A long touted lunar circumnavigation for space tourists is back in the news with reports from Russia that RSC Energia now has 8 possible candidates for the mission, which would take place aboard a specially modified Soyuz. The story from Sputniknews, actually quotes an interview from another paper Izvestia, which somewhat paradoxically (or not) made […]
Russia’s space problems continue. Yesterday, TASS reported the following: “Launch of Soyuz MS manned spacecraft, which is due to take a new expedition to the International Space Station, has been rescheduled for July 7 from June 24 due to control system flaws that may disrupt the ship’s docking with the ISS, a source in the […]
After a somewhat troubled development which featured launch vehicle changes, worker strikes and charges of corruption, Russia is finally ready to christen its new Vostochny Cosmodrome in a baptism of fire, courtesy of a Soyuz 2.1a rocket. Liftoff of the first booster to fly from the new spaceport, which is located in the nation’s Far […]
The second of three tightly paced supply missions to the International Space Station has lifted off from Baikonour, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz booster carrying the Progress 63 cargo ship lifted off at 11:23:57 CDT (10:23 PM local) carrying 3 tons of food, fuel and supplies. After a 2 day transfer, it will dock with the aft […]
The world’s oldest space power will soon be inaugurating its newest space port. After a long and troubled development which has frequently drawn the ire and intense scrutiny of Vladimir Putin, Russia is planning to conduct the first launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the nation’s far east in late April. From TASS: MOSCOW, March […]
NASA Press Release NASA astronaut Jeff Williams is now the first American to become a three-time, long-term resident of the International Space Station. He arrived at the orbiting laboratory at 11:09 p.m. EDT Friday, with cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, where they will continue important research that […]
It is far from the best of times for the Russian space program, as budget realities conflict with that nation’s lunar ambitions. Following optimistic projections last year that it was working towards a 2025 launch date for a lunar circumnavigation mission to be carried out by the planned Angara A5B heavy lift vehicle, a draft […]
In the latest of what has become a string of incidents, some serious and some minor, for the Russian space program, Roscosmos reported yesterday that a “glitch” with a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the International Space Station resulted in an inadvertent thruster firing. The firing, which took place at 10:27 AM CDT, occurred during a […]
Roscosmos has reported that the stricken M-27M Progress resupply vessel reentered the Earth’s atmosphere overnight. The statement, which is on the agency’s website (in Russian), says that the craft “ceased to exist over the central Pacific Ocean, and that the results of an investigation will be presented no later than May 13th. Further reports in […]
Liftoff of Progress M-27-M / Image Credit Roscosmos A flurry of reports in Russia new media indicate that yesterday’s launch of the Progress M-27-M resupply freighter to the International Space Station has gone awry, and perhaps badly so. Liftoff took place aboard a Soyuz-2.1a booster from the Baikonour Cosmodome in Kazakhstan at 10:09 AM Moscow […]
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