Representing the third spaceflight of 2011, JAXA’s HTV-2 vehicle, atop the H-IIB rocket, launched at 1537 JST (0137 CST) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. With its second flight, the HTV will deliver thousands of pounds of internal and external cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and serve as a means for [...]

The International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 26 crew have conducted the Russian EVA-27 on Friday, marking the first in what is currently planned to be a total of 10 Shuttle and ISS EVAs in 2011. Projected to be a six hour EVA, the spacewalk began with hatch opening at 2:29 PM GMT and ended well ahead of schedule at [...]

In an interview with NASASpaceflight.com, Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) Director Paul Hill spoke of his pride for the MOD community, whilst outlining his vision for the future as NASA prepares to transition into a new post-Shuttle era of Commercial opportunities and a return to manned exploration outside of Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

International Space Station Program (ISSP) managers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston held a two-day meeting this week to discuss the prospect of adding a Bigelow Aerospace inflatable module to the ISS. The Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) ran on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th January.

A study into Active Debris Removal (ADR) has begun laying the foundations of a long term project to remove large pieces of orbital debris from space. The effort, which may grow into an international project, aims to eventually remove around five large pieces of debris – such as the numerous spent Upper Stages from Russian [...]

Following the further delay of the STS-133/ULF-5 mission into late February, International Space Station (ISS) Program Managers are readjusting the mission plans for Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2) “Johannes Kepler” and Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle-2 (HTV-2) “Kounotori”. Both vehicles will be present at the ISS during the STS-133 mission, which should provide for some stunning [...]

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) GSLV-F06 launch vehicle has suffered another failure, when it exploded around 60 seconds into ascent. The vehicle was carrying the GSAT-5P telecommunications satellite on Christmas Day, lifting off at 10:34am GMT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shriharikota. The launch was originally rescheduled due to a leak in the Russian [...]

As the International Space Station prepares to enter a new era of governmental (ATV, HTV, and Progress) and commercial (SpaceX’s Dragon and Orbital’s Cygnus) unmanned resupply services, the ISS Program (ISSP) is pressing ahead with three software upgrades for the Space Station – which are aimed at accommodating multiple visiting vehicles at a single time, improving [...]

International Space Station (ISS) program managers are currently in the process of conducting an assessment into the long-term configuration of the US Segment of the orbital outpost, as preparations are made for the post-Shuttle era which will see the addition of a new fleet of “Visiting Vehicles” arriving at the Station.

NASA astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin have landed back on Earth in their Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft. The trio touched down in the central steppes of Kazakhstan at 11:46 pm EST (04:46 Friday GMT). Meanwhile, ISS managers continue to refine the visiting vehicle manifest, which now reaches deep into 2012.

The Russian EVA-26 has been completed Monday, with Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin (EV-1), and Oleg Skripochka (EV-2), woking on the outfitting of the exterior of the Service Module (SM) for future assembly work and the support of external experiments. This was the fifth spacewalk for Yurchikhin, and the first for Skripochka.

A Russian Progress resupply vehicle has launched en-route to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, bringing with it fresh supplies for the Expedition 25 crew ahead of STS-133/ULF-5 next week. Meanwhile, space station managers have been presenting the status of the ISS’ regenerative ECLSS (Environmental Control & Life Support Systems) at the Agency Flight [...]

The ISS Program is gearing up for what will be a very busy upcoming year of logistics operations, with a total of eleven Visiting Vehicles (VVs) scheduled to visit the orbital outpost in 2011. Manifested arrivals consist of five Russian Progresses, three SpaceX Dragons, one Orbital Cygnus, one Japanese HTV, and one European ATV. At [...]

The International Space Station Increment 25 are ending their first full week on the orbital outpost, as specialists on the ground continue their investigation into the events leading up to the failure of the GPRVs (Gas Pressure Regulation Valves) in April and Pump Module (PM) in July. Engineers are also evaluating the ISS’s long-term module [...]

Following a marathon day of debates and the extended wait for a recorded vote, the Senate Bill (S. 3729) has been passed by lawmakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. Modifying the heavily criticised path laid out by President Obama, Congress passed the bill which will allow for the ultimate transition towards commercial access [...]

NASA’s immediate future appears to be gaining some degree of clarity, at least as far as the House of Representatives and Senate are concerned. With the release of a compromise NASA Authorization bill for FY 2011 that aims to mend the differences between the original House and Senate versions of the Authorization Act, the United [...]

After three epic EVAs, International Space Station (ISS) managers are celebrating their orbital outpost’s staged return to a nominal condition, as the replacement Pump Module on the External Thermal Control System (ETCS) Loop A provides the required cooling to the numerous systems that were forced to shut down after the July 31 failure.

International Space Station (ISS) astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson have completed their third specialized spacewalk to kick off a week that will hopefully result in the return of Loop A cooling on the External Thermal Control System (ETCS) for the first time since its failure at the end of last month. ISS EVA-17′s prime [...]

NASA’s Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson have completed their eventful opening EVA to changeout a failed ammonia coolant Pump Module (PM) on the International Space Station’s (ISS) External Thermal Control System (ETCS) “Loop A”. Lasting eight hours and three minutes, the spacewalk will be followed by a second EVA next Wednesday.