Tag: Human Spaceflight

I toured NASA’s Mission Control ahead of Boeing’s coming astronaut flight. Here’s what it was like (exclusive)

HOUSTON — It’s hard to beat an in-person launch experience — especially if you’re watching in Mission Control, the literal hub of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Reporters and flight directors gathered here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on Thursday (March 21) at a big control room screen to watch SpaceX launch its 30th robotic cargo […]

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I toured NASA’s Mission Control ahead of Boeing’s 1st Starliner astronaut flight. Here’s what it was like (exclusive)

HOUSTON — It’s hard to beat an in-person launch experience — especially if you’re watching in Mission Control, the literal hub of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Reporters and flight directors gathered here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on Thursday (March 21) at a big control room screen to watch SpaceX launch its 30th robotic cargo […]

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‘Space headaches’ are a literal pain for astronauts. Why do they happen?

Spaceflight can be a real headache — literally. Since the days of the Apollo program, astronauts have reported experiencing head pain during their stint in microgravity. And many of them had never dealt with recurrent headaches on Earth. It seems that something about space travel sometimes triggers migraine or tension headache–like symptoms, including pain, sensitivity to light and occasionally […]

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‘Like planning a giant wedding:’ How NASA astronaut Anil Menon helped SpaceX with 1st U.S. splashdown in 45 years (exclusive)

NASA’s Anil Menon got splashdown practice with SpaceX even before he joined the astronaut corps. Menon was part of the medical team supporting Demo-2, the first astronaut mission SpaceX ever flew. Demo-2’s Crew Dragon capsule made a historic return to Earth on Aug. 2, 2020. It was the first time an American spacecraft splashed down […]

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Watch SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronaut mission for NASA return to Earth March 12 in this free livestream

The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission will return to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), and you can watch their homecoming live. Crew-7’s Dragon capsule, named Endurance, undocked from the International Space Station on Monday (March 11) after the astronauts’ 6.5-month stay on the orbiting laboratory. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft […]

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Watch SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronaut mission for NASA return to Earth today in this free livestream

The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission will return to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), and you can watch their homecoming live. Crew-7’s Dragon capsule, named Endurance, undocked from the International Space Station on Monday (March 11) after the astronauts’ 6.5-month stay on the orbiting laboratory. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft […]

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SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronaut mission for NASA returns to Earth safely today

The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission returned to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), with their homecoming broadcast live. Crew-7’s Dragon capsule, Endurance, splashed down at 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 UTC) off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The recovery crew arrived at the capsule around three minutes later, with thermal cameras tracking the recovery […]

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SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronaut mission for NASA returns to Earth safely today (video)

The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission returned to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), with their homecoming broadcast live. Crew-7’s Dragon capsule, Endurance, splashed down at 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 UTC) off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The recovery crew arrived at the capsule around three minutes later, with thermal cameras tracking the recovery […]

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SpaceX’s Crew-7 capsule returns 4 astronauts to Earth with predawn splashdown (video)

The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission returned to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), with their homecoming broadcast live. Crew-7’s Dragon capsule, Endurance, splashed down at 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 UTC) off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The recovery crew arrived at the capsule around three minutes later, with thermal cameras tracking the recovery […]

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Is it time for a new Outer Space Treaty? Reports of Russian nuclear space weapon raise questions

In February 2024, reports of a planned Russian nuclear space weapon renewed Cold War-era fears of the militarization of Earth’s orbit. The furor began when U.S. House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) issued a public statement asking President Biden to declassify all information relating to a space-based nuclear weapon that Russia is reportedly developing. The […]

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Watch Chinese astronauts fix Tiangong space station solar wing in 8-hour spacewalk (video)

A pair of Chinese astronauts spent eight hours outside their space station last weekend to carry out repairs on the facility. It was the second extravehicular activity, or spacewalk, of the ongoing Shenzhou 17 crewed mission and the 14th overall carried out at China’s Tiangong space station. Astronaut Jiang Xinlin opened the Wentian experiment module […]

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NASA’s next astronaut class graduates March 5, and you can watch it live (video)

NASA’s latest group of astronaut candidates will graduate Tuesday (March 5) alongside two candidates from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and you can watch it live. NASA Group 23 of astronaut candidates, informally known as “The Flies”, will become eligible for space missions alongside the second astronaut candidate group from the UAE. You can watch […]

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Watch NASA’s next astronaut class graduate today in this free livestream (video)

NASA’s latest group of astronaut candidates will graduate today (March 5) alongside two candidates from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and you can watch it live. NASA Group 23 of astronaut candidates, informally known as “The Flies”, will become eligible for space missions alongside the second astronaut candidate group from the UAE. You can watch […]

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How do astronauts use the bathroom in space?

“Do it in the suit.” Those were the disconcerting words that the first American in space, Alan Shepherd, heard on May 5, 1961, when he advised the launch pad team he needed to urinate. Shepherd did as instructed, urinating in his spacesuit, short-circuiting his electronic biosensors.  Shepherd’s spacesuit hadn’t been outfitted with a urine collection […]

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