. Both the Russian cosmonauts, and possibly the American crew, will conduct six spacewalks during their mission for space station maintenance.

"It's a very fun and very interesting activity for us," Misurkin said of spacewalking. "During these tasks we are doing to install some scientific equipment outside of the station, and also we are going to prepare some special stuff for the Russian module which will come a little bit later."

Misurkin, 35, will be making his first trip to space, while Cassidy and Vinogradov are veterans. Cassidy flew on the STS-127 space shuttle mission in 2009, while Vinogradov served on two long-duration missions, including a stint on the International Space Station in 2006.

"Going back to the International Space Station feels like going back home," Vinogradov, 59, said. "I recognize the station is completely different from what it was when we were there. I think this is my second favorite place besides my home."

Cassidy, too, said he was looking forward to returning to space, and would relish the chance to see his hometown of York, Maine from orbit.

"Flying over my home town — that, I'm really excited about," Cassidy told SPACE.com in a preflight interview. "I come from a small town in Maine and there are a lot of people watching and that brings me a great amount of pride."

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3 astronauts return to Earth after 144-day mission to space station

Published March 15, 2013

Associated Press

MOSCOW –  A Soyuz space capsule carrying an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts has landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan, returning the three men to Earth after a 144-day mission to the International Space Station.

A commentator on NASA TV says the search and recovery helicopters are approaching the landing site, but that only two of 12 aircraft have been allowed to land because of heavy clouds and fog. The temperature is just above freezing.

NASA's Kevin Ford and Russians Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin had been scheduled to return on Friday, but the landing was postponed by a day because of bad weather.

Their Russian-made capsule touched down Saturday at around 9:10 a.m. local time.

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Tamed Dragon supply ship arrives at space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –  A privately owned Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering a ton of supplies, after a shaky, nerve-wracking start to its mission.

The Dragon's arrival was one day late but especially sweet -- and not because of the fresh fruit on board for the station astronauts who snared the capsule.

SpaceX, the California-based company founded by billionaire Elon Musk who helped create PayPal, had to struggle with the Dragon following its Friday launch. A clogged pressure line or stuck valve prevented the Dragon's thrusters from working, and it took flight controllers several hours to gain control and salvage the mission.

In the end, the Dragon approached the orbiting lab with its 1-ton load about as smoothly as could be expected, with all of its thrusters operating perfectly. The capture occurred as the two spacecraft zoomed nearly 250 miles above Ukraine.

"As they say, it's not where you start, but where you finish that counts," said space station commander Kevin Ford, "and you guys really finished this one on the mark."

He added: "We've got lots of science on there to bring aboard and get done. So congratulations to all of you."

Among the items on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stem cells, food and clothes for the six men on board the space station, trash bags, computer equipment, air purifiers, spacewalking tools and batteries.

The Dragon will remain at the space station for most of March before returning to Earth with science samples, empty food containers and old equipment.

SpaceX -- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. -- has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to keep the station well stocked. The contract calls for 12 supply runs; this was the second in that series.

This is the third time, however, that a Dragon has visited the space station. The previous two capsules had no trouble reaching its destination. Company officials promise a thorough investigation into what went wrong this time; if the thrusters had not been activated, the capsule would have been lost.

In a tweet following Friday's drama, Musk said, "Just want to say thanks to (at)NASA for being the world's coolest customer. Looking forward to delivering the goods!"

Musk acknowledged Friday that the problem -- the first ever for an orbiting Dragon -- was "frightening." But he was certain SpaceX would prevail, and he was right. He oversaw the entire operation from Hawthorne, Calif., home to SpaceX and the company's Mission Control.

The Dragon's splashdown in the Pacific is set for March 25.

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SpaceX Dragon capsule to miss berthing date at space station after thruster issue

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –  Blast off! SpaceX's Falcon rocket launched Friday at 10:10 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral on a resupply run to the International Space Station.

The unmanned rocket is owned by the SpaceX company, and carried the company's Dragon capsule filled with more than a ton of space station supplies and experiments -- rather than the chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream carried aboard a previous mission. This time, Dragon's freezers are going up filled with mouse stem cells, protein crystals and other research items. 

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said snacks straight from the orchard of an employee's father are on board -- and not just apples.

'[The cargo is] a little bit healthier, I think, than the one that NASA sent last time.'

- SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell

"It's a little bit healthier, I think, than the one that NASA sent last time," she told reporters on the eve of the flight.

This will be the third space station visit for SpaceX, or more formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the creation of Elon Musk of PayPal and Tesla electric carmaker fame.

NASA is paying the company to supply the orbiting lab; the contract is worth $1.6 billion for 12 delivery runs.

The Dragon should arrive at the space station on Saturday morning. The six-member station crew will use the station's robot arm to grab the Dragon and attach it to the orbiting complex.

A variety of plant life is going up, including 640 seeds of mouse-ear cress, a small flowering weed used in research. Other experiments involve paint; high school students want to see how it will adhere and dry in space.

Russia, Europe and Japan also provide delivery services to the space station, but none of those cargo craft can return goods like the SpaceX Dragon. This latest Dragon will spend more than three weeks at the space station before departing and parachuting into the Pacific with a full load of medical specimens, fish, plants and old equipment.

NASA's shuttles used to be the main haulers up and down, but retired two years ago.

Orbital Sciences Corp., a cargo-flying competitor, hopes to launch its first orbital test flight from Wallops Island, Virginia, in April, followed by an actual demo mission to the space station in early summer.

SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, is working to modify its Dragon capsules to transport astronauts to the station in another few years. A handful of U.S. companies are vying for the job.

Until then, NASA is buying seats for its astronauts on Russian Soyuz rockets to get to the station.

The company said it has resolved the problem that caused one of the nine first-stage engines to shut down prematurely shortly after liftoff last October. A private Orbcomm satellite that was also on the rocket ended up in a lower-than-desired orbit and burned up upon re-entry.

A flaw in the engine jacket was to blame, Shotwell said, declining to provide further details.

The main payload, the Dragon capsule, had no trouble reaching the space station; it was even a little early.

Shotwell stressed that the rocket is built to withstand an engine loss, "and though you never necessarily want to see it happen, it's nice that we've demonstrated the vehicle as it was designed."

NASA space station program manager Mike Suffredini said he's satisfied with the engineering analysis by SpaceX.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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SpaceX Dragon capsule to miss berthing date at space station after thruster issue

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –  A private rocket is poised to blast off Friday on a supply run to the International Space Station.

The unmanned Falcon rocket is owned by the SpaceX company. The Dragon capsule on board is filled with more than a ton of space station supplies and experiments.

Good weather is forecast for the 10:10 a.m. liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It's a one-second launch window.

There won't be any ice cream, though, for the six-man station crew. The freezers going up are filled with mouse stem cells, protein crystals and other research items. On the previous Dragon delivery in October, chocolate-vanilla swirl was tucked inside.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said snacks straight from the orchard of an employee's father are on board -- and not just apples.

"It's a little bit healthier, I think, than the one that NASA sent last time," she told reporters on the eve of the flight.

Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 80 percent. Launch time is 10:10 a.m.

This will be the third space station visit for SpaceX, or more formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the creation of Elon Musk of PayPal and Tesla electric carmaker fame.

NASA is paying the company to supply the orbiting lab; the contract is worth $1.6 billion for 12 delivery runs.

If launched Friday, the Dragon should arrive at the space station on Saturday morning. Astronauts will use the station's robot arm to grab the Dragon and attach it to the orbiting complex.

A variety of plant life is going up, including 640 seeds of mouse-ear cress, a small flowering weed used in research. Other experiments involve paint; high school students want to see how it will adhere and dry in space.

Russia, Europe and Japan also provide delivery services to the space station, but none of those cargo craft can return goods like the SpaceX Dragon. This latest Dragon will spend more than three weeks at the space station before departing and parachuting into the Pacific with a full load of medical specimens, fish, plants and old equipment.

NASA's shuttles used to be the main haulers up and down, but retired two years ago.

Orbital Sciences Corp., a cargo-flying competitor, hopes to launch its first orbital test flight from Wallops Island, Virginia, in April, followed by an actual demo mission to the space station in early summer.

SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, is working to modify its Dragon capsules to transport astronauts to the station in another few years. A handful of U.S. companies are vying for the job.

Until then, NASA is buying seats for its astronauts on Russian Soyuz rockets to get to the station.

As is his custom, Musk will monitor the launch from SpaceX Mission Control in California.

The company said it has resolved the problem that caused one of the nine first-stage engines to shut down prematurely shortly after liftoff last October. A private Orbcomm satellite that was also on the rocket ended up in a lower-than-desired orbit and burned up upon re-entry.

A flaw in the engine jacket was to blame, Shotwell said, declining to provide further details.

The main payload, the Dragon capsule, had no trouble reaching the space station; it was even a little early.

Shotwell stressed that the rocket is built to withstand an engine loss, "and though you never necessarily want to see it happen, it's nice that we've demonstrated the vehicle as it was designed."

NASA space station program manager Mike Suffredini said he's satisfied with the engineering analysis by SpaceX.

This Falcon is not carrying a commercial satellite.

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NASA briefly loses contact with international space station

NASA lost direct contact with the International Space Station Tuesday due to equipment failure, leaving the orbiting laboratory dependent on Russian ground stations for communications with Earth, space agency officials say.

The communications loss occurred at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT) as flight controllers at NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were sending a software update to the space station.

A main data relay system malfunctioned, and the computer that controls the station's critical functions switched to a backup, NASA officials said in a statement. However, the station was still unable to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay satellite network that serves as the outpost's link to NASA's Mission Control center on the ground. 

All six space station astronauts are in good health, and NASA has reestablished a connection with the station, NASA officials said. The space station is currently home to three Russians, two Americans and a Canadian astronaut.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11:00 a.m. EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications," NASA officials explained. "Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford reported that the station’s status was fine and that the crew was doing well."

The International Space Station is a $100 billion laboratory in space that is about the size of a football field. It has the living space equivalent of a five-bedroom home and was built by five difference space agencies representing the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan.

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