Proxima mission begins
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and Roscosmos commander Oleg Novitsky blasted into space this evening from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 20:20 GMT. Their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is now safely heading towards the International Space Station for docking on Saturday. To source
'Great Valley' on Mercury Points to Shrinking Planet
Poor little Mercury is getting even smaller. Astronomers have discovered a large valley on Mercury that provides further evidence for the planet’s shrinkage — an odd phenomenon that has been the topic of debate for decades. NASA created a video overview of Mercury’s ‘Great Valley’ here . This newfound feature is about 620 miles long, 250 […]
Galileo replay part 1
Replay the full coverage of the liftoff and early ascent of Europe’s next four Galileo satellites, which lifted off at 13:06 GMT (14:06 CET, 10:06 local time) on 17 November To source
Galileo liftoff replay
Europe’s next four Galileo satellites lifted off at 13:06 GMT (14:06 CET, 10:06 local time) on 17 November from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana atop an Ariane 5 launcher To source
Faraway Star Is Roundest Natural Object Ever Seen
The star Kepler 11145123 is the roundest natural object ever measured in the universe. Stellar oscillations imply a difference in radius between the equator and the poles of only 3 km. This star is significantly more round than the Sun. A star 5,000 light-years from Earth is the closest thing to a perfect sphere that […]
New International Space Station Crew Launches Today: How to Watch Live
Astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Peggy Whitson of NASA pose for a group photo at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia during qualification exams for their Expedition 50/51 mission to the International Space Station. Three new crewmembers will begin their […]
Sentinel sees us
Operations image of the week: An impressive view of Germany’s Rhine-Main area, which includes ESA’s Sentinel mission control centre To source
Chinese Astronauts Prepare for Return to Earth
Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (right) and Chen Dong bid farewell to the Tiangong-2 space lab and prepare to head home aboard their Shenzhou-11 spacecraft. Two Chinese astronauts have entered the Shenzhou-11 re-entry module to prepare for their return to Earth. Space travelers Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong have lived and worked in the Tiangong-2 space […]
Liftoff! Truly International Crew Launches to Space Station
A trio of space travelers from the U.S., Russia and France launched into space Thursday (Nov.17), to kick off a six-month mission to the International Space Station. The three-person Expedition 50/51 crew includes Russian cosmonaut and Soyuz commander Oleg Novitskiy, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and the European Space Agency’s Thomas Pesquet, who will become the first […]
Space Age: Astronaut Peggy Whitson Talks Aging & Spaceflight | Exclusive Video
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson smiles as she listens to a reporter’s questions ahead of final qualification exams at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia, for a launch to the International Space Station with the Expedition 50 crew. Whitson will launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket on Nov. 17, 2016. NASA astronaut […]
NASA, Russia Set Flights for Trimmed-Down Space Station Crew
Sunlight glints off the International Space Station in this photo taken by an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Feb. 10, 2010. With Thursday’s (Nov. 17) launch of three new crewmembers, the International Space Station (ISS) will be returned to full staffing — but not for long. Beginning with the next Soyuz launch, in […]
Cloudscape Over the Philippine Sea
Flying over the Philippine Sea, an astronaut looked toward the horizon from the International Space Station and shot this photograph of three-dimensional clouds, the thin blue envelope of the atmosphere, and the blackness of space. The late afternoon sunlight brightens a broad swath of the sea surface on the right side of the image. To […]
Probing Greenland’s ice sheet for future satellites
With a helicopter the sole feature on the vast expanse of ice and her only way back to warmth and safety, polar scientist Anna Hogg must have thought, “What on Earth am I doing out here?” as she set to taking ice samples. To source