Soyuz TMA-09M launched 2013

Soyuz TMA-09M (L-R): Fyodor Yurchikhin, Karen Nyberg, Luca Parmitano

Soyuz TMA-09M, launched May 28, 2013, carried three astronauts to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Luca Parmitano (ESA), and Karen Nyberg (NASA).  They participated in Expedition 36 on the ISS and returned to Earth in November 2013, after 166 days in space.

Juice mission to Jupiter's moons launched 2023

The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) was launched April 14, 2023 from the ESA's space center in French Guyana.  It is expected to reach Jupiter in July 2031 after four gravity assists.  It will conduct flybys of Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa

At the end of 2035, Juice will impact on Ganymede when it runs out of propellant. 

Happy birthday, astronaut Matthias Maurer!

Matthias Maurer, born March 18, 1970 in West Germany, is an astronaut with the European Space Agency. He went into space as part of SpaceX Crew-3, launched in November 2021 to the International Space Station. He participated in Expeditions 66-67 and spent over 176 days in space.  He returned to Earth in May 2022.

Rosetta, first spacecraft to land on a comet, launched 2004

Rosetta, launched March 2, 2004 by the European Space Agency, is the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and then deploy a lander. It reached comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014 and entered actual orbit in September.  The Philae lander detached from Rosetta in November and landed, bouncing twice before coming to a rest.

As the comet traveled further from the sun, light reaching the solar panels decreased.  A decision was made to end the mission by impacting Rosetta onto the comet surface. The impact maneuver began on September 29, 2016 and was completed the next day.

Endeavour (STS-61) launched 1993

STS-61 crew

Front row (L-R): Ken Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Story Musgrave, Claude Nicollier

Back row (L-R): Richard Covey, Jeffrey Hoffman, Thomas Akers

STS-61 mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61), launched December 2, 1993, was the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.  Its crew consisted of Commander Richard Covey, Pilot Ken Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier (ESA), Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, and Thomas Akers. The crew conducted 5 EVAs during the mission.  Musgrave and Hoffman conducted three EVAs for a total of around 22 hours.  Thornton and Akers performed two spacewalks for about 13 hours.  

They returned to Earth December 13, after spending almost 11 days in space. 

Happy birthday, Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque!

Pedro Duque, born March 14, 1963 in Madrid, Spain, is the first Spanish-born astronaut in space. 

Duque's first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-95) as mission specialist for the European Space Agency in October-November 1998.  He spent almost 10 days in space.

His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-3 to the International Space Station launched in October 2003 as Flight Engineer.  He remained on board for about 10 days and returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-2.  

After retiring from the ESA, he became the Minister of Science for the Government of Spain.

Bion 10 (Kosmos 2229) launched 1992

 

Bion 10, or Kosmos 2229, a Russian spacecraft as part of a multinational effort, was launched December 29, 1992.  It carried two monkeys, plants, cell cultures, insects, and amphibians. The Rhesus monkeys were trained to activate food and juice dispensers, to operate a foot pedal to study muscles responses, and to make hand and head movements in response to visual stimuli.

The countries involved were Canada, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, China, Russia, Ukraine, US, Uzbekistan, and the European Space Agency.

The spacecraft orbited Earth for almost 12 days, before landing successfully on January 10, 1993.

Philae lands on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Geraskimenko 2014

Philae, the European Space Agency lander launched with the Rosetta spacecraft, landed on Comet 67/Churyumov-Geraskimenko November 12, 2014.  Unfortunately, the landing did not go as planned. The lander bounced upon landing and ended up on its side.  Much of its scientific equipment was rendered unusable, but scientists have been able to use the crash to their advantage.  The site of Philae had limited sunlight so its solar batteries could not be charged sufficiently.  Contact was lost on November 15.

On June 13, 2015, ground controllers received an 85-second transmission from Philae, forwarded by Rosetta which indicated the lander was in good health.  Its batteries had charged sufficiently to come out of safe mode.  The final communication came on July 9.  Afterwards mission controllers were not able to contact Philae with new investigations.  By January 2016, controllers determined that no further communications were likely.  

In September 2016, cameras on Rosetta located Philae on the surface of the comet.

NASA's DART's Impacts with asteroid Dimorphos

Yesterday evening, September 26, 2022, NASA successfully crashed its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) with Dimorphos, a moon of the minor-planet asteroid Didymos. The test is designed to determine if a spacecraft can deflect an asteroid via a transfer of momentum, as part of a planetary defense against near-Earth objects.  Dimorphos was chosen since it does not pose a threat to Earth. 

The project began as a collaboration between NASA and ESA, named Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) involving two separate spacecraft.  The ESA spacecraft AIM was to have launched in December 2020 but the project was cancelled.  It has been replaced by Hera to study the results of DART's impact on Dimorphos. Hera is expected to arrive in the Didymos system in 2026.

Dimorphos has a diameter of about 560 feet and was discovered in 2003.

Soyuz TM-32 launched 2001

Soyuz TM-32 launch crew (L-R): Dennis Tito, Talgat Musabayev, Yuri Baturin

Soyuz TM-32 mission patch

Soyuz TM-32, launched April 28, 2001, carried the crew of ISS EP-1 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Talgat Musabayev and Yuri Baturin.  They were joined by space tourist Dennis Tito, an entrepreneur who funded his own trip into space. 

Soyuz TM-32 returned to Earth in October 2001 with Viktor Afansayev, Claudie Haignere and Konstantin Kozeyev.

SpaceX Crew-2 launched today!

SpaceX Crew-2 (L-R): Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet, Akihiko Hoshide, Shane Kimbrough

Mission patch

SpaceX Crew-2 was launched this morning just before 6am.  Its crew consists of Commander Shane Kimbrough, Pilot Megan McArthur, Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA), and Thomas Pesquet (ESA).  They are expected to dock with the International Space Station tomorrow morning.

They are planned to undock and return to Earth in October 2021.

Endeavour (STS-99) launched 2000

STS-99 crew

Front row (L-R): Mamoru Mohri, Thiele

Back row (L-R): Janice Voss, Kevin Kegel, Dominic Gorie, Janet Kavandi

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-99), launched February 11, 2000, was the last solo flight of the Endeavour, since the rest of her flights were devoted to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dominic Pudwill Gorie, Gerhard Thiele (ESA), Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, Mamoru Mohri (NASDA).

They returned to Earth February 22.

Soyuz TMA-03M launched 2011

Soyuz TMA-03M crew (L-R): Donald Pettit, Oleg Kononenko, Andre Kuipers

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-03M, launched December 21, 2011, carried members of Expedition 30 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Oleg Kononenko (Roscosmos), Andre Kuipers (ESA), and Donald Pettit (NASA).  They returned to Earth July 2012, which marked the end of Expedition 31 and the beginning of Expedition 32.

Soyuz TM-11 launched 1990

Soyuz TM-11 crew (L-R): Toyohiro Akiyama, Viktor Afanasyev, Musa Manarov

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-11, launched December 2, 1990, was the 11th expedition to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Viktor Afanasyev, Musa Manarov, and Toyohiro Akiyama (a Japanese reporter).  

The cosmonauts remained on board until May 26, 1991, when they returned to Earth with Helen Sharman, a British astronaut.  Akiyama returned to Earth December 10, 1990 aboard Soyuz TM-10.

Alan Poindexter, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1961

Alan Poindexter, born November 5, 1961 in Pasadena, California went into space twice.

His first trip was aboard Atlantis (STS-122) as pilot to the International Space Station in February 2008. The main objective of the mission was to deliver the European Columbus science laboratory, built by the European Space Agency, to the ISS.

His second and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-131) as commander to the International Space Station in April 2010.  The mission carried supplies and equipment to the ISS.

Poindexter passed away from injuries he suffered in a water scooter accident in July 2012.

Soyuz TM-17 launched 1993

Soyuz TM-17 crew (L-R): Vasili Tsibliyev, Aleksandr Serebrov, Jean-Pierre Haignere

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-17, launched July 1, 1993, was the seventeenth mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vasili Tsibliyev, Aleksandr Serebrov, and Jean-Pierre Haignere (ESA).  The spacecraft struck the station twice about 2 seconds apart, but fortunately neither the Soyuz capsule nor Mir were seriously damaged.

Happy birthday, German astronaut Ulf Merbold!

Dr. Ulf Merbold, born June 20, 1941 in Germany, is a retired European Space Agency astronaut and went into space three times. 

His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-9) as payload specialist in November-December 1983.  He is the first non-US citizen to reach orbit in a US spacecraft.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-42) as payload specialist in January 1992.  The main goal of the mission was to study microgravity on different organisms.

His third and final mission was aboard Soyuz TM-20 as research cosmonaut to the space station Mir in October 1994.  He participated in a month-long expedition Euromir 94.  He returned to Earth in November 1994 on Soyuz TM-19.

Happy birthday, Taylor Wang, first Chinese astronaut!

Taylor Wang, born June 16, 1940 in the Republic of China, is the first Chinese astronaut.  He went into space aboard Challenger (STS-51-B) as payload specialist in April-May 1985.  He was employed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the time.  It was the second mission of the European Space Agency's Spacelab.  He spent about 7 days in space.

Richard Searfoss, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1956

Richard Searfoss, born June 5, 1956 in Mount Clemens, Michigan, was a veteran of three space shuttle flights.

His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) as pilot in October 1993.  He and fellow astronaut John Blaha communictated with school children via an on-board ham radio.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-76) as pilot to Mir in March 1996.  It was the third space shuttle mission to Mir.

His third and final flight was back on Columbia (STS-90) as commander in April-May 1998.  It was the last flight of the European Space Agency's Spacelab module.

He passed away in September 2018.

Soyuz TMA-13M launched 2014

Soyuz TMA-13M crew (L-R): Alexander Gerst, Reid Wiseman, Maksim Surayev

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-13M, launched May 28, 2014, carried the members of Expedition 40 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Maksim Surayev (Roscosmos), Reid Wiseman (NASA), and Alexander Gerst (ESA).

They returned to Earth November 10, 2014.