Free Republic

The unusual silence from the crew led many to believe it was due to the private nature of the mission. Or was SpaceX’s leadership interfering? Or did a toilet malfunction render the interior of the craft too horrifying for public consumption? But now, two days after the capsule returned safely back down to Earth, we may finally have an answer from the mission commander himself. “The actual answer is that we only had so many ground station passes to transmit video,” commander and billionaire funder of the expedition Jared Isaacman wrote in a early Monday morning tweet, responding to Berger’s...

Steak, mashed potatoes and desserts for astronauts could soon be grown from individual cells in space if an experiment launched into orbit today is successful. A European Space Agency (ESA) project is assessing the viability of growing so-called lab-grown food in the low gravity and higher radiation in orbit and on other worlds. ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day. The team involved say the experiment is a first step to developing a small pilot food production plant on the International Space...

In Astronauts carefully tell the truth, I noted astronaut Butch Wilmore confirmed Elon Musk’s assertion that he and Suni Williams really were stranded on the ISS, and that Musk offered to bring them home during Biden’s Handler’s Administration but was refused because they didn’t want Biden to look bad before the election. The Biden Administration and the Democrat media went to great lengths to deny they were stranded. Arizona Democrat Senator Mark Kelly’s brother Scott claimed there was always a capsule docked there so they could come home at will. While there was a capsule docked, it was there as...

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are plagued by persistent rashes, unusual allergies and a variety of infections, including fungi, cold sores and shingles. Researchers now think they know why: The orbiting lab doesn’t have enough germs. Bacteria typically found in or on the body arrive in space with their human hosts, but the array of free-living microbes found on Earth—in soil and water—is lacking. This kind of microbial imbalance has been linked to chronic inflammatory diseases, and scientists hypothesize that cultivating a diverse set of microbes on the ISS—and the station’s eventual replacement—could improve astronaut health. “There’s a big...

NASA is crediting President Donald Trump for spearheading the mission to bring back its stranded astronauts. Bethany Stevens, a spokeswoman for the agency, spoke glowingly about the new administration's role. 'It would not have happened without President Trump's intervention,' she told Fox News Digital, adding that it was a 'huge win for the Trump administration.' The extended space mission entered the political spotlight in January, when Trump said he told Elon Musk to 'go get' the astronauts who had been 'virtually abandoned' by the Biden administration. Musk echoed this statement, and in February, the two of them doubled down on...

After nearly a year of being stranded in space, astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams have finally returned home. Wilmore and Williams launched from Cape Canaveral on June 4, 2024, aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule for its maiden voyage, only to face thruster failures and helium leaks. For safety reasons, the Starliner was sent back to Earth without the crew, and they’ve been stranded on the ISS ever since. It was a great moment to see SpaceX's Dragon capsule splash down Tuesday. The sad thing is that they could have come back sooner. “SpaceX could have brought them back several...

Stranded NASA Astronaut Praises Jesus Before Return to Earth By Theodore Bunker Tuesday, 18 March 2025 05:10 PM EDT One of the NASA astronauts who spent months stuck in space due to a Boeing Starliner capsule that malfunctioned praised Jesus Christ during his final interview before returning to Earth. "Well, I can tell you honestly, my feeling on all of this goes back to my faith," Wilmore said. "It's bound in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. "He is working out his plan and his purposes for his glory throughout all of humanity, and how that plays into our lives...

SpaceX's ninth operational crew return from the International Space Station is set to splash down on Tuesday, March 18, at about 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT).

NASA's stranded astronauts are finally on their way home after a brutal nine months in space. After months of tense anticipation, Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 1.05am ET (5.05am GMT) on the Dragon spacecraft made by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The pair, along with NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Aleksandr Gorbunov, will now make the 17 hour descent back to Earth and, if all goes according to plan, should splash down off the coast of Florida at 5.57pm ET (9.57pm GMT). 'Crew nine is going home,' Hague, the commander of departing Crew...

NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams undock from the ISS tonight and you can watch their departure live online. Watch live here and read our preview story and read our live updates.

President Donald Trump provided an update on the stranded NASA astronauts set to make their way back to Earth in a social media post on Monday. In a Truth Social post, Trump said that he recently conferred with Janet Petro, the acting administrator of NASA, who is coordinating the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. "She is coordinating our Team of highly respected Scientists, Space Engineers, and various other ‘geniuses,’ who has agreed to let our Astronauts come home long prior to the two week period originally approved by NASA," Trump wrote. "Janet was great. She said,...

The Crew 10 Dragon capsule caught up with the International Space Station and moved in for a textbook docking early Sunday, bringing four fresh crew members to the lab and clearing the way for the Starliner astronauts to return to Earth after nearly 300 days in space. >>> Now that Crew 10 has arrived, Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore and Williams will help familiarize their replacements with space station operations before undocking and returning to Earth next week with a splashdown in the Gulf near the coast of Florida. NASA announced on Sunday it was targeting Tuesday for the return journey, with...

On Friday, SpaceX's Crew-10 mission launched to help bring back the two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station. Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to just be at the ISS for eight days, but they've been stuck there since June 2024. A SpaceX Dragon capsule, riding atop one of the company's Falcon 9 rockets, is carrying the four Crew-10 astronauts - NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov - to orbit.They are going to replace SpaceX's Crew-9, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut...

A Falcon 9 rocket carried NASA astronauts on a rescue mission to the International Space Station, where two people have been marooned since last year. The flight was scheduled for Thursday but was postponed due to a reported equipment issue.

After being postponed, NASA's SpaceX crew10 had a successful launch Friday night. Needham native Sunita Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore have spent nine months in space after originally being scheduled for an eight-day mission. People in Needham are crossing their fingers that everything runs smoothly. Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore spent nine months in space after launching for what was scheduled as an eight-day mission. Friday night's mission was a go as four astronauts onboard a SpaceX rocket that blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. They're expected to arrive at the International Space Station sometime Saturday. There...

Join us for LIVE coverage as we track NASA SpaceX Crew 10 on their journey to the International Space Staton in LEO

NASA's beleaguered mission to rescue two stranded astronauts has finally launched, setting the stage for a happy ending to the nine-month-long saga. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully took off Friday night from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, on a mission to deliver four new astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The new team is scheduled to arrive at the station on late on Saturday. Once there, astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will finally be able to return to Earth at some point on or shortly after March 19. The pair have been stranded in orbit since June 5,...

At this point in time, we feel like being very cautious as to not jinx it, but it does seem that NASA and SpaceX will be finally able to launch the agency’s Crew-10 mission tonight (14), 7:03 p.m. ET, to the International Space Station. Inspections of the ground solved the support hydraulics system that was holding it up. The weather is expected to be excellent on the Space Coast heading into the launch opportunity.

SpaceX and NASA are targeting no earlier than Friday, March 14 for Falcon 9's launch of Dragon’s 10th operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-10) to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch is targeted for 7:03 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Saturday, March 15 at 6:41 p.m. ET.SpaceX's live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour and 20 minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.The Dragon spacecraft supporting...

A Nasa-SpaceX mission that aimed to clear the way for two stranded astronauts to get back to earth has been postponed. The Falcon 9 launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was put back due to a hydraulic ground issue. There is another possible launch opportunity on Thursday. The rocket aimed to fly four new crew members to the International Space Station (ISS) and pave the way for the return of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. The two Nasa astronauts flew to space in June but were not able to return on a Boeing spacecraft after it was deemed...