Russia: Space exploration: International Crew Takes Short Cut to Space Station

Russian Soyuz in docking maneuver with Intl. Space station

A Russian spaceship took a shortcut to the international space station on Wednesday, delivering a veteran cosmonaut, a rookie Italian astronaut and an American mother on her second flight to the outpost in less than six hours.

The capsule slipped into its berthing port early Wednesday about 400 kilometers above the south Pacific Ocean. "Everything went very well," NASA mission commentator Kelly Humphries said during a televised broadcast of the docking.

Typically, the journey takes two days, but Russian engineers have developed new flight procedures that tweak the steering maneuvers and expedite the trip.

One other crew capsule and several cargo ships previously have taken the fast route to the station.

The express ride to the station began when a Soyuz rocket soared off its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and deposited the crew's capsule into orbit. The spaceship circled around the planet less than four times before catching up to the station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations.

To watch departure click here.

Read more: International Crew Takes Short Cut to Space Station (Video) | News | The Moscow Times

Outer Space: 53 year old Canadian Chris Hadfield back on Earth after five-month mission in space

Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield returned to Earth Monday night after a five-month mission at the International Space Station that saw him become the first Canadian to command the orbiting laboratory.

The 53-year-old touched down in Kazakhstan on a Russian Soyuz capsule which was also carrying Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn — the same pair Hadfield blasted off with on Dec. 19, 2012.

The journey was Hadfield’s first return space flight inside the cramped Russian space capsule. The craft tore into the atmosphere before a parachute opened, slowing its descent until it hit the ground at 10:31 p.m. ET.

During his stay in space, Hadfield became a bit of an extraplanetary media star. He tweeted photos, talked to schoolchildren, strummed his guitar and provided videos about daily life on the station.

He bid a dramatic farewell on Sunday with his own, revised version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” recorded at the space station and posted to YouTube.

Read more: Chris Hadfield back on Earth after five-month mission in space | canada.com

Outer Space Exploration: Russian-American Crew Take Short Cut to Space Station

Soyuz docking at space station in record time

Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut took a short cut to the International Space Station on Thursday, arriving at the orbital outpost less than six hours after their Soyuz capsule blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The express route, used for the first time to fly a crew to the station, shaved about 45 hours off the usual ride, allowing NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin to get a jumpstart on their planned 5.5-month mission.

The crew's Soyuz capsule parked itself at the station's Poisk module at 6:28 a.m. Moscow time, just five hours and 45 minutes after launch.

All previous station crews, whether flying aboard NASA's now-retired space shuttles or on Russian Soyuz capsules, took at least two days to reach the station, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 400 kilometers above Earth.

Read more: Russian-American Crew Take Short Cut to Space Station | News | The Moscow Times

Outer Space: Europe’s third cargo vehicle docks with the Space Station

ESA’s ATV Edoardo Amaldi has completed the first stage of its docking with the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station.

The docking occurred smoothly when ATV’s docking probe was captured by Zvezda’s docking cone at 00:31 CEST ( 22:31 GMT).

The docking probe is now retracting, to be followed by the hooks between the two craft closing. The data and electrical connections will then be established.

The 20-tonne vessel, flying autonomously while being continuously monitored from the ground, docked with the 450-tonne orbital complex with a precision of 6 cm as they circled Earth at more than 28 000 km/hr. 

For more: ESA Portal - Europe’s third cargo vehicle docks with the Space Station

ESA astronaut André Kuipers arrives at the Space Station

ESA astronaut André Kuipers and crewmates Oleg Kononeko and Don Pettit docked today with the International Space Station in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft. They will work aboard the Station now for five months and return to Earth in May.

ESA’s fourth long mission on the International Space Station began on Wednesday, when the Soyuz rocket roared into the evening sky from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After circling the globe for the last two days, the spacecraft docked at 15:19 GMT (16:19 CET), 23 December.

For more: ESA Portal - Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers arrives at the Space Station

European Space Exploration: Mysterious fireball was part of Soyuz

The mysterious fireball observed above Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France on Christmas Eve was the re-entry of the third stage of a Soyuz rocket that transported three astronauts to space, the Royal Observatory of Belgium said on Sunday.

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the astronauts - Oleg Kononenko of Russia, Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands and Don Pettit of the United States - to the International Space Station, lifted off on Wednesday from Kazakhstan's Baikonour space centre.

For more: Mysterious fireball was part of Soyuz | News24

ESA astronaut André Kuipers on his way to the International Space Station

After their launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 13:16 GMT (14:16 CET) today, ESA astronaut André Kuipers and crewmates Oleg Kononenko and Don Pettit are circling Earth every 90 minutes aboard the Soyuz TMA-3M spacecraft as they make their way to the International Space Station.

During the next two days, the spacecraft will circle the globe 35 times, performing three major engine burns as its orbit is adjusted for docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, 23 December at 15:22 GMT (16:22 CET), according to current planning.

With their arrival, the Space Station will resume full operations – the occupancy has been reduced to three for about three months as a result of the Progress cargo vessel launch mishap in August.

For more: ESA Portal - ESA astronaut André Kuipers on his way to the International Space Station

Outer Space: Space Station nearly completed: Atlantis shuttle to be retired heads home after smooth mission

The six-member crew of Atlantis launched nine days ago and joined the six space station residents a week ago. It undocked from the station Sunday after completing all of the mission's tasks, including the installation of a Russian module and six large new batteries on the station. With just two shuttle flights remaining, the station is nearly complete. Piers Sellers, who last flew to the station in 2006, says the station was about one-third the size at that time. 

“It was very different,” he said. “This place is now a palace. It's huge. We're seeing the station in pretty much its final form, and it's fantastic.” During their limited time off during their stay, the shuttle crew members have joined the station crew in staring out of the orbiting laboratory's cupola, a large, seven-paned window that looks back on Earth. They've enjoyed many highs, seeing hometowns, oceans and islands. But there has been a big downer, too, explained Soichi Noguchi, a station astronaut.

“The oil spill, we're watching above every day,” he said. “It's kind of sad to see. These days the stain has spread to the south. We're hoping for a quick recovery.”

For more: Likely to retire, Atlantis heads home after smooth mission | National | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

ESA Portal - OasISS mission heading to ISS with ESA astronaut Frank De Winne - first European to become Commander of International Space Station

OasISS mission heading to the International Space Station

For the complete report from the ESA Portal click on this link

OasISS mission heading to ISS with ESA astronaut Frank De Winne-first European to become Commander of International Space Station

ESA astronaut Frank De Winne is heading to the International Space Station at the start of his six-month OasISS mission. Together with Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, De Winne launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 12:34 CEST (10:34 UT) today. Their Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) at 14:36 CEST (12:36 UT) on Friday 29 May. The arrival of De Winne, Romanenko and Thirsk at the ISS will mark the first ever six-member ISS crew, as they join the three Expedition crewmembers already in residence on the Station: Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, NASA astronaut Michael Barratt and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

For the first four months of his OasISS mission, De Winne will be a Flight Engineer as a member of the Expedition 20 crew, reporting to Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka. With a rotation of three of the six crew members due in October, De Winne will take over as Commander of the Expedition 21 crew until his return to Earth in November. He is the first European to take on this role.

ESA Portal - Follow live Europe's Jules Verne ATV's first attempt to dock with the International Space Station

The ATV getting ready to dock with the International Space Station

For the complete report from the ESA click on this link

Follow live Europe's Jules Verne ATV's first attempt to dock with the International Space Station

After several days spent in a parking orbit 2000 km ahead of the ISS, Jules Verne ATV is now ready to join up with the International Space Station. This first docking attempt can be followed live on 3 April 2008 from 15:30 CEST onwards from one of the European participating centres.The docking of Jules Verne ATV is scheduled for 3 April at 16:41 CEST. The final decision on whether to proceed with this manoeuvre will be taken by the ISS Mission Management Team in consultation with the European partners only 24 hours before the operations. For this first attempt, ESA and CNES will be organising live transmission of the event from the ATV Control Centre at CNES in Toulouse to the various European sites.

Jules Verne ATV today demonstrated its ability to navigate safely from a point 39 km behind the ISS to a stand-off point just 3.5 km away using relative GPS navigation. The vessel then executed an Escape manoeuvre commanded from the ATV Control Centre in which the craft flew off to a safe distance. “All systems were completely nominal, which is very satisfying for this first day of really testing the rendezvous capability of the spacecraft,” said John Ellwood, ESA ATV Project Manager.

The Space Fellowship: Europe’s Automated Transport Vehicle is readied for its Ariane 5 launch to support the International Space Station

For the complete report from The Space Fellowship click on this link

Europe’s Automated Transport Vehicle is readied for its Ariane 5 launch to support the International Space Station

Preparations are intensifying for Arianespace’s milestone launch of the Automated Transport Vehicle (ATV), with the mission’s Ariane 5 delivered to French Guiana, and loading of the spacecraft’s dry cargo and water now completed. The European-developed ATV will be lofted in 2008 by an Ariane 5 ES version of Arianespace’s workhorse launcher. After cruising then docking with the International Space Station, the ATV will deliver its payload of equipment, food, fuel, water and oxygen for the orbital facility’s crew.