Tag: Space

Russian Soyuz Spacecraft Docks at ISS to Bring Back Stranded Crew

A Russian spacecraft on a mission to bring back to Earth a crew stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) has docked at the station, Russian space agency Roscosmos said early on Sunday. The Soyuz MS-23, which lifted off from Baikonour space centre in Kazakhstan on Friday, is to bring back Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev…


Galaxies Spotted by Webb Telescope Upend Understanding of Early Universe

WASHINGTON—Observations by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are upending the understanding of the early universe, indicating the presence of large and mature but remarkably compact galaxies teeming with stars far sooner than scientists had considered possible. Astronomers said data obtained by the telescope reveals what appear to be six big galaxies as mature as our…


Russia Launches Rescue Ship to Space Station After Leaks

Russia launched a rescue ship on Friday for two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut whose original ride home sprang a dangerous leak while parked at the International Space Station. The new, empty Soyuz capsule should arrive at the orbiting lab on Sunday. The capsule leak in December was blamed on a micrometeorite that punctured an…


Sun Unleashes Powerful X2.2 Solar Flare Causing Temporary Blackouts

NASA has captured a powerful X2.2 solar flare that erupted from the sun on Feb. 17, causing temporary blackouts in some parts of the world. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which constantly watches the sun, observed the flare—which is an intense eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the sun’s atmosphere—and said it peaked at 3:16 p.m. EST. “This flare is classified…


FAA Proposes $175,000 Penalty on SpaceX for Not Complying With Safety Rules

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking to impose a penalty on Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX following its failure to provide collision avoidance data before a launch last year. A $175,000 civil penalty has been proposed against SpaceX because the company did not submit launch collision trajectory data to the agency prior…


US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History

The United States will partner with 15 NATO member countries, along with invitees Finland and Sweden, to launch the “largest space project” in history that would smooth the gathering process of data collected from space. The goal of the initiative, entitled “Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space” (APSS), is to significantly enhance the alliance’s intelligence and…


Japan Aborts H3 Rocket Launch Following Engine Ignition Failure

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was forced to abort the first-ever launch attempt of its powerful new H3 rocket on Feb. 16 after secondary booster engines failed to ignite—the latest in a series of delays that have plagued the rocket project. The test flight was conducted on Thursday evening at Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center…


Astronomers Marvel at ‘Perfect Explosion,’ a Spherical Cosmic Fireball

WASHINGTON—Astronomers have observed what might be the “perfect explosion,” a colossal and utterly spherical blast triggered by the merger of two very dense stellar remnants called neutron stars shortly before the combined entity collapsed to form a black hole. Researchers on Wednesday described for the first time the contours of the type of explosion, called…


Russian Spacecraft Leaks Coolant, ISS Crew Safe

An uncrewed Russian cargo spacecraft docked at the International Space Station on Saturday has leaked coolant, but the incident does not pose any danger to the station’s crew, according to Russia’s space agency and NASA. Engineers at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow first detected depressurization inside the Progress MS-21 cargo ship’s coolant loop,…


Russia Delays Launch of Relief Ship to Keep Investigating Space Station Leak

Russia is delaying the launch of a ship to bring two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut back from the International Space Station (ISS) while it investigates a pressure loss in another module, its space agency said on Monday. Roscosmos and the U.S. space agency NASA had said that a Soyuz MS-23 ship would be…