On May 28, 2014 at 19:57 UTC the Russian “Soyuz TMA-13M” 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 Maksim Suraev (center); flight-engineer, American astronaut Gregory Wiseman (right); flight-engineer German astronaut Alexander Gerst (left).

Photo by Russian Cosmonaut training center.

The space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station on May 29. Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst will join current ISS expedition members Skvortsov, Artemjev and Swanson.

 < ... Read more »

On May 18, 2014 Astronaut Wubbo Ockels, the first Dutchman in space, passed away. He was 68.

 

On May 18, 2014 at 13:26 UTC the “Dragon” unmanned supply spacecraft (CRS-3 flight) was undocked from the ISS. At the controls of the robot arm inside the space station's cupola module, American astronaut Steve Swanson gave the command to release the spaceship to begin the trip back to Earth. Swanson and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov monitored the Dragon's departure as a series of rocket firings placed the spacecraft on course to a safe distance from the space station.
 

On May 14, 2014 at 01:57 UTC the Russian “Soyuz TMA-11M” landing capsule landed safely in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft delivered to Earth the 3 members of ISS’s Expedition 39 – Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, American astronaut Richard Mastracchio and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata They spent in space 187 days, 21 hours, 44 minutes.

photo by NASA

Three other ISS crew members – Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev as well as American astronaut Steven Swanson remained in orbit aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 40 crew. The undocking ... Read more »

On May 13, 2014 at 22:36 UTC (on May 14, 2014 at 02:36 Moscow time) the Russian “Soyuz TMA-11M” spacecraft undocked from the Russian “Rassvet” (MIM 1) module of the International Space Station to deliver to Earth the 3 members of Expedition 39 – Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, American astronaut Richard Mastracchio and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.
 

On April 25, 2014 at 12:13 UTC the “Progress M-21M” unmanned supply spacecraft was docked again to the Russian “Zvezda” (Star) module of the International Space Station after a 2-day autonomous flight. The spacecraft was undocked from the ISS on April 23 to test the “Kurs-NA” docking system.
 

On April 23, 2014 at 13:56 UTC two American astronauts Richard Mastracchio and Steven Swanson began their spacewalk. They spent 1 hour and 36 minutes outside the International Space Station to replace a failed computer.
 

On April 23, 2014 at 08:58 UTC the “Progress M-21M” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the Russian “Zvezda” (Star) module of the International Space Station. The spacecraft will perform an autonomous flight till April 25, 2014 and then it will be docked with the ISS again. The aim of the autonomous flight and the 2^nd docking is to test the “Kurs-NA” docking system.
 

On April 20, 2014 at 14:06 UTC the private U.S. unmanned supply spacecraft, the Dragon (CRS-3 flight), was successfully docked to the International Space Station. The linkup operation was carried out by astronauts Koichi Wakata (Japan) with the help of the giant 17-meter Canadarm that had earlier (at 11:14 UTC) grabbed the Dragon capsule. The Dragon spacecraft was maneuvered into position and attached to a berthing port on the space station's Harmony module. The unmanned spacecraft delivered about 2,268 kilograms of supplies for the space station crew and for experiments being conducted aboard the ISS.
 

On April 18, 2014 at 19:25 UTC the "Falcon 9R” rocket-carrier was launched from the Cape Canaveral US Air Force Station in Florida. 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-3 flight) unmanned spacecraft on a third cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. The Dragon spacecraft is carrying about 2,268 kilograms of supplies for the space station crew and for experiments being conducted aboard the ISS. It is the 5^th flight of a “Dragon” spacecraft and the 4^th flight of a “Dragon” to the ISS.