On January 13, 2018 at 15:36 UTC the "Dragon” capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in a distance of 625 kilometers to west from Baja California, a state in Mexico. The Dragon delivered to Earth about 1900 kilograms of cargo. It was the "SpaceX CRS-13” mission. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It was the 13th flight of Dragon to the ISS with docking.

On January 12, 2018 the station's robotic arm removed the Dragon capsule from its berthing port on the station’s Harmony module in preparation for departure on January 13. Using a command issued from the Canadian Space Agency’s control center, the robot arm released the Dragon CRS-13 spacecraft at 09:58 UTC on January 13. It was the first time a visiting vehicle was released from the station v ... Read more »

On January 5, 2018 American astronaut John Watts Young passed away. He was 87. John Young was America's ‘most experienced astronaut’ who walked on the Moon during the Apollo program and commanded the first space shuttle mission. He was the 6^th American astronaut.

On December 28, 2017 at 01:03 UTC the “Progress MS-06” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the International Space Station. At the same day, the spacecraft was deorbited. Non-burnt fragments of the spacecraft drowned in the remote area of the Pacific at 04:52 UTC.

On December 21, 2017 American astronaut Bruce McCandless II passed away. He was 80. In 1984, during the STS-41-B Space Shuttle flight, he performed the first untethered free flight by using the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

On December 19, 2017 at 08:38 UTC the Russian "Soyuz MS-07” spacecraft docked with the Russian “Rassvet” (MIM-1) module of the International Space Station.

The spacecraft delivered 3 new members of Expedition 54 to the ISS, Anton Shkaplerov, American astronaut Scott Tingle and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai (金井 宣茂). The new comers joined current ISS expedition members – Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Misurkin; American astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joseph Acaba.

On December 18, 2017 at 12:54 UTC the US "Cygnus” (CRS OA-8 “Eugene Cernan”) unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited. The spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere and burned up over the South Pacific Ocean. Packed with trash and other equipment tagged for disposal, an Orbital Sciences Corp. “Cygnus” spacecraft plunged back into the atmosphere over the uninhabited Pacific Ocean. It was the 8th flight of "Cygnus” to the ISS.

On December 17, 2017 at 13:26 UTC, the private U.S. unmanned supply spacecraft, the "Dragon” SpX-13 (CRS-13 flight), was successfully docked to the International Space Station. The linkup operation was carried out with the help of the giant 17-meter Canadarm. The capture with Canadarm-2 was performed by American astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joseph Acaba at 10:57 UTC. The Dragon spacecraft was maneuvered into position and attached to a berthing port on the space station's Harmony module. This docking marked the 13th time a Dragon spaceship has reached the space station, counting a demonstration flight in 2012.

On December 17, 2017 at 07:21 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-07” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft is piloted by 3 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (center); American astronaut Scott Tingle (right) and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai (金井 宣茂), (left).

Photo by Russian Cosmonaut training center.

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On December 15, 2017 at 15:36 UTC the "Falcon 9” rocket-carrier was launched from SLC-40 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. US private company SpaceX launched its "Dragon” (CRS-13 flight also known as SpX-13) unmanned spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It is the 14th successful flight of a “Dragon” spacecraft and the 13th successful flight of a “Dragon” to the ISS. For the first time, at the launch of a “Dragon” cargo ship, the first stage, already in ... Read more »