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NASA has awarded a nearly $3.5 billion contract to SpaceX to provide three additional Crew Dragon launches to the International Space Station. The contract covers missions Crew-7, Crew-8 and Crew-9, but NASA says it might order more crew launches in the future. SpaceX began flying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station in 2020, marking … Read more
By Leah Crane Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis Polaris Program SpaceX has announced a new project aiming to take its Dragon spacecraft higher than ever before. The first flight of this programme, called Polaris Dawn, is scheduled for the end of 2022. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman who sponsored and flew … Read more
The billionaire commander of the first “all-civilian” space mission has now filed a new flight plan, underwriting a series of three SpaceX launches designed to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities while also raising funds and awareness for causes here on Earth. Jared Isaacman, the 39-year-old founder of Shift4, an online payment processing company, and the … Read more
The parachute system on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule hasn’t behaved exactly as expected recently, and NASA and SpaceX want to know why. The Dragon named Endeavour returned to Earth with four astronauts on Nov. 8, 2021, wrapping up SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station for NASA. During its descent that day, one of Endeavour’s … Read more
SpaceX’s latest cargo mission is back on Earth with a huge haul of science experiments on board. The Dragon CRS-24 cargo ship splashed down today (Jan. 24) in the Atlantic Ocean at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT), off the coast of Florida near Panama City. “Splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX’s 24th resupply mission to … Read more
A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is headed back to Earth. The uncrewed Dragon CRS-24 resupply ship undocked from the International Space Station on Sunday (Dec. 23) after just over a month linked to the orbiting laboratory. The spacecraft, laden with more than 2 tons of gear, cast off from the station at 10:40 a.m. EST … Read more
Editor’s note: The NASA TV broadcast above will begin coverage of SpaceX’s Dragon CRS-24 undocking at 10:15 a.m. EST (1515 GMT). You can watch live Saturday (Jan. 22) as a SpaceX Dragon resupply ship gets set to rocket thousands of pounds of science back to Earth. Coverage will start at 10:15 a.m. EST (1515 GMT) … Read more
An astonishing fossil of an extinct ‘sea dragon’ discovered by a wetland conservationist one day at work has been hailed as the largest and most complete fossil of its kind ever found in Britain. The fossil, identified as an ichthyosaur, an ancient marine reptile that swam in Earth’s prehistoric oceans when dinosaurs walked on … Read more
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday (Dec. 22), carrying with it a holiday haul of science gear and Christmas treats for the astronauts living on the orbital outpost. The autonomous Dragon resupply ship docked itself at the orbital outpost at 3:41 a.m. EST (0841 GMT), … Read more
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched its 31st rocket of the year early Tuesday (Dec. 21), sending a used Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station before nailing the company’s 100th landing. A new two-stage Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 39A here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:07 a.m. EST … Read more