White House directs NASA to extend International Space Station operations through 2030

The White House has given NASA a New Year’s Eve “go” to continue operations on board the International Space Station through 2030, granting the orbital outpost a six-year life extension. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was directed by the Biden-Harris administration to work with the agency’s partners, including the European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency, … Read more

Here’s 7 things the International Space Station taught us in 2021

The International Space Station is the world’s most extreme and expensive scientific laboratory. In its more than 20 years of operations it has housed thousands of experiments, providing fascinating insights into the effects of microgravity on the human body, cultured cells or various materials and chemical processes. Here are the most interesting findings that the … Read more

NASA clears Axiom crew for 1st private mission to International Space Station

The astronauts launching with the first private crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year have cleared all their medical evaluations.  NASA and its international partners approved the four-person crew for Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), which is scheduled to launch on Feb. 28, 2022. The Ax-1 crew includes Michael López-Alegría, Larry Connor, Mark … Read more

Astronauts on the International Space Station send Christmas video message to Earth

Astronauts on the International Space Station shared a festive message for people on Earth as they prepare to spend the holidays in orbit.  Expedition 66 crew members, including NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Mark Vande Hei, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, will be celebrating … Read more

Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina will fly on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos are finalizing an agreement to launch the first cosmonaut on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, agency officials confirmed on Monday (Dec. 20).  Joel Montalbano, NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) program manager, told reporters during a prelaunch briefing for the upcoming Dragon cargo resupply mission … Read more

International Space Station: Live space tourist updates

Refresh 2021-12-19T14:26:21.267Z Landing day for Japanese space tourists Billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa (left), cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (center) and video producer Yozo Hirano (right) are scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station on Dec. 8, 2021. Hirano will participate in health-related research during and after the mission. (Image credit: CPK/Roscosmos) It’s landing day for Japanese … Read more

Boeing plans to launch its Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station in May 2022

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The next launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is slated for May 2022, company officials announced on Monday (Dec. 13). That is if everything goes as planned.  Teams from both Boeing and NASA have spent the last four months combing over data and inspecting valves on the Starliner spacecraft in an effort … Read more

NASA greenlights Axiom Space’s 2nd private mission to International Space Station

NASA has given the go-ahead to another private crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The agency will work with Axiom Space to find a window for the Houston-based company’s second ISS mission, NASA officials said in an update Monday (Dec. 13). That flight, known as Ax-2, is currently scheduled to launch from NASA’s … Read more

An International Institute Will Help Us Manage Climate Change

This has been quite the year for climate science. Extreme weather events made headlines year-round, including exceptional heatwaves, floods, and fires driven by droughts. Two leading climate scientists, Suki Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann, won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physics. World leaders finally came together in Glasgow for the COP26 meeting. There is little doubt … Read more