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The SpaceX crew that will ferry back in February two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station docked with the orbiting laboratory on Sunday, a live stream of the mission showed. The Falcon 9 rocket took off at 1:17 pm (1717 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday, with the Crew-9 mission aboard a Dragon spacecraft making contact with the ISS at 5:30 pm Sunday. After docking was completed, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov boarded the station just after 7:00 pm, embracing their floating colleagues. "I just want to say welcome to our new compadres from...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home, but not until next year. The capsule rocketed into orbit to fetch the test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month because of safety concerns. The switch in rides left it to NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov to retrieve Needham native Suni Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore. Because NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with...

Starliner has finally come home, more than three months after it launched on a planned 10-day mission.. Starliner's long space odyssey is over. The Boeing capsule, named Calypso, returned to Earth early this morning (Sept. 7), touching down in the New Mexico desert at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT; 11:01 p.m. local time on Sept. 6). "Great landing of Calyspo!" NASA astronaut Suni Williams said on the agency's webcast. "I don't think that could have gone better." The landing was long-delayed, coming more than three months into an orbital mission originally expected to last about 10 days. And, while Starliner...

The good news is that Boeing was able to update the automated flight software on its troubled Starliner space capsule, allowing NASA to return it unmanned to Earth no sooner than Friday. The bad news — or at least the serious question — is whether Starliner will ever fly again. NASA decided last week not to fly astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home on board the same ship they flew to ISS on due to safety concerns about the service module's malfunctioning thrusters. While an astronaut is sometimes scheduled in advance to return to Earth on board a different...

Boeing employees are “humiliated” after NASA announced that two astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station by the company’s troubled Starliner space capsule will have to be rescued by Elon Musk’s upstart rival SpaceX, one worker told The Post. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — who went up the ISS in June for what was supposed to be an 8-day mission — will have to wait another six months until a SpaceX Crew Dragon space craft can carry them safely home because their original ride is leaking helium and has problems with its thrusters. The Florida-based staffer...

The two Boeing Starliner astronauts who have been stranded in space for 80 days will stay in space for another six months, NASA officials announced Saturday. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are now expected to return to Earth in February, while the Starliner will be brought back unmanned. Veteran astronauts Wilmore and Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner back on June 5 — the maiden crewed voyage for the spacecraft — for what was supposed to be an eight-day mission docked to the International Space Station. The test flight, however, encountered thruster failures and helium leaks so serious that NASA...

NASA needs to decide by the end of August whether to return two astronauts to Earth aboard Boeing's Starliner, which flew them to the International Space Station (ISS), or bring them home on a SpaceX craft, officials said Wednesday. NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams blasted off for the ISS on Starliner on June 5 for what was meant to be an eight-day stay. But their return has been delayed by thruster malfunctions that came to light during the first crewed mission to the ISS by the Boeing spacecraft. NASA officials, at a press conference on Wednesday,...

NASA is grappling with a critical decision regarding the return of astronauts Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station (ISS) amid concerns over the Boeing Starliner’s autonomous undocking capabilities and the spacecraft’s potential to damage one of only two docking ports on the space station. ... plagued by multiple technical issues, significantly extending the originally planned eight-day mission. As NASA deliberates on the best course of action for bringing the astronauts home, a surprising revelation has emerged regarding the Starliner’s flight software. ... the current flight software onboard the Starliner lacks the ability to perform an automated...

Anyone gonna ask Space Council Chair Kamala Harris about the 2 American astronauts still stranded in space?

The two astronauts who have already been stuck in space for more than 60 days may have to wait until early 2025 before they can return to Earth — following a trip to the International Space Station that was supposed to last just eight days. NASA also acknowledged that the astronauts, who arrived on the maiden voyage of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, may have to be rescued by the rival SpaceX CrewDragon, though that vessel won’t be ready until February. On Wednesday, NASA announced another delay in bringing home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams during a news conference, with the...

'This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory.' ================================================================== SpaceX's next astronaut mission won't get off the ground this month after all. Crew-9, SpaceX's ninth operational flight to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, had been targeted to lift off on Aug. 18. But it has been pushed back to no earlier than Sept. 24, the agency announced today (Aug. 6). "This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked...

SpaceX has delayed this month's Crew-9 astronaut launch to Sept. 24, to accommodate a traffic jam at the International Space Station as Boeing's Starliner remains stalled at the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX was scheduled to launch its ninth operational flight for NASA with four astronauts to the ISS on Aug. 18, before the space agency announced the delay Monday. "This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory," NASA said. Boeing's new Starliner capsule launched June 5, with NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore...

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday that its rival Boeing Co. is awarded government contracts in the space segment owing to their "armies of lobbyists" despite safety concerns around its commercial plane segment..."They have armies of lobbyists," Musk wrote in response to an X user who wondered why Boeing is awarded big contracts from the government despite the issues flagged with its passenger flight segment."Not sure why Boeing (given their track record with passenger flights) is given such contracts when SpaceX (given their track record with launches) is just vastly superior," Dhaval Shroff wrote. Shroff is also an employee...

Two NASA astronauts who were supposed to return from the International Space Station over a month ago are still orbiting Earth as engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing Starliner capsule, officials said Thursday. Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer. No return date yet.. NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers were not ready to announce a return date. ... Starliner launched...

Starliner had been scheduled to come home on June 26, but it will now stay aloft until at least July 2...Starliner's current mission, known as Crew Flight Test (CFT), sent NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS. CFT launched on June 5 and arrived at the orbiting lab a day later.But, as Stich noted, that arrival was not perfectly smooth. During its chasedown of the ISS, Starliner experienced problems with five of its 28 reaction control system (RCS) thrusters. Four of them were eventually brought back online.In addition, CFT team members have noticed five small helium leaks...

Boeing is set to launch its first crewed space mission in June without fixing a small helium gas leak on its troubled Starliner spaceship, officials said Friday. The vessel, under development since 2010, has been plagued by technical problems and has yet to fulfill its purpose of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station, allowing Boeing's rival SpaceX to zoom ahead with its Crew Dragon capsule. Starliner was supposed to finally fly astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the orbital outpost on May 6, but the mission was scrubbed hours before lift-off after a faulty valve was discovered on...

spaceship was dramatically aborted Saturday with just minutes left on the countdown clock, yet another setback for a program that has faced years of delays. With the astronauts strapped in and ready for liftoff, the test mission to the International Space Station was unexpectedly halted due to reasons that aren't yet clear. United Launch Alliance, responsible for the Atlas V rocket that Starliner sits atop, is now investigating why an "automatic hold" was triggered by its computer with three minutes and 50 seconds to go. ULA CEO Tory Bruno told reporters that engineers were currently de-fueling the rocket to enable...

Here is a live stream of the latest attempt to get Starliner off the ground from Nasa Space Flight's youtube channel. Launch is scheduled for 10:52 EDT. This is an instantaneous launch window. If they have any delay it will be scrubbed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rInMeY7m4vA I tried to find the betting odds on it actually getting off the ground today, but couldn't find anything. My bet is 50%. Tomorrow SpaceX is launching Starship Flight Test 4. Launch window starts at 8 am EDT. I give SpaceX 90% chance of getting it off the ground.

1 of 7 | A ULA Atlas V rocket launches the Boeing Starliner spacecraft on its maiden crewed flight from Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo June 5 (UPI) -- NASA said Wednesday Boeing's Starliner carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams successfully separated from the United Launch Alliance rocket booster following liftoff to the International Space Station. United Launch Alliance confirmed the successful separation and said in a statement on X, "The names of Wilmore and Williams now join Glenn, Carpenter, Schirra and Cooper as...

Starliner teams detected a helium leak before launch, two more after liftoff, and now a fourth and fifth leak with the vehicle docked at the ISS. Oh my. The Starliner spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. Photo: NASA ************************************************************** Following an iffy docking at the International Space Station last week, Boeing managed to deliver a pair of NASA astronauts to the orbital lab. The stressful Starliner saga continues as the crew capsule developed more leaks in its service module. NASA is currently evaluating its ability to return the duo back to Earth. In an update shared on Monday, NASA revealed...