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Monday, April 21, 2025

Shenzhou-20 Crewed Spaceflight System Optimized for Reliable, Safe Launch Mission

Shenzhou-20 Crewed Spaceflight System Optimized for Reliable, Safe Launch Mission

The upcoming launch of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has undergone comprehensive optimizations aimed at further improving reliability and safety, according to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced last week that the spacecraft will be launched at an appropriate time in the near future. The combination of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft and a Long March-2F carrier rocket has been transferred to the launching area, according to the CMSA.

Compared with the Shenzhou-19 mission, the rocket system for Shenzhou-20 has seen more than 20 upgrades, covering areas, such as manufacturing techniques, data transmission, and reliability enhancement.

"The rocket is now equipped with more cameras, and video resolution has also been comprehensively upgraded to full HD. These enable us to have a more comprehensive monitoring of its flight status," said Qiao Liqing, a staff member at the launch center.

In addition, an intelligent launch command and management system, developed on the basis of over 200,000 equipment parameters, thousands of image data streams, and hundreds of technical documents, will be put into use during the Shenzhou-20 launch, the first time in a crewed mission.

The system allows commanders and operators at various posts to better understand the upcoming tasks and receive intelligent decision-making support, significantly boosting overall work quality and efficiency.

"To enhance auxiliary decision-making capabilities during the mission, we have built a card-based database of plans and contingency responses, covering key systems such as the rocket, launch site, and ground-to-space communications," said Hu Yonggang, another staff member at the center.

"This year, we've also introduced the rocket's digital companion system for the first time, enabling visualized monitoring of critical processes, such as final inspections and full-system rehearsals. The system supports real-time interpretation of test data and accurate simulation of the rocket's flight status," Hu added.

In addition to technical enhancements, the launch center has intensified efforts in talent development.

"With support from the training center, we've systematically conducted intensive group trainings, specialized trainings, mission-targeted trainings, and standardized assessments. The training cycle for the participants has been shortened by more than half, allowing them to perform missions with greater confidence, composure, and efficiency," said Zhao Lei, a staff member at the launch center.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 36 seconds
Release Date: April 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #LongMarchRocket #LongMarch2FRocket #ShenzhouSpacecraft #Shenzhou20 #神舟二十号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #Spaceport #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX 32nd Cargo Resupply Mission: Falcon 9 Launch | NASA Kennedy

NASA's SpaceX 32nd Cargo Resupply Mission: Falcon 9 Launch | NASA Kennedy

At 4:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), April 21, 2025, about 6,700 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo launched to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for the company’s 32nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA. The spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Dragon will arrive at the orbiting outpost at 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, April 22, and dock autonomously to the zenith, space-facing port of the space station’s Harmony module.

Experiments focused on vision-based navigation, spacecraft air quality, materials for drug and product manufacturing, and advancing plant growth with less reliance on photosynthesis are bound for the International Space Station via the NASA and SpaceX 32nd commercial resupply services mission.

Watch launch replay here:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=crs-32

Along with food and essential equipment for the crew, Dragon is delivering a variety of science experiments, including a demonstration of refined maneuvers for free-floating robots. Dragon also carries an enhanced air quality monitoring system that could protect crew members on exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and two atomic clocks to examine fundamental physics concepts, such as relativity, and test worldwide synchronization of precision timepieces.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the International Space Station until May, when it will depart and return to Earth with research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Capture Date: April 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #DragonCargoSpacecraft #CRS32 #CommercialResupplyServices #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #Spaceport #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #Russia #Roscosmos #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

Expedition 72 Soyuz MS-26 Crew Landing in Kazakhstan & Return Home

Expedition 72 Soyuz MS-26 Crew Landing in Kazakhstan & Return Home

NASA astronaut, Don Pettit, center, with Rainer Effenhauser, right, and Richard Scheuring, background, during a brief layover in Prestwick, Scotland during his return flight to Houston, Texas, from Karaganda, Kazakhstan, Sunday, April 20, 2025.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Russia is seen outside the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft after he landed with Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, and NASA astronaut Don Pettit in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern).

Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner of Russia is seen outside the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft after he landed with NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern).

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia), center, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner (Russia) are seen inside the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern).

Russian support personnel work around the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft shortly after it landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 72 NASA astronaut Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia aboard, Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern).

Russian Search and Rescue teams arrive at the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft shortly after it landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 72 NASA astronaut Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia aboard, Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern).

Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner of Russia is seen inside the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft minutes after he, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Russia, and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern).

Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner of Russia is helped out of the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft just minutes after he, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Russia, and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern).

At 9:20 p.m. EDT, April 19, 2025, (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20), the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan.

Spanning 220 days in space, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and his crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia, orbited the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their International Space Station mission. Pettit returned on his 70th birthday! The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft launched and docked to the station on Sept. 11, 2024.

This was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, where he served as flight engineer for Expedition 71 and 72. He has a career total of 590 days in orbit. Ovchinin completed his fourth flight in space, totaling 595 days, and Vagner has earned an overall total of 416 days in space during two trips to the orbiting laboratory.

The three crew members later flew on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit then boarded a NASA plane for his return to Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner departed for a training center in Star City, Russia.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Capture Date: April 19, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #SoyuzMS26Spacecraft #Zhezkazgan #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Astronauts #DonPettit #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #AlexeyOvchinin #IvanVagner #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's SpaceX 32nd Cargo Resupply Mission: Falcon 9 | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's SpaceX 32nd Cargo Resupply Mission: Falcon 9 | Kennedy Space Center

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 4:15 a.m. EDT, Monday, April 21, 2025, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This is the 32nd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbiting laboratory for the agency.

Watch the launch here:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=crs-32

Filled with about 6,700 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the International Space Station until May, when it will depart and return to Earth with research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Release Date: April 20, 2025

Sunday, April 20, 2025

Venus reaches its greatest brightness near the Moon | Week of April 21-27, 2025

Venus reaches its greatest brightness near the Moon | Week of April 21-27, 2025

BBC Star Diary: The planet will appear its largest in the morning sky before teaming up with the Moon later in the week. Find out how to see them in the latest episode of Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of Sky at Night Magazine.

Video Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Duration: 20 minutes
Release Date: April 20, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #Moon #Earth #Asteroids #Planets #Venus #SolarSystem #Stars #StarClusters #Constellations #Nebulae #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #Skywatching #BBC #UK #Britain #Europe #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #Podcast #HD #Video

Star Trails, Aurora Borealis & Meteors over Canada

Star Trails, Aurora Borealis & Meteors over Canada

Happy Easter from Friends of NASA!

Auroras happen when charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth's magnetic field, creating dazzling light shows in the sky. The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, occurs in an upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere.

Learn more & track auroras:
https://www.aurorasaurus.org

How to find and photograph auroras:
https://science.nasa.gov/feature/nasas-guide-to-finding-and-photographing-auroras/

Image details: Nikon D780, Samyang 14mm, 40 shots, 300s, iso/200, f/2.8

Image Credit: "Guy"
Location: Fraser Lake, northern British Columbia, Canada
Image Date: April 18, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #SolarSystem #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Magnetosphere #MagneticField #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #FraserLake #BritishColumbia #Canada #GSFC #UnitedStates #Astrophotography #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Zhúlóng: The Most Distant Spiral Galaxy Discovered to Date | NOIRLab

Zhúlóng: The Most Distant Spiral Galaxy Discovered to Date | NOIRLab

The image of Zhúlóng, the most distant spiral galaxy discovered to date. It has remarkably well-defined spiral arms, a central old bulge, and a large star-forming disk, resembling the structure of the Milky Way.

This image of Zhúlóng, the most distant spiral galaxy discovered to date, shows its remarkably well-defined spiral arms, a central old bulge, and a large star-forming disk, resembling the structure of the Milky Way.

At the center of this image, placed subtly amongst the dense galactic field, is Zhúlóng, the most distant spiral galaxy discovered to date. It has remarkably well-defined spiral arms, a central old bulge, and a large star-forming disk, resembling the structure of the Milky Way.

This is an image of Zhúlóng ("Torch Dragon"), the most distant spiral galaxy discovered to date. The image captured light emitted just 1 billion years after the Big Bang. Zhúlóng has remarkably well-defined spiral arms, a central old bulge, and a large star-forming disk, resembling the structure of the Milky Way galaxy. It looks like galaxies found in the nearby Universe and has a mass and size similar to that of the Milky Way. This is why Zhúlóng has been described as the most distant Milky Way "twin". This galaxy was discovered as part of the PANORAMIC Survey—a wide-area imaging survey being conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The project is co-led by the National Science Foundation NOIRLab assistant astronomer Christina Williams and Pascal Oesch of the University of Geneva (UNIGE).

Large, grand-design spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way are common in the nearby Universe. However, they have proven hard to find in the early Universe. This was consistent with expectations that large disks with spiral arms should take many billions of years to form. However, assistant astronomer Christina Williams of NSF NOIRLab, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, has discovered a surprisingly mature spiral galaxy just one billion years after the Big Bang. This is the most distant, earliest known spiral galaxy in the Universe.

The galaxy is named Zhúlóng—meaning ‘Torch Dragon’ in Chinese mythology, a creature associated with light and cosmic time.

Credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / NASA / CSA / ESA / M. Xiao (University of Geneva) / G. Brammer (Niels Bohr Institute) / D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
Release Date: April 16, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxies #Zhúlóng #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #InfraredAstronomy #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket ICPS Integration Move | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket ICPS Integration Move | Kennedy Space Center

The upper stage for NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket sits in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, after teams with the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems Program transported the four-story propulsion system from the spaceport’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF).

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program pose for a photo in front of the upper stage for the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Visible in the background is also the Artemis I Orion crew module, now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article (ETA).

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program transport the upper stage for the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket from the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

The upper stage for NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket sits in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, after teams with the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program transported the four-story propulsion system from the spaceport’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF). Technicians fueled the SLS upper stage, known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, with hydrazine for its reaction control system at the MPPF and will now integrate the four-story propulsion system with SLS rocket elements atop Mobile Launcher 1.

The Artemis II test flight will be sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a ten-day journey around the Moon and back.

Artemis II will launch no earlier than April 2026.

Learn more about NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket: nasa.gov/sls

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Follow updates on the Artemis blog:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Image Credit: NASA/Cory S. Huston

Capture Date: April 15, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Space #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #ICPS #NASASLS #SpaceLaunchSystem #Astronauts #CrewedMission #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #SpaceEngineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #MSFC #KSC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Stellar Cradle Tour: Protostellar Object G339.88-1.2 in Ara | Hubble

Stellar Cradle Tour: Protostellar Object G339.88-1.2 in Ara | Hubble

The protostellar object G339.88-1.26, lies 8,900 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ara. It lurks in this dust-filled image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. Winding lanes of dark dust thread through this image. It is also studded with bright stars crowned with criss-crossing diffraction spikes.

The dark vertical streak at the center of this image hides OH 339.88-1.26, an astrophysical maser. A maser—an acronym for “microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”—is essentially a laser that produces coherent light at microwave wavelengths. Such objects can occur naturally in astrophysical situations, in environments ranging from the north pole of Jupiter to star-forming regions such as the one pictured here.

This image comes from a set of Hubble observations that peer into the hearts of regions where massive stars are born to constrain the nature of massive protostars and test theories of their formation. Astronomers turned to Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 to explore the massive protostar G339.88-1.26, estimated to be about 20 times the mass of the Sun lurking in the dusty clouds in the center of the image. The Hubble observations were supported by other state-of-the-art observatories including ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. ALMA is composed of 66 moveable high-precision antennas which can be arranged over distances of up to 16 kilometers on a plateau perched high in the Chilean Andes. Further data were contributed by the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a telescope that—until recently— operated out of a converted 747 aircraft.

Image Description: The field is filled with hundreds of bright stars. They are primarily blue in color, with scattered smaller stars visible in yellow/orange. The background is dominated by cloudy grey dust, with permeating regions of dark black and orange.

Video Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. C. Tan (Chalmers Univ. & Univ. of Virginia)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #BinaryStars #Nebulae #G33988126 #OH33988126 #Maser #StellarNursery #StellarEvolution #Ara #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Stellar Cradle Close-up: Protostellar Object G339.88-1.2 in Ara | Hubble

Stellar Cradle Close-up: Protostellar Object G339.88-1.2 in Ara | Hubble

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. C. Tan (Chalmers Univ. & Univ. of Virginia)
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2023

Star-forming Region G339.88-1.26 in Ara: Wide-field view | Webb Telescope

Star-forming Region G339.88-1.26 in Ara: Wide-field view | Webb Telescope

The protostellar object G339.88-1.26 lies 8,900 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ara. This appears to be the early stages of a massive binary star formation.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. Under an international collaboration agreement, the European Space Agency (ESA) provided the telescope’s launch service, using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace. ESA also provided the workhorse spectrograph NIRSpec and 50% of the mid-infrared instrument MIRI that was designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the University of Arizona.

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/J.Roger

Image Processing: Andrea Luck

Release Date: April 15, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #Stars #BinaryStars #Nebulae #G33988126 #StellarNursery #StellarEvolution #Ara #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #InfraredAstronomy #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Shenzhou-19 Crew Conducts Station Experiments & Tests Before Earth Return

Shenzhou-19 Crew Conducts Station Experiments & Tests Before Earth Return

China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts on the Tiangong Sp[ace Station have intensified scientific experiments and tests on the orbiting space station, while advancing key preparations for their return to Earth in the coming days. The astronauts, Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze, have been living and working aboard China's space station since their launch aboard the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on October 30 last year.

Recently, their work has included experiments on kinematic characteristics. This involved using three-dimensional structured-light videos to gather crucial kinematic data during specific working scenarios in a microgravity environment. The collected data will then be used to analyze the characteristics and patterns of their intravehicular operations and movements.

In fine motor control studies, the crew completed slide tests and memory slide tests with the results being expected to help investigate variation patterns in astronauts' fine motor control, and their adaptive learning mechanisms during long orbital spaceflight.

In biomechanical studies of musculoskeletal loading, astronauts utilized specialized equipment to collect kinematic data and motion imagery during spaceflight, in an effort to gather data for analyzing the correlation between movement parameters and plantar pressure under varying movement status.

In the field of aerospace technology testing, the crew completed payload extravehicular installation of a space reverse Brayton high-capacity refrigeration technology experiment program. The test and verification of relevant technology are expected to improve China's thermal control technology and provide technical support for future space missions.

Last week, the astronauts also carried out planned platform inspection in the space station. They also counted and sorted all kinds of supplies in the cabinet apart from carrying other tasks, like cleaning the station and transporting and storing waste.

Additionally, the crew completed a variety of medical checks and has performed physical exercise on a daily basis.

The Shenzhou-19 astronauts are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late April or early May, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: April 20, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou19 #神舟十九号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityExperiments #MicrogravityResearch #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Saturday, April 19, 2025

Expedition 72 Soyuz MS-26 Crewed Spacecraft Landing in Kazakhstan

Expedition 72 Soyuz MS-26 Crewed Spacecraft Landing in Kazakhstan

The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 72 NASA astronaut Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia aboard, Sunday, April 20, 2025, (April 19 Eastern Time). The trio are returning to Earth after logging 220 days in space as members of Expeditions 71 and 72 aboard the International Space Station.

Spanning 220 days in space, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and his crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia, orbited the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission. The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft launched and docked to the station on Sept. 11, 2024.

The three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Capture Date: April 19, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #SoyuzMS26Spacecraft #Zhezkazgan #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Astronauts #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #Expedition73 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Happy Birthday, Don Pettit & Welcome Home Soyuz MS-26 Crew!

Happy Birthday, Don Pettit & Welcome Home Soyuz MS-26 Crew!

"Happy birthday, NASA astronaut Don Pettit!
Many happy returns (including this one) 🥳"

The MS-26 Soyuz crewed spacecraft touched down in Kazakhstan at 9:20pm ET—or, in local time, 6:20am April 20, 2025, on Pettit's 70th birthday.

At 9:20 p.m. EDT (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20), the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Spanning 220 days in space, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and his crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia, orbited the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission. The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft launched and docked to the station on Sept. 11, 2024.

Video Credit: NASA/JSC

Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Capture Date: April 19, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #SoyuzMS26Spacecraft #Dzhezkazgan #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Astronauts #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #Expedition73 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Soyuz MS-26 Crewed Spacecraft Deorbit & Entry Guide | International Space Station

Soyuz MS-26 Crewed Spacecraft Deorbit & Entry Guide | International Space Station

The Soyuz MS-26 crewed spacecraft has fired its braking engines to slow its orbital speed and to begin its descent into Earth's atmosphere. The spacecraft has also separated into three modules.

At 5:57 p.m. EDT, on Saturday April 19, 2025, the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft undocked from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module with NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia.

The spacecraft will make a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Follow Expedition 72:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: JAXA Flight Engineer Takuya Onishi
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy

NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Image Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: April 19, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #SoyuzMS26Spacecraft #Astronauts #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #Expedition73 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Celebrates 70th Birthday! | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Celebrates 70th Birthday! | International Space Station

Prior to his departure, Expedition 72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit enjoyed a small birthday cake with his fellow crew members. At 5:57 p.m. EDT, on Saturday April 19, 2025, the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft undocked from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module with NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia.