The crew of four commercial astronauts flew to the International Space Station last month on a SpaceX rocket and capsule. Their time in space was extended several days due to poor weather off Florida.
The mission, Ax-3, is the third time Houston-based Axiom Space has sent paying passengers to the I.S.S. During 16 days of orbit, the all-European crew will conduct 30 experiments and public outreach.
The rocket cleared the launchpad and separated from its booster, surpassing the first attempt. But minutes later, controllers lost contact with the vehicle.
The United Arab Emirates celebrated after Emirati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi splashed down to Earth following six months in space, a milestone for its growing space program.
The four-member crew — three astronauts and a cosmonaut — launched in March and conducted more than 200 experiments. They also performed spacewalks and did maintenance on the orbiting outpost.
The agency says SpaceX often said in its marketing materials for open jobs they couldn't hire U.S. citizens because of export control laws. But asylees and refugees are protected under those laws.
The four members of the Crew-7 mission are set to dock to the International Space Station on Sunday. They'll spend six months on the orbiting outpost conducting science and other experiments.
Getting Starship off the ground is costing the commercial spaceflight company billions of dollars at a time when money is tight. Some analysts think more funding will be needed.
Experts say Thursday's flight wasn't supposed to have gone off without a hitch, and still offers SpaceX valuable data. A space industry analyst explains why it was so significant.
The monster-sized, stainless steel, uncrewed spacecraft cleared the launch tower but failed to separate from its booster, spinning in the air before succumbing to a blast of flames.
The 400-foot-tall, stainless steel Starship could one day shuttle humans to the moon. But getting the rocket to fly is no easy feat, and it'll be 48 hours until the team can try again, SpaceX said.
SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay.
Since the first days of the space program, astronauts wear a special patch specific to each mission. A small North Carolina company has designed them all since the Apollo lunar launches.
A Japanese telescope captured images of the shape on Jan. 18. It was likely caused by the sun illuminating leftover fuel expelled from the rocket of a SpaceX launch.
