ISS Archives - Defence Monitor

31 May

Axiom Space’s private astronauts back to Earth after 2nd mission on ISS

Washington, May 31 (IANS) Four astronauts, including the first woman from Saudi Arabia, of the American private space habitat company Axiom Space have returned safely to Earth after spending eight days on their second mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the company has said. The Ax-2 crew aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft safely splashed down off the coast of Florida at 11.04 p.m. on Tuesday (8.34 a.m. on Wednesday IST). "The Dragon spacecraft has safely returned to the recovery ship," the company said in a tweet. "The crew is returning with a plethora of data. The Ax-2 mission is…

17 May

Axiom Space’s second mission to space station on Sunday

New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) American private space habitat company Axiom Space is set to launch its second mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. "Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) will be Axiom Space's second all-private astronaut mission to the ISS, marking another pivotal step toward Axiom Station, the world's first commercial space station and successor to the ISS," the company wrote in its mission statement. "The Ax-2 crew is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21, 2023," it added. Ax-2 will be the first commercial human spaceflight mission to include both private astronauts and astronauts representing foreign…

31 Mar

Indian-origin robotics engineer to head NASA’s new Moon to Mars office

Washington, March 31 (IANS) Indian-origin software and robotics engineer, Amit Kshatriya has been appointed as first head of NASA's new Moon to Mars Programme Office at the agency's headquarters in Washington. The new office aims to carry out NASA's human exploration activities at the Moon and Mars for the benefit of humanity. "The Moon to Mars Programme Office will help prepare NASA to carry out our bold missions to the Moon and land the first humans on Mars," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, in a statement. "The golden age of exploration is happening right now, and this new office will help…

19 Feb

Debris from Russian MS-21 spacecraft plunges into Pacific

Moscow, Feb 19 (IANS) Debris from Russia's Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft has plunged into the non-navigable part of the Pacific Ocean, the Russian State Corporation Roscosmos said on Sunday. After undocking from the International Space Station (ISS), the spacecraft entered the atmosphere on Sunday. Its unburned elements fell into the non-navigable part of the Pacific Ocean, Roscosmos said. On February 11, the spacecraft experienced a coolant leakage but posed no threat to the safety of astronauts working on the ISS, Xinhua News Agency reported. The Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft was launched in October 2022, delivering over 2.5 tons of supplies to…

04 Jun

NASA-SpaceX Dragon launches 7,300lb of cargo to space station

Washington: NASA has launched SpaceX's Dragon resupply spacecraft with more than 7,300 pounds of science experiments, new solar arrays, and other cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket at 1.29 p.m. EDT on Thursday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the US space agency has said. It is scheduled to autonomously dock at the ISS around 5 a.m. Saturday, June 5, and remain at the station for about a month.SpaceX will deliver a pair of new ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays (iROSA) to the ISS. After the Dragon docks to the ISS's…

02 Apr

NASA calls India’s A-SAT test ‘terrible thing’

Washington: NASA has slammed India's anti-satellite missile (A-SAT) test last week saying it has increased risk to the International Space Station (ISS) and may launch a race of sort among countries to repeat the feat.NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine on Monday said the A-SAT missile's successful targetting of a live satellite on a low earth orbit (LEO) within three minutes, that created at least 400 pieces of orbital debris, has increased risk to the ISS. "That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris at an apogee that goes above the ISS," CNN quoted Bridenstine as saying at…

29 Aug

NASA’s Johnson Space Centre closed amid floods

Washington: The NASA's Johnson Space Centre (JSC) in Houston, Texas, remained closed due to floods caused by the catastrophic hurricane Harvey, according to the space agency.But the Mission Control continued operations, the agency announced on Monday. "While the vast majority of our workforce is safe, many have experienced severe flood damage, are without power and may need other assistance," JSC Director Ellen Ochoa, a former astronaut, said. The JSC in Houston has been closed to all non-critical staff from Sunday and will remain closed on Tuesday. The JSC Emergency Management said: "Centre Closure Includes all Sites." However, the Mission Control Centre is…

20 May

SpaceX Dragon to deliver crew supplies, research to ISS

Washington: SpaceX will launch its Dragon spacecraft for its 11th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre on June 1. Dragon will lift into orbit atop the Falcon 9 rocket carrying crew supplies, equipment and scientific research to crewmembers living aboard the station, NASA said in a statement on Saturday. The flight will deliver investigations and facilities that study neutron stars, osteoporosis, solar panels and tools for Earth-observation. "In addition to studying the matter within the neutron stars, the payload also includes a technology demonstration called the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation…